A four year olds trinity

I like to multi task.  Although sometimes it doesn't work very well.  But for instance I am blogging, cooking dinner, and watching 4 kids play with play dough right now.  I also love to fold laundry and watch TV, read a book and ride the stationary bike at the gym.  Just to name a few.  We'll see if dinner gets burned!!

I also like to plan and have lists and really like it if things get crossed off my list.  So the next couple of months are going to be really challenging in the planning department.  You see, Justin's job at Walter Reed ends in May, thank goodness.  But that leaves us with where to next?  There are lots of options and 2 of them are jobs in this area so who knows we might not move.  There is also always the possibility of a deployment which I would also stay here while Justin is gone.  There are job opportunities in Michigan, Germany, and Georgia to name a few.  So when will we move, who knows but probably this summer sometime.

Then I have to think about preschool for next year.  It is already registration time and if we do end up staying I want Caroline to have a spot.  So I registered her just in case.  Then what to do about the house.  We bought our house and won't be able to sell it now with taking a huge loss.  So we rent, but that also brings more planning and lists and bunches of things to consider.

OK, enough about my thoughts.  Here are some things that Caroline said today that were just too cute.

1.  "I should have thrown a smaller piece."  This was said somewhat under her breath after I found out she threw a chunk of ice at her brother and hit him in the back of the head.  I didn't laugh then but have laughed several times since then.

2.  "I believe in God, Jesus, and Santa Claus."  For a 4 year old what else could you want!  I guess this might be called 4 year old version of the Trinity.

And then one from Will:

"Where sausage go?"  I made the mistake of just putting more noodles on his plate when he asked for more noodles.  Heaven forbid I forget to put the meat on the boys plate!

Big City life

Today was a great example of why I have come to the realization that I am not a big city girl.  I like creature comforts and convenience don't get me wrong but you can find those things in much smaller cities than the DC area.  Today Caroline's preschool was delayed and I needed to take Will to the doctor because he was complaining of an ear ache all afternoon yesterday and didn't want to eat dinner (very unusual).  So I call the appointment line and all they have is a 930, 1 or 330.  I can't really make any of those so I tell him the 930.  I then call the peds clinic directly and see if there is a cancellation for later in the morning.  There was and I got a 1030.  Great, I can drop Caroline off and head straight to Walter Reed and there shouldn't be any traffic problems that late in the morning.  Boy was I wrong!!  It took an hour and a half to even get to Walter Reed.  We obviously didn't make the appointment time so we had to wait until the doctor could work us in meaning I wasn't going to get back to pick up Caroline if I was going to wait for the doctor.  So I called Ellie and she was able to get Caroline for me and Will finally saw the doctor at 1230.  Not ear infection but it could become one and he is starting to get a cold.  GREAT!  I can't complain the kids haven't been sick since before Christmas.  We finally made it back home at 140.  What a morning!  Oh after about an hour in the car Will tells me he needs to tinkle.  HE was good and held it until I could pull over and let him pee out the side of the van.  Boys are so much easier in that regard.  HE also cried on and off for an hour wanting his daddy.  Did I mention I love big cities?!

I actually miss Fort Polk some days.  At least there the only thing you waited on was the train to go by so you could get to Leesville and the Walmart.

I forgot to mention that helping my fantastic attitude today was the fact that I was up at 1104, 1115, 1145, 1220, 215, 245, 3 ish, 525, and then up for good at 720.  So while Caroline is playing quietly in my room I think I might close my eyes for a bit before heading to the gym this afternoon for some me time.

Go Deacs!!!

Well, the deacons pulled it off. The season is complete!! Well almost, but doesn't winning against Duke and Carolina in the same year count as a complete season? Caroline and Will didn't get to stay up and watch the whole game but they did get to watch a few minutes before bed time. I had them wearing their Wake shirts all day to help them win. The kinda gray looking stuff on Will's shirt is dried yogurt! And yes they are sitting on the counter in their undies. It was after nap and they hadn't gotten dressed again.

Silly faces!
I tried for an hour last night to get a video to load but no luck. I will try again with a different browser later today.

GO DEACS!!

it worked!!

Another great snow day

Today when I woke up there was a coating of white all over!!  I love it.  I am just disappointed that it wasn't a foot of snow.  I am glad we are having more snow than we did last year.  So I called the neighbors and we got the kids ready and got outside around 1030 this morning.  We had lots of fun playing on the snow covered playground.  The pictures loaded backwards but oh well.  Caroline was making a weird face in this one, not sure what she was saying.

Will was also saying something but I don't recall what it was.  I was cold at this point we had been outside for close to 2 hours at this point.
Ellie pulling 4 kids on 2 sleds.  Will was having a teething moments and all he wanted to do was sit in my lap and cry.  HE is cutting his top 2 year molars and wasn't in the best of moods at the moment.
They were trying to do the see-saw but the metal was so cold and slippery that they had trouble staying on.
This was at the princess tea party.  They had glittery make-up and Caroline was sampling the lip gloss.
This was last weeks snow and I just downloaded this picture of Justin and the kids.  This was after Caroline had gone down the hill by herself and stopped herself by hitting the concrete drainage pipe with her cheek.  The only thing left this week is a little bit of a black eye!  She did go down again just not by herself.
We are loving the weekly snows!!  Keep em coming.

Long time no post!

Yet again it has been a long break between posts. I didn't want to sit in the basement where it is cold and type a post so I didn't and now my computer is being taken over by Justin so I am in the basement. But he is doing something productive on my computer. He is busy loading all the Cd's we own into iTunes. We got a new iPod yesterday so he is ready-ing all the music. It just doesn't leave me with much computer time at night.
Things are busy with as usual around here. Saturday Caroline and I went to a princess tea party for the daughter of my friend form Fort Polk that now lives in McLean, VA. IT is about a 30 minute trip to their house so not bad at all. I haven't downloaded the pictures yet but all the girls were wearing princess dress ups. Caroline had a blast and told Justin she didn't want to leave. When Caroline and I got home at 4pm the babysitter was already here and Justin was waiting on me so we could go to a farewell dinner for CSM Jeffery Hartless (google him). Justin had planned the dinner so we had to be there early to make sure the restaurant was set up appropriately. It was a very well done affair and everyone thanked Justin for the wonderful evening. It was at a Mexican restaurant so lots of chips and salsa and they served fajitas with chicken, beef, and shrimp. Yum yum! Sunday was a little more low key with church and then just hanging around the house with no football on TV. Then we went to Ellie and Robs to have dinner to celebrate Rob's birthday. What a great weekend.
I have included some pictures from earlier this month just so you can see the babies! The first is a typical Caroline outfit. Paisley and stripes, got to love that! This was Caroline and Will waiting on Ashley and Juliet to come over and play. You can see my entire messy den in this picture. I took it from where I was sitting in the dining room.

A little closer shot. The flash didn't reach that far, but how cute is that little hiney and princess Jasmine! They aren't standing on the cushions they are on the very back of the couch.

Last skiing pictures

OK, I know most of you are tired of seeing the skiing pictures so I promise these are the last ones.  These were taken with my cell phone.  We took a picnic lunch with us to Vail and we ate at a little house at the top of Blue Sky Basin (or something like that).  This was the view to the right as you came out of the house.  Wonderful!

This was inside the house looking out.  Lots of snow piled up outside the window.
Same shot as the first one but I went to the other side of the rack of skis.  You could see a mix of clouds and snow capped mountains for what seemed like forever.
This is at Breckenridge and the sunniest day (besides the day we left) we had.
I think I also need to mention that Justin and I did the Nastar race that a lot of mountains have on them.  It was a short not very steep slalom (?) course.  I whooped Justin!!!  But to be fair I have been skiing A LOT longer than him.  Even though this was the first time doing the Nastar for either of us.  I also got a bronze medal.  Also note worthy is that my dad got a gold medal on the same course.  SO much fun!

more skiing

Here are the pictures from my dad's iPhone.  Yes that is me in the picture below, and no I did not get pushed off that cornice, I chose to and it was awesome.  This was the day we went to Vail.  Dad measured this slope and if I am remembering correctly it was a 45% angle.

Marie, me, and Justin riding the lift to the top.
This is just another of me and Justin at Breckenridge.
This picture should have been first, but like uncle Paul, the pictures don't load in the order I pick them.  This is before going over the cornice.  Jeff Wilkins and I are waving at Dad.  That's some steep stuff!!
Another of Justin and I along with the beautiful snow covered trees and finally some sunshine.  Again this was at Vail.

Skiing pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip to Breckenridge, Colorado.  This was taken on the day we left, the sunniest day all week!  We had snow every day, so lots of fresh pow-pow(or powder)!  That's a new word that I learned!  For example Justin and I were riding a lift with 2 snowboarders and heard it being used like this:  Dude, look at that pow-pow pack on that board!  It made me laugh every time I heard it.  And this may shock some of you but I am not the coolest or in the know person out there.

Me all bundled up to ski at Vail.  That was the best day of skiing.  Jeff, Dad, and I went off a cornice and the slope was at a 45% angle.  So much fun.  I haven't downloaded those pictures from dad yet.
The view out our room looking at the pool and hot tubs that were great to sit in at the end of a day of skiing.
I have more pictures to download from my cell and from dad's phone so I will try and get those tomorrow.

Skiing

I don't have any pictures since I am not using my computer, but Justin and I are having a fantastic time in Breckenridge, CO.  The weather hasn't been very cooperative for taking pictures...winds at about 50mph and blowing snow like crazy.  But wonderful powder skiing.  I have made fresh tracks for 2 days!  Justin and I haven't been skiing out west since before Caroline was born so this is a great treat.  The kids are with my mom and are having a blast.  We are very blessed to have such wonderful grandparents that LOVE keeping our kids.  It allows Justin and I the opportunity to just be with each other as well.  We are flying home Friday afternoon so I won't do another posting until I get back to Gaithersburg next week.  I will have lots of pictures for you then.

Precious Moments

Caroline and Will have been getting along really well the past several months and I am so thankful for it. It makes my life so much easier/peaceful when I am not having to play referee all day. A lot of this is due to Will getting old enough to finally be able to engage in the pretend play that Caroline enjoys so much. They pretend to do all kinds of things around the house. Right now it mostly consists of the typical "girlie" stuff like baby dolls and dress ups. Caroline is the biggest so she usually gets her choice, but I know that will all change when Will gets bigger. For now I am thankful that they are such great playmates for each other. I am by no means saying that everyday is rosy and great. There are times of the day when it is best not to play with your big sister for example, before dinner on days that she hasn't had a nap. Big no no.
Then there are the moments that just warm my heart and remind you that kids are wonderful. We were riding in the car going home after eating lunch out and Will was upset and crying over something. Caroline reaches over and hold his hand and starts singing to him so that he will calm down. It worked and he was happy after that! Then another night Justin and I were going to the movies and when we were leaving Will was crying. When we got home the babysitter told us that Caroline had been a really big help. We were thinking OK, what did she tell you that she could do. She had gone and gotten a matchbox car for Will and played with him to get him to stop crying for us. How sweet!!
I can't wait to see more of these great sibling moments as they get older. And hopefully not too many upsetting ones.

A little side note: my laptop (mac) had been doing weird things the past couple of days so I decided to take it to the shop to see if I had a virus or something. They are still working on it but they said it sounded like the hard drive was crashing! Not fun! Can't wait to see what that bill will be. All that means is I don't spend as much time on the computer and I don't know if I will have it with me next week when Justin and I go skiing in CO with my dad and Marie for the week. You will just have to wait for the awesome pictures of Justin tackling the moguls!!

Christmas Day

OK, Justin reminded me last night that I haven't made a post yet this year.  So I am trying to finish this one that I started a few days ago so he can't pick on me any more.  These are just a few of the pictures from Christmas day at our house.  We had 7 extra people spend 3 nights with us.  Our house was very full but also lots of fun!

Caroline with her full Snow White outfit on.  Love the black wig!
Crowd shot with Will, Grandma, Grandpa, and Jackson.
Caroline and Karen.  She was showing off some of the furniture that goes with her doll house.
It the back left is Jeff and Lacey, then Susan, Will, and Graham.
This was the scene before I went to bed Christmas eve.  This doesn't include everyone's stocking stuff which was all around the room.  

Justin and I have been slowly removing some of the decorations and putting them on the dining room table.  Since today is the 12th day of Christmas I guess it is time to take it all down, but who really ever wants to do that.  The tree will be the last to go and I will miss coming down stairs in the mornings and seeing it all lit up in the dark room.  So one last Merry Christmas to all!