Turn off the playlist to hear the video!

My handsome man

He did the funniest thing today. I was working at the computer and he came up to me and said "Do I look handsome?" Well, of course, I said yes (he was still in jammies and he'd taken a handfull of lotion off the counter and used it to smooth his hair down. It was so funny. We washed his hair and got ready for the Christmas party, and lo and behold, here he comes again, with his hair matted to the top of his head. Obviously I didn't explain the difference in lotion and hair products well enough! He had greasy feeling hair all night, but he did look so handsome!
This coat was one of our hot bargains at Mervyn's. Isn't he handsome!


Ethan was so excited to see Santa arrive in the T-38 tonight! Oh, to be young again! Ali even showed a little excitement (for her, this is somewhat rare - our serious little monkey). She was terrified of the big guy when he actually got wihin 10 feet of her!

Good Stuff!!! Good stuff.

It has been crazy, but life is great!
we finally saw the urologist in San Antonio and learned absolutely nothing new, but at least we know we are on the right track. She'll be re-tested in March for signs of improvement with the reflux. Thankfully, she now sees her medicine as a good thing and takes it happily - since she could be on it for many years!

On our trip, we spent an insane amount of money - Christmas shopping and hitting going-out-of-business sales. I have a sense of guilt about taking advantage of poor stores who are practically giving stuff away - but who can pass up 80 percent off at Mervyn's? Not me!!!! It was a fun trip - with a trip to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Park and a return to the zoo (we have a season pass, you see!). Casey and I had dinner and a romantic walk on the River Walk one evening. I love, love, love that Caitlyn is old enough to watch her siblings! Did I say I love it!

We returned home and had a wonderful visit with Pops and Granny Dannie. The kids loved calling her that, and I think she came to like it. Maybe she was just being polite? They drove all the way from Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with us. We hope next time, we can get more time with them. Alisea really took to Pops and I know they loved getting to know them both better!


I got most of the Christmas stuff up, but never seem to have the time to put the boxes away. I took over the reins for the branch Christmas party on Tues, for a party that is tomorrow! Think simple! And I was in charge of crafts for the squadron Christmas party tonight. Did I mention I don't know how to say No? It's probably pretty obvious.


So that pretty much catches things up.

lots of info and pictures coming soon

It's been crazy busy around our house, so I have lots to mention - but no time just yet. Stay tuned! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Activities Chairperson? Me??

Calling number 2 - Branch Activities Chair. It seems that dressing up and being one of two who decorated my trunk for Halloween, and helping Caitlyn go all out with her cooking display has somehow landed me in this new calling. Now I get to plan the branch Christmas party which is in 2 1/2 weeks. Ideas??? Anyone???? It will be a morning event. Will I ever learn to say NO??????? Probably not.

The end of a loooooong week!

If I ever volunteer to host two events for a bunch of women in the same week again, just shoot me. I hosted a game night for the squadron, complet with dinner for 13 ladies on Thursday, and turned around and hosted a baby shower for a friend in the squadron on Sat. morning, complete with brunch and the rest of the hoopla. I am not very good at asking for help (except from Caitlyn, who was ready to run away till it was all over by the end). Both went very well, by the way.
On the plus side, my house has been clean all week (the kids were scared for their lives to get anything out). Casey - bless his heart - made a comment on Friday night that became a great conversation piece at the shower. He said "It's so nice to go into the weekend with the house clean!" My female overworked brain is screaming - "what's that supposed to mean? Are you implying that it is usually a pig sty? and so on" and I'm relatively sure he was sincerely trying to give me a compliment on how nice the house looked. Since I needed him to keep the kids out of my hair Saturday I kept quiet in the interest of harmony. We're such great communicators! To his credit, the house almost always needs attention, somewhere!!!

Ali takes a bath

The other day, I was gettig the bathtub ready to give the kids a bath. I had put the water in and the phone rang or something so I left to get it. Then Ethan yells, "MOM, Ali got in the tu-ub" in his tattle tale voice. Here's what I found when I returned - I swear, this all happened in about a minute.

To make matters even more interesting - She REALLY needed her diaper changed. She has been in the habit, lately, of sticking her hand in her diaper to "show" us when she's ready to be changed - I know - gross - and she did that in the tub while wearing a 15 pound wet and poopy diaper. Well, now I have a soaking wet, poop filled diaper, floaties, in her clothes, in the tub wearing Ethan's backpack full of his toys, and his hat, and Casey's running the opposite direction as fast as he can go.


Needless to say - bathtime was a long process! We'll let you use the other bathroom if you come visit!

Dental report!

The kids and I all had our first dental visits in over a year (Ali's first ever) and I was a little nervous about what the results might be having gone that long! Overseas, they only allow once a year visits. It was not too bad!

Ethan went first, and I swear that kid did everything perfectly! I was so proud of my little man. He just got a reminder to brush twice a day (which he is adamant about doing now) and otherwise clean bill of health. The pediatric dentist was so good with both kids - and bonus - he knew where Safford, AZ was!!!!

Alisea was not happy about being tortured by the toothbrush. She's still anxious anytime she's held in place for anything - who can blame her after the reflux stuff she had to do? Anyway, we got her teeth clean and she got a new purple polka dot toothbrush - so she left happy. She loves to wander around the house sucking on it.

Two days later, Caitlyn and I had our visits. I am happy to report NO CAVITIES!!!!! I do have to have a preventive little filling where there is a pretty deep groove in one of my teeth, but no biggie. Caitlyn was cavity free too, but unfortunatly - the x-ray showed that all of her wisdom teeth are already formed and growing in sideways! BAD STUFF. I waw the x-ray and couldn't believe it! Needless to say, she'll be going in for a panoramic x-ray to evaluate how far along they are and a dental surgeon will look at it to determine how soon to cut them out. Yuck!

Here's a picture of my little man - he's the only one I got a shot of.

Help! Blog addresses needed

I was trying to be fancy and accidentaly deleted my blogger buddy list so I have lost almost all of the addresses for your blogs. Please, if you have one and you read this, would you post it for me?????? I'm so sad because I love reading all of your blogs. I'll have to learn to be more careful!

More Halloween pictures

 

Our Little Spanish Dancer

 

Caitlyn's "other" costume

 

Caitlyn and Ali in their dresses from Spain

 

Ethan and Ali are off to trick-or-treat

Halloween Pics - finally

Okay, so I'm a little slow

Ali loved this stray chihuahua!

My futile attempt to get a picture of all three kids at the same time

Handing out candy after making the rounds

Is this what having a teenager will be like? Missing in Action? We're at the fall festival pumpkin patch
So I'm a little slow!

Tim is my hero!

I just have to say thank you AGAIN to my brother-in-law, Tim for fixing my internet problem. Casey's laptop has not connected to the internet in months - and I'd tried every thing imaginable (well, obviously not everything, since there was one thing that worked) to fix it. My BIL is a computer genious, seriously, but I know he gets called on all the time to fix people's stuff, and I was determined I would not need to bother him. Well, after months of futile attempts, and most recently losing all of my internet time to Casey - I broke down and called him. He was fixing my computer from Mesa - so cool. Anyway - it took all of maybe 15 minutes tops to figure out the problem and get it fixed. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's very handy to have smart relatives!

 

Chauffer Daddy

 

Batman and Little Witch - Ethan's friend LuLu

 

Batman is ready to save the day

 

The storybook Parade

The "pickle shooting thing"

Ethan learns at an early age to "shoot down" the bad guys. Watch Casey's head as he follows the movement of the jets in the game. They're playing ACE Combat 4 on Playstation.

Fall Festival and Stuff

We took the kids to the Fall Festival on base. They had a good time riding the ponies, painting pumpkins, making smores, and much more. Caitlyn has come to realize she's "outgrown" most of the fun stuff, so she was a little bored! We almost got a good family picture, but Caitlyn ditched us for awhile and missed the photo op.

Casey finished the fence, officially. He put the last of the Thomsons Water Seal on and called it good!!! Yeah!!!! Now, what's next on the honey do list???? He's also had the opportunity to take a couple of rides in his buddies' airplanes and has got a serious case of "I want a plane-itis".

I just added a few more pics to the slideshow. I'll start a new one for all the end of October hoopla coming up!

T-38 Spouse Taxi

Today was so much fun! The squadron had a spouse taxi day where we got to go through the motions of flying a T-38, and then taxi'd at 90-100 knots down the runway. Trying to make the coms at the right time was the hardest part for me! We toured the tower and other facilities, practiced flying in the simulator, which I landed on the first attempt, I might add! got fitted for the proper gear, had pictures taken at the jet, and finished with a great meal. Even babysitting was provided by the student pilots and IP's who weren't participating in the taxi's. I have never been able to participate in the past for various reasons (being pregu, for example) so this was lots of fun for me. I have a new appreciation for the whole process, and enjoyed being in the jet with Casey.

Caitlyn's volleyball season has ended. She had a good time, and, of course, it's exciting for me to see her playing my favorite sport! Now she's preparing for a program called UIL which is Texas's version of academic decathalon. She is a very bright student, and all that talking she does, combined with her insanely excessive reading addiction, which makes her well versed and mature sounding, has got her speech teacher getting goosebumps about her in class (I talked to her at open house last night), so she'll be participating in oration at the competitions. I think she'll do very well. She's also going to try pantomime (between you and me, I don't know that she'll do as well- CAITLYN not being able to talk??????)

She also got 6 A's and a B on her first report card. She's in all advanced classes, except electives, so we are really happy with her. Tomorrow, she'll have her first "official" babysitting job (one that doesn't involve Ethan and/or Ali) and at someone else's house. She's very excited! My little baby is sure growing up. I can't wait till everyone ses her - you'll be amazed at how "grown up" she's become.

Ethan loves helping me put gas in the car. He's also very good about holding the door for me and other "gentlemanly" tasks. He makes everyone laugh when I tell him what a good gentleman he is and he responds with "I'm not a gentleman, I'm a BOY!"

Alisea had her well-baby check today. She's terrified of doctors offices right now, after the tests she's had done recently, so that was no fun. She is finally putting on a little weight - almost a pound since last month and is finally officially fat enough to face forward in her carseat. She's in the 90th percentile for her height - up from 50th last time, and is at 10 percent for weight. Basically - she's tall and skinny like Uncle Darin.

I keep adding to the slideshow. Here's some more of the monkeys' doings.

Okay - It only took me 6 months...

To realize, thanks to my sister-in-law, that I am still on Italian time (wishful thinking maybe??) So if you were thinking I'm a serious night owl or something - this is about as late as I get, and then, only when Casey is night flying (guess where he is tonight??)

He really has a pretty cool job. Tonight, he flew with a group of guys to Austin, will have a nice dinner in an actual restaurant without kids, and fly back to go to bed. It's the without kids part I think I'm most envious of. We haven't dared going out to eat as a family unless it involves a play area and a seat with an Ali proof seat-belt. Have you noticed they are always broken???

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Casey turned a whoppin 35 on Friday (I know, I shouldn't talk!). Time doesn't slow down for anyone! We celebrated Friday by leaving the kids home and going to the movies. Caitlyn baked and frosted a cake and surprised him with it when we got home. She really has a loving side and enjoys doing things for others! Then on Sat. we had a bbq with friends and enjoyed some good company.

This morning, Casey decided to try planting some acorns from our little trees. The kids enjoyed "helping" him.

On a side note: I am back in business with my cell phone and things are good again!

My baby has reflux!

We just got the results from some tests on Alisea that confirmed that she has viscoureteral reflux. Basically, urine backs up toward the kidney on her left side and it's not supposed to. The problem with it is that it can lead to kidney infection and possible scarring and other problems over time. The tests were ordered initially because she had a bladder infection and the VCUG test is recommended because she was so little to be getting one. Anyway - its a level 3 out of 5 - she'll be on an antiobiotic in a low dose to prevent infection, and probably be evaluated again in a year to see if it has improved any (it can correct as she grows). We don't think, and surely pray, that she won't need surgery to correct it. We haven't actually met with the urologist yet - so I'll update that if he changes the plan.

I am so sad that my baby has to have this in her sweet little body. On a positive note - she gained almost a pound and a half in the past 5 weeks! She was still under 20 pounds at 14 months and not gaining. She is by far our most active little bugger, but it was a concern. Anyway - she has been getting pediasure and it seems to be doing the trick in helping her put on a little weight. While these are the negatives going on with her, she is really very healthy otherwise. If I moved around even a fraction of what she does, I'd lose some weight too!! The monkey figured out, after just a couple of days, how to get herself onto the trampoline and through the net after watching Ethan climb up on a chair. She gets on, and off of chairs, tables, couches, out of the van, over any obstacle, really, and it is absolutely amazing! Ethan's bed has a slide, and we worried about her getting hurt, but she crawls up, and slides down backward, forward, on her belly, just about any way, just fine. She's fearless. I'm scared to death.

I need a phone!

I can't believe how lost I feel without my phone! The good news is I am getting it replaced (long story) but it won't happen till Friday. In the meantime, it's driving me nuts. We didn't get a home phone, so I'm totally disconnected except through email so if you happen to have tried calling, I really didn't ignore you! It doesn't seem that long ago that we didn't have cell phones, and I thought nothing of it. Then we did the car phone thing (like 12 years ago) and thought we were up to speed. Now, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a cell. Things change so quickly! I was picking up Caitlyn from volleyball practice today, and saw at least 10 different girls talking on theirs. These are 7th graders, mind you!! The rest probably had one in their backpacks (except Caitlyn- big grimace).

Ahhhhhh ALI!!!!!!

Well, I not only need to replace Caitlyn's cell phone, but now, I get to shop for a new one for me too. I love mine! However, "little miss into everything and then some" managed to dip mine in the toilet yesterday. Thank heaven it was flushed! I couldn't tell for sure, but I don't think she fully submerged it - but it probably won't matter. Ethan rarely remembers to flush, so for that, I'm grateful! I have little hope that it will work again. I already know all of my schedule and contact info has been wiped out. It powered on, but then acted all wacky, so there you go. We just got these in April! Now I feel Uncle Mark's pain - although I think he's the one who dropped his in the toilet (hee-hee)

I guess I should have known better. A few days prior, she was stirring toilet paper with a brush. It's hard to limit her access to it since Ethan uses it all day, and doesn't close the door behind him. It's a good thing I love her so much. GRRRRRRR.

Stay tuned. I'm sure she'll do something else of note before long!!

OUCH!!

Ethan took a nasty tumble out of the back of a wagon at preschool on Monday. His nose took the brunt of his fall! He's been a trooper - and his teacher, Miss Sally, said he was very strong and other than some tight lipped whimpering, he didn't even cry. Thata Boy!

Alisea is becoming a screamer! Help. I was mortified at Wal-mart (it really is the only place to buy anything around here!) when she started screaming at the top of her lungs every time we tried to move away from whatever had her interest. And trying to leave - oh boy. Then Ethan got going (no nap today!) and if you could have seen the looks of disgust, sympathy, amusement, etc. depending on who was around at the time. These aren't little screams, they are the kind that leave your ears ringing! We'll be stepping up the "you need to learn to talk" lessons pronto!

Caitlyn lost her cell phone last week. It took her a couple of days to "fess up"- but it's gone. Our dilemma now is that we really liked having her on an electronic "leash". Since she hasn't had one, it's been a pain. How do we teach her to be more responsible, though, if we replace it? We intend to have her pay for a new one, but she really doesn't do anything much to make money. If we wait till she has the money, it could be a long time! hmmmmmm.

Casey left for Las Vegas today for a mini practice "deployment". To Las Vegas???? Whose idea was that?? Seems someone important from base is Carrot Top's brother (you know, the comedian) and they are all going to his show and actually plan to hang out with the guy. That could be interesting. He'll be back Sunday.

We finished the fence!! Well, we do still have to put the pickets on the big gate when Casey gets back, but it would be done if the guy who welded it for us had shown up the six different times he was supposed to. No Kidding, are we in Italy or something??? We seriously waited around for this guy day after day - and he didn't even call to say he'd not be coming. Casey would drive to his workshop, get a new time, and then nothing. He just didn't show. The gate, however, is awesome. Casey designed it with some input from Caitlyn. We know the design was a lot harder than the guy anticipated, so we didn't want to make too big a deal of it, but it looks great! He put it up today - and Casey missed it.

What we've been up to.

It's been a little while, but we've been busy.

We are currently working on our privacy fence. It's been a little slow-gowing, but is coming along and soon, I'll post a finished project photo. It's truly been a family project! Every free moment is spent out there working on it. We don't get much accomplished when the kids are awake (Ali mainly) so we get about 3 hours of good work time, as long as the battery on the drill doesn't die too quickly.

We bought 2 fairly big trees for the backyard. They were delivered and planted yesterday. It's amazing what a difference they make. We got pretty big ones so we could actually enjoy them before we have to sell our house to someone else. I was sad that Ethan was at school when they brought them. He missed the bulldozer in the back yard

Caitlyn is in school, full swing. She lugs around 50 pounds of books and stuff which can't be good for her back! She is on the 7th grade volleyball team and loves that. It's a HUGE team, subdivided into 3 teams.

Ethan loves preschool. Ali loves me!! and Life is good!

What's there to say about Del Rio

Sadly, now that we are settled in here, I'm finding that life is pretty, well, dull. How do you beat an assignment like Aviano (Italy)? Every post was about the new and exciting things we were seeing and doing, the awesome new places we visited, and so on. Then we arrive in Del Rio. The highlight of our week was seventh grade orientation!
Okay - so it's not really that dull. We have met a great family from Jordan who treated the kids and I to a lovely afternoon on a boat at Lake Amistad. I'm sure that will be mentioned repeatedly during our stay here, as it is the main attraction. Maybe I'll take up fishing, and perhaps even get a tan. That's just wishful thinking on my part.
Ethan did make us laugh till I was almost in tears on the way out to the lake. Caitlyn had a little gas in the car and we were driving along and I hear Ethan say "ewwww. That's a disgusting toot!" In the middle of his movie. Caitlyn, didn't even try to deny it. We laughed so hard at the way he said it that Alisea started doing this funny little fake laugh to mimic us. It was a funny moment!
We are finding that the house we bought is literally surrounded by other military members, mostly from Casey's squadron. It's like off base, base housing! The house across the street was just bought by a family with two boys. They are 11 and 13. Caitlyn is 12. And..... they have a pool. Need I say more. More grey hair, that's for sure.
Well, I'll get the camera dug out for some updates soon.

Whew!!

I think we set a record for getting moved in. Every box was unpacked in a week. This never happens! I have to say having Casey home to help with it all was a tremendous help and the kids were pretty cooperative, considering. Granted, we did get a shipment on Wed. from our storage in Phoenix with about 15 more boxes, mostly tools, that I haven't bothered with yet, but I'm not counting that! Except for putting up a few more pictures the house is ready for game night! Now if only we had someone to invite!! We sure miss all of our friends and family.
We are slowly meeting people, but haven't been outside of the house socially enough yet.
Caitlyn is participating in the Missoula Children's theater - presenting The Little Mermaid, tonight and tomorrow. I'll take pics and post that later. She's anxious to start the 7th grade on the 25th and make some new friends.
Ethan started preschool two weeks ago. It's been good for him. The only program around here that was only part day was on base, so I drive him 20 min. each way for that, but everywhere else had long days - 7:30 to 3 ish. I'm not trying to get rid of him all day, just a few hours (hee-hee). He's meeting lots of friends.
Alisea is getting bigger and starting to say more words. She loves to point out all the dogs on our evening walks, but freaks out when we get close to one. She is learning to be pretty tough, having big brother Ethan to fend off all day, so we are having some minor (so far) issues with her biting and hitting. She's getting a little more hair, which is much lighter than I expected!
Life is good.

Celery?

Yep, the paint Caitlyn chose was called Celery. I must say, I am so proud of us for starting and FINISHING the paint project we planned for Caitlyn's room, and in one day! Oh to be young, and bold again. We did that faux painting technique with a lighter color that toned it down a bit, thankfully.
Ethan enjoyed putting some paint on the walls. We kinda had to include him. Who doesn't love to paint when they are little??? It was fun, and tiring, and we didn't get any on the floor!

SOLD!

Whoo Hoo!!! We closed on our house on Friday!! I'm so relieved that when we actually got the keys I still really liked the house. I was so worried that after seeing so many and having to choose between them, that I'd wonder if I should have picked a different one. Anyway - We had a mix-up with our household goods delivery date, so we won't have anything for yet another week! So now, instead of camping out in San Antonio, we are camping here. We've had a good first few days back in Del Rio and are looking forward to making the most of our time here.Ali tripped over the door jam on day 2 and now has a doozy of a fat lip. She's otherwise really enjoyed all the wide open space to run around in. She opens the empty cabinets and puts things in, crawls in, etc. Ethan is just anxious to get his garbage truck back, and Caitlyn is going to paint her room while we wait. I'll do a before and after pic. of that.

"I'm your son!"

A couple evenings ago, we were babysitting for our neighbors kids. During dinner, Casey turned to the little boy and said, "Son, you need to eat if you want to get strong....." or something like that. And Ethan pipes up immediately with - "He's not your son, I'm your son!" Casey was caught a little off guard, but we had a good laugh about it. I guess Casey will have to use names.

The Movies and more.

We saw "Hancock" this weekend. I kinda had to, since that is my maiden name. We'd heard it wasn't very good, but I must say I was entertained. The next day I went to "Journey to the Center of the Earth" with Caitlyn and that was fun. We don't get to spend nearly enough time together without the monkeys along, so it was very nice. I am not too picky with movies, and I liked it, even as far fetched as it all was. Caitlyn loved it. Then, we were off to Cold Stone for some very yummy, and very very expensive ice-cream. We plan to make our mother-daughter time a more regular, once a month, and probably standard movie night. The options for a m/d date in Del Rio are seriously limited, so this should work out great! She's starting to like the more chick flicky stuff, so Casey gets off the hook this way!

We also spent a few hours at the zoo, and I am happy to report super behavior from the kids, and my foot and knee problems did not slow me down (well, not very much). The darn lions were sleeping again. The coolest thing was the hippo exhibit. They have a little pond that is visible through a glass enclosure. Both hippos were underwater, and we could see all of them. It was cool to see them swimming and floating around. Ethan's favorite thing was the black goat he got to feed. Alisea freaked out when they got anywhere near her. She cracked me up when she locked her little legs around my torso when I tried to stoop over for her to see them up close! The camera battery was dead, so I have to get the pictures from my phone. I'll add them later.

Grrrrrrrrr! Need to vent.

Just got back from the doctor- again - with news that explains why my foot has been hurting so badly for the past 5 weeks. Apparently - I have a stress fracture on the calcaneous (heel) that is in the healing stage (thankfully, I'm past the most painful part) AND I apparently have another stress fracture in the 3-4 metatarsals which are currently causing me much pain and swelling. I probably should have been in a boot, and definitely not using my foot so much. I now have to wait a week so another x-ray can determine whether the metatarsals are in fact fractured. This is all very irratating, since I did absolutely nothing to injure them but walk. It seems that because I was completely non weight bearing for so long, that the bones thinned and weakened (a common side effect), and I just happened to fracture mine in multiple places. These usually occur after a fall off of something high (a roof or bleachers) or after hard running with pounding - neither of which I came anywhere close to. Grrrrrrr!!! I almost cried when he recommended I use the crutches for a couple of weeks, at least partially. Knee is doing pretty darn good though, considering. It's also good to have verification that I wasn't just being a baby!

I just hope it doesn't get any worse and that I can walk somewhat normally when we get to move into the house. Okay - thanks for listening.

Just 2 more weeks and....

We'll all get to sleep in our own beds, and not on air mattresses and foam cushions.
We'll all fit around the table together when we eat.
The kids can watch a movie at the same time I'm on the internet.
We can park in a garage - and the inside of the car won't be 110 when we get in.
I can cook a meal that requires more than one pan, or a casserole dish.
I can do laundry more than once every two weeks, and in my own house!
Our clothes will be in drawers instead of in piles and suitcases all over the floor.
Caitlyn can make some new friends.
Our "coffee" table won't be 2 stacked rubbermaid bins.
I won't have to drive 8 miles to check out a vacuum cleaner I only get to keep one day at a time.
We'll have pictures on the walls
We'll have shelves for books, bins for toys, drawers for loose items, etc
Etc. Etc.

We are getting so excited to move into our new house.

Lots of goings on

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence Day. We enjoyed festivities at Randolph Air Force Base. Our kids were so tired by the time the fireworks started they could hardly keep their eyes open, but they still enjoyed them.

Yesterday we took the kids to the San Antonio Zoo. We ended up getting a membership so I can take the kids whenever we want. There were some fun things for the kids there. Ethan got the most excited about an aquarium full of turtles. We've been getting rain, and we enjoyed a cloudy day with a few light showers while we were there. Not bad for a Texas July day!

I am officially off the crutches and cane. Caitlyn teased me that crutches were for hurt people and canes were for old people so I developed a complex about using the cane! Aside from some soreness in my foot, and weakness in my leg, I'm doing pretty good. It feels good to be able to walk normally - well almost.

I miss my Caitlyn

I am now realizing just how much Caitlyn was helping me this summer. She has been on her vacation for a week now, and life at home is so different, and so much harder for me with my bum knee and ankle problems. I don't JUST miss her for her slave labor, although I admit that is nice, but she's fun just to have around too. I can't wait for her to get back.

Where is Ali's hair?????

Yesterday, we were eating pizza on base and a little girl (like 7 ish) got excited about Ali's earrings being so pretty to her mom. We could hear her very clearly since she was sitting right behind us. Then she asks us, "is she a girl?"! That was kinda the whole point of getting the earrings. We thought it was pretty funny, especially since Ali was wearing all pink, and had pink earrings and still got questioned. She looks very much like a girl. Oh, to have hair! Someday. Till then, I'll just have to relish not having to comb anything during her "I can't sit still" stage!

Some cute kid stuff

We were in Del Rio, AGAIN, this weekend and the kids and I were at the TLF room doing laundry and hanging out while we waited for Casey. Ali decided to explore the cabinets in the kitchen, and found one she could fit into. Then she discovered the pots and pans were in there too, and she had such a good time banging that stuff around!!!
Then she decided to wear my shirt. She actually put her head in intentionally, and got very upset when I tried to remove it. She put it right back on. She has figured out that the camera means to smile, and even at barely a year old, she's a little ham! This is very fun for us because she normally seems so serious and contemplative.
Ethan was hanging out in his stroller to watch Scooby Doo, instead of using the couches and chairs in the room. Doesn't he look handsome?! Notice the band-aid on yellow bear's head. I think it's going to be permanent. He's also got two others!!
The monkeys enjoying the ride home. We just turned Ali around and she loves facing forward. She and Ethan are good buddies and keep each other pretty well entertained. The rest of the time, it's the rear entertainment system. What did parents do before portable movie watching??? I am thankfully never going to find out! We'll see how they do when we drive all the way to Arizona in August!

Caitlyn isn't in any of these because she's in Idaho with her friend Sam for a bit. She got to see her friend Nash in Salt Lake for a few days too. We miss her and hope she's having a good time. I'm sure she'll post to tell you all about it!

Did we buy a house?

We Finally bought a house - well, technically it's not ours yet, but we did get a contract signed. After Countless hours on the internet, four trips to Del Rio, 50+ home visits (some of those were 2nd looks), multiple offers and negotiations, lots of gas (the expensive kind) 6 nights in TLF, and all this with our 3 munchkins in tow, we did it. Keep in mind we found out we were headed to Del Rio in December, and have been on the internet looking at these houses since then! After all that, it was kinda anti-climatic. I guess it was such a long time coming, and then took several days to "negotiate" and contracts were faxed back and forth, etc. etc. that it just sorta happened without much fanfare. I intend to make Casey take us out for dinner when we close! Needless to say, we're headed back, AGAIN, this weekend for the inspection. Are home buying expenses tax deductible???

This picture is from the realtors site, I'll post more when it's actually ours.

My baby is 1!!

I can't believe my little peanut is a year old already. She's been such a joy in our lives. I can't imagine life where she isn't in it! She's practically running, and loves to play with her big brother. She has gotten a little more attached, and hangs on so tight to my neck when she wants to keep being held. She has a smile that lights up our home, with her four little teeth showing proudly. I am truly blessed! Now I have to figure out how to get her to drink her milk.
We celebrated with a cake at the home of our realtor in Del Rio, where we had gone to play in the pool. She made a serious mess on the patio, and then we just took the hose and sprayed it all off! I'll have to post pictures later because I am an idiot and left the camera in San Antonio and the only shots we got were from Casey's phone. I'll figure out how to put them on here soon.
Happy Birthday Ali!

A Happy Father's Day

I think Casey, aka Daddy, had a good Father's Day. He wanted to take the kids to SeaWorld for the day, so that's what we did. We arrived at about 10 in the morning, and left at 9 pm. Whew!! Our kids are troopers, I tell ya! We were able to take advantage of their program that allows military members and up to 3 dependents free admission, so that was awesome. Between the shows, roller coasters, and water attractions, there was never a dull moment! Casey spent the day filling and refilling water bottles and Darla applied everybody's sunscreen at least 4 times. We rented me a wheelchair, and Caitlyn got to push me around while Casey pushed the stoller. If you have to be stuck in a wheelchair, take advantage of the little things. We got to go straight up to the front of the lines through the wheelchair access to get on the rides. Ethan's favorite thing was the blue pirate boat (Shamu's happy harbor). I have always been partial to the sealion and otter show!

Hope everyone had an awesome Father's Day!

Crutches - Be Gone!!!! Sorta

It figures that I get the go ahead to lose the crutches, and I find that I still need them, at least partially, because I have apparently developed some sort of tendonitis or something in my ankle and foot. The doc. was a little stumped but the fact is, every step I take feels like I'm walking on a bed of sharp pointy rocks (like it feels when you walk barefoot in a riverbed with lots of jagged edges) and I get shooting pain through my ankle. Anyway - it's a wait and see if it subsides or not thing. Here's hoping it goes away SOON! Poor Casey wants me to be better so bad! He's been getting up for the baby during the night, and early morning since this injury occurred and can't wait to hand that duty back to me!

The knee is doing great! I have 135 degrees flexion back. That isn't expected till much later, so that's awesome.

Looking forward to the weekend.

We're Going on a House Hunt...

We just spent the weekend in Del Rio where we explored 29 different houses, 27 in one day. In case you have forgotten, I'm on crutches! That's another story.

Anyway, This was our third trip, and we have probably seen close to 50 houses, and the Ratliffs could be happy in half of them. We made an offer on one, which was a really low offer on a great, but over our budget house, that has been on the market almost a year. We had a pretty good shot at getting it, but they countered with more than we want to spend and we are moving on to the next one. I don't know what's going on there, but who the heck do they keep building houses for??? Del Rio's not a big place.

So - Caitlyn did a great job babysitting for us all day Saturday. (At least, the kids were alive and happy when we got home) She's getting lots of practice for when we get settled in and she can sit for the neighbors.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I could see my foot swelling throughout the day - stopped wearing a shoe about halfway through, and then by the time I got to sit down for the night, and took off the brace my knee was the size of a cantaloupe and my calf looked like Popeye's forearms after he gets his spinach! The brace kept the areas under the straps compressed so the swelling went into the open areas. It was actually pretty funny. It is back to normal now, thankfully. I am supposed to lose the crutches Friday. Yippee!!

Casey's a major....

Pain in the behind! Not really - he's finally a Major in the United States Air Force. Way to go Casey!!! Now, what to do with the extra money??? I'm sure I'll think of something.

Alisea is walking!

It's official. She is walking. Still not very far, but I think we can definitely say she is walking. Yippee, and Oh Noooo!! It's funny how much you look forward to these little milestones, and then wish you could still look forward to them at the same time! She is growing up too fast.

Alisea gets her ears pierced and Ethan outsmarts dad

We decided to go ahead and get Ali's ears pierced. I think if she had any hair, we'd have waited awhile, but the poor kid still doesn't even have enough for a little bow. She only cried for a second (okay, maybe more like 4 minutes) but she seems to be no worse off for it. Anyway, they look so cute and pretty. Now, if she's not wearing pink ruffles, maybe admirers will guess she's a girl. She's still not really walking. She teases us with 2-3 steps, but then goes right back to crawling. I think it's a patience thing, which we are discovering she doesn't have. Wobbling steps just take too long.

Kids are so funny. Ethan has a way of getting the best of his daddy. Today, we had a little picnic at the park and Ethan wasn't eating his sandwich. He wanted the chocolate teddy grahams instead. So, Casey says to him after much argument.. "Ethan, I will give you the world, but first you have to eat your sandwich." Referring to the food we had around, And Ethan replies, as serious as can be, "but I don't want to eat the world." We got a good laugh over that one.

Hope everyone had a pleasant Memorial Day, and had a chance to reflect on what the many men and women service members over the years have sacrificed so that we can enjoy our wonderful freedoms.

Caitlyn gets glasses

Caitlyn is now a fellow "four eyes". She's needed glasses for awhile now, and we finally got her some. Wal-mart was super quick. We were told 7-10 working days, and she had them in 3! I think she looks very grown up and Italian now, and as beautiful as ever. She's in awe at the clarity and detail she can finally see.

I can't help but think about my first pair of glasses. My mom really liked this red-rimmed pair that were HUGE. I had a second pair that were just as big and Owl like. Casey still laughs at just the mention of those things. Caitlyn's are so petite!

Caitlyn goes Dancing

I can't believe my little baby is 12 and going to dances! The church had a youth dance Saturday night, and Caitlyn wanted to go. She rolled her pants and put her hair in the side ponytail to go out and boogie to the 80's music of my day! She commented that lots of dances have 80's themes, and I agreed since we had the best music and "coolest" dress styles then (you all know I'm kidding, right?) She just rolled her eyes at me. It went pretty much as I expected for her. Everyone just stood around talking, and since she didn't know anyone much, she ended up calling for us to come pick her up. Yeah for her new cell-phone (NOT). I wonder if anyone ever uses the phones in the building anymore??? So, Casey picked her up and took her on a date instead to see Caspian. Don't know how many more dates Casey will get with her before she's too "old" for that kinda thing.

Happy Mother's Day and Lellow Bear

Mother's Day is always so nice. It's way better than my birthday, mostly because I don't have to add another year to my already rapidly increasing age, but also because somehow, my family is extra, extra good to me. I must say, though, that I've been waited on hand and foot for 10 days now, so it's been like Mother's Day over and over, but there was definitely more chipperness!!! I am truly blessed.

I have to tell you how funny Ethan has been lately. A couple of days ago, he asked me if I'd use an extra ace wrap I had to wrap his "broken" leg, so I did. A few minutes later, he comes hobbling in with a pillow and asked me if he could sit by me and prop up his leg like me. It was so precious. Then yesterday, his favorite bear, lello Bear (very inventive name for his Yellow Bear, I know) had a broken leg. We put one of Alisea's socks on it, and he made a bed for him in the corner out of his special blanket and propped his leg up too. It is so darn cute.

On another note. I think Alisea will be walking any day. She's taken a step or two forward and then sits down, so it's definitely going to be soon. We got some cute video of her and Ethan in the pool Saturday. Now - how to put it on here.?? If it's on here somewhere later, that means I figured it out.