It's Official!

Yes it's official now. I finally made it to the doctors office today between moving, the holidays, and other stresses it has taken me this long to get there. I think about everyone knows already, but we're making it official now. We're expecting around the first part of June. We had an ultrasound today and the due date is a little off so we won't have an official due date until after my official ultrasound next month. And for those of you dying to know boy or girl yes the doctor had a guess, but he doesn't want us spilling it until after the official ultrasound. However, I will say this. He was right about Nathan being a boy so I'm pretty sure his guess for this one is accurate too. Until then you can enjoy posting your guesses!

Christmas Tree Adventure

Okay so it's been almost a month since I've last posted, but it's hard to justify spending time on the computer when you're house is a disaster. Well it's still a disaster, but I figure I'd better put something on or I'll never start back up again. We had a wonderful time at Thanksgiving with my family and everyone else posted pictures of it so I'm not going to post mine since it happened weeks ago.
Our latest adventure was going up to Payson to get a live Christmas tree. Neither of us has ever done this before so it was a new experience. Our Realtor gave us a tag for one though when our new house closed so we thought we'd give it a try. It was actually lots of fun. I don't know if we'll be doing it again next year since it's hard to do with little kids, but maybe when they're all a little older we'll do it again. Thanks to our friends the Hales for letting us use their truck. We were a little worried that there might be snow on the ground up their and thought our minivan might have a little trouble and Dwayne's truck is in the process of being "fixed" right now so it was really nice that they let us borrow theirs. Rebekah probably had the most fun. Even with the disappointment of what little snow their was being hard packed so she couldn't throw snowballs like she wanted to. She had fun helping pick out the "perfect" Christmas tree. The boys mostly just froze their little toes off. And then Isaac decided to sing "Jingle Bomb" on the way back until he fell asleep. In case you're wondering what that is it's Jingle Bells when a two year old hasn't learned all the words yet.

We're back online!

Yeah, we're all moved in (doesn't mean all put away yet), and we're back online. Due to a mixup we didn't get our service transfered Monday like we wanted, but it's all good now. So if you've tried to call or email the last few days sorry, it hasn't been up and running, but we have the same phone number and email addresses and they should all be working now. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted of the new house before we leave to go up north for Thanksgiving. That will depend on if I can get things straightened up enough to take pictures so that you can actually see the house and not all the junk!

Moving Day

Now that we have an official closing date and yesterday we actually went and signed all the papers it looks like the big moving day is coming up fast! So if there are any volunteers we're planning on moving next Saturday the 15th! Hopefully we can get it done like taking off a band-aid. Short and quick!

We have a closing date!

I got a call yesterday from our Realtor and we have the finalized plans. It looks like the work won't be able to be completed so that we can close by the 5th like we were hoping, but it should be done by the end of the weekend so that the final inspection can happen either Monday or Tuesday of next week. This would make our closing date the 12th. At least that's the plan for now. We've decided we're chalking this one up as an experience so that we'll know in the future that VA loans take a lot longer than a regular loan. So that is the latest news on the house.

As it is election day I thought I would add that Dwayne went in first thing this morning to vote before work and had to wait in line about 45 minutes. I went in at about one this afternoon with both boys and walked right up. NO WAITING! It was great. I was expecting a huge line and was dreading it, but no such problems thank goodness.

I didn't really get photos from Halloween. I was really bad about that this year, but when we were all done trick-or-treating and we sat down in the chairs out front to visit for a minute Rebekah decided to make herself a seat on Ida's lap and started to eat her candy. It was just so funny I had to take a picture. She actually sat there and had a conversation with her too. For those who don't know who Ida is she sits out in front of Dwayne's parents house every Halloween.

And the last picture I had to add because it was one of those you'll laugh about it later's. Isaac asked me if he could have chocolate milk and I told him no. Well when I wasn't looking he grabbed the Nesquick out of the pantry and sat on the coffee table and started dipping his hands in and licking them until I caught him. And then I saw his shirt and thought the word was just appropriate!

The Latest

Seems like we're getting minute by minute updates. Now it looks like the roof didn't pass the inspection, so this is good and bad news I guess. Good because they will have to install a new roof, bad because there is no way that we'll be able to close by Friday. Oh well, we'll just roll with the punches I guess. Our Realtor has asked that a rush be placed on the repair work so hopefully we can get someone out tomorrow for a second quote and get it done quickly. Now we're hoping to close by the 5th. That's probably still pushing it, but we'll see. At least we don't have to rush out tonight to pick out the new stove!

Nothing like the last minute

Oh yes there's nothing like the last minute. I just found out today that the orders are in for the repairs on the house that are needed now if they can be completed by tomorrow then we should be able to still close by Friday as planned. However, we'll just have to wait and see what the roofer says. Oh and an added bonus we have to go out tonight and find a stove for $400 so that we can have it ordered and delivered in time also.we've been asking them about this for several weeks now and finally got an answer back that we need to go pick it out! Nice to have some time to think about the decision. So I guess whenever Dwayne gets back from Page today we'll be making a trip to find a stove.
Well on a more pleasant note I thought I'd post some pictures of the kids. Some of the boys being boys and some Halloween pictures. I only got one picture of Rebekah and Abby in their costumes at the trunk-or-treat, because I thought the battery was low, but I guess it fooled me cause it worked later when I took pictures of the boys helping with the wash, and didn't say anything about a low battery. Oh well. I did tie for first place in the chili cook off that night though. So that was fun and the kids had great time running around to all the cars and getting candy. It took a little bit for Isaac to remember how it worked, but once he noticed the girls doing it he was all over it. He'd scoot right in there and hold up his pumpkin smiling and then say, "Thank you." when he got a piece of candy. This year Nathan just enjoyed watching the kids from the stroller, but I'm sure next year he'll be all over it too.
The pumpkins are Rebekah's with the cat, and Isaac's with the ghost, and yes, of course they had help. I think they had more fun running around with their cousins Adison and Riley than they did working on the pumpkins! Well that's the way it works.

Update on the new house

Well I honestly don't know if this is good or bad news. The appraisal report just came back yesterday and this morning the verdict is in on the roof. They have decided that the whole roof doesn't need to be repaired because it doesn't look like it leaks, but that the missing shingles need to be replaced. Since it's a foreclosed property we're dealing with a bank and at this point I'm a little anxious to be asking them to do anything simply because the last time we asked for something it took them a whole week to respond and we're supposed to close one week from today! Everything else is in order though so hopefully this won't slow us down too much. So cross your fingers, do a little good luck dance, or whatever else you may feel is appropriate to help us get this moving along!

New House

For those that haven't heard yet we put a bid on a house and the offer was accepted. We're still waiting to see if everything goes through, but if it does then hopefully we'll close on it by the end of the month. It's very conveniently located for us right across the street from Rebekah's school and close enough to Dwayne's work that he can ride his bike every day. We're looking forward to saving lots of money on gas and maybe even have Dwayne home for lunch every once in a while. =)

Sick'os

Oh this has been a thrilling week. It started out with Nathan peaking a temperature at 104.5 late Sunday night. Nothing else wrong just cranky and hot. Then the next night Isaac ran 104 temperature and the next night Rebekah ran a temperature too. All hot and cranky. So I haven't actually slept through the night more than a few hours at a time since Saturday night, and Rebekah missed school yesterday and today. Hopefully tonight will be better since everyone finally seems to be over it, and Rebekah can get back to school tomorrow. I didn't realize how much that trip taking her to school meant to me until I didn't get out all day yesterday except a trip finally about 9 o'clock last night to Walmart.

Just a side note. Rebekah just came up to me with a piece of macaroni on her middle finger and said, "Look, macaroni bird mom!" I had to laugh. She has no idea that it could be a not very polite thing to do.

Nathan's First Birthday

Here's some pictures from Nathan's birthday party. He's walking all over the place now and is making tons of noise, even if he doesn't talk very much yet. I can't believe he's been in our family for a whole year now.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Nathan's first year. Enjoy!

Camping

Just thought I'd take a minute while it was quiet around here and update the blog for this past week. A couple of weeks ago we decided that since Rebekah was having a half day last Friday that it would be a good time to go camping and invite our friends, the Hale's to go with us. It worked out really well even though the Hale's almost didn't make it due to an unfortunate turn of events involving their truck and Neal. Everything turned out okay though and we had a great time. We decided to go to Lynx Lake. I remember going there as a kid and thought it would be fun to go back. Things have changed a lot since then I guess, because you used to be able to just turn off the road and find a good spot to set up your tent. Well now it's all developed camping (very nice with restrooms and everything). I personally like it when there are less people around. To me that's the whole point of going camping is to get away from the city and the noise and everything, but we decided that for family camping it's not so bad since it's really close to town and has toilets. It was kind of funny because when we first arrived we could only find one camping spot and it happened to be next to this nice couple that wasn't too fond of kids. The girls decided to ask the lady if they could pet her dog to which she told them they could, but when they reached out to pet the little dog in her arms she kind of cringed like she didn't really want them touching the dog. When I saw that I went back and told Colleen, "They're going to hate us!" We were a campers worst nightmare for neighbors. Four little kids and a dog! Fortunately we had sent the guys out to check and see if there were any other campsites available that looked better. They did happen to find one that worked out better and there were actually other kids around, so I didn't feel so bad when our kids made a ton of noise.
The next day we went on a hike around the lake. It was just the right length to wear everyone out. Isaac actually made it hiking halfway, and then he got really grumpy and tired so we put Nathan in the snuggly for me to carry, and Isaac in the backpack so he could take a nap and degrumpify(yes this is a word I've come to use quite often in association with Isaac). Along the way we got to see lizards, a horny toad, ducks, and a crane. All in all it was a really nice camping trip. I'm so glad we were able to at least sneak one in there before the end of summer. I told Dwayne maybe next summer I'd like to go on a backpacking trip just the two of us. I think that would be really fun. Who knows anything is possible right? Maybe I can actually get my wish.
Right now my mom, Sharice, and Kael are visiting for a few days. Sharice and Kael are staying with me while mom is with my grandma and grandad. It's been fun having Sharice around and last night Dwayne had fun remembering what it's like to hold such a little one again (not that he's out of practice since it hasn't hardly even been a year since Nathan being born). I told Dwayne I think I'm to the point that I can enjoy having them visit without wanting another one of my own. We'll see how long that lasts.
Okay the quiet moment has passed around here and unfortunately I didn't bring my camera on the campout. Both Colleen and I forgot our cameras and thought no big deal the other one would remember. Oh well. So I found a pic of Lynx Lake on the internet to give you and idea of what it looks like. This is what it looked like hiking down from our campsite. Enjoy!

Nathan's first word

He just started doing this on Monday last week when I left him home with Dwayne. I know this isn't very nice to do to Nathan, but he only says it when I'm not in the room! If you turn up the sound you can hear his first word and it's not dada! That was Rebekah and Isaac's first word so I was surprised.

Waterworld and more

Since I haven't posted anything all week thought I should post something. Last Saturday (yes almost a week ago) Dwayne, Rebekah, and I went to Waterworld while the boys stayed at home with Grandma Day. Rebekah loved having the time to herself without any brothers and felt very grownup. The highlights of the trip were probably Rebekah's comments of, "That was awesome!" after being a little scared of the height and then getting the courage to go down the big slide, and at the end when she did her little pouty lip and said, "We can't leave! I don't want to forget this day!" And then after I told her she could keep her wristband she clutched it and said, "I"m never taking it off so I can remember always!" (The wristband stayed on until Monday at Riley's birthday Party.) Thanks to Ann at Dwayne's work for the tickets.
Rebekah also got to go to her cousin Riley's birthday party. There were tons of kids there and there were hotdogs, hamburgers, and swimming. Rebekah's favorite part I think though was when Riley opened her presents because she just knew Riley was going to share the present she picked out for her. (Which she was nice enough to let Rebekah play with it before she went home.)
And lastly, this week we decided to start looking for a house. The market is so low right now we can afford a pretty good sized one so we're going to try to take advantage. Only thing is most houses in our price range are short sale or foreclosed, so it may take a while, but we should get a really good deal in the end. At least that's what we're hoping!

Post Script

Just a P.S. to yesterday's post. I thought I would add that yesterday morning I needed to go to the grocery store, and if any of you know how I shop I do one huge trip about every six weeks with my coupons and look for the best deals at the store. Well this takes me at least an hour and a half. Dwayne was kind enough to stay home with Nathan and the Kids Korner at the store will watch both Rebekah and Isaac so I thought great I'm in luck, maybe I can actually get this done and over fast. Well I was a little nervous because I didn't bring any extra diapers for Isaac and he had already messed his diaper twice that morning before we left, so when I was about halfway done with my trip I heard my name called over the loudspeaker. Oh great, I was picturing him standing there when I walked up with poop dripping down his legs and having to leave all my groceries to run back home and clean him up. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised because when I showed up looking for something wrong I was told that he had informed the lady that he needed to go potty! I couldn't believe it! I haven't been doing more than just letting him sit on the toilet every now and then so I was really shocked that he would actually tell someone! He didn't quite make it to the toilet but fortunately no poopie accidents and I could tell he barely didn't make it. Oh well. It's great that he tried. Maybe I'll have another one out of diapers by the end of the year.....that would be great!

Nathan Walking

My dad and Jerris came to visit on Friday so that they could catch a D-backs game that night. Poor Rebekah wanted to see her Grandpa so badly, but was in school for most of the time they were here. So after I made the beds for them I told Rebekah she could wait for Grandpa in his bed. Isaac couldn't be left out so he waited in Uncle Jerris' bed, but ended up on the floor. They tried so hard to wait up for them, but just didn't make it and as a result were too tired to notice when they did come in late that night. I put Isaac in his bed, but let Rebekah sleep with Grandpa as that has been the tradition every time my parents come down, and I guess during the middle of the night Rebekah started feeling around and felt my dad's hand and started patting it. My dad woke up to this I guess so decided to let her know it was him by saying, "It's the GRANDPA!" in his silly voice. She was so excited they stayed up for a little bit having a talk before going back to sleep, which was good because they had to leave before the kids woke up in the morning. By the way dad, you can add another person to the opinion of YES, the hearing aids are a big improvement. I thought you were going senile, but now it looks like you just couldn't hear what everyone was saying! ;) [In case you don't know what that is it's a winkey eye.] It's a good thing dad can take a little razing!
And here is the latest development with Nathan. Maybe I will get a kid who walks before their first birthday. He's been crawling long enough he should be ready! By the way thanks to Rebekah for the great camera work.

Mouths

Thought I would post a picture of Nathan's new teeth. Yep there are two of them there in the middle of that messy face. Plus looks like two more are gonna be here soon on top.

Rebekah is absolutely loving kindergarten, and it seems like in just the past week she's grown about two years! The thing I've been most worried about we haven't had any problems with. NO ACCIDENTS at school! Yeah! The fact that I make her go before school and the teacher takes all of them twice during the three hours that they're there probably has a large part to do with it, but I'll take what I can get!
And here is what Nathan did to me this morning throwing Isaac's sippy cup at me. NOT NICE. I've been saying for a while now that I'm going to be lucky to get out of my kids childhood with my nose and teeth intact. Guess I'm right!

Kindergarten Day!

So it's official Rebekah started Kindergarten today and right now I have the first day of many with a quiet house because she's at school and the boys are both down for their naps (a schedule I intend to keep) and what am I doing? I'm counting the hours until I have to go pick her up! It's not that I'm sad. I did really good, didn't cry at all (in fact I think I was more emotional about her starting preschool), I just can't wait to hear how her first day went!
She was so excited to get there and start. Yesterday at breakfast she asked me politely if I would please wake her up extra early so that she wouldn't be late for kindergarten (remember she has afternoon session and she knows it). This morning she was actually happy when she woke up and got right out of bed and all morning she was saying "I've got to get ready" and "Mommy it's time to go I don't want to be late." I had to keep reminding her that she wasn't going until after lunch.
When it was finally time to go she was pretty quiet most of the way and when we got there she acted like a pro and was more than ready to be there. It made me feel good that she didn't have any trouble adjusting to this new phase in her life. Now hopefully I can adjust. :)

My birthday quilt

This is my finished quilt that everyone made squares for at the birthday party. Thanks to everyone it turned out really cute and will always be very special to me.

Disclaimer: I couldn't figure out exactly who did what square so if I didn't put a name or have the wrong one sorry. Post a comment or email me and I'll fix it.

Happy Birthday to me!

It's always nice to be woken up in the morning to, "Happy Birthday! Now you're as old as me! Haha!" It's a good thing I love him or we wouldn't be speaking now. ;)
I almost got to share a birthday with my brand new nephew Kael. I guess he couldn't wait another 14 hours. That would have been a great birthday present to be able to give away my birthday like my mom and Josh. Especially since this is my 30th. Oh well at least it should be easy to remember his birthday! Hopefully Sharice and Derek will be posting some pictures of him as soon as they're home from the hospital. I can't wait to see them.
I already had a wonderful surprise party last Friday on the 1st. My mother-in-law, Jan threw me a girl's party. I had such a good time. I've never had a surprise party before let alone one that big, so it was really exciting for me. There was tons of food and games and at the end Jan had made everyone huge root beer floaty mugs with their names etched on them, so we all got giant frosty root beer floaties for our dessert. Boy does Jan know how to throw a party. She is such a great mother-in-law it's been nice to have her so close especially with my own mother being so far away. Nobody will ever be able to take the place of my mom, but Jan comes in a close second. :) Thanks to everyone who came! I had such a great time and it was great to see so many people there!
Tonight Dwayne is taking me out to dinner and a movie. So I'm looking forward to that. (P.S. I love this picture of Isaac I just had to add it in. After our visit with Grandma on Saturday, and of course the kids have to ask for balloons, Isaac fell asleep this way. He's just all partied out!)

Double Ouchy!

Just thought I'd put in a note that even though I thought Isaac wouldn't lose the nail on his finger...I was wrong! Last night shortly after I put him to bed he came out crying and holding up his hand. His nail was just barely hanging on. I was thinking about posting a picture of it but decided since I was so grossed out by it and it was my kid, I wouldn't put others through that. Yuck! So after a little surgical removal last night and another touch up this morning it is completely gone. He won't keep a bandaid on it, but I don't think there's anything left to snag so hopefully we're okay now. Also, last night I was able to feel the little point of Nathan's first tooth. So that was a little exciting too.

Ouchy

I definitely have a little boy. This week Isaac managed to give Rebekah a bloody lip and today he smashed his finger in the door. Blood everywhere. Fortunately it's looking much better now that the tears are all gone (although it's still pretty sensitive). It doesn't look like it's broken and because it bled so much I don't think he'll completely lose the nail. It's a good thing my mom (the former ER nurse)is still on consult.
It's been a pretty good week. Last Friday Dwayne got off work early and thanks to Unkie Jots babysitting we got to use a gift certificate to go out to dinner at Dillon's. We'd never been there before and it was really nice. Great service. We were seated right when we got there and the food came out almost as quick as we ordered it. We had an appetizer, main dish, and even a brownie smothered in ice cream for dessert and were still back in an hour. It was great to be able to get away even for just a little bit. I can't remember the last time we got to do that...maybe our anniversary?
Now we're starting the countdown till when school starts. Two weeks starting Monday. Oh and another happening of note I guess would be that I think Nathan is finally going to cut his first tooth. I noticed today he's starting to get a little blister on his bottom gum so shouldn't be long! Only took 10 months.=)

Nathan's latest

I caught Nathan doing this yesterday!

Jeff Foster Music

I just got an email today from Jeff Foster. We've known him and his wife for a few years now from church. They are both very talented. He just came back from Denver where they now live to graduate as a DO from Midwestern here in May. I think it's just amazing that they have enough time in their lives (him being a doctor and her teaching music lessons as she not only plays the cello, but the piano and who knows what else, plus have two small kids) to not only record but write music as well. I thought I would try and put up one of the videos from his website along with a link to Jefffostermusic.com. We'll see how this works as I've never done it before. Hope you enjoy it!

Our Fourth

For the fourth of July we had a fun time swimming the day away. We did so much that Isaac didn't even make it to the fireworks that evening. It turned out to be okay though. We ended up watching them in the street really late. We usually watch them from the Peoria sports complex on top of Dwayne's parent's roof, but we decided not to with the storm. We didn't think there would even be any fireworks because of the winds, but they did have them. They just started them late and then they seemed to be lower than usual (or else the bushes have gotten higher). It was okay though, we just went where we could see them.

I guess it doesn't matter what you do for Rebekah though. We just couldn't get her the right amount of fireworks. Saturday was too much and since I went and got her halfway through the show this time "there wasn't enough". I told her, "Oh well you get what you get!"

I put some photos of us swimming and the video is of Rebekah "flying". It looks a little scary, but she loved it.

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Happy Fourth of July!

Hope everyone has a Happy Fourth. We already got to see some fireworks last Saturday. Neal and Colleen (Abby's parents) invited us to come over to their house so that we could walk over to Deer Valley park right across the street from them to see the fireworks display they have every year. Yeah we were wondering why they'd do it so early since the fourth is on a Friday, but I guess they don't like to compete with all the city displays on the actual day so they do it the Saturday before. It was actually really nice. It wasn't as crowded as some of the bigger displays, and it was still pretty impressive and lasted a long time. Afterwards instead of fighting the crowds to leave we just walked back to the house and watched a movie for an hour then left without having any trouble. I would definitely do it again.

We have a rock band!

The kids were playing after church Sunday and this is what they were up to so I just had to take a video. Too cute. Unfortunately I think Rebekah has her father's singing abilities. =) By the way Rebekah asked me today if girls got old. I told her yes unfortunately girls get old too. She was awfully sad about that. So am I though! Why can't we all just stay young forever?

Happy 30th B-Day Dwayne!

Saturday was Dwayne's 30th birthday. His mom put on a big surprise party for him complete with the airplane theme, airplane races, pinnate, shish kabobs, and tons of friends and family. It was a great time and unfortunately I can't tease him for being an old man now because I'm right behind him! Another plus, there was so much food leftover we got to go back for Father's day and help eat leftovers. Yeah for me, only had to make a Father's day breakfast. ;)

Update, Swim Lessons, and Isaac's B-day

So Shell says I need to update my blog, and I'm up early because we took Dwayne to the airport this morning so that he could pick up a plane in CA. So here ya go Shell. I don't have any pictures of the wedding weekend because I let Dwayne take the camera to scout camp with him. If you want to see some click here for the wedding and here for the recital. Sharice took some cute pics of the wedding and of Rebekah at the dance recital and put them on her blog. Thanks Auntie Frog!
Dwayne always has fun with the boys and I think this time he would have had more fun if he hadn't had a stomach bug during half the week. There was lots to tell but the highlight of the trip I think would have to be the dinner hike they went on that ended up being a 9 hour "adventure" landing Dwayne in the med tent for the night for dehydration. They didn't get back until after midnight, but "no, they weren't lost" Dwayne new exactly where they were. Fortunately they had someone in camp waiting for them so they had a search party out for them that night instead of the next morning. To Dwayne's credit he did know exactly where they were on the map and had two flashlights with him, they just weren't planning on staying out after dark.
As soon as Dwayne came back we went over to his parents house to celebrate Isaac's second birthday. I decided after having the kids for a whole week by myself. I didn't want to have to worry about having people over for a birthday party so it worked out great. Abby got to come over too so he had a fun time. He didn't really understand blowing out the candles, but Rebekah helped him, and once he figure out the presents were for him he had a great time opening them. Here's his favorite present that he got. A giant truck that he sits in. Thanks Neal!

Rebekah and Abby both graduated from their swim lessons yesterday. I think they were the best swimmers in their class, and both got perfect scores on almost everything. So if they are in any more lessons this summer it will be on to level two! And here was their favorite part of swim lessons. Every Thursday is SLIDE DAY!

Chase and Lauren's wedding

We had quite the exciting weekend here with my cousin Chase getting married to Lauren. (click here to find out more about them) All of my siblings made it into town for it, so my house was very busy this last weekend especially with Dwayne leaving for scout camp that morning too! I took Rebekah with me as my date since Dwayne couldn't make it and left the boys at his parents. It would have been nice to dance with him at the reception, but Rebekah had a fun time running around with Lauren's little girl Emmy and dancing all over the place! I guess I'll just have to get used to being a scout widow for a little bit. It was perfect weather for the wedding and a beautiful ceremony performed by Lauren's father. The couple looked so happy together. Congratulations and we wish you the best!

Rebekah and Abby started swim lessons this morning and there have been other things going on but I don't have any pictures yet so when I do I'll post them.

Rain Rain come our Way!

We had a Happy Mother's Day here. I got pancakes for breakfast and a Culver's Oreo cookie ice cream cake from Dwayne for dessert that night. It was especially yummy. We were even so lucky this week to get rain on Tuesday. We were so surprised when we heard it outside and the kids begged me to play in it, so I said, "Okay put on your swim suits and have at it!" Rebekah is so much the Phoenician that she had to wear her princess sweatshirt over her swim suit because "it was too cold!" Plus they were just dying to try out the umbrella that Rebekah got at preschool months ago and hasn't had a chance to use yet. We love the rain when it comes and it was nice as it was just starting to get pretty hot here and the rain managed to hold off the 100 degree temps for a while longer.
It seems like my kids have just had bad luck with banging up their faces this last little bit too. Isaac fell down on the sidewalk face first and skinned his lip a little while ago. It was right after Rebekah's black eye had just gone away. I'm sure when people see me with my kids in the grocery store they think I beat them! And I love this picture of Nathan. I'm practicing so that I can take the kids photos by myself. It's just so hard to get to a photo studio to get the pictures every time one of them hits an age milestone. I learned some things from my experience so hopefully the next ones I take won't be just for practice.

897!

That's exactly how many flight hours Dwayne has accumulated as of yesterday. This is exciting because 900 is the point where he can start applying for jobs. We're still at least a month (or most likely several more months) away from figuring out what he'll be doing or where we'll be going, but the countdown is beginning and things are getting exciting!

We're doing the Happy Dance!

Snip, snip!

Just wanted to post some pictures of Rebekah's new hairdo. She's been wanting to cut it short for a while, but didn't want to give up her long hair. This time she decided it would be okay though. Dwayne and I keep doing double takes as the haircut seems to have aged her a couple of years. Now she looks old enough to actually start kindergarten next year.

The latest news on Nathan...we lowered the mattress in his crib this last weekend. Can you see why?

And Isaac is still just as cute as ever and yes...still driving mommy nuts."Cheese!"