First Day of School!!!

This picture was actually yesterday--Dillan eating pancakes. He was just so cute and he was still sleeping when we went to the bus stop so there weren't any of him to include.









Here is Brendan actually looking happy--he was really crabby this morning--"I hate school, I don't want to go" He will survive.












Here is Katie--she was miss "Why do we have to have summer vacation, Is it time to go yet?? How about now?? "












Here are my 3 big ones playing around--Meghan doesn't start PreK until 1 Oct. but she was ready to go today.









And finally, on the bus--the driver told them turn around and look at your Mama--as you can see he and the monitor got in on the posing too:) Have a great day kids!!!

WOW we have been busy!!!

We had a Back to School Party with our Catholic Women of the Chapel group. It's a small group, but was even smaller due to some bad weather. We started off with decent weather--a few sprinkles and the kids ran relays, played on the playground and just ran around with their friends. The pictures are of the relays. Then it started just absolutely pouring!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids continued to play--got soaked and muddy and had a wonderful time!!! (no pictures of that though--sorry)


Our next news was having a new nephew!!! Baby Grant was born on Friday night!! We are so excited!!! My kids are finally not the only ones! They have a cousin and we have someone else's baby to spoil!

On Saturday, Brendan ran his first Triathlon! He ran 1/2 mile, biked 2 miles, and then swam 75 meters. His time was 19:33. He finished 4th for his age group and 6th overall. We had a technicality and if it wasn't for his mother he would have finished 3rd.--He was really hurting on the biking portion so I insisted upon him wearing a life belt for the swim portion. I wanted to make sure he could finish. Any way, he wore the belt for the 1st 2 laps, on the third he took it off and tossed it up on the side of the pool. Had he not worn the belt, he would have been quicker. The other problem with it was that they were adjusting times for the kids who wore the belts by 10 seconds to account for the time putting it on and the slowing up in the pool--well since Brendan took his off 1/2 way through they didn't realize he wore one when he got out of the pool for the official time so he was not credited--the 3rd place winner didn't wear a belt and finished 9 seconds ahead of Brendan--so if he would have gotten that credit he would have placed 3rd. Oh well, whatever, he did his best--had a great time and can't wait to do another one next summer!!!

Stretching before the race and resting with the 3rd place winner after the race.

Following the Triathlon there was a Back to School BBQ on post. We socialized with everyone!! It's a small post. Then we had hotdogs, the kids got their faces painted, Brendan played in a Dodge ball tournament and they did other various games. It was fun, but following the race, it made for a really long day!

Today, we are just relaxing--we might go to the pool--and not doing much of anything. School starts tomorrow so we are going to enjoy our last day of summer and get to bed early. We really have had a good summer, but we are ready to get back into our routine. We've got one week to adjust to school and then Soccer starts!!! OH JOY!!!!--seriously, I love watching the kids play and they have a great time, but with 3 kids on 3 different teams--it's a bit on the chaotic side. Oh well, just like my blog is titled--Happy Chaos right??!

It's been awhile!!!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We have been busy--not really with anything in particular, just trying to enjoy summer. I can't believe school starts in 2 weeks already. So, let's see what have we been up to?

The kids finished up swimming lessons for the year. Meghan ended up at level 2, Brendan was still at level 4 (really hard level), and Katie is going to pass up big brother soon--she just passed into level 4 also. Well, we will see what happens next year.

We also did a 5K Family Fun Walk/Run on post. It was a lot of fun. Brendan actually ran--he completed it in 31 min which I think is pretty good for his age and it being his first 5K. The rest of us walked--well Katie and I did--Dillan rode in the stroller and Meghan rode on her Kiddyboard on the back. Here's a picture right before we started.Brendan really liked running and he is going to do a Triathlon on 25 Aug. They are having one on post for the kids. In his age bracket, he will run 1K, bike 2 miles, and swim 100 meters. He is really excited about it and I think he will do really well. I'll keep you posted of his results once he has completed it.

Brendan went to a soccer clinic all last week. He had a great time and really worked on some of his soccer skills which serve him well during soccer season. All 3 big ones will be playing (of course on different teams) beginning the first week of September. AAHHH the craziness of having young children. It should be fun!

Brendan will be attending Cub Scout day camp this weekend--it runs from Friday- Monday. They attend each day and spend the night on Saturday night. No, I'm not going with him this time. He's in Webelos now so he is old enough to go just with his den! YAY!!!!

I do have other kids besides Brendan, it just seems as if the past few activities have been focused on him. I guess other than that we have just been hanging out and enjoying playing for the summer. Here are some pictures of the kids out in the yard.

My "soldier" Brendan. That stuff was so heavy that he was laying on the floor and couldn't get back up!! It was funny. But, he loves to play with Daddy's stuff.

Dillan loves his slide, but he looks really concerned in this picture. I'm not sure what was going on there.

Not sure what's up with this silly Katie. I always knew she was strange:)

Silly skater. He always wants to do what the big ones are doing.

And finally we have Meghan--Miss we don't have a pool so I will make my own.

Shane's Back from his "trip"

Thanks for your prayers. He ended up only being gone 24 hours. Now my mind can rest a bit easier. He still isn't home, but at least he isn't travelling anymore. I will, of course, continue to pray for all of our soldiers and families.

AAAAAHHHH!!!!!

I got up this morning, went in the kitchen as usual to make my coffee and what did I find??? AN OPEN FREEZER DOOR!!!!! It was evidently open all night because everything was defrosted. I just filled 3 Kitchen garbage bags with everything out of there. I was thinking I needed to clean out the freezer, but that isn't how I wanted to do it. What a waste!! Well, now the kids and I are going to have to make a run to the commissary today to replace the things we actually need to eat for this week.

I've got some pictures to post of some stuff we have been up to recently--I finally got my camera back--I'll try to post this afternoon if I get a chance.

If everyone could say an extra prayer for Shane over the next couple of days I would appreciate it. I can't say where he is right now, but I will say he is "travelling". Please pray for his safety--and that of all our soldiers--and also peace for me while I am waiting for word that he is back. He told me approximately 48 hours--so it's not long.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!!