So Proud!

Blake made MSgt this year! I am so proud of him for making it at 12 1/2 years! He doesn't actually put it on until next year at some point, but he is still ahead of the game :) We went to the Senior NCO induction ceremony a couple of weeks ago (that was where the picture was taken). The food was not so great, but it was a very interesting night. I love seeing all of the upper enlisted people get together to encourage the lower enlisted. I can't wait to see where this journey of ours ends up!!

A self portrait by Cara

Fun with cousins!

We had so much fun with the cousins this week :) Kaylee, Kaytlyn and Brooklyn also had fun! Cara just loves it when they come to visit. I would label the pictures, but blogger is being a bit wierd and the moment......

Our afternoon

So, once again my pictures uploaded backwards, but whatever :) Today we made a fort. Or as Cara likes to call it, a castle. The kids had fun all afternoon in it. It's amazing what fun a few blankets and a card table can produce! They get such a kick out of each other, it's just funny to sit back and watch them play :)

Happy 4th of July!!

Well, we didn't end up where we'd thought we'd be for the 4th, but we had a nice evening anyway :)

We had such a whirlwind trip up to Minnesota. We were supposed to have stayed for almost three weeks, but after a week and a half, Alex ended up with an ear infection and a staph infection!!! I ended up having to take him into the ER twice before we finally decided we needed to come home to our own doctor...and so he wouldn't infect anyone!! Poor little bugger :( We also discovered he is allergic to cinnamon. Weird, but that was what we needed to get a referral to the allergist on base :) He is already allergic to ranch dressing which is also just wierd. We had a follow up appointment this morning for his staph infection and the doc didn't have to lance it!!! Yay!! Let me just tell you, that is one of the worst things I've had to watch my child experience yet....being held down and cut!! If all continues to go well, Alex may not even have to go back in again for it.

Blake had to work last night, so I didn't end up taking the kids down to the beach for fireworks, but a few of the families on our street were doing some little ones, so we went out and watched that, and we could see a few of the big ones that the town was doing, so that was amazing. Well, amazing for Cara. Alex was just happy to be outside and not sleeping :) I hope you all had a fabulous 4th as well!!!

Alex's Fan

So, I was having issues picking out a ceiling fan for Alex. Cara's fan is (as you can see) girly and cute, and it came that way. I couldn't find anything cute and just boyish at all, so, I bought a 30 dollar fan and made it what I wanted :) It turned out rather perfect! A bottle of spraypaint and some sticker paper, cut into shapes, makes the perfect outerspace themed fan :)

My new livingroom :)

I think it turned out pretty well :) This is our new furniture (not the recliner). When they started bringing it all in, I was sure it was NOT going to fit!!! It did,though. Now all I have to do is wait for Blake to get home to tell me if he likes it!!

Building a bridge...

Working so hard at lining all of the blocks up. She kept telling me she was making a bridge.

Apparently for herself!!! She has incredible balance :)

Swimming!

Yay for Walmart pools that are only 15 dollars!!!

Cara just loves to "surf". She is so silly!!
This is Alex's "spock" look. I wish I could have got it straight on, but you get the picture :)

He so enjoys trying to splash me with water!!

Let me just say how incredibly HOT it is here!!! Oh boy. We practically melt everyday and all I can say is thank goodness for a/c!!! Life (other than the heat) is going very well. Blake made MSgt (yay!!!!) and will pin it on at some point next year. I can't believe I will be the wife of a senior enlisted. It's wierd to think about.

Alex had his first ear infection a couple of weeks ago. That was so sad :( He had an infection in both ears, and the first medication they put him on didn't work!! We had to go back in and get his meds bumped up. Those worked (thankfully) and he is finally back to normal. During his time being sick, though, he wouldn't eat and he actually lost almost a full pound in two weeks :( Poor little guy. He is SO two years old right now!! He likes to exert his will in everything. I am pretty sure he is the most stubborn child I have ever met! He is defenitly sweet, though :) He absolutly adores Cara (even when he's picking on her). He follows her around everywhere and does absolutly everything she does....to the best of his ability. We are currently potty training and I think it's going okay. Not great, but okay. He goes everytime you put him up on the toilet, and he will tell you if he has to go...sometimes....but he also goes inbetween the times we make it to the bathroom. He has NO hold function yet at all!!! I know he will get it. I am just so excited to be able to see the light at the end of this very loooong diaper tunnel!!

Cara is also fabulous. As you can see from our earlier post, she got a haircut. She loves it! I find her in the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror all the time. It's pretty cute. I think she has grown a foot since we moved here!!! I can't believe how tall she is, it's crazy!! She is (thankfully) past the terrible twos...and into whatever they would call the threes :) She likes to do everything herself, and everything for Alex. If we are leaving to go somewhere, she makes sure she puts Alex's shoes on for him. She will even try to feed him his supper. Crazy kid! We work on our "school" stuff almost everyday....well, not everyday. I will admit, I get a little lazy about it sometimes :) She does know her entire alphabet and can recognize numbers up to 13. Her favorite thing to do right now (and pretty much always) is to sing, sing, sing...and dance! We are having food issues again...issues as in she doesn't want to eat anything but noodles or pizza. This seems to happen every couple of months...not too sure why, but whatever. We'll get through it!

Other than that, there isn't too much going on. I am so happy to have my parents back in my neck of the woods and I think the kids and I are going to visit next week. I love that they are a short (ish) drive away!!!

A haircut for the girl :)

So, of course I forgot to take a before picture, but this is pretty recent. When it isn't curling, it stretches down to her elbows!

After....I SOOOO hope I didn't cut the curls off!!!
She thinks she looks like Rapunzal now (end of the movie Rapunzal, that is).