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Stew 5 yr, Skoeb 3 1/2 yr, Finn 17 mo.

OK, so it has been quite a while since I last posted here. Almost a year and a half I am ashamed to say. In the last 17 Months a TON has happened. Just to catch you up...Joe came home from the Desert, We traveled all summer, We moved this fall, and bought a house.

This summer we had the Joy of traveling From Washington State to South Dakota with Joe's Brother and his family as well as Joe's Parents. It was an amazing vacation. We saw the Badlands, Mt Rushmore, the Needles highway, Jewel Cave, A Mammoth Excavation site, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, and Old Faithful. We had so much fun spending time with family. It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy some of the old history of the country we love so much.

After that trip we were chosen for two military paid trips. One was a weekend long marriage retreat held in Ocean Shores, WA. Where the Chaplian gave us tips and tricks to better our marriages and families and the kids had childcare where they could play with other kids. The second was Malibu Military Family Camp up close to Egmont, British Columbia, Canada. It was on the Princess Lousia inlet and the only access was by boat. We were able to enjoy a week long vacation there where we did not have a care in the world (no cell phones, no telephones, no internet) just family time. There were nature hikes, ropes courses, water skiing, and family friendly competitions. it was nice to be able to relax with other Military Families and share some of our experiences, and listen to others that are in the same boat.

Our last trip this summerwas a Disney Cruise with My Parents, and Sister. We flew from Washington State to Warm Sunny Florida. With April we wnt to see Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party where they werre able to trick or treat at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Then we began our voyage on the Disney Wonder. We went to the Bahamas (Nassau, and Disney's island Castaway Key) We enjoyed the fun on the boat and playing on the beach.

We returned back to our house in Washington just in time to start packing up and moving. Joe recieved orders to move to North Carolina. We drove across the counrty and visited my parents and grandmother along the way. After arriving in Fayetteville, we found a forclosure house we wanted to buy. Then before we could close, Joe got orders to go to Airborne School in Ft Benning, GA. While he was there the Boys and I went back up to visit my parents in WV for 2 1/2 weeks while Joe learned to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. He was able to fly to my parents house in WV for Thanksgiving and then we all drove to GA for jump week. The boys and I were able to watch Joe jump (and Land) sucessfully 5 times. Then we packed up and headed back to NC. and closed on our house.

It sure seems like we have not stopped being on the go since May when Joe got home. Maybe life will slow down for us now...or not. We have been enjoying every minute as a family together. We have been very blessed. Now I will try and do better to keep updated here.

3 weeks

Finn in his swing - taken today- he is 3 1/2 weeks old
Finn on Sunday ready to go to church!

Finn on Sunday again, This face made me laugh. I just had to share.

The Bumbo

Finn is such a little peanut, and putting him in this seat just emphasizes his smallness. It sure will be fun to watch him grow and see him later in this chair. I really love this seat, it is the best baby invention ever. It helps babies that are too little to sit up on their own to be able to sit up. it sure seems to make them happier babies to be a part of our big world.

Super Heroes!

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.-- Marc Brown

When Joe's Mom was here right after Finn was born she made Stew and Skoeb these amazing super hero capes. The boys love them! They are really into superheroes right now so these capes were perfect. Then a friend of mine brought over this pack of bibs for Finn with this one that says "My Daddy is my Hero" and it fit him like his own cape.

Skoebie and Moto

With all thes pictures of Finn, I figured I better include some of the rest of our family too. So here are some of Skoebie goofing with his cat Moto. Moto and Skoeb are best buddies. Skoeb can wrestle all over the house with this crazy cat. They have too much fun together. Then I had to include this picture of Skoeb with Papa's Nerf gun, looking tough. He uses it "to fight the bad guys and protect us." It sounds like a brave mission anyway.

Stew loves his new little brother

Stew askes to hold Finn every chance he gets. When I took this picture Stew said that Finn was telling him something. When I asked what he said Stew told me it was a secret. It was really cute.
Stew was very happy to be holding Finn. I am not sure what I did wrong to get the picture to be sideways. Oops!

Stew - Extatic to be holding Finn. Finn - could care less.

Stew is so gentle when he holds Finn. He really tries to be careful. It is amazing how much he wants to help.

Finn's Crazy Hair

Finn woke up from nap with some Crazy Hair the other day. I had such a good laugh about it I thought that it would be good to share with everyone.
This is a good one that shows how much it was sticking out all over his head. I was probably enjoying his bad hair day a little too much.

Obviously Finn found it quite boring, as expressed by this HUGE yawn!

Ice Cream in August!

You gatta love eating ice cream outside in August. Eating outside makes everything taste better, even dessert! Of course, the summer weather makes the ice cream a little drippy and messy. Stew had a stylish goatee after endulging in his after dinner treat. As for Skoeb...well...He is not as fast at eating his ice cream and had to keep licking the sides of his cone to keep it from dripping down his legs. He kept telling me "Nummy!" I just love the look on his face in this picture. He is a real goof sometimes.

Finn- 2 weeks

Finn is here! He is 2 weeks old and cute as can be. Everyone says he looks just like Joe. He is a good baby and his brothers love him very much.

Blog Back Log

OK, I have been WAY behind on my blog. I am going to try and get all caught up but please be patient with me.

Finn asleep in his swing. Here he is a week and a half old. He is a keeper, that is for sure!

Joe's deployment

Ok, so Most of you already know this but Joe left for his deployment with the Army last month to Kuwait. In the past month it has been a crazy hectic world with just me and the boys. I keep meaning to take pictures, but by the time I am chasing the two boys I often forget (or it is the least of my concerns at the moment). I really hope to get better at at this single parent thing. It is tough. I don't know how single parents do it, or why they would want more kids once they are a single parent. The boys and are are slowly getting adjusted to our new routines without Joe here. It has been a lot more challenging than I thought it would be at first. I just assumed that life would be the same, Joe would be the only thing missing. I know Joe does a lot for us, but it really throws our entire family's schedule out of wack having him gone. We sure miss him and hope for a speedy return. As I have been praying all along, I pray that the days pass quickly and the nights be slept through. We also of course pray for Joe's safe return, and that he gets accepted into the Physician's Assistant program for 2010. So, I invite you to keep us in your prayers as well. Also, please check back, I promise I will start taking pictures again. Thank you for thinking of us.

Moto and Tiger

In a moment of weakness I let the boys get a kitten. The Kitten came as a pair, a matching set to be exact. They are Manx mix orange tabby with very wide stripes. I had to go out and get them different colored collars so I could tell them apart when their tails are tucked. Moto has a short, half a tail and appears to have a slight mohawk running down his spine and Tiger has a regular tail. They are quite the pair. They play very well together as they are litter mates and are used to having each other around. There were 3 other kittens in the litter and they are all black. It mush have looked like a Halloween litter full of Orange and Black kittens. They were born 18th Feb 2009, so they are now 11 weeks old. Tiger weighs 3.3 lbs and Moto weighs 3 lbs. They came to us already litter trained and have not had a miss yet! The boys are having a lot of fun playing with these two clowns and chasing them around the house. I am enjoying watching the circus as well.

Meet Tiger and Moto

Here we have Skoebie holding Tiger, black collar, and then Moto, blue collar. Then Stew doing the same. Stew holds them much better than Skoebie, with the extra support under their bum. it is really funny to watch the boys interact with these kittens because Skoebie is fearless and will chase them and catch them while Stew is much more timid. You have to practicaly set the kitten in his lap for him to feel OK holding it for a minute. Stew is constantly telling me that Moto and Tiger are his friends, but he is just not sure what to do with them. He also really wants them to sleep with him. Yesterday, I put one of them up on his bed just as he was waking up and he was so excited thinking that Tiger had slept with him. He is really a sweet kid. The other morning we had to take the kittens to the vet to get their first check up and shots. I told the boys to hurry and get their shoes on because I had to catch the kittens and put them in the carrier. before i know it Skoebie had them both and placed them both in the carrier and tells me, "There Momma, done!" I was quite surprised. i know he is good at catching them, but to get them both in the carrier....WOW! He is hired!

Stew's Pictures

Stew insisted on using my camera yesterday afternoon to take some pictures outside. Here is what he captured. "Skoebie smelling a flower" -apparently Skoebie leaned forward to smell the flower and not towards Stew because Stew told him he moved wrong. "Dirt, rocks, and sticks" -as we all know how important those are in the life of a boy. "Grass and a flower" -he told me that this one was "because you need flowers Momma". Finally we have "a picture of the neighbors car and bikes" -because "I like cars and bikes" Stew said. I thought this was a fun little project to give him the camera and then ask him about the pictures he took. He was well pleased with himself. I think it even made him more proud that I seemed interested. Truthfully, I was just very thankful that he handled my camera with great care, wore the strap around his neck without me asking and didn't even come close to dropping it.

Grey Squirrel, gray squirrel shake your bushy tail

Ok, we have a couple of squirrels that frequent our back yard. The boys love to watch these crazy critters romp and play in the back yard. We even got to watch this chubby guy fighting with a crow over some food the other day. Yesterday morning (or was it the day before) Skoebie comes and gets me by the hand to tell me "Silly squirrel, look Momma!" and points outside. This is what we saw. Our squirrel was basking in the sunlight (a rarity here in the Pacific Northwest). Then when I got the camera the crazy thing appeared to puff out his chest a little more and even stand a little taller. What a poser!

I'm watching you

This past week I got the boys a new pet fish. It is a Betta fish. The boys love to lay on the kitchen counter and watch him swim. skoebie is especially fond of this activity. The boys even gave it a name, Hemmet. A Hemmet is a heavy duty army truck with a pointy nose and just happens to be one of the boys favorite vehicles. Stew grins every time he tells me that his fish is named Hemmet. He also quickly adds that hemmet's are his favorite. I just love the picture with Skoebie's nose pressed up against the glass.