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 ;)

Winchester House

We headed to the Winchester House in San Jose when J's parents were in town. It is a maze of weird rooms, built for weird reasons as well. This picture makes it look like a normal mansion with lots of character. We weren't able to take too many pictures--none inside the crazy house, but we did get this quick picture outside with the boys. It is worth the drive down to see it.

www.winchestermysteryhouse.com

A California Beach in August

So J's parents flew out from MN before J left for his "trip" to experience some wonderful CA weather. We warned them that San Fransisco can be chilly and to pack some coats and pants for our adventures there. Who would have thought that the entire time they were here we only wore shorts once. They did get to dip there feet into the frigid ocean.

Getting hit by a pretty big wave.
Running away from another.

We were the smart ones who stayed away from the water.

At first only M was daring enough to dip his toes, but after watching how "fun" it was J decided to join too. They all ended up soaked and sandy, but were treated with some great fish & chips and chowder for supper to help warm up that night.

Panning For Gold

J's parents flew out for a visit before he left for his "trip". We packed in a ton of adventures including a trip to the spot where the California gold rush started, Sutter's Mill.

We took the time to try our hand (reenactment style) in panning for gold.
N even got into the action as well.

Looking for the real stuff, found lots of fools gold and also garnets.

N LOVES water so he ended up walking away soaking wet, but it was a hot day and it cooled him off too.

The boys actively panning. J's mom actually did find 3 or 4 tiny pieces of gold that she was able to take home with her.

Rocking Out!

J REALLY enjoys playing Lego Rockband, and N likes to play right along. J usually sings, and I think his reading skills have gotten better because of playing Rockband. N just likes to be involved with what is going on. Notice this is in our temp house....it is pretty sparse, but we had to have a TV and some electronics to kill time while living here ;)
My future RockStar!

Challenger Soccer Camp 2010

Both boys participated in the Challenger Soccer Camp this year. M did it last year and LOVED it, so I shelled the money and signed both boys up for it this year. J looked like he was having fun as well, even if he said he didn't ;p I think both boys will be working it into the schedule next year as well.

M huddled up, he was on the blue team and wore blue socks.
J in the red, M in the background in the blue playing a training game.

J with the ball and not knowing who to pass it to.

Boys with one of their British Coach Lee.

The boys with their British Coach Danny.

First Day of School

First Day of School in the backyard. The boys were excited to start a new school.

Getting ready to get on the bus.

Bye mom!


Back from school...J looking a little tired.

School Open House

So the day before school started we got to go and meet the teachers and see the classrooms the boys would be in. They were totally excited! J is in first and M is is second.

New Digs--well soon anyway

So we have been in limbo for about a month with turning in the keys to the off base rental and moving on base. We are currently in a temp house and will be moving into a much bigger house. We have yet to be in said house, but have the blueprints...almost 2200 square feet of fablousness! With hopefully no unexpected ponds that we will have to run a sump-pump for, no lights and plugins deciding not to work, no cat urine, no garage door deciding not to work, no more pg&e power bills that suck away all the extra money and no more long wait for j to get home!

We will be moving into our new house in less then a month and look forward to snuggling on a couch and not living out of boxes and suitcases.

Worn Out

So with all that is going on I thought I would try to get blogaway to work on my phone to post to the blog...that way while waiting for the boys to get off the bus I can be productive in some way...well in theory ;)

N is depicting how I feel, the boys @ school not so bad, but once school is over I may have over scheduled our family -1, when I really need that -1 to help drive boys and remove crabby ones from the situation...when is it my turn to be removed and put into a timeout ;p Another reason for using the blogaway is that i never have my regular camera ready...I always have it with, but with an almost two year to keep track of the camera on my phone has been put to good use. We will see how well they publish. With that this is my test run...bear with me.

Once again a bad blogger

We have had a whirlwind of excitement and haven't posted any of it...once again. So what has taken us out of the blogging world? We have moved, but will be moving one more time before finally being settled...well for now anyway. We have moved out of the rental house in Browns Valley (a division of Vacaville) and were given a house on base. The catch is that is it is still under construction and we won't get to move into it till mid September. So for now we are on base, but in a temp house that is just fine...just glad we don't have to cram all of our stuff into it ;)
We had visitors, J's parents, the week before he left on a "trip" and toured a large part of the country side once again. We made it to the Winchester House, the ocean, Muir Woods, Fisherman's Wharf, Jelly Belly Factory, Sutter's Mill and even quacked on the Ride the Ducks. I think we wore the kids (and ourselves) out! Pictures of some the events to come...if I can locate the camera ;)
So we are here, and busy as normal, so posts may be hit or miss. The boys start school Wednesday, so maybe I will get time to track down those pictures ;)

From Tiger to Wolf

So last weekend was cub scout graduation and M went from being a Tiger cub to Wolf. He was super excited to be part of the group to present the colors and also to have the WHOLE family there to watch.

Daddy and M with his new "rank". He is super excited to do the stuff in his new book...especially learning the flags of all the states...notice his hand saving his spot in his book in every picture!


Best buds forever!

With their Den flag.

The den..missing only 1.

So how much air does it take?

So M has been enjoying all the cub scout activities this year. A couple of weeks ago he got to compete in his first Rain gutter Regatta.

At the starting line.
Winning his first heat.


Beginning his second heat.

A close call....unfortunately he didn't do as well this time around, but we have checked out some different ways to make his boat more stable and faster.