Heath is 7!!!!!

May 21, 2009......7 Years Old!!

Eating his favorite pizza.....Mellow Mushroom!

$7......one for every year....from PawPaw and MawMaw.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake for dessert.

Lego Racers.....I was so excited to get them!

I can't believe he is seven.  I told him the story about the night he was born and it seems just like yesterday that all of those things happened.  I decided not to have a big birthday party this year since Daddy is gone and he wanted us to wait until he got back to do anything so we just had pizza and cake and opened presents from PawPaw and MawMaw and one gift from Mommy and Daddy.  He took Donuts and juice to share with his class and was very excited about that!  When Daddy gets home we are going to go to Johnny G's (an indoor play place and game room) and have cake and ice cream and open all of the rest of his gifts.  So really he is making out big this year by having multiple times when we celebrate his big day!  Happy Birthday Heath!!

Eli Pre-K End of Year Pics

Eli has successfully completed Pre-K!  In one way I am so happy.....but in another way I am very sad.  He truly was blessed this year with a teacher that is truly an angel here on earth.  Mrs. Lora has worked wonders in Eli and he has blossomed under her guidance.  The end of year festivities began with what was to have been a water day.....but the weather played a damper in that in it turned into a bubble/fun day.  The kids had a ball playing with bubbles, Frisbees, mini jumpy houses, and baseball.  Eli loves to run and play and this was right up his alley!  Then on Wednesday the children and parents presented his teacher with a gift for all her hard work and dedication.  We gave her a gift card bouquet that she can use on things like gas, groceries, pampering, dinners out, etc.  Then on Thursday they had their program and graduation.  My videos from the digital camera aren't that good but I was trying to hold a video camera and digital camera and operate both at the same time.  He sang his little heart out and I think he may be a star someday because he seems to like being on stage!  Eli is off to a new adventure!  Lake Joy primary here he comes......I hope they are ready!!

Thank you Mrs. Lora....we truly love you and will miss you!!!

Field Day 2009

Heath and Catherine pulling Cole on a sheet.

The jump rope relay.

Heath doing the crab walk relay.  Look at Ms. Dunn's face....she is competitive!

Field Day at Heath's school was last week.  It lasted from 9-2.  We dropped Eli off at school at 9:00 and the girls and I headed to Heath's school.  We got there just after they had started.  They had 4 different stations set up around the field for each grade level to have an area to be.  One area was a bunch of free play activities that they children could do with little to no supervision but the other four areas were relay type activities.  Some of the relays the entire class competed and some of the relays they had chosen students to compete based on their abilities.  Ms. Dunn, Heath's teacher, was very competitive and kept reminding her class that they were not there just to play the games that they were there to win!  That was good for Heath's personality because he always wants to be the best so that just fired him up.  You will see by the pics that they seemed to have a really good time.  He was very tired when he got home and slept very well that night!  The girls even seemed to have a good time.  The spent the morning playing in the hula hoops and picking "flowers".

Chloe and Caroline playing with the hula hoops.

Caroline picking "flowers"......I call them weeds!

Thank You USO

The boys watching Daddy read.

Pic of our TV screen with Daddy reading Green Eggs and Ham.

The girls watching him read.

The USO sponsors this reading  program for military families to keep in touch while their parents are on deployment.  We got our first books today and it was really neat to see Daddy reading to us! Bobby records himself reading books to the children and then the USO sends both the book and the dvd to the children.  The kids were so excited to see their Daddy on the screen!  For those of you who know Bobby well know that he doesn't enjoy reading......especially children's books so I am so happy that he is doing this program.  I think he is missing the kids as much as the kids are missing him!   

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

I saw this on my friend Jennifer's blog and I thought I would steal it!  I hope you don't mind Jennifer.

What Is A Military Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique
But this they have in common:
lots of moving---
moving
moving
moving far from home
moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course
moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house
moving curtains that won't fit
moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours
moving away from friends moving toward new friends
moving her most important luggage; her trunk full of memories

often waiting-
waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting
for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls;
waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come
home for dinner.

They call her 'military dependent', but she knows better
she can balance a checkbook
handle the yard work
fix a noisy toilet.

She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts.

She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, --
--all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.

Reinvents her career with every PCS; locates a house in the desert,
the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all 'home'.

She MAKES them all home.

She is fiercely IN-dependent
Military Wives are somewhat hasty
They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career
alternatives, churches and friendships.

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.

Their roots are short but flexible.

They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.

They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of
friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil.

Military Wives have a common bond.

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands.

His commitment is unique. He doesn't have a job, he has a 'mission' he can't just decide to quit.

He's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's the most...
Unreliable guy in town...
His language is foreign: TDY, PCS, OPR, ACC, BDU
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long-distance link to keep them informed; the glue that
holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments--
She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia .

But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture.

And she goes.

She packs.

She moves.

She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart.

It was stolen from her by a man
who puts duty first
who salutes the flag
and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military husband,
She will remain his Military wife.

~Anonymous

Livin' Inside Out Choir Performance 2009

Heath and Eli both performed Friday night at our church's Kidsong Dinner Theater.  Both had been practicing for a couple of months to prepare.  Heath had a little acting part where he acted like he was one of the three blind guys.  Eli got to stay on the stage for the entire performance.  They first thought the preschoolers would just sing a song or to and then go down and watch from the audience but the did so well they let them stay the entire time.  Heath did really well on his part.  We were blown away with how well Eli did.  He stood up there and sang his little heart out.  His director said he was her best one with knowing the words to the songs.  It was a wonderful evening....the kids had a blast and we enjoyed watching them!

Booster Thon Fun Run

Heath's school had a Fun Run to raise money for the school.  It was a neat program that they kids got to be involved in.  They not only raised money for their school but they learned character traits to help them make good choices and got to develop their fitness level all at the same time.  Each child was given a t-shirt that had a track on the back number 1-35.  As they ran each lap(approx. 1/16th of a mile) the teachers crossed off the laps on their shirts.  The cap was 35 laps and Heath had finished that many a good 5 minutes before they called time.  Does that surprise anyone?