Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Pictures with Santa!

2012-01-23T21:12:00.000-08:00

K-State Football

2012-01-21T18:38:00.000-08:00

Here in Manhattan, we were drinking the purple Kool Aide this fall. It was a magical year.

We ended the year 10-2 and 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team slated to finish 8 out of 10 teams. Thanks to all our friends who came to watch it with us!

Homecoming, Pumpkins Patch, and Halloween

2012-01-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween is Homecoming here in Manhattan. So we enjoying the festivities.

Dressed up for Trick or Treating in Aggieville! Then we watched the parade with our good friend, Melissa.

We also went to the Pumpkin Patch with our church.

And of course, Halloween! I was able to make it over to Jena's school in time for her party!

Here she is with her friend Reagan.

Yummy!

And of course, Trick or Treating! Lily is Smurfette and Jena is Buzz Lightyear.

Donuts!

2011-12-27T16:17:00.000-08:00

Time with cousins

2011-12-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

First Football Game

2011-12-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Back in September, when Roger was home, we were able to take the girls to their very first football game. Here we are at the Ag Farm where we parked for the game.

We also tailgated for the game, family style. Thanks to the Alumni and Family Assications for throwing a great tailgate.

Hallowed ground, Bill Snyder Stadium.

We had front row seats in the end zone. It was awesome!

A Sea of Purple!

And we got to meet Willie!

A Day with Harry Potter

2011-12-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

This is the Hale Library, somewhere that I spend a lot of time at. It always struck me that it looked like a castle.

On Family Day, back in September, we learned that it is actually Hogwarts! The Great Room on the fourth floor looks just like the Great Room in the Harry Potter movies!

They hosted a Harry Potter Day for all the kids that weekend. As avid Harry Potter fans, we were thrilled!

They had stories and a coloring contest for the kids. And a lot of things about the history of the library and the school.

R & R

2011-10-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

In September, Roger was home for two weeks of R & R. We were all very happy to have him home. The girls were excited to go pick him up from the airport. They insisted we take him car to get him. They said Blue Car had missed Daddy too.

And we took him to Famous Dave's. He was so happy to eat! Their chow hall in his new FOB has been a little light in the food area. We were very busy while he was home. I wish I had more pictures but I will post what I do have soon.

Oh, I forgot about the wind

2011-09-05T20:05:00.001-07:00

We are getting settled into our new home here in Kansas. And one thing for sure, I had forgotten about the wind. When Rodgers and Hammerstein said the winds comes sweeping down the plain they were not kidding. We drove here dodging tornadoes and fighting to stay on the road. There are nights I think my house is under siege the winds are so bad. And we enjoyed a summer filled with tornado watches, but were blessed to actually not have tornado warnings.

As most of you know, with in two weeks of moving in to our new home in our new town, Roger deployed to Afghanistan. We were expecting this and prepared as best we could. But that still left me to put the house together and help the girls to adjust. As usual they are troopers, but its hard to understand all of this when you don't know how long a year is or where Afghanistan is. I have once again had to rethink everything when it comes to Lily as she continues to plow her own unique path through life.

I must say first that we have been very blessed here with so many people to help us, from family to new neighbors. Everyone has made the adjustment for the girls and me much easier. I have to say Roger hit a home run when picking this house. It is fantastic and the neighborhood is perfect. Four of the houses on our street have families with children, including one with a 5 year old and a 3 year old. In fact the neighborhood is full of kids! A big improvement over Fayetteville. And all of neighbors have been so helpful. I couldn't imagine being in a better place.

With Roger gone I knew I would need to enlist help, at least for the summer. I took 2 classes this summer, each 4 weeks long, each meeting 10 hours a week. After much struggle and prayer, I found a summer babysitter. A preschool teacher who decided to run an in home daycare. She was able to take both of the girls for the summer. I had originally planned to put Lily in the campus childcare when school started for the fall. But we liked her so much, after two weeks I decided to keep Lily with her for the school year. It was the best decision I could have made. Lily loves to go to Sandy's and Sandy truly gets Lily. She has blossomed there and Sandy has been a HUGE help with potty training. I know that changing childcare for the fall would have been more harm than good for Lily who has had to deal with so much change already. So I fell blessed to have found Sandy.

I also had to enlist help with the yard. The yard has always been Roger domain, but with him gone and a yard that no one had tended to in almost a year, I was overwhelmed. I found a horticulture student to come and sort it out. One issue was there were so many plants and trees that they were crowding each other. He cut out half of what we had in the yard and it looks so much better.

So, we made it through the summer. I love here so far. It is truly liking coming home for me. And Manhattan is a great place for kids with lots of parks and swimming pools. We have been to Nebraska fours time and Kansas City once. It has been so great to be able to visit my relatives and know that it won't be another year before we see them again. I'm sure I'll won't love it as much here when we have a foot of snow outside this winter, but for now I'm enjoying Kansas. I hope to take the girls to see lots of new things now that we are in a new region. Hopefully we will get lots of pictures!

Jena's first day

2011-08-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Jena started Kindergarten last week. I told her she could have anything she wanted for breakfast. She chose Lucky Charms.

I started measuring the girls when Roger left for deployment. Here is how much they have grown over the summer.

Jena already for the big day! She coordinated her outfit with her backpack.

I tried to get them both in a picture but Lily didn't cooperate.

One more try.

Our very excited Kindergartner!

Saying goodbye to the angel.

At the drop off. One thing I love here is there is no car line in the traditional sense. They have a lane to pull up to the school and a separate area for the Kindergartners. They also having parking in both areas and you can park on the street in the neighborhood. We parked and walked to the school that day. Since then I've been able to park in the kindergarten area or pull up and get her. Only about 5 minutes at most. No 45 minute wait here.

All ready to go in her room. She already knew one girl who lives on the next street over. They have become fast friends. So far it has been good. She has had hot lunch at school and has taken her lunch a few days also. She likes having the option of eating at school. They assign each student a number for their account. Our little overachiever already knows hers, we've been working on it for last few weeks. She told me last night she thought the lunchroom would be more like a restaurant where you pay. I told her you pay by telling them your number like when we pay with a card. She doesn't quite get how that works yet, which means I'm safe for at least a little while when it comes to shopping.

New hair cuts

2011-08-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

All the time at the pool this summer took its toll on the girls' hair. Jena asked for a haircut and Lily's was getting pretty long, so I cut their hair for them. Lily did great, didn't even care that all of her hair was gone. She feels like such a big girl now with her shorter hair.

Good Food and Good Friends!

2011-08-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Since we had just moved and it was summer, having a party for Lily was difficult. So we had our good friends the Hokes over. They were at Bragg with us and Jason and Roger shared an office while they were in residency. And Christi and I became good friends during our time there. And the girls of course adore Jay. We were so happy to learn they would be moving here!

We did cupcakes that I allowed them to frost. I had to do candles first because Lily was trying to eat the cake while frosting it.

Jason volunteered to grill the food for us since I am grill challenged. It was so nice having someone else do the cooking.

It was a great party and the girls loved being able to play with their buddy Jay. We are so glad they were able to share the day with us.

And Lily did get a pretty good haul this year!

Swimming lessons

2011-08-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

July brought more swimming and swimming lessons for Jena.

She took the lessons at City Pool in the deep pool.

Lily had to sit out this year because she wasn't old enough. She really didn't seem to mind. We would hang out and play in the kiddie pool while Jena had her lesson.

They really love our beach towels.

At the end of the two weeks, Jena was swimming! She did really well, making it to level 4 of 10. Pretty good for someone who didn't want to get in the pool at the beginning of the summer. She can't wait to take them again next year.

Kansas City

2011-08-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

In July, the girls and I were able to join my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Jim and Brittney as well as my cousin Georgia, her fiance Meridith and her two kids Meghan and Trevin in Kansas City.

My aunt and uncle had a conference, but the rest of us were able to go to Worlds of Fun!

They recently rebuilt the kids area, now Planet Snoopy. It was awesome!

Trevin and Lily enjoyed these blocks that sounded like bells when you stepped on them.

The rides were great!

Hangin' with Snoopy!

There was a Charlie Brown show.

And a pirate ship.

On Sunday we went to Crown Center for some shopping and lunch. Lily was allowed to pick out one present for her birthday. She picked Hello Kitty.

For lunch we went to Fritz's, a train themed restaurant.

The food is actually delivered by a train!

Lily even got a sundae for her birthday!

July 4th, Fenton Style

2011-08-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

The second half of the July 4th weekend was spent in Lincoln. My cousin Joel and his wife Anna really know how to throw a party! I won't even guess how much Joel spent on fireworks. Lets just say their single car garage was almost full.

I love this picture of Lily and Trey watching the snakes!

The kids had a great time hula hooping.

Joel's oldest, Kendal was a champ!

Fireworks!

And of course, we did some hanging out with Aunt Janelle.

The Joy of Cousins! (and a visit to Omaha)

2011-08-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

After I finished my Macroeconomics class in June we headed to Nebraska for the July 4th weekend. First we went to Omaha. My cousin, Georgia, and her family came up too.

The girls enjoyed playing on the piano at my aunt's house. That is the same piano that I used to play on in my grandparent's basement when I was a kid.

The girls really enjoyed the pool and hanging out with their cousins. Here they are with Trevin and my Aunt Sharon.

Cousins are awesome!

Swimming

2011-08-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our favorite summer activity by far was the pool. Or I should say pools. Manhattan has 3 public swimming pools. We split our time between City (the biggest) and Cico (the closest). Above is the kid pool at Cico. It is fantastic. The kid pool is huge and has a lazy river attached. It also has a small water slide.

The girls loved laying on the towels like the teenagers.

Above is the waterslide at City Pool. It really is a water part. A wave pool and a huge waterslide, a kiddie waterslide like at Cico, and a small water slide. There is also this huge blue doom that you can jump on in the middle of the lazy river.

Here is the smaller slide in the kid area. Jena loved it.

Thanks to the City of Manhattan for having such awesome swimming pools.

Soccer

2011-08-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

Manhattan Parks and Rec held Microsoccer early this summer. It is a month long soccer camp for younger kids. Jena was on Team USA in her favorite color, blue. She loved every minute of it.

Lily want to wear her "soccer" shirt every day too. It is actually a Carolina Panthers shirt I bought back in NC at the end of football season. Close enough.

Action shot!

She got her very own soccer ball as part of the program.

It was very hot even at 7 pm. Hydration was key.

Traditional pose!

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

Jena got "Most Spirit" the second week of camp. Spirit stuff for Team USA was easy in June. Just hit the dollar section at Target and buy everything, and we did! I was impressed with the other teams who came up with flags and hair ribbons in their colors. They really had to work at it.

Here is Jena with some of her team on the last day. Her coach was a local high school student, as were most of the coaches. She was great with the kids and Jena loved her. Jena loved soccer and can't wait to do it again next year.

A trip to Omaha

2011-08-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

We followed up the wedding with a quick trip to Omaha to visit my aunt and uncle. And no trip to Omaha is complete without a trip to the zoo.

I love this zoo and it is so great to share this with the girls.

Congratulations, Brett and Abby!

2011-08-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

In May we headed for Lincoln for my cousin Abby's wedding. This was my first trip since we moved and the second for the girls who went up for a visit to my aunt's in April.

The girls had matching dresses, of course.

The bride and groom's first dance.

Lily and her cousin, Quinn. They loved that door for some reason.

Trey, my cousin Joel's son, had a good time on the dance floor.

Everyone did.

My dad's cousin, Wesley, and his wife, Beth made it down for the big day. I have not seen them since I was a kid. My dad used to take my brother and me to visit them on their farm in Wisconsin. I really loved those trips.

The cake.

The kids.

The bride.

It was a great visit, complete with a trip to Valentino's and a drive past my grandparents old house. Thanks, Abby and Brett (and their parents) for having such a great party.

We've assimilated

2011-08-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

We changed the plates on both cars to Kansas plates. Kansas gives military a break on car registration, so we changed to save some money.

They require the car to be present to change the title so I had to go twice. Roger was disappointed the numbers are not sequential.

But his new plate number is pretty close to his old one!

Happy Birthday, Lily!

2011-07-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe it, but Lily is now 3! Time sure does fly. We enjoyed a weekend in Kansas City with family and celebrated her birthday a little early. My aunt knew about a restaurant where your food comes on a train. That was just perfect for Lily. Happy Birthday, baby girl! Its been a wild ride!

Visitor from the west

2011-07-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

We got a special visitor from the west! Our cousin Gabriel sent us his friend Flat Stanley in the mail for a visit. We had a great time showing him around Manhattan. We took him for a ride in Daddy's car.

We had dinner with him.

We took him to play on our swingset in the backyard.

He loved the slide!

Thanks for coming to visit us! We hope you had a good time and were able to share all of your adventures with Gabriel's class.

Baby Birds!

2011-07-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

We have a evergreen tree that seems to be a finch's paradise. Two separate birds built nests in this tree this summer. It is in the back of our house and they built them on the side facing our living room window. Roger saw the first one before he left and the girls and I watched those babies (above) hatch and grow. And then one day they flew away. Shortly after I noticed a bevy of activity in a spot above it. A new nest was being built. We have once again watched the babies hatch and grow. The girls ask everyday to see the baby birds. It has been amazing!

We are off to see who?

2011-07-07T18:31:00.001-07:00

It occurred to us half way through our trip the girls have never seen "The Wizard of Oz." We made quite a few references to the movie only to have them look at us very puzzled. We remedied that when we got here by checking out the movie from the library for them to watch. Then, we found my old copy of the book in our stuff and it made the trip to Texas with us. Roger read the book to us in the car. So now they have read the book and watched the movie.

Also, somewhere in the middle of Missouri, I started to sing "Kansas City Here I Come" Jena told me to stop, she didn't like the song. My poor children have not been raised right.

New Blog

2011-06-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

I started a blog to chronicle my time in Graduate School, which started 3 weeks ago.

www.michellegoestogradschool.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

San Antonio

2011-06-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Shortly after we got here, the Army sent Roger back to Texas for one more week of training. Because he was deploying right after, the girls and I went with him for one more week together. While he was in class, the girls and I checked out the city.

San Antonio is famous for their missions. While Roger and I lived in Texas before we went to the Alamo, but this time I went to some of the others.

This was Mission San Jose. The girls really liked the wells there.

Next was Mission Concepcion.

Another well!

Another day we went to the Witte Museum. Roger found this when he was here before and said they had a great kids section.

They had an elephant, a really good start!

They had a great play area with water. So wonderful since it was 100 everyday we were there.

They also had a three story indoor play area. Lily loved the blocks!

Happy Easter

2011-06-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Dyed Eggs!

And Easter Baskets!

The Easter Bunny found us in Kansas! Thank you, Eater Bunny!

Our first visitor at our new house

2011-06-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Our first visitor was my Uncle Bill! That's why he's my favorite. He was on his way home for a poorly planned trip. His daughter, my cousin Blythe, gave birth the night he was here. He stayed and had dinner with us and then drove home to Denver that night to meet his new grandson, Luke. We love you Unc Bill and are so happy you came to see us!

New swing set

2011-06-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Roger deployed with in weeks of arriving in Kansas. My very wonderful Aunt Janelle took the girls for out first weekend here so we could get somethings around the house done. We were able to paint the girls' rooms and get a lot of stuff unpacked and put away. We were also able to buy and put together this swing set. Well, Roger did most of the work on that.

The girls love it! Roger wanted to make sure they had a great summer and so far so good.

From the Sandhills to the Flint Hills, our journey west

2011-06-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

5 states!

4 days!

3 nights!

2 little girls!

and 1 dog!

After the movers left with our things we headed West! Go West Young Family, Go West!

The first day was a half day of driving because Roger still had clearing to do at Ft Bragg. That night we drove to Asheville, NC. Because it is near where Roger's brother David lives, we were able to have lunch with him. We found a great BBQ place in town and had a nice visit.

Jena loved the old fashion Coke machine.

The girls are really going to miss their Uncle David. After lunch we continue west to Tennessee.

Hershey did pretty well on the ride despite it being her first long trip. We stayed in Nashville that night before heading on.

The next day we headed for Sikeston, Mo home of Lamberts and The Throwed Roll.

On the way we stopped at the Indian mounds.

Finally we made it to Lambert's.

It has changed a lot since Roger and I were there 15 years ago. We had to get a number!

And we hung out while we waited.

And then we got to go in and EAT!

The next day we visited the home out author Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I loved her books growing up and was so happy to take the girls to see the home!

The next day we made it to Kansas, our new home! I'm working on pictures of the house, so hopefully we will post them soon.

Wagons, Ho! Head em up and move em out!

2011-05-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Army hires movers to come and pack up our house in NC and take it to the house in KS. The girls loved the REALLY big roll of bubble wrap they brought.

The girls enjoyed the sunshine in the yard on last time.

Lots of Boxes!

Every

Room!

It was pretty crazy!

The truck that took our stuff halfway across the country.

One last ride on the bikes before they were put on the truck.

By, Stuff! See you in Kansas!

And you, Scarecrow, I think I will miss most of all.

2011-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye is never easy. It is really hard to leave such good friends, like the Grumbos.

And the Barstows. It seems like there can not be the Williams Girls without the Barstow Boys!
Thanks for coming over to celebrate our move! Carol and Jessica have been such amazing friends, and I will miss you most of all.

She's 5!

2011-05-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

This year, Jena had a Dinosaur Birthday to celebrate turning 5!

Our guest decorated Dinosaur sun catchers.

Played with Jena's toys.

And hung out with the Birthday girl.

They were given Dino Bags.

Dino nuggets!

And Dino cake!

And brought lots of Dino gifts!

And princess ones too.

Happy girl!

Happy Birthday, Jena! And thanks to everyone who helped to make it special!

Fuselierpalooza 2011

2011-04-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went up to DC to hang out with Roger's sister Julie, her hubby Randy and our Fuselier cousins while they were in town in March. Julie had to work, but the rest of us got to play. Randy and I thought this was funny since it used to be Roger and Julie playing and Randy and me at work.

We took the kids to the Natural History Museum the first day.

They all really enjoyed themselves.

Jena and Anna become fast friends.

Caitlin is all grown up.

Lily loves Gabriel and still asks about him almost everyday.

After the museum we went to their hotel and had popcorn and watched Tangled.

The next day we took the train to the zoo.

All the kids posed for us at the entrance.

Traveling without Roger is difficult, but my awesome bother-in-law was awesome and helped push the girls around all weekend. This was a common site.

Thanks to Julie and Randy for hanging out with us and being great "hosts." They were so much help I really did feel like I was on vacation. I hope we can do it again soon!

We are off to see the wizard!

2011-04-09T05:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a hectic few weeks, but all our possessions are packed into a big truck and are heading to Kansas! And so are we! We staying in Charlotte Friday (last) night and will have lunch with Uncle David today during our trek west. So far, so good. Hershey (the dog) is riding with Roger and doing well. I think she likes the car better than my SUV. Go figure. And I have the girls and a ton of stuff with me. We hope to make it to Nashville tonight (Saturday).

Nelsonfest 2011

2011-04-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

We made it up to Fernwilde one more time for a visit. As always the girls were inseparable. And all the kids had fun! And we even met Justin Bieber! (Not really, but Caden had me fooled!)

It was a great visit, complete with a show. We really are going to miss being a short drive away from them. We will miss you, Nelsons!

YAY!

2011-04-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Mommy got in to K-State and Daddy found us a house in Manhattan! All in the same weekend!

A brand new me!

2011-04-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

A year ago, I walked into a Weight Watchers meeting ready to make a change. It was a hard time for me, so many things not going as planned. But I was ready to take control and make a better life for myself. In February, 11 months later, I hit my goal after losing 40 lbs. It was such an amazing moment where both my leader, Joanna, and I cried. I can't believe how different I feel. I have not been this thin since college. An added bonus, I had Lasik back in November! So, I really do have a new outlook on life and feel like a brand new me!

Fire, Fossils and Pepsi Cola

2011-04-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

In January, before Roger left for Texas we decided to take a trip to the coast. First stop, New Bern, birthplace of Pepsi Cola. We decided that our time in NC would not be complete without a visit.

We stopped at the local fire fighters museum. Who could pass up the chance to wear cool hats!

Next stop, Caleb Bradham's drugstore, the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.

We found these bears and decided to take a few pictures.

Then, we went to Aurora to the Fossil Museum.

It was a lot of fun digging for fossils, even if it was raining.

Our favorite little guys!

2011-04-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

On our way back from Georgia, we stopped in SC to visit our favorite little guys, my nephews, Colton and Liam. My brother and his family were visiting from California.

They had an early birthday party for Liam, who was turning 1. We are so glad we got to celebrate with them!

A visit with the Krebs

2011-03-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

The day after Christmas we drove down to Richmond Hill, Ga to visit our good friends the Krebs. They moved into their new house this summer and this was the first chance we had to see it.

The girls had a great time playing dress up.

I wish I had taken more pictures of their beautiful new house. It is amazing! But here is their view from the kitchen out to the golf course. *House envy*

Snow!

2011-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

We received a late Christmas present, Snow! This is probably the most snow we have seen in our almost 4 years here in NC. The girls loved it!

Lily did much better this time in the snow.

Hershey really LOVED the snow!

Our friends Maci and Zander came over to play!

The snow was beautiful and a great way to get us ready for our upcoming move!

Christmas Day

2011-03-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve

2011-03-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas Eve this year with my Uncle Bernie and his girlfreind Sharon at their new house in Apex.

The girls loved the decorations!

Jena loved the outside decorations!

Sharon's granddaughter, Lily, was also there. They had a great time but it was a little confusing.

My uncle Bernie put together a huge feast for us!

The girls loved the presents, of course. It was a great day and we were glad to be with family for out last Christmas in North Carolina.

Christmas cookies

2011-03-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

We continued a great family tradition of making Christmas cookies.

The girls have gotten really good at making cookies. Jena cut this entire tray of gingerbread cookies all by herself.

You might notice these pictures are a little better then usual. That is because they were taken with my Christmas present, a new Nikon camera!

Gingerbread House

2011-03-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

This year I bought one of those Gingerbread House kits for the girls to put together. Roger is a purist and always objected to them in the past. Since I had never been able to pull one off from scratch, we gave the kit a try.

It turned out pretty good and the girls had a good time putting it together with Roger.

Science at Christmas

2011-03-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

My friend, Martha, mentioned a great deal on Omaha Steaks right before Christmas on her blog. So, I ordered them for Roger for Christmas. Here is was we got all for $50! (Thanks, Martha!)

They came in dry ice, so Roger decided to have a little fun with that. The chemist in him could not resist the science experiment.

Dry ice + Water = Smoke! The girls love it!

School Christmas Play 2010 - St Johns

2011-03-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

The 4 year old class at St Johns did a Christmas Play this year. Jena was a sheep. She was supposed to be the star, but she didn't like the costume.

Here is will Taylor (camel) and Isabella (angel).

After the play, they had a birthday party to celebrate the special baby. Her teachers ordered this awesome cake!

And it was a very tasty cake! I really do love their preschool!

Putting up the tree

2011-03-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

While we were putting up the tree I noticed Jena took all the garland. I found this, she told me it was Baby Jesus and the gifts from the "We Three Kings" (Wise Men). I love their preschool!

Jena was Mary, I think Lily and the princesses were the shepards!

And of course, we decorated the tree. The girls definitely enjoyed all the decorations!

Church Christmas Play 2010 - St James

2011-03-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on posting since we are in the middle of a move. Back in December Jena and her class sang in the Christmas at church. Here they are during and after.

There's no place like home.

2011-01-31T19:12:00.000-08:00

15 years ago when Roger returned from Korea, the Army packed up what meager belongings we had at my dad's house in Omaha and I left the Midwest behind for what I assumed was forever. We were moving to Augusta, GA with plans to stay. But now, after 15 years since that move and 22 since I moved away the first time, I am going home. It is funny to think I have spent over half of my life and almost all of my adult life here in the South but I will always consider myself a Midwesterner at heart.

We found out last week that Roger has been assigned to Ft Riley in April. Roger is in Texas for the next 2 months and we will move when he gets back. Soon after we get up to Kansas, Roger will leave for his deployment. And I will be able to start graduate school at Kansas State in the fall. And while all of this is happening quickly, we have been expecting all of this for awhile. We were just waiting for the Army to make up their minds. And we have been anticipating the deployment as well. Now that Roger is no longer in residency he is eligible to deploy, it is his turn. And he will be going over with many of his residency classmates from here at Bragg.

And while we are happy to be moving closer to my extended family, we are sad to leave all of our friends and family on the East Coast behind. We will always have a place in our heart for North Carolina, after all this is were Lily was born. After four years in Fayetteville, we are leaving behind many dear friends, some we consider family. To them I say, "It is never goodbye in the Army." I will dearly miss our church, St James, were Lily was baptised. The girls will miss their preschool, St John's, most of all. I am sad that Lily will not be able to go there for four years like Jena did.

As we ready for the move I think about all the adjustments we will have to make to life in Kansas. While Jena is excited about living somewhere it snows more than once or twice a year, neither of them know what it is like to live in a cold climate. They will both need new winter clothes as I know Jena's hand-me-downs will not be warm enough for Lily. Luckily I have already found a consignment sale in Manhattan. We will have to buy a snow shovel, and maybe a snow blower. I'll have to scrape windows again. We also will have to adjust to life with Roger very for away for over a year. While Roger and I have done this before, it will be hard for the girls to understand why Daddy isn't home. Atleast Jena understands somewhat as she has seen her friends go through this. We all will have to adjust to me going back to school full time and Jena starting Kindergarten. The girls will be in different schools for the first time.

So, in a nut shell, I have 10 weeks to get us ready for a move half way across the country almost all by myself (with help from a team of movers). We still have to sell this house and find one in Kansas. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for this move and our new home.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T13:50:00.001-08:00

Family Pictures

2010-12-21T10:45:00.000-08:00

Visit to Santa

2010-12-12T17:42:00.001-08:00

We took the girls to see Santa a few weeks ago. Lily was not a fan of the man in the red suit. Jena was so excited she forgot what she wanted for Christmas. All she managed to get out was she wanted a Woody doll. We stopped by another day so she could give him the rest of her list, a remote control car and a pillow pet. Here's hoping next year goes a little smoother.

Tis the season...

2010-12-01T16:48:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Advent, my favorite church season. We are trying to teach the girls a little about it this year. We bought the chocolate calenders for them. Jena promptly tried to open all the boxes. Jena also has one she made at school and they are learning more about Advent there as well. I'll try to post some of the things they make this season and of course, more pictures of the girls, soon.

Losing it

2010-11-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

Since I'm the one who usually takes the pictures around here most of our pictures are of the girls. Not to many pictures of me actually make it on to the blog. So if you haven't seen me in awhile you might be surprised by this post. A little over 6 months ago I started going to Weight Watchers again. I had gone 6 years ago with great success but had to stop when I got pregnant with Jena. Here I am during our trip to Disney in April.

Last week I hit 31 pounds lost! It was a long, slow and difficult process. I've gotten better at portion control and impulse control. I'm even exercising again. I even do Yoga now on the Wii Fit Roger bought for Christmas last year. It is so helpful to go to my meeting each week and talk to people dealing with this as well. I haven't reached my goal yet, but this is what I look like now:

You might wonder why I pick 31 lbs to celebrate. Well, if you want to know what 31 lbs looks like here it is:

Jena weighs 31 lbs, so I've lost the equivalent of Jena.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a bit late but we have been enjoying fall here in NC!

Jena was Cinderella this year.

Lily was a pirate. This is the only picture I got of her in her costume, she wasn't a fan of dressing up that day.

Here is Jena with her friend Maci. Maci and her brother, Zander, went Trick or Treating with us this year. Lots of candy to be had and lots of fun. Lily even got into it!

Popcorn for Boy Scounts and Soldiers

2010-10-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Zander is selling popcorn for his Tiger Scout troop. You can order it online and it will ship directly to your house. Scouting is a great program so, if you are not supporting a local scout, please consider buying popcorn from Zander. And if you don't like popcorn, you can also order popcorn to be sent overseas to our deployed soldiers. That way you can help two great groups at once.

http://www.trails-end.com/estore/home_alt.jsp?_requestid=1527417

Interesting column

2010-09-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2010/09/19/1030936?sac=Military

This column was in our paper this weekend. It was great to read it, especially in light of the recent press on the minister in Florida. It was good to see some one else who is worn down by the hatred that seems to be brewing under our society's surface.

Letter to my 26 year old self

2010-09-16T12:14:00.001-07:00

I turn 36 today! Where does the time go? It has been a crazy time for us, with no end of that in sight. And I have found myself frustrated with life. I hate it when I'm not in control. And a find myself looking back to another time when I felt like that, when I turned 26. That was a rough year, changing jobs and losing my dad. So I am writing a letter to my younger self in reflection.

Me, 9/16/2000, Cincinnati, OH

Dear Me (at 26),

I wanted to wish you Happy Birthday! I know you are getting ready to go live it up at Oktoberfest in Cincinnati . Have a great time and have a potato latke and Lynchburg Lemonade for me! This trip will be a great memory for you. A trip with Roger and Joel that all three of you talk about still today. One of your last carefree birthdays.

I write now because I know what a hard year you have in front of you even though you don't know it yet. You will out grow your job and feel like you have no where to go. You will find a new job, but it comes at a great price in the long run. And you will suffer a great loss when Dad dies. It will be a crippling pain like no other you have ever felt. I can only describe what you will feel as standing on a bridge and watching that bridge fall into the void in front of you. You will have no idea how to get across the void. But I promise, you will find a way. But you will be left forever changed in how you see the world.

I know right now you feel frustrated with yourself and life. You are not where you wanted to at 26. You feel you should be advancing faster at work, making more and doing more. You feel bored with it all. You are so ready to be done with all the work already. You want to be on top of the world. Slow down and enjoy this time, all of that won't happen over night. So, enjoy the time you have. It will be gone in an instant.

It is not all bad, you will have great adventures and know the most amazing joy. You will get a passport and go on your first cruise to the Caribbean. You will make that trip to the United Kingdom that you are Roger are talking about. You will see Seattle and NYC. You will finish your MBA and I still feel that is one of my greatest achievements. It will also be a wonderful experience for you and a time you will always remember. You will, after a long struggle, become a mom. And while it was a trying and difficult time, it is also a time where you will learn more about yourself then you ever thought possible.

Right now you are focused on your career, doing everything you can towards this goal. Extra duty at work, the MBA program and networking outside of work. These all help you land your next job. A job that has all you want and more, including a lot of headaches. But it is a good job at first and helps you to get a glimpse of the world that Roger wants to be in, Medicine. And it gets you where you want to be and helps get Roger to where he needs to be.

You won't believe me, but you change your priorities and dreams along the way. You still have the same values and compassion. Those don't change despite what people tell you. Money doesn't change all of that. But in six years, almost to the day, you will walk away from the career you are fighting so hard for now. And you will be better for it. You learn that in the end, you don't want to pay the price for that success. You blaze a new path towards new goals and dreams. And now, 10 years later, you are on a completely different path. You are knee deep in the mommy business and you love it. Staying home with the girls is hard, but it is what works for your family and you have learned that is the most important thing.

I wish I could say all the fear and anxiety go away. They don't. You will make mistakes, lots of them. But I can tell you that it will all work out. You will be okay. I have to remind myself of that even now. Things will happen. Things that will cause you great pain and frustration. You will often wonder why you? The question to ask is Why not you? You are and will be blessed with people that love and care for you along the way. And it is those people that will help you get through. So don't focus on those who disappoint you, focus on those who lift you up. They are the ones that matter.

Over the next 10 years, you will grow and change. It is a time you will learn that we are not truly in control. And you will learn to trust the power that is, for God always knows the path. There will be hard times and there will be good ones. But I wouldn't change that because these experiences helped to make me the person I am today. And for better or worse, I'm okay with who I turned out to be. I am far from perfect and I'm sure my 46 year old self will write to me one day saying many of these things again. But I look forward to those years as I continue to grow. So, have a great birthday. And buckle up! Enjoy the ride that is the years to come.

Love,

Me (at 36)

End of summer catch up

2010-09-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've posted a lot over the last few days. So much so that the posts take up more than just this screen. Over on the right is a list of posts, so if you missed one just click on the link and it will take you to it. There were 7 posts in all, sorry for so many but I had a ton of pictures from all the things we did.

Trip North: Manassas

2010-09-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

While visiting the Nelsons we were able to go to the Manassas National Battle Field (that is Bull Run for those of you North of the Mason-Dixon.) It was a great place to visit and the kids loved running around.

They LOVED the cannons!

Bang, Bang!

It was a beautiful and peaceful place, the site of old farms actually. It is hard to believe there were two horrible battles here.

Trip North: Fernwyld

2010-09-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

The girls' favorite part of our trip was the visit to Fernwyld, the farm of our good friends and blog regulars the Nelsons.

They renovated an 1850's farm house and have finally moved in this past May. Look at those hardwood floors!

The girls and Rebecca enjoyed baking many good treats. Those treats, along with the Sho fly pie that we brought down from PA, caused me to gain at least a pound on the trip.

The kids had such a great time hanging out together.

Really cool old cherry tree.

Chicken/Guinea coupe.
Mmmm, pancakes.

Roger , Caden and Rick worked on the outside pen of the coupe. Here they are showing off their hard work.

It was a great visit and all the kids loved being together again. Thanks, Nelsons, for letting us come visit.

Trip North: Trains (and a President)

2010-09-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

The girls were not impressed with Philadelphia, so we left after on day and headed over the Strassburg to visit the trains. The highlight of the day was when Roger did a U turn in the middle of the highway to go back to a farm that had a sign advertising quilts. The farmer laughed at us and the car behind us was not happy. We got a few quilted pieces (not a full size quilt though) and aprons for the girls. For the girls though, it was the Train Museum.

After that we headed over to find the grave of President Buchanan. We are trying to visit as many presidential gravesites/libraries as possible. So far (in 16 years) we've visited 8. We visited his home and grave in Lancaster.

Trip North: Philadelphia

2010-09-09T12:32:00.001-07:00

After Lancaster, we headed into the city. The girls and I dropped Roger off at Mike's wedding and headed to the hotel to check in. We had our first experience with the Pennsylvania Turnpike along the way. After the wedding, we picked Roger up and went to find steak sandwiches. No trip to PA is complete without them.

MMMMM! Cheesesteak!
1 out of 1 doctors approve!
And a TastyKake (don't let the name fool you.)

The next day we hit the city and saw the sites. Here we are in front of Independenc Hall.

The mandatory Liberty Bell visit. Next we hit the Mint. Funny story, the last time we were here was 2002 about 6 months after 9/11. The Mint was closed to visitors at that time. We went up and there were cement barricades (similar to the ones below) across the platform in front of the doors. We asked the guard if it was open. He replied, "The Mint is not open today." Roger looked at all the barricades and asked if it would be open at all. He replied, "Not anytime soon." Well, here we are 8 years later and able to finally get it.

We also had to pay homage to the Great Ben Franklin.

Then we stopped for lunch and had this wonderful sandwich called a pizza steak. My new fav! Then we went to the Betsy Ross House.

Lily loved these cats.
These little guys were all over the city.

We then walked around the city and stopped by Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously inhabited residential street in the US.

The biggest Rose Bush we have ever seen.

After stopping at Starbuck's (it was cold that day) we headed across the city to the Edgar Allen Poe site. We walked over a mile (one way) to find it was closed on Mondays. Opps.

Then we hiked back across town to the National Constitution Hall and "met" the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Here Roger is with the Georgia Delegation.

The American College of Physicians was across the street.

Another one of those little guys. Go Phillies!

After that, we picked up the car and drove over to the University of Pennsylvania. Since Penn is the home to both the first medical school and the first college/school of business in the US we thought a visit was in order.

On the grounds of the medical school.

Over at Wharton.

Trip North: Amish Country

2010-09-09T12:23:00.001-07:00

My favorite part of the trip, Hershey. The girls LOVED Chocolate World. We skipped the park since the girls are still pretty young. But the exhibits and small rides in Chocolate World were just the ticket for our pint sized travelers.

Me and mini Me on the ride to see how Chocolate is made. (Side note: I look freakishly like my dad in this picture.)

The cows were the best part. Jena liked the ride (which handed out chocolate bars out at the end) so much that we went on it twice. We drove to Lancaster after that and stayed the night. The wedding was the next day so we hit the Amish Farm and House(a find from our last visit) and then headed on to Philly through the Amish countryside. What a drive!

The girls loved the animals. Lily, sadly, called everything "Puppy," we have been working on animals since we got back. They also liked the One Room School House.

Inside the One Room School House.

We love the Amish Farm and were saddened that the world had caught up to it since our last visit. This Target was built a few years ago and we almost missed it as a result. Below are pictures from inside the Amish House.

We did a little shopping in the gift shop, getting some cool handmade toys and aprons for the girls. Then we headed off to Mike's wedding outside Philly.

Trip North: Gettysburg

2010-09-09T11:57:00.001-07:00

Back in June, on of Roger's coworkers got married up near Philadelphia. So we took a trip up north to visit one of our favorite states. Roger and I visited there 8 years ago and loved it. So we took the girls on an old fashion car trip, complete with "I'm bored" and "Are we there yet?" We went to Lancaster and Hershey first. The last time we went, we took the interstate the whole way following a map (I know we are old). But this time the GPS took us on a Hwy around Baltimore and through Gettysburg! It was a great added bonus to the trip.

Since it was Gettysburg, one of the worst battles of The War Between the States (that's the Civil War for those of you north of the Mason-Dixon), we chose sides. Roger and the girls, all born in the South.
And me, the odd mommy out, born in Union territory.

Our attempt at a family shot. Thanks to the fellow traveler that took this for us.

Tribute to our adopted home of North Carolina.

Civil War reenactment under way.

Summer Catch up

2010-09-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a little behind here. Its has been a crazy summer. Lily started gymnastics back in June:

In July, she started her ballet class:

I'd love to say the classes are going great, but she is two. She'd rather run around and do her own thing, she doesn't like to follow the rules. She is getting better though, and seems to enjoy it for the most part. Her favorite part is getting stamps on her hands on at the end of class.

Conversations with a 2 and a 4 year old.

2010-07-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

Now that Lily is talking, we have some really funny conversations around here. Her favorite new word, "Cup Cake." Today while we were leaving Jena's ballet class so made her first ever comment on weather. "Mama, its hot!" and "Mama, car hot!" Thanks, Lily. Because the sweat pouring off all of us didn't clue me in to that.

Jena asked me to help her draw "boxes on paper" so I helped her draw a grid. They she took it to Lily and said, "Lily, this is your sticker chart for going potty. You go in the potty and you get a sticker to put on this." Thanks, Jena. Could you handle the rest of potty training too?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lily!

2010-07-19T06:09:00.001-07:00

Lily is 2 today! It is hard to believe two years have passed since I held her in my arms for the very first time.

And we have had the privilege of watching her grow into the vibrant toddler she is today. We loved seeing her firsts.

Her first Christmas.

Her first birthday where she celebrated with all her friends. Her first steps and words came soon after. But with everything, she did it in her own time and her own schedule.

Happy Birthday to our big girl. We can't wait to see your next new moves.

Somebody else's daughter

2010-07-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

She was somebody else's daughter. Someone I never met. But in my mind she will be forever linked to Lily and that summer she was born. If things had been different I would have met her that night Lily was born, but I never got to meet her.

Her name was Holley Wimunc and she was a Mother/Baby nurse at Womack. She died a week before Lily was born. The police say she was a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. It was an awful story. They found her apartment burned, but she was missing. They found her body over near Jacksonville, NC just outside of Camp Lajeune where her husband was stationed. She was only 24 years old and she left behind two children. She was the 2nd soldier in a month found dead in Fayetteville. The 3rd in the state in 6 months. And we were reeling from it all.

Roger knew her from work and told me she was a bright, joyful person and a wonderful nurse. Her good friend was one of my nurses after I had Lily. Since just about every one of the nurses on the floor stopped by during those two days, I'm sure I would have met her at some point. She was missed by all. A memorial to her was in the sitting room of the Mother/Baby unit. Everyone of the nurses she worked with went to her Memorial Service. Nurses from other floors along with the doctors covered the floor so they could.

So, even though I never met her, in my mind she will be linked to Lily. As Roger and I were getting ready to welcome Lily into the world, Holley's parents were getting ready to say goodbye. As we were bring Lily home for the first time, they were bringing her home for the last time. As we adjusted to life with Lily, they were forced to adjust to life without Holley. My heart continues to go out to her parents for their incredible loss.

Our trip out West

2010-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Back in May the girls and I packed up again and headed west to Nebraska, this time for my Grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. Sadly, Roger was not able to make the trip with us. Such is the life of a physician 's family. Many people commented I was brave to travel that far alone with the girls. I just think I'm crazy.

Jena was very excited and dressed Stompy and herself in matching headbands for the plane.

Our flights were plagued with delays and going out we were routed through ATL with a 30 minute lay over. All the running I have been doing paid off as I was forced to run through the airport with the girls to make our flight. Thanks to all the fellow travelers who helped along the way.

Casa de West was our base camp again, along with EVERYONE else. Thanks again to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jim for your hospitality. We stayed in Omaha for a few days before heading out to Kearney.

My grandparents surprised us with a trip to Omaha for doctors appointments. While they were in town Defreeze Manor, where they managed for many years and my aunt now works, threw them a reception. Grandpa hates surprises.

On Friday we headed out to Kearney. We stopped in Lincoln along the way to pick up my niece, Desi. It was quite a weekend with three girls. Lets just say I'm not ready for a tween. My brother Ben and his family drove out from California and we met them in Kearney. We have not seen them since they moved there last summer and were very excited to meet Liam. The cousins had a great time getting reacquainted.

The party was Saturday. Tanya (my awesome cousin who never reads my blog) and I once again had cake duty. The curse of being the oldest.

There is a long story behind these mints (and the nuts too), out of respect for those involved in the insanity, I won't share all the details. The mints were good.

So was the cake. It was toddler approved. (my nephew Colton).

Jena and Lily once again enjoyed being surrounded by cousins.

We had a great turnout. Thanks to everyone who came out.

Tanya and I live 4 hours apart, sadly we have to travel 1500 miles to see each other.

The fam.

The cousins.

For dinner we headed out to a Nebraska fav, Valentino's. Our good friend and fellow resident here a Bragg, Jason, is a fellow Nebraskan. I sent a picture of my dinner to his phone apparently as he was on call eating Army meatloaf. His reply was not kind.

Sunday we went to my grandparents church where they were honored for they achievement of 60 years of marriage. For lunch we went to a local park for a picnic and fun.

Family pictures. Since we live in 4 different states, this is the first one we have had in 10 years.

Dinner was at Perkins. Yum!

Monday we headed back to Lincoln to drop Desi off. Before we left we stopped at Nebraska's answer to the Arch to look around. It showed a history of pioneers in Nebraska. In the gift shop Jena found this hat. Super cute, but at $40 Super expensive.

These hats were cheaper.

The buffalo was not real.

The Archway from a distance.

We were able to grab Runza for dinner after dropped Desi off. MMMM. From there we went back to Omaha to get ready for our flight home on Tuesday. Unfortunately, there was a tornado storm that delayed us until Wednesday.

And we also ended up with a 3 hour layover in Detroit. At least we got to eat. And the concourse was labeled on the sign as mile long, so I got my workout in too.

And we found a play area to keep the girls busy. We made it home in once piece but a day late which put us behind for getting ready for our next trip. This time, North. Stay tuned!

Tribute to the Nelsons

2010-05-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Our good buddies, the Nelsons, moved away a few weeks ago. They headed off to their new FARM! We miss them terribly but are really excited for them as they start their new lives, Post Navy. Here is a pictorial tribute from over the last three years for them.

Ketchup on everything, part 2

2010-05-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Some of you might remember this post from two years ago when I first talked about Jena putting ketchup on everything. Today, I laughed as it happened again. Today's lunch was Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, Watermelon and Apple Sauce. And, of course, Ketchup. As we ate lunch I looked over to see Lily pick up a piece of watermelon and DIP IT IN KETCHUP! I didn't even bother to tell her to stop because I knew she wouldn't. So, I just laughed. Then Jena said, "Look! Ketchup and Applesauce!" As she dipped her nugget in ketchup, then applesauce. Pretty soon, there was ketchup mixed in with the applesauce and she was laughing. They ate all of it. Go figure, I guess it is genetic.

For all those out there in our extended military family

2010-05-19T15:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/national-military-families-association

First Lady Michelle Obama has lent her voice again to the military family. Let us not forget we are at war.

Update on the girls

2010-05-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today Lily is 22 months old. So hard to believe! I guess I better start planning a party. As you can see from the picture, we cut Jena's hair. It was all the way down her back, now it is shoulder length. She starting asking 2 months ago if I could cut it, but when I would actually get out the scissors out she would change her mind. Finally, two weeks ago we cut it. I can believe how grown up it makes her look.

The girls have been very busy with school, church and other activities. Jena continues in Gymnastics and Ballet. And now it looks like Lily will be able to as well. I was talking to Jena's dance teacher about finding a afternoon class she could attend since she will be in preschool 5 mornings a week this fall. And she told me two things. First, Jena could move up to a 4/5 year old class, that she felt she was ready. Second, she is starting a 2 year old class since so many of the girls in Jena's current class have little sisters. So, Lily will be starting dance in July when Jena moves up to her new class. In June, Lily will finally start gymnastics like she has wanted for awhile now. I was able to move Jena to a Friday class in a time slot that also has a Parent and Tot class. Lily has become very active while Jena is in class. She wants to go out on the floor and play. This way she will have something to do while Jena's in class.

Conversations with a 4 year old: The hard questions

2010-05-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago driving in the car Jena asked a hard question.
"Mama, why did my grandpa die?"
Sadly, I had to ask for clarification. "Which one?" I asked, hating this line of questioning already.
"Papa Williams, Daddy's Daddy."
"Well, do you know what a cigarette is, Jena?"
"No"
"It something with tobacco in it that you smoke with your mouth that is very bad for you."
"Okay"
"Well, your Papa smoked those most of his life and they made him very sick. And he died because he was sick."
"Why did he do that?"
"I'm not really sure, Jena."
"Oh. Well, how did my other grandpa die?"
"Well, he had something called asthma. And it made his heart and lungs very sick. And one day they stopped working"
"Oh, okay."

Luckily that was the end of the questions. She didn't ask about her grandmother, so I didn't have to explain an aneurysm to a 4 year old. And I didn't tell her that cigarettes are what made my dad's asthma as bad as it was. He quit about 14 years before he died, but the damage was already done. I didn't tell her, but I know someday I will. And I know the questions will get harder to answer as the girls get older on this subject and others.

Unfortunately, they will have to learn the hard lessons early. They have learned too early death is inevitable. They are learning early how to say goodbye to good friends. And I feel they will learn early that not everyone is nice since so many people have an opinion about the calling Roger has chosen as an Army doctor. And even closer to home as not all the relationships in my family are what I would call loving.

I know someday they will realize other people have more than one grandparent. That moving all the time is difficult and so is making new friends. They won't like being nice to people who are not nice to them. And they maybe feel that all of this not fair. But maybe these lessons will make learning the other ones easier. Maybe they will chose a healthy life style to help prolong life. Hopefully when it comes to tobacco they will make the decision to not use it. Maybe they will be tolerant and empathetic towards others. Maybe they will be able to adapt to change and enjoy adventure.

Happy Mother's Day (A day late)

2010-05-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I was able to spend the day with my mom, so this is a day late. I just wanted to say a special hello to all the mothers out there who couldn't be with their children because they are serving our country overseas. Your sacrifice and gift is one of the greatest you can give and we thank you and are thinking of you.

What a difference a year makes

2010-05-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Disney Day 5: Hollywood Studio

2010-05-06T10:22:00.001-07:00

Tuesday was our last day at Shades of Green and Disney. So we packed up the car and got dressed and ready to go. We were off to our last park, Hollywood Studios. It was the one park we didn't make it to last year so we were very excited.

Here we are ready to see the "Stars"!

First off we headed off to see Woody and Buzz!

Buzz is one of Jena's favorites since she saw the moving Toy Story. She waited all week to meet him and his friend Woody. We missed Woody over at the Magic Kingdom because he was taking break, so Jena was glad he was at HS the day we were there.

One happy little girl!
Next we headed over to the "Honey, I shrunk to kids" play area where we ate lunch and played with the bugs.

Along the way we meet some Army Men, here giving Jena a salute.

We also got to meet the gang from Up. The girls are also big fans of that movie. We also got in some rides and saw some the animation cells in the studio. Since it was a smaller park it was the perfect last day adventure before we headed home.

Disney Day 4: Animal Kingdom

2010-05-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

Day 4 was the Animal Kingdom. This picture was taken by our newest family photographer, Jena.

We hit Dinoland USA first. First ride, the TriceraTop Spin. Lily cried when she saw it, loved it once it got going.

Riding around in my automobile!

In the Boneyard.

Future paleontologists on the job.

Then we hit the characters area. Lilo and Stitch were a big hit.

Pocahontas was happy to meet us.

Of course all the Disney Classics were there on Safari.

We met Thumper and Mrs Rabbit after lunch.

Jiminy Cricket was over at Rafiki's Planet Watch.

On Safari.

Another full day for us!

Disney Day 3: Magic Kingdom

2010-04-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Day 3 was the Magic Kingdom! We got up early again and got to the park right before it opened. The girls enjoyed the show they do for opening.

We took the ferry over. Here the girls are all ready to go in their mouse ears!

We saw the Fairy Godmother as we entered Fantasy Land.

First we hit the Dumbo line. Last year Jena and Roger waited over a half hour to ride Dumbo. This time we waited 15 minutes and Lily and I rode too. Lily cried when we first got on, but when it started she loved it!

Next we walked on to the Tea Cups! My absolutely favorite ride and there was no line.

We then headed over to meet Disney's newest Princess, Tiana. Jena is a huge fan and knows the movie by heart. Both the girls wore their Princess Tiana t-shirts for the big occasion.

Another favorite, It's a Small World. Always a hit!

On the way out we stopped by to see Jessie from Toy Story 2.

Another great day!
We played around with the camera a little while waiting for the bus back to the hotel.

After a long day at the park, we cooled off in the pool. It was a great day! We rode the most rides here which is why we have less pictures. Going early really helped with that, we rode 4 rides and met Tiana before we ate lunch! Rides this year: Dumbo, Tea Cups, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventure, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean , Tom Sawyer's Island and Hall of Presidents.

Disney Day 2: Epcot

2010-04-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we woke up really early and got ready for the big day. We were going to Epcot to meet the princesses! It was the beginning of our 4 day trek through Disney. We did a good job of getting there early to avoid the crowds. We opened 3 out of 4 parks.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to go. Jena as Cinderella, of course. We brought a Tinker Bell Costume for Lily, but she wore it for 1 minute at the restaurant and wanted to take it off.

Excited to start the day!

We met some of the characters just inside the gate. Lily liked them from about 5 feet away. Any closer and this was the result. Lily didn't make it in a lot of character pictures that day.

Once again we were there for the Garden Show. We hit Futureland first and actually road almost all the rides the girls were big enough for. Then off to The World Showcase.

The main event, Breakfast at Akershaus. Belle is the hostess and greeted us at the door. Lily started to cry when we got closer. I learned that princesses don't do crying babies, so Lily didn't make the picture.

Waiting for our Royal Breakfast.

And we got to meet the princesses (and Mary Poppins.) Everybody really liked Jena's blue nails.

Out in the park we found a few other princesses, a prince and a kitty.

Along the way we passed through the wilds of Canada.

And made some masks.

Before leaving for naptime we took a break in one of the playgrounds. Then it was back to the hotel for Lily's nap. Jena and Roger hung out at the pool and Lily and I took a nap. Then we got up to go back for dinner at the Garden Grill.

The girls loved the family style dinner we had, complete with Mac & Cheese, French Fries, and Chicken Nuggets. Lily was more excited about the food than anything else.

Lily liked the characters, from a distance, so she skipped the pictures. Jena though was ready to ham it up!

After dinner we wondered around some more. Right before we left we found these guys. Finally, Lily made a picture.

Disney Day 1

2010-04-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

After Joel's and SeaWorld we went over the Shades of Green at Disney World. We were there from 5 nights and had a great time. We got the lay of the land on Thursday. Friday we did some shopping and hung out at Downtown Disney.

The girls enjoyed playing on the playground at Legoland while we waited to be called for dinner.

We found this place, a Dinosaur restaurant! The girls thought eating with the Dinosaurs was Awesome!

Wow! Jena was amazed with the ceiling,

that had Jellyfish hanging from it.

Lily enjoyed the crayons,

Jena's silly faces,

and hanging with Mama.

Jena was beside herself when she found a Triceratops, her favorite dinosaur.

Dinner just isn't complete without cute plates.

After dinner, Jena enjoyed the dig site.

Lily preferred the hand washing station, which she used for her feet. Luckily she wasn't the only child to do so.

And we posed for a picture with Cinderella to practice for Saturday.

After dinner we did our Princess mani pedi, in blue naturally.

Lily even joined in for a pedicure. I want to go on the record that this was her idea, not mine.

And then off to bed to rest up for the big day, tomorrow we meet the Princesses!

Greeting from Florida

2010-04-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts but the internet at our hotel is a little slow so it is hard to download pictures. Don't worry, I'll post them when I get back. For those of you on Facebook, I've posted some there. We have been busy. We went to Epcot on Saturday, the Magic Kingdom on Sunday and the Animal Kingdom today. Tomorrow we are going to Hollywood Studios and then begin our trek home.

I'd like to thank Sea World for their Here's to the Heroes program which allowed us to go to Sea World for free. And Disney for their Armed Forces Salute which allowed us to get super discounted tickets. They really helped to make our trip really great.

Sea World

2010-04-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

After leaving Richmond Hill/Hilton Head we headed south to Orlando to visit our friends, the Friedmans. Joel and Zach joined us Wednesday at Sea World.

Zach and Jena were very excited about the penguins.

Lily thought they were cool.

Taking a drink break.

At lunch we found something we haven't seen in NC since November, WATERMELON! Always a big hit with our kids.

Hotdogs, YUM!
And Pickles, of course.

Jena and Zach hanging with more Penguins.

Cheese!

Family shot, courtesy of Joel.

Sting Rays.

Riding on the moving sidewalk in the Shark Aquarium. We did this twice.

We went to the Carousel next, Lily opted to stay with me.

Zach and Jena getting ready to ride. They loved it!

Last, we visited the dolphins. They were a little harder to catch on film.

Easter on the road

2010-04-06T19:18:00.000-07:00

We hit the road last week for our much anticipated family vacation south. Our first stop, Richmond Hill, GA. to visit our good friends the Krebs family. We were able to go to the clinic Easter egg hunt with them.

Jena and Alex getting ready!

Jena waiting patiently.

Lily very excited.

Jena with her haul. She is very picky about which eggs she keeps.

Lily did better, she wasn't too picky about her eggs.

And we got to meet the Easter Bunny, who apparently wears combat boots.

Side by Side comparison

2010-03-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

I try not to compare the girls, but who can resist when Lily does the same thing Jena did and I have pictures. Toddlers love the rally cap and sunglasses look.

Dad's right of passage

2010-03-26T10:39:00.001-07:00

We gave Jena a bike for her birthday this year. And Roger got to experience a right of passage for all dads. He put a bike together! Good job, Dad!

Jena's Birthday

2010-03-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

Jena turned 4 a few weeks ago. We had all her friends over for a party the Saturday before her birthday.

She requested a Princess and the Frog themed birthday party. So we had one complete with a Tiana cake and frog ice cream (mint chocolate chip), frog legs (chicken wings) and fresh beignet.

She upgraded to a big girl bike!

She was truly Princess for the day.

A Day at the Museum

2010-03-25T08:47:00.002-07:00

Last month we went up to Raleigh for the day and took the girls to the Natural History Museum.
Here I am with the girls in front of a copy of the Liberty Bell. 9 years ago a man from Nebraska hit the real Liberty Bell with a hammer (story here) and ever since Roger has felt the need to take pictures of me with the Liberty Bell (real and copy).

Our future astronaut loved the exhibit on space.

For the first time Lily wanted to get in on the act. She wanted to get out of the stroller and check everything out. She even said "Cheese" for the first time on this trip when I was taking this picture. She had a great time.

What trip is complete without a picture of cotton.

The ledger around the cotton has the different counties in North Carolina. Here is Lily with the Cumberland County plaque. Home of Fayetteville and Fort Bragg; the place where Lily was born.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone. So, what color are you wearing? I'm wearing orange. Most people around here do not even think about it, but the green for St Patrick's Day comes from the green in the Irish flag which represents the Catholic population in Ireland. The other colors are Orange for the Protestant population and white for Peace. Those of you who read this blog know I am a very proud Lutheran. So from time to time I wear orange on St Patrick's to show my pride in that. And according to this article more people are. We were in Raleigh this weekend and saw part of the St Patrick's parade up there. While we were watching I saw a spectator and his two sons, all three wearing bright orange scarves! Glad to see more Proud Protestants out there.
Of course, I sent the girls to school in green. I didn't want to explain all of this to a room of toddlers and a room of 4 year-olds. And in writing this I am reminded of this sign we saw in Ireland.

So no matter who you are or what color you are wearing, Happy St Patrick's Day!

March is Women's History Month

2010-03-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

This month is Women's History Month. As a woman and a mother of two girls, I'd like to say thank-you to all those who came before me and made the world a better place for me. These women fought laws and practices that made it difficult for women. Laws that wouldn't let women own land, vote, or even go to school. These women were considered radical; they were ridiculed and ostracized for wanting something different, for wanting more. Like all crusaders, they went against the grain. People didn't like them, felt they were unnatural. But today, they would have been like so many of the rest of us enjoying life.

I feel some people of my generation forget the sacrifices of those who went before us, both men and women. I was embarrassed once when in college a girl in my Political Science class didn't know when women had gained the right to vote. In that same conversation a black person didn't know that the 15th amendment, giving black men the right to vote, was passed in 1869. I found it very sad. So, I want to say, I remember. I am thankful. I am thankful I own property; I can and do vote; that I was able to go to college and get a job that I was able to move up in; and all the other things I and others take for granted. And I will raise my girls to be thankful for the same.

Happy 4th Birthday, Jena!

2010-03-09T06:26:00.001-08:00

Hard to believe, but just four years ago Jena came into to our lives and forever changed them. She amazes us everyday with her love of life and wonderment for the world around us. She has gone from baby to toddler to big sister to preschooler. And she never slowed down. Thanks, Jena for making us parents and thanks to all of you for watching with us as she grows up. Happy Birthday, Jena!