Happy Birthday!

Wow, time sure flies! Carrie is three today. She had a rough start to life, at just two pounds four ounces. Looking at her today you'd never know it. She really holds her own around her rough and tumble older brother and sister. She loves cats, her stuffed pandas, doll babies, coloring, snacks, and most of all - her Daddy. She doesn't like getting her hair washed, being rushed for any reason, or having people take her things. That's her constant complaint "Mama, Bubba take it right out my hand!" "Bubba" is her name for Little Matt, and those two are inseparable these days.

Happy Birthday sweet redhead. We love you!

You know you're a mother when...

1. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.

2. You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into cute shapes.

3. You can't bear to give away baby clothes - it's so final.

4. You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"

5. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.

6. You hire a sitter because you have't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.

7. You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything

Kindergarten

Here's the latest from my little kindergartner Beth.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Computer. We've been talking about personification, and she came up with these all on her own.


Hmm...which one of these "sight words" do you think was snuck into the stack? This kid cracks me up.

Field Trip!

We took our first field trip here in Mississippi. I live for field trip days! Of course just about anything can be a "field trip" when your kids are all as young as mine.

I decided to take the kids to check out a children's museum that is about a half an hour from our new house. Just about everything is a half an hour from the new only took a few pictures since I was busy supervising the kiddos, but it was very house...we are pretty much out in the sticks. Anyway, the museum was a big hit. I cool.


Beth and Carrie spent a long time playing in this fishing area.


All the kids loved painting, and truthfully I am always glad when they get the chance to paint somewhere other than in my house. (especially Carrie!)


They also had some very cool math, reading, and science exhibits. We were there three hours and did not have time to do everything. I practically had to drag the kids out with promises to return soon. Next time I will just picnic lunch and eat in the outdoor area, which is also pretty awesome.

Beautiful days

We are really enjoying life on the Gulf Coast. Our house is great, the weather is fantastic, the local food is yummy, and our kids are happy and thriving. As soon as they wake up they want to head outside. We try to go ahead and get school done in the mornings, and then out we go.

We're back!

We are now in our new home in Mississippi, attempting to unpack, and starting back up with our normal homeschool routine. Despite the fact that we did no school at all in December, and not that much in November either, Beth and Matt were able to pick right back up where they left off. In fact they were both really ahead of where we left off. It's funny how that works. Maybe it's just another month of age and experience that helps them out. We found a new church here, started them back up in AWANA's, and signed them up for swim lessons as well. I'm trying very hard to provide some sense of normalcy despite the big move and busy month we've had. Being in our own home with our own things that has definitely helped.

In other news, Matt and Beth both have their own computers now. They are desktops that Big Matt has got all rigged up just for them. It's so nice having a husband who is handy with computers. Little Matt especially loves computers, and is surprisingly good at operating them. I think I will start shifting a portion of their school work over to the computers.

Matt's favorite part of the new house! Excuse the mess, we are still unpacking.

Move - Part 2

We're in Mississippi! The second half our trip went pretty quickly and was uneventful. We decided to go ahead and drive it in one day. 834 miles....my neck was so sore by the time we arrived. The kids all were traveling well, and there was no traffic at all, so it seemed best just to push through and get there. Unfortunately the lodge on base did not have any pet rooms for us, so we went and found a room out in town. It was nice, but six people and two cats in one tiny room made for a long night. To make it worse, poor Katy stayed up coughing and crying most of the night. She just can't seem to shake this cold she's had. The next morning I decided we could not stay there because there wasn't a kitchen, and I didn't want to have to eat out three meals a day for a week or more. Too expensive and not healthy either. I started calling around, and by 9am I was driving Romeo and Eric to a kennel. The kids cried, and I miss them too. We've never had to board them before. The place seemed very nice though, and we will go and get them as soon as we can.

With our family of six, rather than eight, we were able to move onto the base and into a TLF. We are very comfortable here in our little house. It has two bedrooms, a full kitchen, even a washer and dryer. There are also sidewalks out front where Beth and Matt ride their bikes round and round. We are looking at one (permanent) house today and another tomorrow. I hope one of those will work out and we can be getting settled in soon.

So far I really like Biloxi and Keesler. It's very pretty here. The beaches aren't the white sand beaches like you see in Florida and the Carolinas, but they are nice to walk on anyway. There are many old pretty houses, nice parks, and beautiful trees. This whole area was pretty much destroyed in Katrina, and five years ago I still see many areas of damage. The base itself has been rebuilt though, and is very nice. I already hit the commissary and exchange up yesterday - they're huge!

This week is devoted to errands and getting settled in. Matt reports to his unit today, we are looking for a house, and we need to schedule the delivery of our household goods. I also need to enroll the kids in Tricare South and get their records sent over to the base. I have a church in mind that we are going to check out this coming Sunday, and I am on the hunt for new gymnastic and swim classes for Beth and Matt.