1st Packout Done!

Yup, it's 9:40 am and they are done and gone.
They came about 8:10 this morning. They did a good job, were fast and friendly. What more could i ask for?
Our Express was relatively small, so it took no time at all.

Oh! Now i am off to pack us up for our NC trip. :)
See ya'll in a few days. The Next Post should be about the 1st day of school.

Here are some pic's for your Enjoyment...

5 weeks and counting

Today makes 5 weeks until we leave the US of A.

As i am excited, i am equally worried. I have never made this type of move with 2 kids. It seams so much more complicated moving TO JAPAN with 2 kids vs moving FROM JAPAN with 1. Although i generally know what to expect, there are still so many unknowns.

Right now the things that are worrying me the most about are:

~Housing. We don't yet know where or when we will be in a house. We don't yet know if we will live off base or on base. I have 'given this to the Lord'... and trust that he will make the best choice available.

~Car. We wont be bring ours, because of all the 'fine print'... so we have to get a new one.

~Living out of a Hotel. With Olivia in school it's going to be a challenge.

~Living out of a suitcase. I wont have many choices in shopping for clothing, so... i need to make sure we have what we need with us (At least for Ethan and I as we are both WAY 2 tall to shop off base ... Him being 6 foot 4 and me 5 foot 8.5.........).

Onto the Holiday weekend... We will be making the trip to see Meemaw & Peepaw (Savannah too). :) This trip is a very easy one, and one we will miss.

With them living only 4 hours away, it was always nice to know they were close, and we could see them anytime.

This we will miss...... Hands Down.

So,... we will go and visit until Monday... then head back and School starts Tuesday!

No big plans, just a nice family visit.

I have added some pic's, just because it's nice to add photos... :) Enjoy!

We're Roll'n Along.........

With only One Month, One Week and One Day until our journey begins, things are roll'n along.
Yesterday Ethan accomplished so much! I was impressed.
*After a short day at work he went to the Personal Property Office and Finalized our 'Car Paperwork'. We have decided to put the car in Storage, at the Navy's Expense.
*After the Car Stuff, he headed over to give our Notice to Vacate. :) (30 days prior). So, there is No Turning Back Now. He put in some other paperwork for the house, and we are all set to move.
*While at the Housing Place he requested our Move Out Inspection be THIS THURSDAY! So, Tomorrow i will have a person looking around the house, (clean up time!)
*While he was on a roll he called the "Flight People" and got them working on our Flights. We should know by Friday/Tuesday *What day *What time *Where we will be stopping.
These things i wont post on the Blog, so if you wanna know ... e-mail me! :)

What Else What Else...
Our Express Shipment is coming along. I think I am almost done. After Chatting with a few ladies who live in the part of Japan I will be moving to... I have decided to Pack (in our suitcases) the Fall/Winter Clothing. I think it's to risky to possibly live out of our suitcases for over a month, and Not have those type of clothing choices. (All of October). One of the Weather sites, with a History says the Average in October is 64 degree's... i don't think SOME fall clothing will do.
~sigh~ This will make for some Heavy/Extra Luggage,... oh well! Better to be safe than sorry, right?
On another note:
Last night we decided to go the Mall. I needed to return a shirt I bought for Olivia @ the Disney Store (one of my Favorite Stores). It was a 7/8, but to small. Weird! I also needed to make an online Old Navy Return. While we are out and about ... we decided to eat out. Now, we have been trying to make wise choices. We know we don't have many more Stateside Dinner's out.
We decided to eat @ UNO's. OMG...... we have only eat'n there a FEW times, and last night? It could not have been better. The wait staff was good, the kids were good, the food? Excellent! We even tried a Mini Dessert. Ethan and I shared. Of course we gave the kids a bite, but mostly it was for us, as we Never get dessert. I got a Mediterranean Salad... Mmmmmm Ethan got a Peanut Chicken Flat bread. Mmmmm All i have to say? If your wondering where to go for dinner?? UNO's! It was FAB


(If you don't know me well... you should know i am The PICKIEST Food/Dinning Critic, Especially When i am Paying for the food...)

Express Shipment

(ALL THESE ITEMS WILL BE RE-PACKED MY THE MOVERS ON FRIDAY, I JUST LIKE TO BE PREPARED AND ORGANIZED).

Yesterday I started getting together our Express Shipment. The movers will be here Friday sometime (I asked for a morning pick-up). This shipment will meet us in Japan, at our new house.

Here is what i packed so far,

~Sheets/Blankets for everyone

~Bathroom 'stuff'

~1 Box of toys for Evan

~1 Box for Olivia

~2 more boxes of other playthings, PlayDoh & Micro Lego's

~a Kitchen Pack of Essentials

So far so good...

I will work on more this week...

~Oh... the Microwave is going too.

Need to buy?

~4 Regular Pillows

~Shower Liner (in-case we get on-base housing)

That's all for now~ ;)

Finally our Pepper plants are fruiting beautifully!

Finally our Pepper plants are fruiting beautifully.
We thought we had a Green Pepper plant, but it turns out its a Yellow Pepper Plant. ;)
We also got our 1st Red Pepper.
I wish we had some good ideas, other than Salsa for our Hot Pepper Plant ..... It's Fruiting like Crazy! (I picked 2 today, but we have about 10 MORE ....haha)

Our Tomato Plant has not been fruiting good, but we have some Green Tomatoes that should be ready before we move (give it away)...

I can not wait to start a New more extensive garden next year. :)

Olivia & Evan

I just thought to add a few pictures of the kids, taken over the past month.
They just love each other, most of the time... haha...

Cinema Cafe [Kemps River, VA]

Yesterday the kids too me to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars, for my b-day.
The movie was OK, the family time? Fabulous! How thoughtful of them!!
The movie is Not a 'Must See'... but a good family movie afternoon out.
The kids liked it, but they have both seen the original Star Wars Movies.
The Cinema Cafe is just so Great! It's a Movie Theatre and a good place to Eat! Comfy Chairs, and everything. I Know we will miss this place when we move!

6 week Countdown + Family Entry Approval

Yesterday was exactly 6 weeks until we move!
The Family Entry Approval finally arrived!
This piece of paper is the very last piece of paper that Finalizes our move to Japan. We now can go over and book our flights. We are on our way!
I am Excited, Relieved and Ecstatic that we have this Valuable piece of paper, Exactly 6 weeks before we Move!
Hurray!

For all you Non-Military wondering what this piece of paper does... here I will tell you.

Family Entry Approval (FEA) request must be processed as soon the member and their family members are found suitable for overseas assignment. (After the medical/dental and in some cases financial screenings are completed and passed.)

The Family Entry Approval is required by the Personal Property Shipment Office to ship household goods (HHG), Arrange Flights (NAVPTO), Additionally, FEA is required to enroll children in DODDS school, and to apply for government housing (quarters).
Also you need the FEA to receive COLA (Cost of living allowance, -the Extra $ you receive for living overseas.)

Now all there is left to do is Book Our Flights. :)

Thats One Big Slice!

Yes, I have yet to have a "Fashion Show" with Olivia. Maybe today... :)
Here is a picture of Evan......... He and Olivia just love Watermelon!
Gosh Daddy! Thats a huge slice!
They finished a 1/2 of a medium sized melon last night, after dinner.

The Start of a New Week

So, 2 weeks until school starts here in Virginia.
Olivia, truthfully is not that excited about the whole thing. For Pre-K and Kinder she was just so excited she could not contain herself. This year is different. I sat down and had a chat with her about it, and she is convinced that in 1st grade there are No Fun Things To Do, That you have to Write All Day Long and it's "Not fun".
I know she was talking to a little boy named Cody last school year, and he has convinced her about all this ... for over 6 months. I am trying lots of things to get her siked about school.
Just keep her in your thoughts over the next few weeks Please.

Oh, and she has mentioned that we will be moving, and she would rather just start school in Japan, where her *new* School is. She does not want to start school here and move 3~4 weeks into the school year. I don't blame her, i would feel a bit apprehensive too.
We went school shopping this weekend. I think that helped. Keep your eye out for some School Fashion Show Pictures Soon. :)
(She always likes to do a "show" with her New Clothes).

Bits from the Weekend

Remember, if you want the photos to be bigger, just Click them! ;) (Ok Mom?? Love ya!)

This weekend we had a nice time with Meemaw & Peepaw stopping through. I regret we got no pictures. :( I don't know what happened!
I did get some random pictures of our weekend happenings.

Here is a picture our Morning Glory's... Can you see a big bumble bee inside?
I cant believe it got that picture, NEAT!

The kids in front of our favorite family restaurant.

Because we are moving we decided to hit up our favorite eateries.

The kids helped choose, as this place is Olivia's MOST favorite place to eat.

She always wants to 1. pick a Lobster out of the tank or 2. choose Crab Legs. This time?? Crab Legs. ;) Evan had Crab legs too... Me too... haha. We all enjoyed ourselves.

Here is a Quick Shot of Olivia playing Ethan's PDA. We had no power from 7 am~5 pm on Saturday. :( They had to do some utilities work done. Anyways, Olivia Just loves playing with Daddys PDA (games) or his PSP.

(She does not know ... we are getting her a Nintendo DS ... :):) We are thinking it would be perfect for our trip!)

Evan,... he is Always My kitchen helper. We baked some cookies the night Before the power outage. Mmmmmm Oatmeal & Chocolate! Mmmmmm

Oh! And here is Olivia's 8th tooth just about to fall out.

She was very brave. Usually she is NOT a Fan of Blood... AT ALL. She almost Fainted when Evan had a busted lip a few months ago.

Anyways, she was Not afraid... and did not freak out.

After...
Lastly we had some CRAZY Weather the other day,... here are just a few shots of the Clouds.
The 'front' was just amazing!

7 week countdown

Here are a few more pictures of Japan. Such a Beautiful Country.
[this is for you Kelley! ;) ]
Enjoy the Views!

Bamboo Forest --->

Japanese Hot Springs
Some restaurants display food samples made from wax.
Japanese neighborhood
Torri

Sakura is the Japanese name for cherry trees, and their blossoms.

Household Goods Shipments Confirmed!

Today Ethan went to the Personal Property Office and Confirmed our actual pack-out dates.
I have updated the Tickers, and I am Amazed at how quickly this time is going to pass!


1. Express Shipment- August 29th (less than 1,000 pounds of essentials like Microwave, Toys and Linens. Laptop & Wii included! :) )
2. Storage Shipment- September 22nd (All of our things that wont be making the trip to Japan, like Washer/Dryer/Freezer & Excess Baby Stuff/Furniture.)
3. HHG Shipment - September 30th (Everything else, haha)

Less than 2 months

Ok, so we have less than 2 months to go. Actually i think the ticker says something like 7 weeks. :) Here is a bit of an update on how things are going.

Medical & Dental Screenings? Done!
Passports? Done!
Household goods paperwork? Done!
Reservations at Hotel in Japan? Done!


What were waiting on?
Dependant Entry Approval. The request has been sent, just waiting for a reply.
Actual Confirmed Dates for HHG Shipments? should be confirmed Monday 8/11/08
Airline arrangements.

I have already called and have info on moving out of our house, and terminating the services we receive. It's all pretty easy, yet lots of paperwork.

I have included a few photos... some random pictures of what we are looking forward to doing in Japan.