Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It is the first one is such a long time that we have been around family. It took a bit of rearranging on our part since we aren't used to travelling, but it was well worth the effort. The kids were concerned at the beginning about how Santa would find us, but I assured them that Mama talked to Santa and that he agreed to bring one gift to Nana and Papa's house and he would leave the rest at home. It worked really well that way.

So, even the best plans don't always go the way they should and the weather didn't want to cooperate. There was a blizzrd Christmas Eve and into Christmas and it decided it should hit right in Omaha--right where we were going.

Christmas Eve we spent with my mom in Nebraska City. We had a nice dinner, visit, and of course gifts. We were planning to stay until late evening, but due to the storm we left in the afternoon instead--gotta make sure we are safe--it was a good move--the roads were awful and just got worse.

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The remaining of Christmas Eve we spent at Shane's parents' house. We enjoyed their company and meeting our new niece Grace Elizabeth. Then we walked to Midnight Mass--in a blizzard :) The kids and I all piled into Veronica's car--that was fun--and slipped and slid our way there--You did a great job V! Then it was home to bed so we could get up bright and early to see what Santa (and everyone else) brought. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and enjoyed being with family.

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The morning following Christmas we loaded everything and everyone up into the car--WOW we got a lot of stuff!--and headed for home. We found that yes, Santa had been here, and he brought some great things. After opening gifts we spent the rest of the day playing with all our stuff.

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On Sunday, Mom came down and she, Julie, Katie, Meghan and I went to see Little House of the Prairie at the childrens' theatre and then went out for a wonderful Mexican dinner. It was a great time!

Christmas Time

We got to cut our own Christmas tree this year! It's the first time in 3 years that we have had a live tree. The kids (and Shane and I) were very excited.

Meghan's first grade class did a Christmas play. The different characters were trying out for the part of tree topper for Santa's tree. It was really cute. Meghan was a flower and did a fabulous job--of course, it was drama!!

I took the 3 little ones to the mall to see Santa--that was a new experience for us too. The mall here has a really neat playground so the kids played while I waited in line (a great way to do it) and then they were all happy to see Santa. Katie asked for gameboy games, Meghan--Baby Alive and Dillan Buzz Lightyear and Transformers.

So far we have had a good Christmas season. It's really nice to be in the states for Christmas--we will even get to spend it with family and friends.

Enjoy the pictures and the video clip of Meg's part in the play.

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Catch up time

As usual there has been craziness in our household. So now to catch everyone up. I'm going to post pictures from Katie's 9th birthday, our trip to the pumpkin patch, the girls' Veteran's Day parade, and the first deer Shane got with a bow.

In between all of these things we have had a lot going on. I got PRK surgery to correct my vision. I'm about a week and a half out from it and I'm doing well. No more pain (believe me there was for a few days) and my vision is pretty good. It's improving daily.

Over Thanksgiving we went to my sisters and had a great time!! Great food and company and Black Friday shopping. Unfortunately, we also discovered that Katie, Meghan and Dillan all had lice. So we had a really fun time treating everyone and washing everything and spraying down the house. We are all over it now though and thank goodness!!

I guess the rest of our lives is just normal busyness. We are getting ready for Christmas and enjoying each others' company.

Enjoy the photos!

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Meghan's School Paper

I just had to share this one!!!

How to Cook a Turkey
by Meghan

First I will go to the neighbor's and ask if they can buy a turkey. Next I will cut a hole in the turkey's private and stuff it. Then I will put it in the oven for 12 minutes at 800 degrees. Last I will take the turkey and put it on the table and cut two pieces- one for my mom and one for my dad.

Gotta love that girl!!!

It's Cookie Time!!!

It's that time again. The girls are both selling cookies. We just spent 1 1/2 hours going door to door so they have gotten a good start. We have only done booth sales in the past so this is a new experience for them, but one they are enjoying. If anyone is interested in cookies, let me know. They are $3.50 a box and money is due upon delivery in mid-Jan. Remember to buy a bunch of your favorites--they freeze well!!

Adjustments

It's amazing how hard adjustments can be--even when they are good ones. We had to adjust to Shane being deployed last year and that was one of the hardest adjustments we have ever had. Then we had to adjust to him being back home, which also took a while--although that was a good adjustment. We had to adjust to moving back to the states (that one was easy and didn't take long). Now, we are going through another adjustment and it isn't always pretty. This year Shane is in school--that means he has a low stress job and is home a lot. This on the surface is a good thing. Actually, not just on the surface, it is a good thing. However, this too is a huge adjustment for our family. The kids have started school, but not activities. Shane is home most days between 1 and 4. Dillan and I are home full time right now--neither one of us has started school yet. So all 6 of us are on top of each other a lot of the time. Together time is awesome, but too much can be stressful too. We can get on each other's nerves quite easily and things escalate much to quickly. Don't get me wrong, things are still good in our household, but we are definitely going through another adjustment. Just as we had to get used to being apart during a deployment, now we have to get used to being together most of the time. Adjustments, Lord help me through this.

Flamingo Fridays!!!

We had our first Flamingo Friday in our neighborhood last night. For those of you wondering what that is, hang on one sec and I'll explain. We are really not this creative--we borrowed the idea from some friends of ours. The basic idea is to get together with neighbors in a casual atmosphere to relax, get to know each other, and enjoy each others' company. Shane and I made up flyers that he took to all 59 houses on our street (it's a continuous street so there really isn't a logical breaking point so we went with the whole street) inviting them to our yard for a Flamingo Friday party. This basically means that we provide paper products, tables, and grills. Everyone brings their own "meat dish", chairs, and drinks. They also bring a side/snack/dessert to share with everyone else. We get together with whoever shows up (about 1/2 the street did) and just have a good time. Now, the plastic flamingo comes in because someone else will take it and put it in their yard to signal that they are hosting next week's party. We got great feedback from everyone so we are hoping this will continue the entire year we are here. Even if it's only for a while it's a great way to meet the neighbors and make some friends. It was a great night!!

Quick update

Well, the kids started school this past week. They all seem to be enjoying it--yep, even Brendan :)

Brendan is in 6th grade now and is adjusting back to public school, but seems to be doing just fine. He has made a couple of good friends and has joined a running club which starts next week.

Katie is in 3rd grade and seems to have a wonderful teacher. She is learning responsibility this year--they have something to bring home and be signed each day. She also has a couple of friends from her class who live on our street so that is really nice.

Meghan is in 1st grade and is already jumping right into reading. She really likes her teacher and also has friends (of course--she's Meghan) everywhere:)

Brendan started scouts yesterday--they have 2 troops here to choose from--he tried one yesterday and I think is going to try the other one next week and then decide which one he likes better.

The girls are both signed up for scouts, but don't actually start until Sept.

Dillan will be starting preschool in Sept. He will go 3 days a week from 8:30-1:30. He is really ready to go. We are enjoying Mommy/Dillan time, but he wants to be with friends.

All 4 are signed up for soccer which also starts in Sept.

Shane seems to be enjoying his classes. His "work" days are quite short so we get him home quite a bit. He was actually home by 1:00 today. He, of course, has to study, but he's here so that's nice.

Shane and Brendan just went through the hunter's safety course so they are gearing up for pretty much any season that happens along:) It's nice to see them doing that together though.

As for me--right now I'm just Mom. But, if everything works out, I will be starting my courses to earn a Gifted and Talented Education Certificate the end of Sept. Pray that it works out because I'm getting quite frustrated. I have finally found the right program at the right school that will accept the funding I need them to, it's just getting a previous school to release the account they wouldn't even accept that is the hold up. Hopefully I will get a response from them this week and can get enrolled.

Well the kids will be home from school in a couple of minutes so I better go.

Last post of pictures

This is our last day in Florida. We went to Sea World.

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And finally--this is our new baby.

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Trying to finish this up

Here is day 3--Hollywood Studios This was Dillan's best day of his life just because he got to see Lightning McQueen!!!

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Day 4 and 5 Epcot (not many pictures) and Magic Kingdom again

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Shane just walked in the door so I will do SeaWorld pictures tomorrow.

Time for a bit more

I divided our Disney Trip up by days--there are a bunch.

Here is day 1--Animal Kingdom

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Day 2--Magic Kingdom

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I'm back!!

WOW!!! What a ride! Moving, Disney, unpacking, getting settled...ok still working on that last one.

We have finally arrived at our new home. The kids are having a ball making new friends. This street is all 4 bedroom homes which means every family has at least 3 children....makes for a lot of fun around here. We have met a few of the neighbors--we are all moving in at the same time so it's rather chaotic around here right now.

Shane starts work next week full time--he's doing a couple of hours a day right now--and the kids start school already next Tuesday. So we will be getting back into a regular routine which will be very nice.

I've finally got all the pictures unloaded so here are some of our final days in Italy, Disney, and our new puppy. Hope you enjoy them!


Salute to the Nation--a ceremony where the flags of the 50 states are posted to honor each one--the local scouts carry the flags...

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Here are the kids feeding pigeons on our last trip to Venice.

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Here was our first stop in Florida--Gatorland.

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So much stuff to do... the rest will have to wait until later, but I promise to get back to them soon.

Last post for a while

Well we are really close to leaving Italy for good. We lose our internet/phone tomorrow so this is my last post for a while. On Thursday we will be clearing our house and moving into the hotel. Then we have 10 days to do any last minute day trips (have to go to Venice one last time) and then just swim and enjoy the 4th of July before we fly. We fly out of here on the 5th and then we have our Disney World Trip!!! Can't wait for that. Plan to get our new home mid July. So once I have internet hooked up in the new house I will get back on and update everyone on how we are doing.

For now, I will be spending the next 3 days cleaning and packing, packing and cleaning. :)

The girls are going to attend VBS this week so they have that to look forward to also.

I know I hadn't posted any pictures of Brendan's baseball team so here are a few from his game on Sat. His team won 6-5--it was an awesome game!!
So enjoy the pictures and I'll see you stateside!!

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Baseball 2009

Here are some photos of the kids playing baseball and then some at a playground. Hope you enjoy them.

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sorry I haven't been posting--Mom:) We are just trying to get ready to come back to the states so I can actually see you:)

We have been planning our Disney trip and are getting quite excited about it. We clear out of our house next week--then we will be in the hotel on post for 10 days and then fly out. Can't wait!!!!

OOh and I just found out that our car is ready and waiting in Orlando!! YAY!

Fun Times with the Kids

Katie had a field trip to the Butterfly Arc and I got to go with her. It was really beautiful. I had 2 butterlies land on me--Katie was pretty upset that none landed on her. She purposely wore red and yellow because they told the kids those were the colors the butterflies liked--apparently not. Oh well. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

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Then there was an activity on post for the kids--Army Kid Strong II. The girls went during the school day with their classes so other than saying "Hi" to them, we didn't see them, but I did take the boys--here are some pictures of them playing around and having a good time.

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What's going on with us??

Well, let's see. We have next to nothing left in the house--I have discovered once again that we have way too much stuff!! I'm loving not having anything here and really don't want a lot of it back! So all the purging I did before the movers came will happen even more so once we unpack. We are anxiously awaiting the actual move.

The kids are doing great in baseball. Dillan is a riot! When he is focused that child has talent. It's just the focusing on a baseball game when you are 3 thing that is tough. He has some great coaches though who just focus on him quite a bit--really cute! Meghan is playing this year--never has before--and I'll just say it's a good thing she sings because baseball is not for her :) Katie is really enjoying it this year--she plays coaches pitch and she hits really well. Brendan is still on the Italian Little League team and we still think it's a great thing. He is going to try out for catcher this next week I think so we will see how that goes.

I have wound down all my committments and the only thing I'm still volunteering at is centertime once a week in Meghan's Kindergarten classroom. I will be doing that for the next 3 weeks until school is out. It's nice to not be responsible for anything outside the family for a while.

So we are now just finishing up baseball, finishing up school, and relaxing until it is time for the move! YAY!

Talent Show

Meghan was in the school talent show today. They started off 2 weeks ago--anyone who wanted to try out did so in front of their class only and the class voted on who got to move forward. Next those children went before a panel of adult judges one day after school and they picked who got to move forward to the big show today. The big show today was not a competition--just a showcase of the elementary school's best talent. (the video is shaky--I had a 3 year old "helping")

We are very proud of our singer.

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(Yes, Meghan did sing the same song she did for her recital--I didn't have a chance to teach her something new--I promise she will learn a new song for her next performance!!)

Brendan is a Boy Scout!!

This weekend Brendan had his final camp out as a Cub Scout. We all went on Saturday to have a fun day of games and playing around at camp. That evening at the camp fire Brendan was presented his Arrow of Light--the highest award in Cub Scouting. After being presented his arrow, he was received into the Boy Scout Troop by 5 of the scouts and the scoutmaster. It was a very special evening. We are very proud of our Scout.

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1st Communion

Our Katie had her First Communion on Sunday. We are so proud! Here are a few pictures of the event--the quality isn't great since we weren't allowed to use a flash, but there was a photographer as well so I hope to get some better ones later.

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And just for fun... Here is how Dillan dressed himself this morning. Enjoy the laugh!