birthday girl

Happy Birthday my baby girl!

Elizabeth got to go to the bowling alley today on a field trip with her school. Since Jacob had been in the hospital last night and was still very sick today, I didn't get to go with her but I know she had a wonderful time with her friends. My mom drove up to help out just in case Jacob had to go back into the hospital and of course to spend the day with her most favorite grand daughter. We had a pretty calm afternoon and then some cake - which was very yummy! Our only wish was that Daddy could be here but he will be home tomorrow!

Happy Birthday sweetheart! You are growing up so fast and changing right before our eyes. I love you with all of my heart and wish the all of the happiness in the world!

potlucks, potlucks, everywhere there are potlucks

Since the guys have been gone, us girls have gone a little potluck crazy! It seems like almost every night some one was hosting a potluck so with that in mind, I jumped on the band wagon and the usual girls headed over for some enchiladas and margarita's. We had a lot of fun with all of the kids and good friends!

a different type of mouse

It was off to Chuck E Cheese's for some good ol' fun for our little birthday boy! We had a little play time, some pizza and salad followed by the oh so delicious cupcakes. AJ had a lot of fun and a good birthday!

The kids love ski ball and Jacob always wants in on the action but has a hard time throwing the ball in the right direction. Notice how Pappy suddenly became a baby wrangler in this picture.


AJ fulfilled his three year old dream of controlling an excavator, with Pappy's help of course.

It did take several times blowing out the candle before we could dig in but I think he did a pretty good job.

Can't you just picture the sugar high after this?

birthday boy

Happy Birthday Little Man! You are the big 3 now - what a big boy!

We celebrated his birthday with some food old around the house play time as well as some fun in the back yard. Once my dad got home it was time to open presents and boy did AJ get into that. He made out like a bandit this year! We then headed down the hill to Chuck E Cheese's for some pizza and cupcakes.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday little man! I am so proud of you in all of your accomplishments lately. Daddy will be home soon to give you a big birthday hug too! I love you!

I am hoping when Mike gets home to take AJ's three year old pictures and I will post them then.

a day with the mouse

My mom and I adventured out to Disneyland with the kiddos. Let me just say, you need to have a lot of patience to wrangle three kids in the vast sea of people that spans Disneyland. Anyway, I decided to rent strollers for the boys when we got there because their strollers are pretty nice and have a lot of under storage and hey - if someone wants to take one - no skin off my back, it's not mine! I also fashioned the boys with harnesses (which I swore I would never use) for those moments they were out of the strollers.

Pirates of the Caribbean is something that I didn't realize would traumatize Elizabeth when we loaded onto the boat. She shook and hid most of the ride and AJ sat frozen. Jacob on the other hand thought everything was pretty cool. I felt bad afterwards when I realized how scared Elizabeth had been. We did have a major melt down after our first ride though, so it was off to find some lunch to satisfy these little monkies and bring their moods back to even keel. Once their bellies were full, it was back to having some more fun.


We headed over to the 100-Acre wood to find Pooh and all his friends but after waiting in the line for 20 minutes without it moving we decided to head over to the Pooh ride and hope the kids didn't get scared on this one.


The Pooh ride seemed to be a success and the kids really enjoyed it. So, it was off to the train to see the rest of the park and plus, what kid isn't fascinated with trains?

After the train ride we decided to head over to the other side of the park and take Elizabeth through Cinderella's castle. She thought it was the best thing that she was able to go through the house. I really wanted to get a picture of all three kids together but couldn't seem to manage not to get some hoodlum walking through the background - oh well.

We then rode the merry-go-round, Snow White, Casey Jr.'s train, and Pinocchio. Once the kids were sufficiently pooped out (as we were too) we decided to head home. I would have liked to stay for the parade and done a few more things with the kids but knowing we will be back in May and then in June, I figure, they will get their fair share of Disney Magic soon enough.


And what would be a day at Disney without at least one kiddo falling asleep in a stroller?

Thank you Mom for your help! I couldn't have done it without you!

fun in the yard

I think it should be mandatory for all base houses to have fountains in the backyard! The kids are always so anxious to go outside at my parents house and it isn't for the beautiful scenery or for the nice weather. Nope. It's for the fountain! Of course, you can't play in a fountain without a fishing net to scoop out any leaves that might fall in and also don't forget to have some rocks around to wash.




But most importantly, make sure that you have several buckets around to fill with water so that you can make sure the fountain never gets empty.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting them get crazy with the fountain!

ooops!

I am not big on sequence pictures but everyone tells me how expressive Jacob is all of the time and these pictures capture just a little bit of that. He was playing in the backyard at my parents house with a dump truck that suddenly came apart - I thought he reacted pretty well for a toy that broke.

busy day

With Mike officially gone for his two weeks and our first full day on our own, I decided to venture back to the Poppy Fields with the kids being there wasn't any wind. Low and behold, wouldn't you know that I saw a surprisingly familiar white Honda Odyssey with Alaska plates as I was heading into the parking lot. Wouldn't you know, two girls from our TPS class along with their kids had the same wonderful idea as me. Anyway, we met up with kids in tow for a beautiful "hike". (Notice I put hike in quotes! There is only so much hiking you can do when you have six kids 6 and under with you...) The poppies were wide open this time and much brighter. The kids had a blast and it certainly was a great way to spend a day.

See - I can do it with three (as crazy as it may look)!



What would a day be without a little belly bumping?

All of our crazy kids (minus Jacob because he was on my back the whole time) at the end of a long walk. We headed off to Foxy's at the airport for some lunch and then it was another night of potluck dinner thanks to Katie! We sure had a busy day but I couldn't think of a better way to spend it.

boys are away, girls will play (and kiddos too)

The boys have been gone for two days now and of course how could us wives survive our days without some adult social interaction, so Sarah put together a pot luck for all of us on Saturday. So, it was off to Sarah's for some hot dogs, hamburgers and of course some other yummy (read "fattening") things. The kids had a blast and the weather was perfect for plenty of outside time.

Is that my Daddy?

So, Mike comes home yesterday and thinks he is going to be funny by putting on his Darth Vader mask for the kids. Well, you have to keep in mind that these bambinos are on the young side and this site can be kind of scary. Anyway, after a while they proceed into the kitchen to check out who this guy is.


As you can see, Jacob did finally embrace this new masked man - even though he had to back into him... I guess the whole, if I don't look at him, he might not exist thing.

links of love

In preparation for Daddy leaving, we decided to make a paper chain that had the same amount of links on it as the amount of days Daddy will be gone. The kids colored each link and I helped them put it together. To help them understand how long Daddy will be gone and how many days until he comes home, the kids are going to remove one chain each night when they go to bed. I am hoping this will be something special for them and also help in their counting skills. (I only wish I had gotten a picture of AJ working intently on his links.)

Our paper chain put together and hung up.

couldn't resist

As we are getting ready for Daddy to leave tomorrow on his international trip with TPS, I sit here watching him run around the house trying to get ready. As sad as it makes me that he is leaving us for a while and that we haven't had much time with him lately anyway, I am sincerely happy that this is just a two week trip rather than a deployment. I certainly don't begin to comprehend what the families of deployed loved ones have to fear and worry about. We will miss you Daddy but know you will be home in a short time.

I just couldn't resist posting these pictures of Jacob the other day at the park. They just make me laugh every time I see them.

Mustache March

OK - so I know it is the 10th of April but hey give me a break - I do have other things to do besides blog (yeah right!). Anyway, the guys of TPS got this crazy idea in their heads that they all needed to grow mustaches during March.

While the wives were not so crazy about it, I must admit (shhh, don't tell Mike) it did look good in their group pictures.


I'm also curious, do you think AJ would have fit in with his cupcake mustache?

It's Official

Most of you have known but it is now official - we are on the move AGAIN! Mike received his orders yesterday and we will be heading out to Eglin AFB in June. Eglin is located in the panhandle of Florida. We have been there before so it will be nice to go to an area that we are familiar with. My big question is why hasn't the military come up with a teleport system yet? I mean come on, with their technology and intelligence, I don't see why it isn't a possibility!

Tinkle Tuesday

OK - I am making it official! AJ is potty training! We have been in underwear for two weeks now with great success. (I didn't want to post before now because I didn't want to jinx myself.) Anyway, he is doing pretty good with only about 1 accident a day. I do still have him in Pull-Up's during nap time and most of the time they are dry when he gets up. I haven't switched to underwear for naps yet frankly because I don't want to deal with the laundry right now. :) My new experience in the realm of potty-training has been dealing with boys and their aiming abilities. After a week of sanitizing the walls every time my little man used the potty, I decided that he needed to work on his aim!


Well, all I can say is, "Hail Almighty Cheerios"! These little suckers have been a life saver when it comes to the cleanliness of my toilet. And I must say it is pretty cute when he goes running to the bathroom to "shoot" the Cheerios and you hear shooting sounds being made. My only question now, is how is this going to affect my plumbing?