Warning!

Dan had to fill up his dream sheet for the Air Force this week. This time next year, we should be moving. . . or have already moved. So here is a heads up on what we put on there. Bear in mind that Dan doesnt have great choices, so we really had to research and pick through some real clunkers. (Death Valley, California, Fairbanks, Alaska, Fort Polk, Lousiana, just to name a few less than desirables!) Anywho, below is the list of places we included. Most are overseas, but that honestly is about half of the places we have to pick from. (Hawaii and Alaska are considered overseas) Having said that, we trust God will place us where He wants us and it will be a bigger blessing than we could have imagined. Right now its just a waiting a game and trying to be patient. Its incredibly hard knowing you should be moving in a year, but not know where. One thing is for sure, if the Air Force takes our wants into consideration, we wont be sweating through the holidays anymore!!!! WOO HOO! (Its literally been 90 degrees this week!)

Dream Sheet:

1. Fort Drum, NY closest to Watertown, NY, not far from Syracuse, also right off the Great Lakes

2. McChord AFB/Ft Lewis Tacoma, WA, just 45 min south of Seattle

3. Ft Knox, KY not overly excited about this, but it could be worse

4. Ft Stewart, GA DO NOT want to go here, its hot! all year! outside Savannah, GA about 40 min

5. Ft Carson, CO, Colorado Springs

6. Elmendorf AFB/Ft Richardson Anchorage, AK - we hear great things about this one, the other AK location is closer to the arctic circle than it is to civilization.

7. Baumholder, Germany- west of Frankfurt, close to French border.

8. Grafenwoar, Germany- eastern Germany, close to Nurnberg. the town it is attached to is Vilseck

9. Aviano AB, Italy- northeast of Venice.

10. Vicenza, Italy, just south of aviano, right outside Venice. I hear great things about this place, it is ranked #1 desired military post.

I think there might have been one or two more place in Germany Dan put down. (he has 7 or 8 to choose from just in Germany) We dont really know that we can go to Germany, they are still picky about whom they take as far as medical clearance. We'll see, but it is our number choice. I know all these sound far away, but most are once in a lifetime opportunities. We can do 4 years in Anchorage, upstate NY or cruising the canals in Venice. As I said, we (mostly ME) did lots of research on all our choices and scouted housing, schools, activities in the area, and churches. Who would have thought there are about 15 southern baptist english speaking churches in Germany??? I was just hoping for 1!

So save up those frequent flyer miles, and we'll let you know as soon as we know!

Super Man

Wonder Woman

Last night was the fall festival at church. I dont know if you know,but we have two members of the "Justice League" at our house. Grace told everyone she was Wonder Women and she "Saves the Day"

Halle and Claire went also. Claire worked with the youth group on a food fundraiser. There wasnt a whole lot there for Halle to do, it really is targeted for little ones. Bouncy houses, Cake Walk, etc. She did win some moon sand though playing Bingo.

I'll post more of all the kids in their costumes Monday.

Girliest Girl of ALL Girls

This is how Grace now sits in her booster seat at the table. With her legs crossed and a big gap between her and her food. If you push her in before she has a chance to cross them, she will push herself out and cross them. When I asked her about this new obsession, she said, "Thats what grrr's do, they cross their wegs. and i'm a grrr!"

translation: thats what girls do, they cross their legs. and i'm a girl.

p.s. she creates quite a mess on the floor, most of her food lands in the gap between her and the table.

School has started again. Claire is in the thick of middle school, she started 7th grade last week.

(she's getting so old her eyes have gone bad!!)

Halle is in her last year of elementary school!

And little Jack started Pre-Kindergarten. His school day is only 3 hours, BUT he gets to ride the bus with Halle and eat breakfast in the cafeteria! He comes home everyday and tells me what he had, most days he eats the "chocolate chicken cereal", aka Cocoa Puffs.

He came home a few days ago and said he had a girlfriend. He couldnt remember her name though. So the next day, as soon as he got off the bus he said "her name is Stephanie!"

Today, she brought him Spiderman fruit snacks. It must be serious!

Jacks first day.

Here is the last time Grace ever got to use her "Boo". (aka a pacifier)

We bribed her to get rid of it, we let her "trade it in" for a new toy. I didnt think it would work, but she totally did it and has only asked for it back a couple times.

The picture above is what she picked out. Its a Barbie purse with Barbie I-phone, camera, credit card and camera! She LOVES it and really who wouldnt?

Just a normal afternoon at our house. . . . .

Long Couple of Weeks

Here is Grace in her little sling. She really doesnt wear it much, and doesnt complain much about her shoulder. When I finally got home the both Jack and Grace told me that Jack didnt push her off the bed, she fell of the bed on her own. And that is the story they have stuck to since I've been home. Who knows with these two little monsters? Maybe I'll post pics later of the "foreign object" surgically removed from my abdomen. . . I didnt get any of Chris's broken leg. What a crazy couple of weeks!?

Jack is 5!

Jack turned 5 on June 29. He partied with 6 of his friends at Chuck E Cheese. It was quite a production, with the games, Chuck dancing with the kids, singing, "crowning" the birthday boy. Really he could have cared less that there was anyone else there, or that there was cake and pizza. (his two all time favorites) He took his tokens and went crazy! We could hardly tie him down long enough for Chuck to shake his hand, let alone give him the crown. I believe he got his crown, listened to everyone sing "happy birthday", blew out the candles and made a run for it. He sat for about 90 seconds. We have been counting down for this birthday party since Grace had hers. Back in March. I am soooo glad it is over.

Beach

Check out the sand car and star fish

We only made it to the beach once. It was just too hot. When we went to the beach, it was at 8am! We left by 10, because it was just that hot! The kids enjoyed it regardless. Jack wasnt in to the sandcastle thing this time, he saw surfers. When the guys would walk past him with their boards he would ask if he could borrow one! He also liked filling buckets with water to dump on Grace's sand creations. He's such a boy. Grace was content with playing in the sand, and only got in the water to get more water for another wing on her castle.

Water Guns

Grandma got Jack water guns. . . . she turned him
loose with them before instructing him in water
gun manners. After his lesson he would swim up to people and say,
"Can I shoot you in the face?", and usually before you
have a chance to answer he would have already
shot you and been on to the next person.

Jack was not the favorite of anyone at the pool.

Grandma's Pool

The favorite part of grandma's house is the pool for my children. Hands down, no competition. By the end of our week, all the lifeguards and most of the moms knew Jack very well. Grace liked to follow the older girls around, and since they thought she was cute, they let her. That was when they werent going down the slide. I thought Grace would be fearful of it, it goes fast, its pretty long and she's so little she always ends up under water at the end. But that child would go down and immediately high tail it to the side and go down again, sometimes cutting in front of everyone else, and they let her!

Pool

Here is a pic of the new pool. Seriously, some of you out there that have visited many times may not believe it till you see it!

I'm A Little Behind!

Ok, so again, our blog would make us look like we are so boring. We are boring, but we do leave the house! Memorial day weekend we went to Canyon Lake, just about an hour north of SA with some friends and rented a boat. The kids were so excited and had alot of fun, what wasnt fun? The blistering sunburns we all came home with! FYI: spray sunblock doesnt work! I totally took my camera with me to capture the kids knee boarding, tubing and playing, BUT forgot to make sure my xd card was in it.

School ended June 4, Claire and Halle left June 5 for their dads in Denver. They will be home mid July.

June 9, Jack, Grace and I went to see Grandma in Florida. (more on that later!) We just got home last Wednesday, and have since been enjoying our newly opened neighborhood pool! Any of you that have been to our house have probably seen what was for over a year a really big hole dug in the ground at the front of our neighborhood. We kept saying, that will be our pool someday. . . and almost 2 years later its here! Yeah, there is a little sarcasm in that. Really, it takes 2 years to install a pool in an already dug hole?! But its done now and its really nice and we will surely get alot of use out of it this summer. Today our neighborhood even had a "Grand Opening" pool party and bbq, there was a bouncy house and snow cones and San Antonio's version of BBQ, Fajitas! So that catches us up to now. We dont have anything big on the schedule for awhile, so maybe i will keep up a bit better . . .

Pretty

Today, after I got Grace dressed she looked down at her outfit and said, " I feel pretty."

Grammy's Visit

Grammy came from Kansas City last week to visit for a few days. We shopped, went swimming and drove to Fredricksburg to pick strawberries. It rained the night before we went so it was more than a little muddy. Jack and Grace kept losing their shoes in the mud and had to be hosed off before getting back in the car. All in all it was a successful trip, no complete meltdowns and we came home with 4lb of strawberries!

BOR-ING!

We have been every bit as boring as our blog would have it seem. Nothing big going on at our house. The school year is winding down, so it doesnt seem like there is as much homework coming home. The days are getting a little warmer, actually they are soupy. The humidity is horrible the past few weeks. Dan has been working 6 day weeks, leaving for work by 6, getting home around 5 or 6. Long days for daddy and really long days for mommy! The only thing that pops to mind is we have done a little amateur landscaping in the front yard. For the last 2 1/2 years we have only had what the builder planted, we took most of that out and put some new plants, flowers and vines we hope will grow and look lovely! Neither dan nor I can seem to grow anything but weeds, but this time I took the time to research how to make things grow in our unhospitable area, so fingers crossed. . .
Grammy is coming to town tommorow for a few days, and we have a few things on the agenda, so hopefully we will have some fun new pics to post soon! Keep checking back!

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Jack's final soccer game was today. I dont know who won, most of the kids just kick the ball into whichever goal is closest, makes it hard to keep score. He was SO PROUD of his medal he got for completing the season.

Grace is a Genius

The other day Grace and I were just sitting on my bed, and she started counting. And after she got past 5 or 6 I was shocked! She and I had worked up to about 3 or 4 but never up to 13!!! That evening I had her do it for Dan, he also was surprised, we asked Claire and Halle if they had taught her. Nope, they hadnt. The only explanation is that Grace is a genius!!!!

In the video, at the beginning she didnt know i was videoing her. She didnt want me to video her until a fresh layer of lip gloss was applied!

Easter

Here are the kids in their easter get-up. They didnt get to wear it last week on easter, we stayed as the kids were sick. (see post below, that was Jack on easter sunday)

Poor Jack

Anyone who lives in San Antonio knows that allergies are bad here. For everyone. This is Jack after just a few minutes of playing outside. He was racing his car down the sidewalk, not rolling around in flowers or grass. I have no idea what is currently out there doing this to him, but we might just stay inside for a few days. . .

Crazy Jack

Jack is now halfway through his first season of soccer. Let me tell you how his first practice went. He ran straight up to the coach, tugged on the bottom of his shirt and said with as much gusto as he had and said, COACH!! I WANNA WIN!

The first game he was on the field for about 2 minutes before he tripped over someone and then in turn got kicked in the head. He was pretty much out for the rest of the game. The second game was rough, he was afraid of getting kicked in the head. . . i guess its a valid concern. He is now over that fear and the only thing that distracts him now is his stomach! He runs over to me for a snack during the middle of the game at least once every game! Crazy Jack.

Princess Grace is 3!

Little Grace turned 3 last weekend. I can hardly believe our baby is 3! We celebrated with a princess party, she was Snow White. She had 7 little friends come over, all dressed as princesses. The girls came in and got their make up and nails done. After, we played freeze dance and then finished getting ready for the big banquet. They each got necklaces, rings and boas. The girls feasted on fruit, macaroni and cheese, pizza and cake! All Grace's favorites! 3 of the little cakes were made to look as princesses. (their skirts were the cake part) She had a great party and is ready to tackle her third year.