Day trip to San Fran--again!

These uploaded backwards--but it really doesn't matter does it ;)

The boys at Coit Tower. Unfortunately the elevator to the top of the memorial was closed, but we did go inside to see the murals and parking wasn't bad--maybe other people got the memo ;)
We actually started the day at the Japanese Tea Garden. It is a small garden that has been cared for since 1894 (minus WWII, the family was sent away to a camp) but is a great little stop and is free if to go in if you get there before 10am.

Loved all the neat structures and how vivid the colors were at the garden.

The family in front of the large tower pagodas--I think that is what you would call it ;)

N riding around and looking at the manicured landscapes .

Birthday Pics of J turning 6!

J turned 6 over the holiday break and he is excited about all the new adventures a 6 year old can have. He woke up all excited and I think we got to sleep in til 6 that morning ;)
We surprised him in the garage with a Razor Quad I managed to snag off of Craig's list for a steal! The boys managed to get a good hour taking turns riding it up and down the hills in our back yard before the battery started running low. We have a ton more space on base and practically have a field in our backyard just beyond our private fenced in area.

Blowing out his cinnamon roll candle.

Riding the carousal at the Nut Tree Plaza.

N just turned 2, and thought that he needed to blow out a candle again...and threw a huge tantrum over it, and we gave in ;)

Birthday Pics of N Turning 2!

So as usual Gma and Gpa were able to come out and help celebrate the fall birthdays in the house. The big blob of cake and frosting is a Thomas Wilton cake mold, though I did not feel like icing it in a true Thomas fashion. N didn't care, and just enjoyed eating the cake I didn't spend half of my day in the kitchen doing it ;)
Blowing out his 2 candles, where did my baby go?!

Loving the frosting and cake!

Big boy with his presents that were on hand for the day.

Bows in hair. Check!

Box torn open. Check!

Happy little boy. Check!

I think N also has a handle on what the "Terrible Two's" is all about as well. He has been a crabby little boy who doesn't want to sit in a chair to eat, take naps and determined to do things his way. I do believe he is also getting some molars, so hopefully once those are are in he will be a little easier to reason with...one can wish ;)

New Family Pics

Paint...I Really LOVE Paint!

Since moving into the base house I have been dying to paint, however, my better half is not so excited about going through the pain of moving furniture, taping walls, hours of painting, etc...It really isn't that part of painting that bothers him the most though...it is the re-painting of the walls to the contractor white when we have to move to our next assignment that really is the true thorn in our sides. It is just one more thing that we have to accomplish in the whirlwind of activities that we really don't have time to do on a normal sleep pattern.
When we moved from NJ we went so far as to bringing a painter in and getting an estimate for our kitchen/dining room/living room combo and was astounded when the quote was $1000 plus supplies...ummm no! We could do it for that price! The space really wasn't that large, the total 2 story house was around 1800 sq feet. So we painted it ourselves, or should I say J painted it in some spare time (as in when he should have been sleeping). I think the worst was when we moved from OH to NJ...trying to get orders, out processing, movers in a matter of 2 weeks can make it a little tense, but then add in painting 6 rooms back to yucko white...some adult drinks were needed after those fun times ;)
Living on base in a house that isn't really ours can be difficult, not just for me but the kiddos too. They don't have a "forever" house, the longest we have ever lived in a house was a little over 2 years. They do like to move, but they also like to have their rooms personalized with what they like, and they even request to have their rooms painted. Paint just makes a house feel more like your own, even when you don't own it and there are 100's of houses in the development IDENTICAL to the one you are in.
So do I dare bring up paint to the hubby? Do I really want to go through all that work only to paint over it again in 2 years? Have I mentioned the grubby little fingerprints that won't scrub off the walls because of the yucko paint they use ;)

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!

#16 Huddled up with his team.
Playing center.

Playing a little QB.

Team with Daddy as coach ;)

And this is what N does...I am good at finding puddles and playing in them ;)

Staged Halloween Pictures

So we didn't get any good pictures pre-Halloween this year, so before I take down all the decorations I thought I could quickly get the boys into costumes and outside for a few posed pictures...haha! Is anything with three little boys really that easy! I think I may need a little me time after all the tantrums and crying that has been going on the past couple of days...if only the boys would sleep in I think it would be better. ACK! Tonight gives them an extra hour to sleep in, that they will not utilize and it will just turn into a "bonus" hour of them running amuck!

Anyway here are the pics ;) Bounty Hunter M

Jedi J

Yoda N

(And a really big spider that will get them!)

My decorations have been up pretty much as soon as we moved in, I get my money out of them! It was a nice distraction from all the boxes that I was suppose to unpacking, dishes to wash, clothes to wash, fold, hang and put away...you get the point. I think the neighbors thought I was a little crazy to have Halloween stuff out in mid-September, but that's how I roll I guess ;)

Some brotherly love for ya--M about to shoot J's head...nice ;)


At least in this one it is his own head.
Notice the sucker bribe I gave N ;)

J looks good in this one, N is ok...and M well he is the oldest and should just "know" that he should do as told and mommy will work with N...but alast all three boys were not very helpful to get these taken stress free...is that even possible.

More Halloween and Candid Pics

In front of the house handing out candy after making the rounds.
My little Jedi's.

How many boys can fit in a basket?

CHEESE!

Halloween Highlights

The boys had lots of fun this year celebrating Halloween week. We started off with going to a pumpkin patch with M's cub scouts pack, then headed to the squadron party and chili cook-off, and then went trick-or-treating in our community on Sunday.

J with a a little post-party fun...watch out for our little vampire!
N riding in style for trick-or-treating. Everyone LOVED his Yoda outfit...second year using it, and even though it took some convincing, he eventually loved the idea of wearing a costume.

Trick-or Treat!! Finally getting brave enough to go right up to the door!

Mission completed all by himself!

M's New Room

With the latest move M got to have his own room. Which has been working out great! J is an early bird and so is N, so having them share a room has been working out as well. I think J likes being the big brother in the room and N likes to share his room with J. N has also been transitioned to the daybed version of his crib and has been sleeping great at night, naps are a different story ;)

But back to M. We went with a more mature airplane theme, most of the stuff I used was stuff I already had, or stuff I have picked up cheap on clearance. We did get him a new bookcase and console from Ikea so that he can have his books in his room. At some point, probably the next move, we will need to get him a new bed frame, but the loft bed is allowing him to have some more play space in this tiny little room.

New Ikea bookcase with his lofted Ikea bed. I picked up the plane wall decals on super clearance at Target for under $4 and it just filled in all the white space on the wall where we didn't want pictures on the wall.
Curtains were actually hung, he complained that on the weekends he would like to sleep in and that the sun kept waking him up...or it could be the other two boys in the house ;)

More decals mixed with metal planes I have picked up over the years. The propeller I have had since 2003 bought in Grapevine Texas at a Target...yes I remember weird things like this ;)
The three prints I thought were pretty cool. They say, "Dare to be Unique", "Stand a Little Taller", "Set Your Course and Soar"...little motivational prints that just look cool IMO.

Looking in from the doorway. The media console doubles as desk, storage in the drawers for his tractor collection, and place for the keyboard to go. The 2 little chairs were a find on clearance and complete the space nicely and gives him a spot to read as well.
I have been thinking about getting him a beanbag chair of some sort to go under the loft bed as another place to chill and read...since it seems like he is reading all the time...including at night when he suppose to be sleeping.

So most of the furnishing came from Ikea, HomeGoods, Ross, Target, and the Bx...it is always fun to shop ;)

J and N will be having a space room, still pulling things together... trying not to spend too much on items takes time and a lot of trips to stores...but that is half the fun ;) So far I have the bedding and a couple of little prints, still trying to find something that makes you go "Wow!" Let me know if you spot anything out there ;)

Soccer Recap

J and his Hungry Hungry Hippos team.

M playing goalie at the last game of the season.

Soccer Season Ends, Lets Party!

N With his Gator Cookie @ M's Bowling Party.

**Some pictures taken with camera phone so sorry for the red eye and stretched look.**

M with his Jersey cookie! He had a blast this season and mastered his "headers" this season. The boy has some talent and I am truely impressed with how much he picked up this season.

J had a party at Chuck E Cheese for his team, the coaches decided he was Most Improved Player and was really starting to enjoy and pay attention to what was going on in the game.

Busy, Busy!

Posting hasn't been a priority for me lately...lots of boxes and a busy schedule with the boys has gotten in the way. Some days go as smooth as silk and other days, well...not so much. I have my fair share of days that I just want to crawl into bed and start fresh again the next day. I have made a lot of progress in the house, still have boxes in the garage, but I think most of them have stuff that go in Jared's office, so they really don't count. This house is bigger then any other house we have lived in, and for the most part we fill it up. There are a few things I would like to track down, like a sofa table, maybe a hutch of some sort, and possibly a new washer...I know... one of the first posts ever on here was about how awesome the my new washer is, well was. Unfortunately, it now leaks. Go figure it only has been moved 3 times in 5 years not counting the trip home from the store and it was the floor model. It doesn't leak a ton, but enough for a puddle that could ruin base boards. Grrr. Such is life I guess. I also broke our stroller somehow, luckily I went on craigs list and was able to upgrade to a better brand in a used version, hopefully this one will keep its wheels on.
The boys are thrilled in their new house. M has his own room. J and N are sharing this time around and so far so good. N has learned how to climb out of the pack and play (I have not yet located the bolts to put all the beds together yet), so I think we will be making the crib into a toddler bed. I think N has gotten so much bigger over this "trip" J has been gone for, he has picked up a ton of new words and we are sitting him on the potty at night to start a routine...nothing yet, but he thinks it is fun to sit. J had pink eye this week, so he got to stay home for a couple of days, he is a great helper with N and I was able to concentrate on getting more things done. This week we also got our TV and Internet hooked up again and the boys were thrilled to be watching some "real" tv again. I hope that having the tv again doesn't get in my way of getting the last boxes that matter opened and gone through.
I'll try to get some real pics up soon, I don't have rooms completed, they are all about 80%, so I have been holding off taking any pictures. Moving is so much easier with J around...too many decisions to make by myself.

KEYS!!

In 2 hrs and 15 minutes I will be signing the lease to the house and they will be turning over keys....my van is packed for the first load and boxes for the 2nd load are filled...it will be a lot of work, but once again we will be settled! The boys can't wait to have a sleep over in the new house tonight! Now it is 2 hrs and 13 minutes :)

Soccer

The boys enjoyed another fun filled Saturday out on the soccer field. They also had pictures this morning, so maybe I should reword it to an early morning of fun filled soccer...I love that the boys are enjoying themselves and that they are participating in team sports, but the headache of getting them on that field! Hopefully when daddy is back I can sleep in and just sit back and enjoy watching them....who am I kidding ;) So the pic is M @ practice, being goalie, he enjoys playing the position, but is a much needed forward on his team. He has really grown in playing the game and learning some of the strategy that goes with it, and was even seen doing some successful headers out there today. I really do look forward to watching him develop on the field. I haven't mentioned much about J and his soccer skills....we are just trying to keep him standing up on the field, knowing where the ball is and keeping the way to big shorts up ;)