As the conversation of Halloween costumes came up, Patrick said that Tommy should be Luigi (from Mario brothers).
Tommy: No way! There is no way I am going to wear a hat on my head with a big "L" on it. In my day, it meant that you were silly.
Patrick: Well, now and days it just means "Glee" so you don't have to worry.

I think we have been listening to too much TV music.

First Day of School

Emma and Patrick begin their first day of school as a Kindergartener and 2nd grader.

Emma told me all about her day, and said that she would be going back the next day. She can't wait to be the "big cheese" in her classroom, and "tuckability" - how to keep your shirt tucked in. Patrick said he told the class 3 things about himself: his favorite thing to do is Mario Brothers Wii (big surprise there), his favorite color is green (since he has turned 7 is has changed from red), and his favorite sport is soccer. His teacher is the neice of one of the ladies I work with at the orthodontist office and looks just like one of her girls. About 3 hours after he got home from school he asked me why I didn't pack a snack for him. Sigh. I DID pack one, and we put it in a special pocket in the front together, but I guess he didn't remember.

William asked where they were a few times, and that made me so sad. But we got to Mass together, and he was better behaved since it was just us.

I did NOT cry, but did get all choked up when I saw them lining up outside to be picked up, and while in the car listening to the two of them compare days. They sounded like they missed each other and wanted to be sure to share everything. It was adorable! Here's to a great year!

More Fun with Family

We had orientation for the kids today, but the kindergarten class had it's own evening for the parents and Tommy was the lucky parent to go and see the classroom, cubby, and sit in Emma's seat. He came home so excited to tell her all about the things in the classroom. Then told Emma that he "warmed her seat" up for her. Patrick looked at him with a very accusing expression and said "I'll bet you burped on her seat!"

Flashback Friday

Our first helicopter visit in January of 2006. Patrick was about 3 1/2 and Emma had just turned 2. I can't believe how small they look!

Family Trip

Our final trip before school starts was a trip to visit family: 2 of Tommy's brothers and their families are stationed together. We had a fantastic trip and I can't believe how well all the cousins got along.

Emma was in heaven with all the girl stuff around at John's house (his are the 3 on the right). Laura wasn't too happy with Luke (in the green) when he took her spot, but we did get all the cousins in one shot. Not great, but we did okay.
Don't look at me, but EunYoung and Amber look great! We even had a girls' afternoon out with a fabulous luncheon that didn't include any chicken nuggets or french fries, but a ladies' tea kind of lunch with strawberry lemonade, 2 kinds of FABULOUS desserts and a wonderful lunch, eaten sitting down. I did apologize to Amber for cutting her food. Force of habit, you know.

I am always happy spending time with family, and we had a blast "Just Dance"-ing and eating. We did a lot of eating. EunYoung and Amber are amazing cooks, and we had a great meal just about every 4 hours. Definitely a great vacation!

I wanted to be sure you could see just how cute Laura is.

John's neighborhood had a great pool within walking distance. We didn't have a life vest for William, and he would just fall or walk into water above his head without missing a beat. He was in his own little world singing songs so he would constantly get water in his mouth when he fell. That boy has no fear in the water. Time to invest in some lessons and a life jacket for that kid!

The twins Jenna and Anna.

Iron Mike and the men: John, Paul, Dan and Tommy.

John is a helicopter pilot and took us to see some on base. One was open so we all got a turn to sit inside and "fly to Mars" as Luke and Patrick said. Mommy and William in a blackhawk.

This one is called an Apache.

My Emma has turned model with the chinook in the background. We did have a *small* incident with this one, involving a door that was opened, and in order to shut it we had someone on top of another's shoulders to get it properly shut. Not that we were doing something we shouldn't have, or anything like that.
Emma latched right on to Uncle John and his girls, and he was so amazing with her even when she was in a bad mood. We woke her up for the helicopters too. :)

Paul ready to help out.

There were some older planes on base as well, and it was cute to watch the kids enjoy getting close and touching and walking under the big planes. William was asleep for this part, and I know he would have been so excited, so I made sure we woke him for the helicopters.

We had such a wonderful time, and can't wait until the next visit!

Digital Dilemma

I love my digital camera. I mean, I really, really love that I have the ability to take a lot of pictures at one time, redo bad ones, and take videos all in the same place. What I have noticed is that I take so many pictures, and I upload them to be sure I don't lose them, but I don't really LOOK at my pictures. I can't quite figure out how that happens, but as I am trying to decide what to put on the blog, I find I don't really know what photos I have to pick from. When I had a film camera, I would send my pictures to a company, and excitedly wait for them to arrive in the mail or in my email so I could see how they turned out and relive the moments. I miss that. I miss that I would take time to actually see the pictures. I do have them on a slide show on my laptop background, and the kids really enjoy it, and I can actually see what I have and look at them myself. So, I'm not sure what to do. I need to enjoy my photos again, and I think I need to start documenting or actually doing some scrapbooking (digital!) so I can see the photos and go through them as needed, and make books for the kids to enjoy. I have the software coming to me, and I can't wait to begin, and I hope I am able to enjoy my photos as I used to.

(If you are trying to figure where this came from, I am trying to do a good blog post from our trip to see family. I am having trouble picking pictures, and I don't want to bore everyone with too many. Decisions, decisions.)

Uniforms

Dear Uniform Company,

Thank you so much for having the manager call to inform me that my order has been shipped. I know that when I called I was quite upset since my daughter has not received her uniform and school starts on Monday. But, while I am happy I received the information, I would like to say that I would have been happier with another individual making the call. Nothing personal, but with a voice that sounds like she has smoked 15 packs a day, like a man from a horror-voice-changing-bad guy film and an attitude that resembles "30 to life", she may not be the best customer service type manager.

Thank you,
The newbie mom (who would have been happier without the call)

New Church!

We are so excited to have a brand new Church! The day before Patrick's birthday was the dedication ceremony with our bishop and we took the older kids to the ceremony. I had never been to anything like that before and it was so beautiful and emotional. I loved the way each thing was blessed and then used for Mass: each pillar, tabernacle, the incense (lovely!) and wall. My favorite part of the whole ceremony was watching the bishop rub holy oils all over the altar before Jesus was placed there. Our pastor was just beaming and kept telling us that he had the "skin of a chicken" as our spanish priest told him. In English, it's "goose bumps" but I have to say that we all had the same feelings.

Emma's quote for the ceremony as she saw the bishop come in wearing his mitre: "Is he the real Saint Patrick??"

Birthday highlights

Patrick is 7!

I can't believe my oldest is 7 years old. This is a huge birthday for him, and for Mommy.

He had an amazing birthday weekend. We celebrated Friday, Saturday and Sunday (the actual day) and we had friends and family help us celebrate and make him feel special with their time and gifts.
Patrick asked me to make him lemon cake with lemon icing, which he didn't actually eat because he was so excited by the figures I put on the cupcakes for him.

This is a big year for Patrick with lots of changes, including a new school with new friends and a different environment. I love how well he reads, and he remembers so much and has been asking so many good questions. It is so sweet to hear him laugh at the jokes he reads and to want to share them with others is priceless. He is so grown up and is going to do really well this year (and Mommy is going to miss you!).

Take me our to the ballgame!

Dollar night at the P-Nats stadium brought us to the kid's first baseball game in which they actually paid attention (we went to one at the OTHER Nationals stadium with Tommy's work but they were too young and I was very pregnant). It was a bit hot, but we had a really great time. We stayed for a combined total of 6 1/2 innings: the end of a make-up game and the beginning of the second.

My brother and his family came, as well as the Iveys and my dad. It was a bit hot (Emma's head is not wet from sweat but wet from the "mist machine" she stood under for a long period of time to "get warm" as she said) but we still had a wonderful time.

The only person we missed in the photos was Susan and me, both photographers for the night.

Lauren wasn't too sure about "Uncle Slam" the mascot and was trying desperately to get away. I think we may do this again, but I will definitely bring some cushions for my tushy and perhaps we will stay longer!

Happy 2nd Birthday, William!

Happy birthday to my sweet boy who always has a song on his lips, a ball in his hands, a hug in his arms and a smile on his face. We love how much you talk and the funny things you say. Thanks for bringing such joy to our home! We love you, little man!

Fun with Papa

William decided it was time to do some accessorizing. I just love this picture!

A new meaning for "Sunday Attire"

As we arrived for Sunday Mass, (late, unfortunately, and without Daddy) we waited in the back of Church to find a seat. I am holding Patrick's hand and look down at him to make sure he's not in the way of my feet and I notice a good size lump under his shirt. It took me a moment before I realized that he was hoping to continue the fun we had the day before playing outside, and he thought after Mass would be the time for it. Though it was a good idea, a frisbee under the shirt does not look right and is a bit hard to hide. After a few giggles, we removed the item and placed it in our church bag, which I thought would be a good place. No such luck. About halfway through Mass, William whips it out of the bag and says "my turn!" and almost throws it across the pew, after his head hits my chin, causing me to bite my lip.

Never a dull moment.