We are halfway through Brandon's nights schedule and I'm so excited! He won't have this schedule again for a while, thank goodness! It's a tough one for all of us. But this weekend we plan on having lots of fun. The air show has come to town again and it's here on base. The kids have been asking every day if it's the air show and every time a plane (whether military or commercial) flies overhead if it's from the air show. I was so glad when I picked Christopher up from school to come home and find them practicing. The kids sat on their bikes in the driveway yelling, cheering and clapping every time the Thunderbirds did anything. Christopher was giving me play by play updates on the designs that the smoke made. Brandon and I bought them earplugs and huge headphones so they can enjoy it even more.

We went to the show in Pensacola back in October and it scared them half to death. It didn't help that the first jet that flew over us when we got there was the one that screams up behind you. It took an hour to calm them down and Christopher never took his hands off his ears the rest of the day. They panicked ever time an airplane flew by when we were outside... for months. So, we are prepared today. The weather looks to be perfect and we are pumped! Hopefully Brandon can get a little sleep in before we head out. Hope you have a great weekend too!!

I finally have a chance to put photos on here and only b/c I'm ignoring the piles of laundry that need to be folded right now. (2 on the couch and 1 in a basket to prop my feet up-- actually feels pretty good!) Unfortunately we did not have a single family photo turn out. And I'm not being modest or vain, every single one of them were blurry. Not exactly sure what happened, but oh well. There isn't a nice place (meaning cleaned off enough AND pretty enough) for us to stand in front of anyway. But enough of that, here are the photos:

The kids going down the slide inside the bouncy house at the awesome Easter party we went to with friends from church. It was steep and just as fast as she looks like she's going.


Is he not the cutest little boy you have ever seen??? I want to squish this kid every time I see him! And what a ham too! He just started posing for Brandon and stopped jumping to do so. I wish you could see the rest of the photos too. Hilarious! His parents are just as funny too, so no surprise where he gets it from!


Sophie on the playground. Yes, it looks nasty and moldy, but I think this is one of my favorite photos!



Sophie getting ready for a swing at the pinata. I love how serious she is here. She did well. And then comes Christopher's turn. And no, he didn't crack it open, even though it looks like he would have.


Someone had confetti stuffed eggs that you crack smash on someone's head. She had 4 dozen and they were gone in no time. So fun!!! Just empty out a real egg, fill with confetti, tape it up then smash away.


Waiting to go on an egg hunt. Sweaty and tired from jumping. This kid had so much fun and has no problem keeping up with kids older and bigger than her.

Now, on to the very few lake photos I have:

Sweet Anne Morgan playing one morning. I totally forgot to get a copy of all the pics on my parents camera and am kicking myself for it. She is the sweetest and quietest baby ever! I just wanted to kiss all over her sweet face! She's so happy that she actually got me thinking about having another one! Sophie wouldn't allow it though. Nobody sits in my lap but her. Don't be checking often for any "news" though, I do not want to add anyone to this family before we move again. Pet or person. We are maxed out right now and I'm good with it.

Pop reading the kids a book one afternoon. Sophie kept asking him, "Where'd John go?" He's the truck driver in the story. She asks why more than I ever thought possible. You get to the point where you don't have anymore answers and she keeps asking.

Here are two of the things I made with my sewing machine. My sister has an embroidery machine and she did some stuff for me. I made another one for a friend who has a little boy that's cute too. I have a new project for this week and I'm praying I can get it done.


The kids playing on the screened porch at Grammie and Pop's. They love sitting out here. Especially playing on the swinging bed. Well, we all love sitting that thing! Many a naps have happened here by people of all ages. Dogs too.

Ladybugs come out on the porch this time every year and the kids found one on the swing. I thought it was really funny that Christopher grabbed the magnifying glass to look at it.


I promised Christopher he could go swimming one afternoon, so he suited up. Looks like a shorter version of his Halloween costume. He's had this for two years and it fits him better now than ever. I love this kid! He's so funny!

That's all I got. Hope it was enough to keep you full for a while. I'm off to start supper before Brandon heads off to work for the night. Later fools!

Last weekend we had Christopher's birthday party. It was a few weeks late, but only b/c we were out of town the weekend of his birthday, then Brandon was on call the next. It was perfect timing though b/c the weather was absolutely gorgeous!!! It was sunny and just cool/warm enough to want to spend the entire day outside. We had it at the big park on base like last year, but this time no rain or humidity in site. We had a lot of fun with all of our friends and the kids played hard. It was the first "friend" party we've had. Usually it's just family and 1 or 2 friends. I figured since we were leaving town the next day I save everyone from traveling to our house and invite all our friends that are moving this summer. It was great!

Sunday, the kids, dog and I loaded up into the van and headed off to the lake. We made one stop along the way at this beautiful farm and we played for a little while. I picked it b/c it was down off the side of the road and I just pulled over on the driveway. I didn't really realize where we were until we got out and looked at the lush green all around us. I wanted to stay on the dirt road and find out where it took us and imagined cowboy boots and horses and loads of fun, but we had some grandparents to get to, so I decided against trespassing.

We got to Grammie and Pop's house a little after they got home from church and thankfully the kids napped a little on the way there. We played hard. Brick swam and chased everything along with the other dogs. It was perfect. Monday it was pretty cool out and we were planning to run into Montgomery to visit with Great, but Christopher wasn't feeling well, so we stayed home. We were going to start sewing, but this was the day I slipped and slid halfway down the stairs, so we just went for a walk instead to make sure nothing got too tight. I think it worked b/c I never really hurt the rest of the week.

The rest of the week continued to warm up and the skies were beautiful. We played inside and out. I sewed a few things like burp cloths, started a bag and made a cover for the back seat of the van where Brick sits. It was getting really dirty, but I cleaned it. Aunt Jennifer and Anne Morgan came on Wednesday and it was so fun to watch little AM crawl around everywhere. She is seriously the quietest baby I have ever seen! You honestly forget she's there except she's so darn cute you don't want to take your eyes off of her. She makes everyone want another baby, including me. (But don't get your hopes up, Sophie's WAY too clingy to add to this bunch.) Both kids want another baby, but when Sophie learned that meant Mommy's lap would no longer be free for her to sit in she changed her mind. It was a funny conversation!

I have some photos, but haven't downloaded them and forgot to get the ones I took with Pop's camera. I'll put them on here later. It's great to be home and I'm glad we were gone b/c Brandon was even busier than the week before. He starts nights on Monday. Boo. We miss him when he works this much. But that's our life! (I still love it!)

Have a great weekend!

Thank you Lauren for being concerned about me. Surprsingly I'm doing well. I was half way down the stairs and my foot slipped and I landed on my back and elbows. Thankfully it was right above my tailbone and more on my forearms than the elbows. But I hit really hard and slid partway down the stairs. I thought I was going to throw up from the pain at first, but once I was able to get up and lie down I finally felt better. I have to admit, it scared the mess out of me and I cried a little.

I'm learning to sew today. I'm very nervous and intimidated. We were going to try yesterday, but I slipped going down the wooden stairs carrying Christopher's marble game/tower. Note to self: never wear socks at the lake again. I've gotten everything threaded and am ready to go with my practice scraps. Wish me luck! Here's to hoping I don't quit too soon.

I posted a long time ago about how on some blogs you have to type in those letters that spell nothing in order to have your comment posted. The reason I posted about it was b/c I swear to you the word was "sperm", but somehow I misspelled it. I still don't know if I just read it wrong (you know how sometimes they try to trick you by putting the letters close together) OR if I was laughing so hard I couldn't see what I was typing. Anyhoo, I just posted another comment on a blog I like to read and here's the letters I had to type... "innimas." Please try to say that out loud. Why do I get these words? I know it's not spelled correctly, but still. At least it gives me something to laugh at. Not that I need anything, I do have children after all!

Somehow Picasa is not on the computer anymore and so I'm unable to create a new title for our blog, but that's ok. I'm not up for the challenge of figuring out how to fix it either. (Lori, somehow the title box frame is showing up again too. No clue how to fix it.) But this is one of my favorite photos of our family. I'm not in it b/c I actually took this one! And I have to give credit where it is due. The iPhoto edit and enhance buttons made it look much better, but I still think it's pretty good for someone who has absolutely no clue how to take a decent photo. Ok, enough tooting my own horn.

I wanted to put it on here to remind myself of what a good day for us looks like. This is one of our family's favorite places to go. It's a tiny little beach within walking distance of our house. I know I joke/complain about the house we live in, but I really am thankful for it. It's far from new and not allowed to be updated by us, but it serves it purpose perfectly. Besides, we get to walk to places like this! We go down here even more now that we have Brick b/c we can't take him to the beach with us. I think he might love it even more than we do! He always runs as fast as he can ahead of us and waits, bursting I might add, for us to catch up so we can start throwing tennis balls into the water for him.

I could tell so many stories about times we've spent down here, but well, they'd bore you. You just have to experience it for yourself. It's narrow, but go on forever. It has a fabulous view. And a majority of the time, it's our own private beach. And this photo is just perfect to me b/c it shows just how much my family loves each other when we are here. Thank you God for giving this to me. I love it!