Powells in Sicily!: Some belated homecoming pics

We are busy here prepping for Val's birthday party and vacation but I thought I'd take a breather. Derrick, bless his heart, just vacuumed, mopped, helped me dye my hair, steam cleaned the rugs outside and then brought them back in, put the girls to bed.. you name it. The man is a saint. love him ;) I've been scrubbing toilets, baking a castle birthday cake, hanging streamers, and running errands!! aack. Poor guy .. what a relaxing week on 'leave' !

Val's princess party is tomorrow with her very few little friends. (I believe in keeping the #'s small usually although that is hard at times when you know EVERYONE on base). We have pink and purple -everywhere- (it's a bit nauseating) but she's in love. We were organizing things in the house recently and Derrick found my childhood scrapbook. I found a few pics that I was going to post but my scanner is broken. Valerie and I had the exact same hair cuts at age 3.. the same cheeks, smiles, teeth, you name it. I was a 'princess ballerina' for ages 3 and 4 for Halloween and in my preschool picture I am in the middle of the entire class holding up my sparkle wand, braving that tutu. Valerie insists it's her in the pictures. And we wonder where she gets it from. (for those who haven't actually seen her lately, she walks on her tippie toes very often and "prances" around saying "princess baaalleriiiinaaa..." all. day. long. I'm not sure if I will get a chance to post pics or not this weekend~

Sunday I have commitments at church and then we leave for a few weeks on our European Road Trip! We will see Rome, Florence, Tuscany region, Germany, Austria, Venice, and Naples/Amalfi coast! We figured driving would be the way to go and even had to eat the cost of our plane tickets that were purchased before we came to this decision. Such is life. The girls will be happier in their own car seats with a dvd player, a cooler full of snacks, and the ever important princess potty chair incase of emergencies. (Which for anyone with a 3 year old.. you know that when they have to go, it is always an emergency). This especially applies in Italy where there are no fast food joints on the side of the road, just the occasional hole in the floor gas station. I'll pass. You may even see me using the princess potty. slightly kidding. ;)

Anyway my neighbor Erin graciously gave me a cd with some photos from Derrick's homecoming and granted me permission to post some on here! The first photo of us kissing is from another fellow EOD wife. I thought I'd share since I wasn't able to get any shots of us all together. Ciao!