Vegas Baby!

Joe and I went on a mini vacation last week just the tow of us. His Mom and Dad watched the boys for us. The weather was GREAT and the prices were right. We got Military discounts all over the place. It was a lot of fun despite the fact I had a stomach bug the entire time we were there. I wish I had felt better, but we saw all we could in the short time we were there. We were able to see Blue Man Group, The V Show, and a Hypnotist. We at at a Buffet (Joe's personal favorite meal) and found Joe a Pineapple Fanta Soda at the Coca-Cola store. We also walked from one end of the strip to the other in and out of casinos, shopping malls and took in as many free sights as possible. We saw the volcano at the Mirage, the fountians at the Bellagio, the gondolas at the Venetian, the sirens at Treasure Island (our Hotel), moving statues at Caesars palace, a 3-D Movie at M&Ms World, and the gardens and butterflies inside the Bellagio.

Grandma D loves pictures.

Joe's Grandma D always has to get a group shot anytime we are all together. She must have a ton of these type of photos to document her heritage. I just think it is funny because we are never prepared to have a picture when she springs the news, but we are all willing for her. This is the one of us. Joe's Dad and Mom, Skoebie, Grandma D, Stew, Me and then Joe laying on the back of the couch.

Out of Town

We are currently in Idaho visiting Joe's family. Then Joe and I are going to go to Las Vegas, NV for a short trip without the boys before Joe deploys. I am sure that I will have pictures to share when we get home, but until then you will just have to wait patiently. I left my computer at home. See ya next week!

Happy Belated Birthday Skoebie!

Happy Birthday Skoeben! Skoebie is two, we celebrated while my Dad was here. He got this bubble blowing lawn mower from Meme which he loves to drive around the house. Skoebie is very happy, loves to laugh and giggle, and LOVES sports. He enjoys playing soccer and watching football and hockey. He sometimes does not realize that he is a little kid, be thinks he is just as big as everyone else. Skoebie loves joking around and is quick to tell you "Ha Ha" if he thinks he is being a funny kid or getting away with something. Skoebie and Stew are best friends and look out for each other. Happy Birthday big guy, we love you!

Soccer is over

Today was Stew's last soccer game. It has been a lot of fun to have him in sports. However Mother Nature didn't want to cooperate with us for the duration of the season. The weather seemed to get worse throuout the season. Today we had rain and wind. It was so cold. All of the kids wanted to be done after the first half, but we convinced them to go back out for a short second half. It was worth it because Stew scored an amazing goal right at the end of the game! He ran the ball clear from our end of the field and kept it away from the other teams players the entire way. I was so proud. His little team has made such great progress throughout the season. I really thought in 5 weeks time we would not make much progress, but I was wrong. After the game each player recieved a dog tag with a soccer ball on it and a participation certificate. There was to be a pizza party too, but the rain had other plans for us.

Reading a story

Some friends of ours that are now stationed at Ft Riley, KS came up for a visit. They have family that live close. They stopped in for a quick visit yesterday and Stew wanted to read their almsot 3 month old son a story. It was too cute not to share. I pulled our Bumbo out of the closet and set the little guy in it and Stew began to tell the story of Curious George Goes Fishing. Stew even had to get Joe's fishing reel out to show him how it worked. It was really precious. Skoebie just enjoyed even holding his hand. He even said, "Thank you baby, let hold hand." He wanted to hold him, but he said that he was "Heavy".

Gramps came to visit

My Dad was able to come and visit us last weekend and watch the boys play soccer. It was Freezing cold! We had a wind directly off of the north pole. Dad and Skoebie did warm-up drills the whole time to try and keep warm. Later that day it even snowed! Dad must like to bring snow with him when he travels. Stew and Skoebie lived by his side the entire time. The boys had a ton of fun with him here and we all hated to see him go.

Goalie

Saturday Stew had another soccer game and he got to play goalie for part of the game. His team is the Cougars (named by the coach). He kept pretending he was a fierce Cougar that wouldn't allow the ball to pass. He was actually a really good goalie for the team. This was the first time that the team played with someone as goalie. In the pictures above you can see preparing to stop the ball, and then Stew is at the bottom of the pile in the other picture after just stopping the ball. Below is Stew running and kicking the ball and then another picture of him being goalie he actually dove sideways and stopped the ball. I was really proud of him because he was determined to stop the ball and was not afraid that all the other kids were running right at him. He even got kicked in the nose once but stopped the ball, and got right back up and was ready to be goalie again. He was one Tough, fierce Cougar!

wall paper

This week I decided to put a wallpaper border up in the boys room. I had to share pictures of my hard work. I was quited impressed with how it turned out. when i went to take pictures Stew decided he needed to be in them. The picture above with the boys in front of their closet doors cracks me up with Stew resting his chin on his toy saw. Then below you can see how the border goes around the room and then the boys outside the door to their room. Stew told me that now we know it is his and Skoebie's room because there are trucks on the door.

Sleepy Skoebie

The other night Stew came out of his room after going to bed and told us that Skoebie was not in his bed. Joe and I looked at each other and thought he must just be all covered up in his blankets and Stew can't see him. As Joe walked down the dark hallway to carry Stew back to bed he found Skoeb. He had obviously gotten out of bed, but was too tired to get very far. He was asleep in his own doorway. Joe called me down to look at him (and take pictures of course) and then Joe put him back in bed. Poor guy, I wonder what he wanted...perhaps we will never know.