Fun Fun and more Fun

We have stayed busy in IA. We had a fantastic weekend with my sister in town and Nordic Fest. CJ keeps making friends everywhere she goes. Saturday we went to the parade and the girls had fun. After Grandma split the candy for everyone, we still had way more candy than one ever needs to have. Saturday morning I did run in the 5K race. Yesterday CJ went to the fish hatchery with Aunt JoJo, Andy, and Jessie. CJ has been helping pick sweet corn, feeding the horses crab apples, and eating ice cream. Last night I finished Year 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Paul, you were right, a very good and satisfying ending. Now maybe I'll go to bed at night and not be so tired during the day. :)
Wednesday we are heading to Des Moines for a night to see Great Grandparents and cousins. Then next Monday we head up to the lake for a day of fishing and we head back to FL on Tuesday. The time has gone by fast! I'll update with pictures later.

Weddings, parties, reunions

My best friend from childhood got married last Saturday. She look beautiful and it was a wonderful ceremony. She held a dance outside at her parent's farm and CJ had a blast dancing away and doing somersaults. It was really fun to see her having so much fun.

Then on Sunday we went to Kyara's bday party, she turned 7 but CJ had fun playing with someone other than adults.

Yesterday we had a full day of traveling and fun. We got to welcome home Eric's brother and it was wonderful to see everyone. CJ had fun with her cousins and keeps asing about Hannah. Then the girls and I went to camp EWALU and I got to see old friends and CJ made new ones with the campers. She had so much fun running around with the campers and being a part of the Christ walk. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture while we were there. Tomorrow we'll be going to Morgan's bday party and take in some Nordic fest events. We also have more family coming to town and it will be fun to see them again too.

Iowa

We made it to Iowa. We got up at 4am on Wed. and headed out. Both girls were wide awake for most of the trip. Laurelei took a quick nap each time we took off, which was nice, but that was it. The girls were well behaved and did well on the flights and our layover. We are trying to get caught up on sleep and enjoying our time with family and friends. It has been fun to watch CJ remember everyone and even ask about people we haven't seen yet. Both the girls have grown quite a bit since we've been to Iowa, so everyone is surprised at how big they have gotten. CJ is in 4T pants/shorts! Her shirt size is still 2T/3T so it is apparent she has gotten long legs from her daddy.
Eric's brother is back in the USA after being gone for almost 2yrs to Iraq. Next Wed. there is a welcome home for the troops that we plan on attending. Every one's spirits are lifted with him back home safe and sound.
I'll try and take pictures and update often.

Uh Oh...

On Saturday we attended a bday party for a friend turning 29. CJ was the oldest girl there, but did a great job playing with the boys. Maybe a little too well. My friend sent these pictures.



I have had the talk with CJ...No Kissing Boys. And now today she informs me, "I kiss boys." We were suppose to go and see Josiah today, but he is the one who was on the receiving end, and doesn't look real happy about it. Dad hasn't seen this picture yet, he'll be glad we are leaving town for a couple of weeks.

Growing

I have been trying to get a shot of Laurelei sitting by herself since Thursday when she decided it was time to do this, and today I finally got a couple of shots. She turned 5mos on Thursday and I think she has gained a couple of pounds in the past couple of weeks, she just seems more heavy, active, and ready to go. She was very squirmy at the movie the other night, so much so, that Eric couldn't keep hold of her. He believes that she is less squirmy in my arms than his...yea, I'm sure it seems that way.
Yesterday I stopped by a garage sale. Once in awhile I'll find a good deal...well yesterday I felt like I was almost stealing! I got this sandbox for the girls- $5, an infant swing for the swing set outside- $1, and a booster seat complete with trays and adjustable height- $2. Having a toddler who will sit thru meals in the "new high chair" and play outside for a couple of minutes without mommy, PRICELESS! Good finds! Turns out this neighbor has 2.5yr old twin girls...I think we'll have to get to know them better when we get back from vacation.

Gettin' Ready

The girls and I are getting ready to head to IA for some fun with the grandparents, a wedding, friends and so much more! We'll be there for 3wks and we are really excited! So excited, that I became really panicked yesterday when I saw the news clip about a
toddler and mom being kicked off the plane because he kept saying "bye bye plane". Yikes!! CJ likes to talk! I didn't realize it had become a quiet library on the planes. Which lead me to another news clip about a woman being kicked off for nursing. Oh boy! We might not make it! So I called Northwest today and quickly explained that 3 of us are traveling and to make sure it was okay nurse. (I have friends who have, and I feel I should be able to...but I also don't want to get stranded in Memphis or something). He checked with his supervisor and told me it
would be okay. I also verified that I could bring snacks, and a toddler on board. So barring any tantrums or cranky air crew, we should make it. I'll take your prayers for an uneventful trip if you have any.

Eric will have a quiet house to study in while we are
gone. Everyone "studies" when Daddy is. CJ likes to help, and Laurelei won't stop 'talking' unless Eric pays attention to her. We'll miss his first flight, but he won't feel guilty about being so focused on classes either. Panther is the one who will truly be lonely. Hopefully we'll get some good family time in this weekend, but I know he has a bunch of CBTs to do plus some computer training stuff. This is me, trying to keep up with his schedule and studying. I'm not really sure what it is all about. Just that he has a bunch of stuff to do.

Shhh.....

Sleep. That is what Eric and Laurelei have been craving. Here are a few shots I've captured.

She is always curling up with a blanket if she can

Eric claimed he was studing, but he was very much sleeping.



My "magic" highchair. It puts the girls to sleep!

Fishing

About a month ago we went fishing. CJ was so excited, she wore ALL her gear!

This catfish broke Eric's pole...couldn't have weighed more than a pound and a half, and yes, it was the first fish he caught.

I caught this cool shell, when lifting the anchor. It was the only catch we kept from the day.

4th of July

The biggest kid of them all!

Happy 4th

Today I ran my first 5K! I did it in 38:19, not bad just
beginning to run, 10 days ago. Eric even brought the girls down to
watch me cross the finish line. My friend Danielle ran with me and we
had a good time, chatting, running, and finishing our first 5K. We even
helped to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house. ***http://members.cox.net/kei1race/fire072.txtfohttp://draft.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifr
Not sure if the link will work, but it has the results. I ran for team curves which came in 3rd for the teams and for team curves I came in 4th. I was 23 out of 33 for my age group with a 12:20 pace.


I've got to do a shout out to my running partner,
Panther. She enjoys our runs and keeps my company...and doesn't
complain about my pace!

We're going to stay local and watch the duck drop race this afternoon and the fireworks tonight. Happy Fourth of July everyone! ***The duck drop, was 2700+ yellow rubber ducks dropped into the river to "race" to a finish line. Buy a duck, and first - third finishers got $$ prizes. Floating ducks, float slowly. But it was cool to see that many ducks dropped over the bridge!

Oh no...mommy and daddy are...MARRIED!!

So this is a funny story about understanding language. CJ was looking at a wedding photo of Jennifer and Andy who got married in June. She commented on the pretty dress and said she wanted one. Eric told her she could have one in 20-25yrs. He then explained that Jen and Andy got married, and that Mommy and Daddy are married. CJ broke into a long "noooooo" and sobs. Between the tears she would say "no married, no married". Despite Eric's best attempts at explaining that this is a good thing, she cried and said "no" whenever he mentioned married.

Today at church, for the children's sermon we had fireworks...well kinda. He gave the kids and the extra to the congregation bubble wrap, then talked a comparison of July 4th and our freedom from England and Paul's letter explaining our freedom in Christ. Every time he said Free or freedom, they popped the bubble wrap. It was really cool to hear...but he also told them to save some bubbles and to pop them whenever they felt like the rest of the service. So CJ was popping away, twisting the bubbles, and about 2mins into the service discovered jumping on them! "look mommy, I jump!" --not in a quiet church voice. At least we weren't the only distraction in church today. The pastor handed some out!

This week Eric's class was given the top 5 reasons people either fail or drop out of the program here at Whiting:
1. Married
2. Have kids
3. Prior enlisted
4. Non-technical degree
5. Aged 26-30

Wow, did you imagine that he could hit everyone of those "reasons"? It seems to have lit a fire under him and he is already studying for class that begins next week. He is excited to get back into the air so I have no fear of him dropping out or failing. He was worked too hard for too long to get to this point, to let anything get in his way of his dream of flying.