Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry I've gotten so behind. I've been so busy. We put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The children just loved it! Chris got to "help" this year. He couldn't get the hooks to stay on the branches. It was so cute though. We got pictures of the kids and the tree. We were going to have to change the ornaments around after a few days( most of them were down at the bottom), but the base of the tree broke. We had to take it down. We will be putting the tree back up this week. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas without a tree. The important thing about putting up the tree is that it's time we spend together as a family.

Christopher and I went to Julia's school to watch her Christmas program last week. It was so cute! Julia was Mary. Mary and Joseph had a "donkey" crawling down the aisle behind them. The shepherds were leading "sheep" down the aisle(one of them was crying for her mother). Everything was just perfect for such little children. After the manger scene, each class sang a Christmas song. We really enjoyed it. I don't have any pictures of it yet.

I got together with two of the class moms and did Julia's class Christmas party. It was so much fun! The kids made little manger scenes out of toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. All they had to do was put material around the rolls to make robes and a little bit of material over the head. You just had to slide rubber bands over each piece to hold it in place. They actually turned out cute. Then the kids got to decorate sugar cookies. We also had a birthday party for Julia's teacher, Mrs. Cole.

Rick and I are starting to get ready for our trip to Okinawa, Japan. We are going to see the Aaron Miller family. Our tickets have been paid for for a couple months. Now comes the fun part. You know, the packing. We have to pack for the kids(10 days @ Rick's parents' house) and for us. This is my first trip out of the U.S.A. so I'm excited and a little nervous. At least I'm not going alone. Rick has been over there before. I think the worst parts of the trip are going to be the endless traveling and the time difference. Jet lag.

We will be leaving for West Virgina the day after Christmas. We will get to see our families for a couple days. Then on Monday we will start our journey. We won't be back 'til the 7th of January. So, I won't be blogging for a couple weeks.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Julia's Fall Festival

Julia is really enjoying going to preschool. We had parent teacher conference a few weeks ago and her teacher said that Julia is a little angel at school. She listens well and learns everything that is being taught. She loves learning.

October 31 was the day of Julia's school Fall Festival. Fall Festival is a day that all the kids dress up in costumes, and show off for their parents. They have a little parade and then sing several songs. I dressed Julia up like a little princess(she wanted to be Princess Daria from the Pink Kingdom). I fixed her hair up in a sock bun and let her have a tiara and a wand.

I dropped her off at school, then waited for Rick to get there. We stood outside for a while just waiting for the kids to come out. They marched past us twice(the sidewalk goes in a square). Then we all went up to watch them sing. They did a great job. We could hear little Julia's voice above most of the kids. At least she's not afraid to sing out. We were so proud of her. Here are a couple pictures of my little princess.
































Now, we're all caught up to the present. Finally!

Christopher's Birthday

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Our family has been through one illness after another. I've been told that it's normal when your child starts preschool.

Christopher had his second birthday on October 20th. We did a Curious George party. He enjoyed all the attention and all the toys.






























Chris played with his cake topper. It's safely put away now.















He was very excited to get another "digger truck".

We also got a play tent for Christopher. He shared that with Julia, of course. They had so much fun with that tent. I hated to put it away. I'm sure it will come out again during these long months of fall and winter.

More Birthdays

I had my 30th birthday on October 11th. Rick took me out for dinner the night before. We went to Outback. I got to try Crab legs. Mmmmm! Were they ever good! We walked around in the Mall for a little bit after eating.

Rick gave me my big birthday gift, while we were waiting for our table at Outback. It was in a gift box. I opened it and it was a gift certificate to a day spa. I got up early just to spend about 4 hours at Salon Vivace. I got a facial, a full body massage, a manicure, a pedicure and a hair-washing and drying. It was very relaxing.

When I got home, I ate lunch and went to the Mall to spend my gift card. I got a cardigan at Christopher & Banks.

When I got home, we had a birthday party(mostly for the kids sake)with cake(Rick insisted on 30 candles)and presents. I got a fuzzy throw and a memory foam pillow. Nice for those long winter naps. Anyway, I had a great birthday.

I can't find where Rick put the pictures right now. I will post some soon. I know you'd like to see that cake with 30 candles on it.

Birthday Pictures

Here is my birthday girl!















Here is her cake.















The kids enjoying their treats.

Birthday Party!

On September 20th, we had a birthday party for Julia. She turned 4 on the 22nd. We thought a Saturday party would be best because of Rick's busy schedule. I even tried to invite our neighbors over for it. I ended up having to cancel having them over. All of us came down with some kind of bug. I took party favors and treats over to their house and told them I had to cancel.

We still had our little family party. My sister-in-law Jessica decorated, while I sat out in the garage wrapping gifts. Julia wanted a Dora party this year. I didn't know how popular that stuff is. It was hard to find a cake topper. I finally bought a little jar of play dough that had a Dora stamper on the top. It was just perfect.

The party was a success. Julia loved all of her gifts. She loves cake and ice cream. Chris was so funny! He didn't know what to think of the icing on his cake. Rick tried to feed some to him and he just held it on his tongue and started to cry. He got some on his fingers and couldn't stand it.

For some reason, blogger won't allow me to upload pictures today. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

My Little Preschooler

Julia was supposed to start preschool on Monday, September 8. She came down with a fever, and had to stay home on her first day. She was so disappointed. Anyway, her first day was Wednesday. She's so excited about making new friends and learning new things.

I had parent helper day on Julia's first day. So we were both learning our way around at the same time. First, I helped get the kids out of the cars when they got to school. Then, I sat at the end of the hall at the helper table and cut stuff out of construction paper, labeled library books and just waited for a teacher to call me to help out in their class. I only had to help once. Mrs. Cole needed me to help her kids(one of which is Julia)wash red ink off of their hands. That wasn't too hard. I also had to go to the lunch room and unlock the cabinet for the teachers and then clean up after the kids were done eating. At the end of the day, I helped the kids get back into their parents' cars. I really enjoyed my day.

After everything was done for the day, I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of Julia with her teacher. I got my camera and asked Mrs. Cole if she would mind having her picture taken with Julia. Mrs. Cole picked out a monkey from the class collection and I took their picture. I guess I did forget to mention that Mrs. Cole's class is the "monkey" class. Everything is decorated with monkeys! Julia fits in perfectly.

Anyway, our busy life has begun. Julia goes to Chestnut Memorial Preschool three days a week. She's in the afternoon program, so she's only gone for a couple hours. I always feel a little mournful when my kids reach another mile stone. Not because I don't want them to grow up, but because I know life will never be the same again. They grow up so fast!














Julia with Mrs. Cole.

Fun With Friends

Tuesday, Rick got all the title work for the van. We went over to the Boardman's house to pick it up. We are now officially a two-car family. It still feels a little strange, but I'm sure I'll get used to it fast.

Lisa and I arranged a meeting over at the Virginia Living Museum with our kids. We took the kids to see the crabs and the fish. We walked over to the education center to see some animals(a hissing cockroach, a millipede, a black rat snake, a turtle and an alligator). Then we went to see the dinosaur exhibit. That was the biggest reason why we went there this week. It was the last week for the dinosaur exhibit. Christopher loved the dino robot. The roar was his favorite. Julia's favorite thing was the box of bones. There were bones buried under "dirt" and you used a brush to clean off the bones. It was really neat.

We went out on the animal walk next. We saw wolves, coyotes, a bobcat, deer, turkeys, eagles, a fox, a skunk and all kinds of birds. There may have been more animals, but I can't remember them all. We had a really great time. Thanks for suggesting that trip to me Lisa.

Well, I need to stop for this time. I have to finish packing for our trip to West Virginia. It's going to be a fast trip. It's always crazy, but totally worth it. Hopefully, we will get to see everyone while we are there.

Normal Life

Well, our new schedule has begun! Rick is in school, and working. The kids and I are home most of the time. That will be changing soon. We are buying a mini van from the Boardmans this week. Then we won't be trapped at home all the time.

Julia will be starting preschool in another week. Children grow up so fast, don't they? She is excited about going.

About a month ago, some new neighbors moved in across the street. There are 3 children. They like to come over and play in our yard. We have a big driveway to ride bikes on and a tree-house and a dirt pile to dig in. Julia just loves the little girl Zoe. All the kids' names start with Z. Zachery, Zoe, and Zander.

Not much has been happening around here. After Julia goes to school, I'm sure things will be just hopping. So, I think I'll just enjoy what remains of this quiet life.

Here are a few new pictures of the kids.

Happy Birthday Rick

We celebrated Rick's birthday on Wednesday, August 13. I spent most of the day decorating and writing in cards and getting dinner ready. I helped Julia get a picture drawn on the back of her color picture. Then I helped her sign her name in the card from the kids. She also drew a picture inside the card. It's called personalizing a card.

I decided to make "Alice Chicken" for supper. I love to order it when we go out to Outback steakhouse. I came across the recipe on-line and decided to try it out. I really enjoyed cooking it. But silly me, I had forgotten one of the ingredients. I had to run to the store across the street before I could finish it. I am not too good at broiling meats, but for once, the food didn't get burnt.

I fixed up the table fancy. We had a lace tablecloth, a centerpiece and cloth napkins. We all had fun.

After we were done, we had cheesecake for dessert. Rick isn't much of a cake-eater, and he didn't want me to make the whole recipe of Buster Bar because we eat at it for several days. So, I did the next best thing. We even put candles on it for Julia's benefit. She said that it isn't a birthday without candles.

Here are a couple pictures of Rick's party.

Missionary Friends

When Rick was deployed to Japan last year, he came in contact with a very special missionary family. They encouraged him so much, that when he got home, we started sending them boxes of encouragement. They are so sweet. After we sent them a Christmas box, they found out we were having a hard time. They sent us a box. Imagine that! I'd never heard of any missionary giving back like that. I've never met them, but I love them.

Please remember the Aaron Miller family when you pray.

Our Favorite Dog

Not much has been going on around here. That's why I haven't posted for a little while. Rick has been out of school for two weeks now. We have one more week of "normal" life left before the whole thing goes crazy again. What I mean by "normal" is that Rick goes to work around 6 a.m. and comes home between 4 and 6 p.m.

I thought that I would post a picture of my parent's dog. His name is Jack. When we go to West Virginia to visit, Julia loves to pet him. She has known Jack all of her little life. Jack used to come up and sniff the baby carrier when I was taking her into the house.

Jack can be a little rambunctious at times. He jumps over the gate and onto my grandma's back deck. There are cats up there. I guess he likes a little excitement. LOL. Jack also loves to take long walks with the family. He runs excitedly, and hopefully, up the hill, when anyone comes outside. He's ready to go!















Here's our favorite dog.

The Cool Sleeper

Last night, Christopher was wearing his sunglasses. When I was getting him ready for bed, he still had those glasses on. I thought he would take them off before he went to sleep. He usually throws anything that doesn't belong out of his crib before going to sleep. So, when I checked on him a few hours later, I was so surprised to find that he still had them on. I had to walk out of the room. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even tell Rick what was so funny. When I finally told him, he just had to take a picture. It was just too cute! No, we didn't turn the light on. Rick just used the flash.

Our Seventh Anniversary

Rick and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday, July 20. Of course, we couldn't go out to eat on Sunday. So our friend Lisa Boardman kept our two children on Friday afternoon, while we went out.

When Rick suggested that we go to the Chrysler Art Museum in Norfolk, I thought "just lots of paintings and statues." It was so much more than that! I actually enjoyed looking at the paintings. But there were also exhibits from all over the world. We got to see a Pharaoh's coffin, armor from Japan, masks from Africa and Glassware from all over the place. We saw the work of many great artists. There was also a piano, which was carved very beautifully, that Rick asked the guard for permission to play. That was our favorite part. The acoustics in that room were just wonderful. I still don't care for modern art so much, but I did develop a better appreciation for art.

After we had gone through the museum, we went out to eat. Rick took me out to Aldo's Italian Resteraunt last year. It was his turn to pick the kind of food we would eat. we went to the Emperial Palace for Chinese food. We had chicken on a stick and shrimp for our appetizers. Rick had duck and I had sweet and sour chicken with pineapple, green peppers and onion. It was so good. I even tried some of Rick's duck. It tasted alot like turkey. This wasn't just any old Chinese buffet. It was fine dining. Candles on the tables, curtains on the booths and cloth napkins. They even had a hired piano player for dinner music. It was a great experience.

We couldn't take pictures in the museum, and I didn't think of taking one of the building itself. But I did get Rick to take a picture of the kids on Sunday. They both looked so nice in their Church clothes.

Independence Day Cake

I used the holiday as an excuse to make a cake. I just love to make cakes and decorate them! Rick doesn't like cake that much, so I usually only bake one for special occasions. I made half of the batter into cupcakes and the other half, I made into an 8"x"8 cake.

To me, a cake is like an empty slate. You can create any design you want in any color that you want. I knew I wanted a flag on my cake, but didn't have time to mix up all of those colors. Then, I remembered my red sugar sprinkles. Could I make them into stripes without making too big of a mess? I did it! I used little candy hearts for the stars. I had so much fun!

My cakes are not perfect. I just started decorating a couple years ago. I'm learning new things all the time. Here is a picture of my latest creation.

Our Fourth of July

I guess it's time to post again. It's been a little while now. Anyway, I have some new pictures to share.
We spent our Independence Day on the beach. We were on the beach for about 2 hours. The kids played in the sand and in the water. Rick flew his kite(or rather, he tried). I sat on our straw mat for a while just watching sand crabs. My favorite thing to do at the beach is just listen to the waves. I watched the kids play and just enjoyed the quiet.
After the beach, we went to KFC and then to Sandy Bottom Nature Park to eat our supper. Then we went to Ft. Monroe to watch fireworks. We got a little bit wet near the end of the show. A bad storm was rolling in. They finished the fireworks just in time for a downpour.
When we got home, we had a piece of my Independence Day cake, then got ready for bed. It was a good day. It was full of fun and family memories.


































































Chris got all tuckered out.




























The kids enjoying their food. Yummy!

Time To Cool Off

We've had a heat-wave over the last couple weeks. It was in the upper 90s and even got up to 103 on a couple days. I thought it was time to get the pool out for the kids. In the end, I decided to let Rick do it. It was too dirty for me. But I did get out the sprinkler. The kids just loved it. Chris didn't know what to think of it at first. He never ran near the middle, but he enjoyed running through the edges.

Rick cleaned the kids pool out, patched the little hole, and filled it up on Saturday. The kids got to play in it for about an hour. The first thing Chris did when he got out was to go sit in the dirt. Just like a little boy! Rick had to spray him off before I could change his clothes. Oh well. The most important thing is that he had lots of fun.

I took pictures of the kids in the sprinklers, and Rick took pictures of the kids in the pool. I'll try to get a few of those pictures on here.

Playing Outside

We've been having some really nice days here. I took the kids outside a couple times last week. I got a few pictures of them.



















Chris loves to sit on our back steps.































Rick found that hard hat in Huntington Park. Someone lost it off of a ship. It has the name of the ship scraped into it. Rick thought it was cool, so we brought it home. The kids love to play with it.

I put Chris in the little bear harness(it's like a backpack with a leash), and we took a walk. Chris stopped every few seconds to exclaim over birds and the sky and everything else he could see. It was so cute.

Rick had duty this weekend, so we didn't get to go to church. When Rick got home, we went over to Boardman's house. We had church and a snack afterwards. We really appreciate the fellowship we have. I don't know what we'd do without them.

Summer is right around the corner. I plan to enjoy it with my family. There will be plenty of pictures. I'll try to post more often.

Cakes

Last Saturday, I made a marble cake and decorated it. This is only the second one I've really decorated. It was a "Happy Spring" cake. I just bought a decorators bag and tips and wanted to try them out. I used shortening icing to decorate with. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Here's what it looked like.

Wedding Pictures

This is all my aunts and uncles with the bride and groom.















You may now kiss your bride!

Wedding Pictures

This is all the brothers and sisters together with
Grandpa and Grandma Walter.




















Uncle John walking Grandma down the aisle.

My Travels

I guess it's been almost a month since I last posted. Pretty bad huh? Lots of things have happened in these past few weeks. I'll just give you the highlights.

My Grandma Rowley fell in love and was planning her wedding. Rick was trying to figure out a way to get me down to Tennessee for it. We finally decided that I should fly to West Virginia and ride down with my parents. Then came all of the preparations for that trip.

Rick decided that I needed a break from the kids. I offered to take Chris with me, but he said no. He wanted to care for the kids for 4 days, while I went away. He said it was only fair, after he'd left us all behind several times, while he was in the military. I didn't know what to think about that. Four days with no kids?!? How would I stand that?

Finally, the day arrived. We loaded my things in the trunk of the car and drove about 30 minutes to the Norfolk International Airport. I felt reluctant to leave my kids, so we walked around for a little while, looking in shops. It felt so strange, saying goodbye to my family.

I love to fly, but I hadn't flown in years. I always get nervous. I"m just afraid that I'll get lost and miss my plane. I've never done that, but I'm always afraid I will someday. I flew from Norfolk to Detroit, MI. As you know, that airport is HUGE. So, when I landed, I read where I was supposed to go and trucked my way along on the walkways(I love those things!). I had to walk through a tunnel that was all lit up with flashing lights. They were in the walls and ceiling. It was so cool! Anyway, I got to my gate, and found that they had moved my departure gate. I finally got to the right place. Whew! What a relief! When I finally got to Charleston, my mother, sister and brother were waiting for me. Always nice to see familiar faces.

The next day, we all crawled into Dad's Caprice, and set off for Friendsville, Tennessee. When we got there, we went over to the rehearsal dinner. I saw lots of familiar faces from the past. Not only family, but also people from Pennsylvania, who I knew from Penn View.

The wedding was beautiful. Lavender, white, and purple. My mother and my Aunt Ruth were the bridesmaids. I took a few pictures. Dad's turned out better though. I'll be posting a few with this entry.

All of Mom's brothers and sisters made it for the wedding. All 10 of them in one place. It was one of those rare occasions. Uncle Terry traveled the farthest. California! Dan and Debbie NM, Dave and Anita OK, Nathan and Ruth Mississippi, Dad and Mom WV, Steve and Amy PA, Steve OH, Daniel and Rhonda, Chris and Kathy, and John and Sherri TN. It was great to see everyone again.

I finally got back home on Monday, April 21. I was glad to be home with my little family again. I missed them very much. Coming home is the best part of going away.

More Pictures of The Kids

I figured out how to flip the pictures around. I did it all on my own! I'm not a computer whiz, so it's nice when I can figure something out on my own.



















My little Princess!



















Here's Daddy's favorite picture.



















Poor Chris got tired of pictures.



















Christopher's best smile ever!

Enjoying Nice Weather

Last weekend, we had some really nice weather. It was in the 70s. So we took the kids outside to play. We even took a little walk. Here are a couple pictures of the kids.




















Julia loves the flowers on my azealea bushes.




















Chris loves to swing!




















Julia and I love to pick little spring flowers
to make into crowns.

My Kids in Their Easter Clothes

I didn't get a chance to take the kids' pictures last Sunday. We just got our family picture. So today, I got the kids up and got them all dressed up for pictures. I'm not much of a photographer, but I gave it my best shot. I want to put their single pictures on here, but can't figure out how to turn them around. So, they will get put on here at another time. Rick will have to help me. Here are a couple that are already right side up.















Here are my kids in our easy chair.














My "Little Man" dressed up in his Sunday best.