Monday Funday

 It's so easy to get into a rut when you're a stay at home mom with stay at home kids.  Each day seems the same, and monotony sets in. That's where I'm at. And I needed to change it up. So, today, we had a little Monday Funday! Wyatt got up extremely early- 5:15- thanks to a poopy diaper! And by 7:45 both boys were already begging me to come upstairs and play Sea World. (Grant loves to pretend to be a dolphin or Shamu and I'm supposed to be his trainer). I love the kid, but that's not my idea of fun at 7:45am. So I asked him if he wanted to play some school games since we haven't done that for a while. (We sold our kitchen table a few weeks ago, so we've had no place to do anything.) He was very excited and it just so happens I printed off some great activities last night! (Most everything came from here and here. And I made up the rest of the stuff.) Of course, while Grant does his work, I have to have Wyatt busy with something. So I pulled out the Valentine gems and mud playdoh. After about an hour of preschool (YIPPEE!), I decided to make snow for the boys so I could get some things done around the house! These boys LOVE snow! And I managed to get a couple emails and phone calls done. After lunch out with friends and a nice naptime, we pulled out the Orbeez.  I normally just make enough for a little bowls worth, but today, since it was Monday Funday we made a HUGE bowl worth, and we all had a super fun time! 

It was a nice change of pace from playing Batcave, or Sea World, or Ocean Rescue Boat. Hopefully once we move, we will get back into our daily preschool routine and hopefully find a good preschool for Grant too! But I sure do enjoy being able to witness all these moments with my boys. Even if they do give me gray hairs!

Our Parade of Homes

Levi and I have been married for 5.5 years now. And we are about to move into our 5th house together. Funny enough though, we lived in Jacksonville for 4 years. Funny how the Navy works! So, come along for our Parade of Homes!

818 W. Thompson,  Enid, OK 

Levi moved there February 2006 and I joined him in May 2006. This was the house we first came home to as a married couple! Levi learned how to fly the T-6 and survived his first flight school. I became a housewife and learned how to cook an actual dinner! I also discovered my love of watching HGTV here.We moved out October 2006.

6253 Long Street, Milton, FL

Levi and I moved here October 2006. Levi learned to fly the TH-57. I learned how to drive a school bus. Neither one was a highlight in our lives! Although we did spend about every weekend at Pensacola Beach, so that counts for something! We moved out July 2007.

8033 Fleur De Lis Dr. Jacksonville, FL

Levi and I bought and signed on this house July 17, 2007. Levi learned how to fly the SH-60B and I learned how to be a mom. We brought both our baby boys home to this house. We survived two deployments and numerous workups. We made life-long friends here. We moved out August 2011.

8534 Collingwood Universal City, TX

We moved here August 2011. Levi re-learned how to fly the T-6 and I learned patience as a housewife whose husband is re-learning to fly the T-6. We will move out, hopefully, in two weeks. Levi has been going through Pilot Instructor Training and as soon as he is finished, we will head to....

11010 Buggy Whip, Waukomis, OK

We are so excited that our parade of homes will end here. Levi will be an instructor for the T-6 and I will continue learning patience as a mom and military wife. Our parade will continue on in a few years, but for now, we will relish in the stability that has been given us!

Bring it on Oklahoma!! We are ready for you!!

Outside Boys

Having spent most of their lives in Florida, you would think my boys would be "outside" boys. But not so much. Really, it was too hot, or too buggy, or too gross to play outside in Florida. Sure, we had our moments, but these boys would really prefer to play indoors. I'm hoping that will all change when we move to Oklahoma to our new house that has a lot of surrounding land!! That would just bring peace to my ears!! They've already played outside more here while living in Texas then we ever did in Florida. It's not hot, not humid, and not buggy, which makes for the perfect outside playdate! We ventured outside before naptime today to get some beautiful fresh air. Plus, I wanted to take some pictures since I haven't really had many good ones of the boys lately! There is just something about outdoor pictures that just look so effortless!!  So here's a glimpse at my indoor boys becoming Outside Boys!

4 Kids and a Jeep

We have been so fortunate to have to some amazing neighbors just two doors down from us!! We get lots of playtime together and both the boys and myself always enjoy their company!! We also have been fortunate that there is a large church (which happens to be the church our neighbors belong to) right behind our houses. So we've taken the kids up there to ride bikes, run around, and most importantly- drive the Jeep that Ethan and Taylor got for Christmas! It was a warm January afternoon yesterday, which was perfect for a drive in the Jeep! All the kids had a blast. 

But I know why kids don't get their drivers license til age 16- because holy cow!!! Grant is a maniac behind the wheel and I'm fearful for everyone's lives, even when he's only going 5 mph!! I guess its never too young to teach the rules of the road?!?

 Ethan and Grant seem to drive well together- both like it fast and crazy! Taylor and Wyatt prefer "turtle slow." Even though we've only lived in Texas for about 5 months, we all became fast friends and we will truly miss them!

Just For Fun

Sometimes I have no reason to take out my camera, other than the fact I have no reason to do so!! What good is a really nice camera if you only use it to take pictures of something special?!? So this morning, as the boys were playing, I pulled out the camera to capture their playing. Of course, Wyatt always turns on the charm and Grant always turns on the "duh" face. Not amusing, but still cute!  I love Wyatt's face when he plays. I call it his "bulldog" face because his lower jaw is always sticking out. He concentrates so hard. His favorite playthings are those that require fitting pieces into pieces- ie, puzzles, Hide and Squeek Eggs, shape sorters, peg boards, etc. Grant plays very imaginative. He plays Imaginext about 95% of the time, and lately has been playing Octonauts, thanks to Disney Jr's new show! (Oh, and the picture of Grant with his hands out flat on the floor- he said, "Mom, do I look like the Sphynx?" What a crackup!!!)

They still don't really play together very well at all. In fact, I have to break up more fights than I do actually witness them playing together, but it will come in time (hopefully!). So for now, I have to go back and forth and play games between the two of them. Its tiring, without a doubt! But look at how cute they are?? Makes it all worth it!

Christmas Came...Early!

Someday, we will wake up at our own house on Christmas morning, celebrate as a family before going to gather with the rest of our families. Someday....not this day. Because this year, Christmas came today!! We are heading to Kansas in a few weeks to spend the holiday with our families, so we wanted to have our own little family Christmas before we left. But go figure, the Navy always has a way of changing any plan we make! Luckily Santa is flexible and rolls with the Navy's punches. Levi was supposed to go out of town this weekend, leaving us with our planned Christmas next weekend, just a few days before heading to Kansas. Well at the last minute, his trip got moved from this weekend to next weekend. Which means, Santa had to come this weekend! We paid Santa a little visit Friday morning, so the boys were very excited he was going to come early!!! After watching Christmas cartoons every night since the day after Thanksgiving, the boys have been enthralled in all things Christmas, so they knew just what to do!! We made chocolate chips cookies for Santa yesterday to set out on his plate. We also left the reindeer some carrots and Santa some chocolate milk- his favorite, according to Grant. We also left Santa's Magic Key on the front porch, so Santa could get in, since we don't have a fireplace. When the boys woke up this morning, they came down to see Santa's perfect presents he picked out for them- Grant got his Imaginext Ocean Boat and Wyatt got a bouncy dog! Their faces lit up!! Grant gasped and said, "My ocean boat! I've always wanted that forever and ever!"  We unwrapped the rest of the presents from Mommy and Daddy and we couldn't have picked out better gifts! Each present was greeted with smiles and giggles!!! We spent the rest of the morning playing and watching the Polar Express!! It was a perfect early Christmas!! Now, we are sooo excited to go home and be with the rest of our family!!!

Christmas Riverwalk

Last night, we went to the San Antonio Riverwalk, which is all lit up for Christmas! The past few years we've always gone to St. Augustine, Florida Night of Lights and we were hoping this would live up to those high expectations! It was pretty, but I guess nothing compares to St. Augustine! But we had a great time nonetheless!! We got downtown pretty early so parking wouldn't be a hassle! We had a yummy dinner at Chili's (although I could've done without the 5 timeouts Wyatt needed to have!) and then headed to the river to get our boat tickets! There are riverboats that drive you around and tell you about all the sights and history. This is where we expected it to get Christmasy. We were hoping for some Christmas carols or something, but no such luck!! There were 250 trees lit up and lots of other pretty lights going on, so the boys definitely enjoyed looking! Hearing about the history of the Riverwalk was pretty neat too! The boat tour lasted about 30 minutes or so. I'm glad we did it, even though it wasn't as Christmasy as we were hoping!! It was still a night of family fun!!
(I wish I would've studied a little more about my camera settings so I could have made these shots even more beautiful!! Maybe next year!!)

I wonder if Enid will have anything special for us to do next year?!?!? 

Christmassy

Our house is all trimmed out!! After weeks of anticipation, today was the day for decorating! I have to admit, as the days got closer, I had a slight feeling of disappointment knowing that half of our Christmas decorations are in storage in Enid and our tree this year is only 4.5 feet tall. I had a feeling it just wasn't going to feel "christmassy" enough! But I was wrong! All the decorations turned out great, even with our makeshift mantle :)  The boys loved helping decorate the tree and Grant was so excited to be able to put the star on top all by himself (on the little step stool.) Wyatt loved looking at the Jayhawk ornament and saying, "Rock Chalk" over and over again!

And our newest addition to our Christmas decor- our Elf on the Shelf, Shed. Yes, Grant named our elf Shed. No idea why. The only think I can think of is when we were trying to come up with names, he was obviously stumped. So I said, "How bout Sam, or Ed, or George." Somehow Shed was made! Oh, and did I mention I think Santa sent a Mexican elf to our house? (Who knew there were different ethnicities of elves?") He's already keeping a watchful eye on the boys! 

Looking forward to lots more Christmas cheer these next few weeks!

(PS- Thank you Levi for making me the ornament holder!! It's a perfect addition to our decor!)

Nature Walk

One thing to do on my Fall Craft Project checklist was a nature walk, complete with nature wreath. Apparently nature is hard to come by in San Antonio. Our street is sparsely scattered with Live Oak trees, which don't lose their leaves. Grass is no longer there and yards are just filled with weeds. So finding objects to place on our wreath was a lot harder than I expected! But that doesn't mean we didn't have fun looking!  Grant brought his magnifying glass and his superhero lunch box to hold all of our findings! We managed to find a few random leaves, some weeds, and a few random nuts. Wyatt loved using the magnifying glass and Grant loved picking "beautiful flowers." Pretty sure I'm the only one who cared about the nature wreath. But we got it done and our Fall Craft Project checklist is complete! And its a good thing, because I'm busting out the Christmas Craft checklist on Friday!!

NO GIRLS ALLOWED!

A few weeks ago, Levi and Grant decided they were going to have a camp out. Grant has a small Thomas the Tank Engine pop-up tent he's been sleeping in on top of his bed. He thinks its pretty cool. So when Levi suggested they have a "boys only camp out," Grant was thrilled!! It didn't matter that we don't own a tent and it gets pretty cool at night. They made do with a make-shift tent in the playroom! Since it was a "boys only" event, I needed to make myself scarce! Fine by me- I always embrace a little alone time! (And actually, that night I was invited to my first ever Girls' Night Out here in Texas!) Levi set up the tarp with 3M hooks and binder clips! Not such a bad idea! The day before, the boys and I made some chocolate chip cookies and Levi made popcorn, so their tummy's were good to go! They were all set. Toy Story 3 was on the DVD, flashlights had batteries, and sleeping bags were out! I was out the door! I got home about 11pm and quietly crept up the stairs, using my phone as a flashlight. I snuck into the tent.....nobody was there. Everyone's bedroom doors were closed! I KNEW IT! Levi was still awake when I got home and I asked when the boys went to bed. Wyatt went to his bed at 8 and Grant at 9. He said they had a great time but Grant just prefers sleeping in his bed. I don't blame him, I'd do the same thing! But what memories they made! 

Thanksgiving Gallery

I have been waiting for the day to do "school" activities with Grant!! I finally got him to start working with me  a few months back. On a daily basis, shortly after moving to Texas, he would ask me if he could go to school. I'd say, "When we move to Oklahoma, you can go to school. But we can do school games at home." He'd always reply, "No, I want a real teacher." (If he only knew how much I spent am spending on my education to become a real teacher!) Anyway, after adding school games to his chore chart (which is ok at this point because he thinks chores are cool!), we now do school work 3 times a week. I usually do 4 stations for him: a literacy station, math station, fine motor station, and logical thinking station. I have found some great preschool blogs that have given me lots of resources I could never make on my own. Hence, our ever growing Thanksgiving Project Wall!! We also had a Halloween Project Wall, but this one is far superior, as Grant has been a working man these past few weeks!! Most often, he asks to do more school work, even after our 4 stations are completed! I love it!! 

I've already got his Christmas work printed off, and project list made! Can't wait for our next gallery!

 We've also been doing a Thankful Tree. I thought up this idea mid-October, and since have seen numerous varieties on Pinterest. But I was happy that I had thought of it without any help! Anyway, I made the tree out of a brown paper grocery sack, and the leaves came from two groups of branches from the Dollar Tree. Easy peasy. Grant hasn't quite grasped things he should be thankful for, other than all his toys. But its a start!  I hope to make this a tradition for years to come!!

First Ever Family Movie Night

This whole daylight saving thing has really thrown off our routine. Usually, after dinner we'd go to the park and ride bikes or play outside with the neighbors. But now that it is pitch black after dinner, we have to find something else to pass the two hours before bedtime. And let's face it- sometimes those two hours can take a REALLY LONG TIME! So last week, I had recorded Aladdin on the Disney Channel, so we thought we'd give our first ever Family Movie Night a try! I bathed the boys and got their jammies on while Levi gathered some blankets and made us some popcorn. We had recently watched Beauty and the Beast and Grant seemed enjoy that, so we had high hopes. The boys did really well and sat very still for at least the first 45 minutes. The last 45 minutes was a little rowdy, but we went through two bags of popcorn, songs were sung, and smiles were seen, so I'd say it was a pretty darn good success!! I hadn't seen Aladdin in probably 8 or 9 years, so it was past due for me! (Levi too I think!). Can't wait for many more family movie nights! :)

Trick or Treat!

Did these boys have a Happy Halloween, or what!!! My goodness, they were eating it all up, both literally and figuratively!!  They practically jumped into their costumes with excitement and hit the pavement running! It wasn't even dark yet, but they were ready to hit the road! Last year, I think Grant went to 4 houses before saying, "I all done." The year before, I think we went to 2 houses. So this year, with Wyatt, I thought we'd hit 6 houses MAX! But I was dead wrong! We went up and down both sides of our street- probably 20 houses or so! Quite a few didn't have their lights on, so we mostly just did a lot of walking. Wyatt was loving seeing everyone in costume. He'd wave at them as they walked by and he'd say, "Bye!" He wasn't scared of anyone or anything- not even this creepy looking green-masked gooey guy passing out candy. Grant wasn't so sure, but Wyatt walked right up and opened his bag! They both got lots of compliments on their costumes too!! I thought they were pretty darn cute myself!! After making the rounds on our block, I thought the boys would enjoy coming home to pass out candy for the remainder of the night. And they did!!!! They both passed out candy to the rest of the kids until all our candy was gone!  It was a great night!! I'm sure the years to come will even be more exciting!