Ringing in the New Year!

So for the New Year we had some friends over to help celebrate. The boys had a blast playing with their friends and we had a blast eating, talking, laughing and playing some RockBand.

 The plan was to have an xbox upstairs for the kids to play on, and a WII and xbox for the adults to play...but N and all his terrible twos had other plans, sticking a penny in the DVD drive on the one upstairs. So the kids and adults rocked out together instead, which was still a good time. J got warmed up to the idea later on in the evening.

 J helped M's good buddy play some drums.

 J took the mic once too....love the hat right!

 Ready for the countdown!

J getting in the groove playing guitar.

A New Year!

Well I have been trying to post some awesome new pictures I took with my AWESOME new camera, but I think I have to format the pictures differently, like smaller, so they can upload.
If you haven't heard I got totally spoiled by the hubby this year. I really wasn't expecting to get anything big since we had some investments in November, like a new washer and dryer and a spare refrigerator. Those who have been reading the blog from the start know that we purchased a new washer only a couple of years back, a washer I named Vader. Well Vader was moved a total of 4 times without its proper packaging and somewhere along the way it sustained some damage and started to leak, J tried to fix it, but to no avail. So I got the go ahead to purchase a new set, and I spent the day on the internet and at stores trying to get the best price possible on the set we agreed on. I was super nervous spending that much on my own, since J stayed home with the boys...cause you know the boys would LOVE to come along and go to boring stores and shop for mommy and daddy things and would behave wonderfully....**wink wink** so I managed to buy our new top loading HE LG washer and dryer and it was delivered 5 days later...and we kept the washer insert this time so hopefully the next time we move there won't be as much stress put on the drum.
Well at the same time we were having some compressor problems with our cheap fridge we bought from Sears, again probably because of all that moving we have done, and things just weren't staying cold...it was kinda sketchy and I don't like the idea of food poisoning hitting the house, so I started searching on CraigsList to see what people had locally. Low and behold someone was selling a side by side with water and ice stainless steeled front fridge for the low price of $300...SOLD! It is maybe 5 years old and looks wonderful and could be a primary fridge the next time we move if needed. In my head I said Christmas was done...but J had a trick up his sleeve I guess ;)
Christmas Morning the boys were so excited to give me my gift, I thought how cute, but then they started piling more and more in front of me...the first one had me at hello...my Cannon Rebel T1i...NO WAY! Then came a long range lens, and a couple of books to help me figure it all out. This camera has some many features and just magically takes awesome pictures even on auto, that I have turned into a total paparazzi with the boys :P
Again once I figure out how to turn the images into suitable sizes for blogger be prepared for an onslaught of photos of just about anything and everything.

Christmas Pictures 2010

It has been a tradition to get the boys some new Christmas pjs each year and take some cute picks of the them next to the tree. This went relatively smoothly this year until the very end when N started his meltdown and J also refused to smile. I think I did get some blog worthy photos though ;)
Who wants some tickles? My cutie-pa-toot-ties.

J with his jail-deer pjs...at least that is what daddy called them.

M next to the tree. Actually got one without the glare, which is something new to work with.

This guy was the most difficult to work with, he is constantly on the move...oh he sat down where I wanted him to...but does not understand the concept of staying, smiling and looking at the camera at the same time so much. Can you tell what he is saying in the pic.....CHEESE!

Chirstmas Photos

Everyone finally is looking my direction, but ignore all the junk in the back right corner, J has taken over my desk to work on some projects and yet be close to the family.
The traditional photo of boys on the steps, which they are all too familiar with...not so much for pictures, but for timeouts, ;)

Probably the best one with the boys and Diesel, again ignore the lamp that has been misplaced on the floor.

I like M and N in this photo, some brotherly love goin' on!

J had to show some love too. At this point N was D.O.N.E at this point and headed to bed!

J's Holiday Party

Uploaded backwards today ;) Oh well, so if you didn't notice J now wears some glasses. This was his very first day wearing them, and the novelty has worn off...he came home upset asking why he had to wear them all day and M didn't...yes M now wears glasses too...blame it on me I guess!

So J's class held a Holiday Lunch, looks pretty good doesn't it ;)
The kiddos also sang some songs that had some choreography to do too.

J is a very low key guy, he was very calm and collective the whole time up front waiting for the next song to start.

Today I get to go to M's class for their Holiday Lunch, hopefully I remember to take some pics today too.

Kids Christmas Party

J had a few things to ask Santa for too!
Eating some yummy treats. Our Sq does balloons every year which are a big hit with the boys!

All three with our skinny Santa, a good friend of ours.

N with Santa.

N loved all the blow up yard decorations.

KID ROCK Concert Travis AFB

J and I were able to score some free tickets to the concert that Kid Rock put on for us on the 10th. He put on an awesome show that included some of his earlier stuff that had us having flashbacks to some of the great parties (ie DTS Beach Party, Toga Party, Cup/Spittoon parties, etc.) and also included some great songs that I can listen to with the boys in the room ;).
We were relatively close, way closer then any other concert we actually paid to see!
Watch the video, we were surprised by what he was allowed to do inside the hanger.

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 ;)