Fini Flight--June 2012

Trav's last flight with the Spads...Taryn got to nap at wonderful Emily's house, while the boys and I had fun watching him land and spraying him down...

Ammon's Father Day Lunch--June 2012

I knew Travis was awesome and a really cool dad, but these were some things I did not know about him.  He must be chanting to the kids in their sleep "Dad is always right....Dad is always right..."  I am going to try that....

The jet on his shirt...

Well for Mother's Day, he said I was 10 years old, so I have him beat here...

Spot on...

Also true

And hurray for learning to ride without training wheels just before we moved.  This was kind of traumatic because he was so excited and wanted to ride all of the time, the then the movers came and took the bikes and he would not get to ride for almost 4 months!!!

Our last yearly Busch Gardens...June 2012

Our last Beach trip...one of many lasts...June 2012

The last of May...

Oh my goodness, I have all kinds of pictures I loaded months ago and just found that I never posted!  I guess that's a good place to start.  Above:  Is this not the most tender and loving mother's day card?  Another mom might be a little grossed out, but I feel Kaden loves me even more to shower me with his obsession with snakes and reptiles.  I think he assumes everyone must love them as much as he does....

After some panic and tears, I convinced Ammon that when you get hurt, it is awesome to have something to show for it.  The bigger the better...

Soaking in the green of Virginia, and knowing it could be the last green we would see in a long time...

 

Wow

Okay, so it has been a pathetically long time since I have done anything on this blog.  Blame it on being homeless for 3 plus months, and having so much fun visiting with so many awesome people, and then not having the internet while we were stuck in the temporary lodging on base and working through all of our housing woes, and then being wrapped up in getting settled, and losing all of our pictures from this summer (I still can't think about that without wanting to cry and cry)....Anyway, my plan is to turn over a new leaf and start posting at least monthly updates.  Not that anyone ever reads them, but I know I was glad I did it before.  Thanks to Sarah, my sister in law for reminding me that I even have a blog and letting me know she actually read it sometimes =). 

The tricky part is knowing where to start...and since the only reason I am even awake right now is because the dentist was very mean to me today and I have a monster face-ache and can't sleep, I really would like to sleep on it and get back to it this weekend.

I have to not let life pass us by undocumented!  Things change so quickly and so much happens and changes with all of these crazy kids!

Here we go...

Well, when you can't sleep, you might as well blog, right?  The time has come--our movers started yesterday and we are officially half in boxes.  It's always so nerve racking wondering how everything is going to go.  But the first day has been GREAT.  We tried to be ready by 8 or so for them to get here, but they called at 9 and said it would be around 1130.  When they showed up around noon, I admit I felt a little panicked.  I mean, we definitely have 2 whole days of stuff to pack up.  AND there were TWO guys.  Trav and I got a moment alone and just shook our heads, saying "This is going to take forever..."  We had dinner plans, plus it just sounds miserable to be do this late into the night and trying to keep kids out of the way.  But T and M went to my awesome friend Rebecca's house, the these two movers were awesome.  One headed upstairs and the other to the garage, and within an hour and a half those both were about done.  They left THREE hours after they got here and in that time finished the 3 upstairs bedrooms and the upstairs bathroom, the garage, the living room and the 2 downstairs closets.  So that leaves the playroom, our bedroom, our bathroom, and the shed.  Oh...and the kitchen...I guess that counts since that's probably the most time consuming...

I had worked hard to prepare M and A about what to expect so they wouldn't see all of their stuff just being taken away or disappearing.  I thought I had done the same with K and N, but I may have not done it as thoroughly because I assumed they knew the routine somewhat.  They have been telling me for 2 months how many days until movers come and the past week or two I have been grinding it into them and we have all been busy setting aside stuff we didn't want packed.  If I would have thought about it, I would have guess who would be the most stressed when the chaos hit, but for some reason it caught me off guard that it was my oldest child who flipped out yesterday and everyone else is just fine.  The movers were here and gone before they got home from school.  They knew they were coming.  N walked upstairs and ran down so upset that his room was all packed up! "Mom!  what?  I wasn't ready--I needed to get everything ready!"  I told him this is what packers do and he knew they were coming today, and he claimed he thought they would do the upstairs last because that's what makes sense.  He went to play the piano as fast and furious as he could (that is his venting technique...highly recommended).  Then he came back and started to have fits about all kinds of things until I finally sat down with him ..."I know this is a lot of change and shakes up everything that you are used to, and that is why you are stressed about all kinds of things all of the sudden...but CALM down...."  And that seemed to do the trick at least until bedtime, when he didn't have a sheet on his bed, and no cup in the bathroom, and didn't know where to put his glasses for the night...and worst of all....his alarm clock was packed up so he couldn't set it for 6 a.m.  That funny boy.  If he got up at 7:45 in the morning he would have plenty of time, but he HAS to get up by 6 and do all of his routine, and read books until 7, and then he comes to our room and asks what he can do for breakfast.  He is one of those people who just really needs a routine and a plan.  Always asking about the plans that I have not yet made.  We are trying to teach him the importance of sometimes being flexible and spontaneous.  He didn't know what "spontaneous" meant and when I explained it to him, he looked at me in horror.  So funny.  I hope he survived this summer.  He did comment that coming up with a plan 10 minutes in advance is still having a plan, so maybe that attitude can help him =)...