I Love My Family

This post continues, but it will be mostly pictures and more about family and the fun time we had. :) After the graduation, we went onto the field to get pictures, it was fun, but rushed.

I would like to point out that that is blood on the side

As we waited we went to the National Infantry Museum. One word to describe it: Fantastic! We spent about 4 hours there and I didn't even get to see all I wanted! Vince was a wonderful sport and didn't complain at all (love that guy) He knows how much I love history, so he just followed me around being the parent to Mya while I ran around going "Oh, my gosh! Oh my gosh!" to everything. I could go on and on about that museum, but I wont, I'll just put up a couple of pictures of it and tell you that I had a blast at that place!

 I would like to share one story, at the museum they have a simulator marksman, I got to shoot a gun I have no idea what kind it was, but it was super heavy! I have always told Vince that I am a great shot, but we have never gone out shooting so I haven't been able prove it him I wasn't lying. Anyway,  I held up that gun and the shooting began! I was hitting target after target, and then before I knew it, the game was over and our scores were brought up. My Dad had 5/20, my Uncle Clark had 12/20, Jarom had 18/20 and I had a whoppin 17/20! Yes, I out shot 2 grown men who have gone hunting every year for however many years! I have to point out that I am kinda a big deal. :)

 Onto the rest of the weekend: We had gotten hotel rooms instead of staying in those cabins, I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm very glad we did, cuz it was fun at the hotel! Mike taught us a game, I can't remember what it was exactly but the object of the game was to be the last person with your fingers up. (Sounds, weird but it is so fun to play) We then played a couple round of wacky 6, love that game!


People then started comparing feet and pretty soon Uncle Clark and Jarom were up on the table showing us their deformed feet! Hahaha, it was so fun to sit around laughing with my family, I have missed them so much!

The weekend came to and end way too fast and before I knew it we were saying our goodbyes and heading in our different directions. :( I love my family so much and December will be here before we know it and we'll be able to once more sit around telling stories, playing games, laughing and having the perfect time.

Mya had a blue M & M

My wonderful parents

I want to add that we're going to be going on the cruise before we come out to Idaho, and we'll be spending time with Vince's family and what a wonderful blessing it is to have them in my life too, they are a wonderful family and I can't wait to see them as well! (I didn't want to leave anyone out :))

I'm proud to be an American...

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..."
When was the last time you said the pledge of allegiance? Thursday morning, as we were driving, I asked Vince if he could recite the pledge. Neither of us could remember the full pledge even though we used to say it every day for 8 years. It finally got to the point to where I had to look on my phone and it only took one glance to remember it. Now let me ask, how often do you think of America and the many men that have served her, both past and present? I mean really take a moment and reflect?
I have to admit I didn't really give much deep thought to it. I love to study history, and it was neat and I felt blessed, but I never sat down and thought of what the men and their families went through and still go through today. I had the opportunity to attend the most patriotic event I have ever been to. It opened my eyes and  made me think "wow, these men are simply amazing." I can think of nothing else to describe it.

It opened up with the army band playing some songs, both patriotic and not. Then all of a sudden you heard gun fire and the sound of bombs, then you saw smoke across the field purple and green. In the midst of the smoke came out 10 men. Armed and moving toward you in a formation that meant to kill. Then they stopped pacing and stayed crouched where they were, not moving. After a few minutes of wondering what was going to happen next, the men jumped up and sprinted towards you. Let me tell you, it was awesome and intimidating. When the men reached the end of the field they stood in line and a voice over the speaker began to described what each man's duty was and what weapons they had.
After the little lesson, the graduation started. The men graduating were standing tall, straight, and in uniform. The way they marched onto that field was awe inspiring. They moved as one, being one.

I've never understood how a group so big could move together in synchronization not ever messing up. Still don't quite understand how. The graduation was pretty fast, there was a few words and then they cited the Infantry creed, which if none of you have ever heard it, I suggest you go look it up.
It starts with:

I am the Infantry
I am my country's strength in war,
her deterrent in peace.
I am the heart of the fight
wherever, whenever.

And it ends with:

I forsake not my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty.
I am relentless
I am always there, now and forever
I am the Infantry
Follow me!

After the words were said, the men marched in a big circle, they marched in front of the crowd and then back to position, and that was it. The graduation was over. We were then let onto the field to congratulate our soldier before they were off to enroll in Airborne. I'll finish this up so it's not so long and I'll continue on with a different post. I mainly wanted this post to be about our military and the special effort they put in to serve not only our country, but us as individuals. With Veteran's day just passing, I think it proper to say thank you to all who have served and continue to serve us. A special thanks to my brother for making the decision to join. He, who left his wife and family behind for a very long few months, is serving you.

A Little Update in Alabama

It's been awhile since I've updated everyone about us Martinez's in the south. I do not know how many of you actually read this, as it has been quite awhile since my last post, but things are going good.
I am extremely happy to report that the schooling I've been doing with Mya is a great success! She can count to 10 and knows the numbers, however, she hasn't quite fully grasped the counting part. She loves to count, but needs help. She usually says "1..2..1...4...5 6 7 8 9 10!" She can say 3, but when she counts she substitutes it with 1. The easiest way for her to count is her toes, because she thinks they are so pretty when they are painted. When she counts her painted toes she can do it by herself and with even saying 3.
Her alphabet is going great, she knows her letters A-K and knows all her shapes, even pentagon and hexagon. (didn't know she knew them until she was playing a shape game on Vince's phone) She continues to amaze me with her little brain!
She does the cutest things and often makes me laugh. The other day we were out in the garage playing in her toy car, she would get her purse with her Ariel key (she got it from Grandpa Huff) and say "Bye! See-ya later!" and then I'd ask her where she was going and she would either tell me "I'm going to work" Or she would say "I'm going to grandma and grandpa's" Then she would get in her car and walk it a little ways and then get out and yell "I'M BACK!" and she'd run to me to give me a great big hug. We would do this over and over for 2 hours.
We've also found out that she loves to play hide 'n' seek. It was her turn to hide with Vince and they ran into my bedroom and I could hear them giggling while I counted and then went to find them. I walked in our room and knew immediately where they were, they were hiding under the sheets on our bed. I looked around the room and said "Mya, Dad, where are you?" and I hear a little voice say "Right here!" Vince and I laughed so hard. Finally after getting a hold of my laughter I said "I found you!" and grabbed Mya's foot. She screamed sooo loud and it hurt our ears, but was so fun!

As for Vince and me, we've just been hanging around the house and getting out to the park with Mya as much as possible. The weather is considerably cooler, but you can still wear shorts. I'm looking forward to Halloween, but I'm not sure what we're going to dress mya up as. Vince wants to dress her up scary, but I want to do something cute, so we're in a dilemma. If any of you have ideas, please let me know! That's all that has gone on here, I'll try to update more often.

A New Look On Life

I was recently told that I was a complainer and about 85% of the time I looked depressed. This came as a surprise to me as I thought I was very happy. I soon realized that, even though I am happy with my life, I did have a negative attitude about many things. I was appalled and very ashamed. I began to immediately think of what I could do to change those few little things.
I understand that stress makes me seem angry and very down, but I didn't think I had that much stress. I began to see that I was wishing my life away and that I needed to stop worrying about the future and live in the present. I can tell you after only a day of doing this, I feel so much better. I can see the difference it makes with my husband. (He actually held my hand at the store) You may or may not know that Vince isn't the type of guy to show his emotions, so it's very hard for a person like me who thrive on emotions. To have him reach out and take my hand in a simple gesture meant the world to me. I could tell that just changing my attitude changed the way he acted towards me and at that moment when he took my hand, I realized I needed to hold dear to me what I have and not worry about money, because money can't buy you happiness, it's those small little gestures that you cherish more than a new pair jeans.

A test and 3 days in a Hotel

Vince was recently sent up to Montgomery for work and Mya and I had the opportunity to go with him. It was a nice weekend. Quiet and just the 3 of us. Vince would go to class and Mya and I would explore the city, which we would end up back at the hotel because Montgomery has absolutely nothing to do! Almost literally nothing.

The first night we decided to go to the mall that we saw when we were driving around. It was pretty spacious for how little it looked on the outside. There was a carousel inside and we wanted Mya to ride it. Oh boy did she love it! She was all smiles and every time that they went around, she would look for me and smile even bigger when she found me. She loved riding the "Horsies" and didn't want to leave. Needless to say that, she threw a big fit.
The next night we tried to go swimming in the outdoor pool. Which, I might add, had a TON of bugs. Gross! Vince would clean a little spot of where we would be swimming before we got in. Not even 5 min after we got in, it started raining. Not fair! So we went to the indoor jacuzzi and tried waiting it out. Didn't work, but at least Mya got her fill of water. Before too long she was getting in her towel and saying "Come on, Mommy, Daddy" Back to the hotel room we went.

The last day there was possibly the most fun. Vince went off to take his test and me and Mya decided to visit the zoo. She absolutely positively loved the zoo! She was so amazed at all the different animals and always saying "woah!" and "cool!" Her favorite was the black bear. She was pressed up against the glass and growling at the bear and saying "Hi bear!"

After we were done with the zoo we went back to the hotel to pick up Vince from his test. We wished that there were something more to do in the city, but unfortunately there wasn't, so we had no choice but to head back to Daphne. It was a nice trip to get away, and spend time alone as a family.

Labor Day

So on Monday we decided, regardless of the traffic, we would go to the beach. Oh it was so worth it! The traffic wasn't bad either. Mya was happy and kept saying "beach, Mommy" In the morning I had asked her "Mya, want to go to the beach today?" To which she responded "yeah!" That is the first time that she has ever answered my question with a yes. Simply made my day!

We were all excited as we drove up to the beach (they still aren't charging for parking) Getting our sunscreen on as fast as we could, yes I wore sunscreen! We almost ran to our spot, we were super excited! The water felt so cool and refreshing. Mya wanted to be down in the water with the waves. She kept telling me "Down, Mom, down!" The waves were really big and powerful, more so than we've ever seen them be. They were so big that when one would come, I would have to hold Mya up as far as I could and jump at the same time. More often than not I would get taken out and Mya would laugh. I had to act like I was 12 and say "Just you wait until you're older, I'm going to dunk you so many times!" The best part of it was when Mya would see the wave coming and say "OH NO! Oh, NO! It's a big one! Here it comes!" That is the most she has ever talked that you could understand every word she said.

When we got too tired fighting the waves, we would go up on shore and play in the sand. Mya wanted to bury Vince, so she got buckets of sand and put them on his belly. I had to help and buried his arms. :)  If we got to hot we would head back into the water. It would go like that for a few hours, but never tiring of it.
The day wore on and we grew hungry. If only we had an umbrella, beach chairs, and snacks to stay longer. It was a wonderful day to get away from work and the world, to enjoy being together as family. It's my favorite and wish it could happen more.

I don't have any pictures from this trip because I had a memory lapse and forgot my camera. I was mad, because I didn't discover that until we drove up to the beach. :( But at least you get a nice story!

Love From a Child

Don't you hate those day when everything upsets you and you have no idea why? Today I am experiencing one of those dreadful days.

As I was sweeping the floor, Mya comes running through the house right through the pile of dirt, hair, and other crap, spreading it everywhere! Making me start all over again. It took everything I had not to yell at her. I stood in the middle of the room with my eyes closed, breathing deeply and counting in my head. As I calmed down, I sat Mya down and explained to her that she needed to be careful and watch where she was going. A little while later she was running to the kitchen, she stopped and scooted around the edge of the newly constructed pile, and as soon as she cleared it, she took off running again. She then came back from the kitchen and wrapped her arms around my legs and said "Mommy needs hug" and then she looked up at me and said "awww" and then took off running.

It's funny how little things like just melt your heart and make you feel warm inside. I had tears brimming in my eyes and almost started bawling. After she released me and ran off to her room, I gave up on cleaning and decided to take the time to type what happened. The love from a child is pure and most definitely immeasurable. Thank you, Mya, for making my day brighter.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy MyA!!

Another birthday has come and gone, it seems like yesterday we were bringing Mya home from the hospital. It's strange how time passes us by so fast. As most of you know, Mya turned 2 on the 27th. We had a little birthday party for her on Saturday with her friend, Faith, from church. 

The two little girls were so cute together! I had a smile on my face the whole time. We first started out with finger paints. If you have little ones and need an activity, I suggest the finger paints. The girls loved them and it wasn't a big deal if they got it on themselves. (it's wash off paints) 

After finger paints, we let the girls go off and play in Mya's room while I cleaned up and got the next activity ready. It was so cute, Mya took Faiths hand and said "come on" and ran to her room holding her hand! 

Our next activity was decorating cookies. Yum! It was also another successful activity, and delicious too! Mya just ate the frosting though :)

We decided to open presents after cookie decorating. Mya got a Cinderella barbie from Mom and Dad and a little box of ABC books from Faith and her Mom.

When the cookies were decorated and eaten, the girls went off to play again. They wanted to spin in their pretty dresses and skirts. It was so adorable that I had to get a little video of them!

                                             

Saturday was a wonderful day, and we made some new friends here in Alabama. Mya loves having a friend and I love having her interact with children her age! (I also have to say that I love having a friend too hehe) It was a long day, but well worth the effort! To see Mya smile and happy like that, I would do anything for it! 

Time For School

Instead of summer, Mya and I are going to school. It doesn't take very much time out of the day and is so much fun! I'm trying to teach Mya her ABC's and numbers and shapes. She does pretty darn good with shapes and her alphabet, but the real challenge is numbers. She's certainly trying and doing a great job! 

We first start with some ABC flash cards. We're already up to the letter D! I'm teaching her upper case and lower case, so it's taking a little longer, but it's good for her. She calls them big A and little a, and so on. 

We then move on to numbers and then shapes. She loves shapes.

After putting the shapes in the correct spot, I have put the shapes in a line and ask her to pick the square or circle...

When we're all done with shapes, I let her do some writing. It's her favorite part of school! She loves to draw and try to write her ABCs. 

And that is our school day! She loves and is so smart! :) Yes, I know her hair looks awful, but we just got down swimming and out of the bath!

My Little Gymnast

The other day Mya decided to try a somersault! It was the cutest thing and I just had to get the camera out and record it! Just the other day, Vince and I were driving and I spotted a gymnastic school close to our house. If we're here for a couple of years, then I'm going to enroll Mya when she turns 4! 

Alright, to the video!!

Fun At Home

The coloring books were colored out, the books all read, movies all watched, stickers no longer sticking. It had been a fun day, filled with lots of activities, but Mya and I were about to have our greatest adventure yet! We pulled out the blankets, got some puzzles and snacks and made, for the first time here, a FORT!!! Yes, I said fort! After working to prepare our fort, Mya and I dove right in and had the time of our lives! 

We played puzzle and ate snacks, and just whispered secrets and giggled. Mya was full of lots of secrets! She would whisper and whisper. She thinks it's funny! Ha! She's so cute! I think I say that every post, but oh well, she is! We didn't do much in that fort, but we sure had the best time. 

Monday Outings

Monday: The day that we get to go and play. Recently we went to Gulf Shores beaches. Beautiful. The water was warm and so inviting. The sand, white and soft. 

Mya just loves the beach. It's so cute to watch her go from just letting the water lap her feet, to letting big waves hit her and still wear a smile. (Don't worry, Vince and I are there holding onto her and not, I repeat, NOT letting her drown) She really likes it when waves crash into her. She gets a thrill over being lifted up by the water. 

We were at the beach for a whole 20 min when I saw something floating in on a wave and heading in our direction. I soon realized it was a sting ray. I quickly said "Vince, sting ray" and we scooped up Mya and headed back to shore. Being very calm and not alarming our small little girl who is knew to the ocean. We watched as the sting ray came in and drifted away. My heart pounding, we decided to take a water break and set out our towels and look for seashells. Mya loves to collect seashells. She says "Shee-shells" when she spots one. It's fun to watch her play in the sand and not worry about her running into the ocean. She's a smart little thing for being new to it. She doesn't run into unless you're there with her. She's more than content sitting and playing with her "shee-shells" in the sand. 

After what seemed like forever, we decided to head back into the water. Mya was all for it, having not known what had happened earlier. Once again, we were playing and laughing, enjoying our time as a family. shrieking with delight when Daddy found cool things in the water and snickering when Mom got taken out by a wave, which happened too much for my liking. Soon enough, we spotted another sting ray and had to head back to shore. We spotted 3 total that day. It was cool and I wish I got a picture, but my camera was in our backpack up on the beach. :( 

After getting drenched by wave after wave and getting the worst sunburn of this year, we decided to call it a day and head on home.

Until next time...

Cookies!

Today Mya and I decided to make some cookies. Mya only wanted to eat the cookies dough. So I gave her the beaters and let her go to town while I rolled them out and cooked them. It was fun and we giggled a lot! 

Not a very big post, but a very cute picture! :)

KaNgArOoS :)

On Vince's day off we decided we would take Mya to a place called Kangaroos. It's a big play place for little kids. They have blow up toys that you can jump in and big blow up slides that you can slide down. Only, it's just for kids, but if you're lucky enough to have a young enough child, you can play on them as well. So Vince took full advantage of that (as I was not feeling very well) Just to warn everyone, my camera wasn't focusing very well, so their kind of blurry. (sorry)

We weren't there for more than 15 min before Mya got sick and threw up on our way running to the bathroom. Poor thing and yes, I got it on me too. After we got her cleaned up (and me)and got some sprite into her system, she seemed to wake up and wanted to GO GO GO! She was everywhere!

She ran around in this toy for about a half hour. Just ran around in circles. Circle after circle. It made me kinda dizzy! :) 

After a rough start, Vince and Mya were running and sliding like crazy! Mya had so much fun following and imitating Daddy. I think Vince enjoyed himself too! Ha, he was also wearing big grins and laughing right along with Mya. I just love to sit back and watch how he interacts with Mya. Full of love and adoration. It's something I won't ever get enough of! :) 

After a couple of hours of running, panting, and laughing, we decided to head on home. Well Mya ran up to a toy she wasn't big enough for and climbed right on in. Good thing there was no one in the place. So Vince went in right after her and played for a couple minutes, but as Vince was climbing out, he stepped on the inflatable step and it caved in and down him and Mya went! He did some sort of twirl and Mya never hit the ground! It was kinda cool and terrifying to watch. Don't worry, Vince was fine. We laughed so hard after we made sure everyone was ok. 

Mya had a fun, rough day. Starting out with throwing up, to smacking her face on a tall slide and falling with Vince out of a toy, but we had a good time spending it together as a family. Until next time...:)

Loving Life

We've been here for 2 weeks? I dunno, lost track. :) We've made it to one beach. Just one so far. The only thing that sucked about it was that we couldn't swim in it. It had signs saying:

We still enjoyed going there. It was beautiful along the path: And the water was so invitingly warm! The sand; white and soft. Last Sunday we got a picnic together and went down to the beach for some afternoon fun. Mya absolutely loved it! She was the only one that got to swim as for the rest of us, just walking with our ankles lapped in water was enjoyable. When Mya was done swimming, we decided to play in the sand. She loved getting buried! Hehe, she kept putting the sand on her own legs! Silly girl! :)

We've recently got a pool for Mya. I think it's one of her favorite things to do now. She's all smiles while playing in it. She does this thing to where she stands up and then falls backwards into the water landing on her butt. She gets a kick out of it and does it over and over, laughing the whole time. She loves when you ask her how she swims: She gets on her belly and kicks her legs! So cute!