Olivia's Kindergarten ~Moving Up Ceramony~

On Tuesday Olivia's School had a Kindergarten "Graduation"... of sorts. It was 'cute' and 'fun'... I got only a Few pic's... Enjoy!

Busch Gardens [family photos]

Here are some pictures i took of our 'Family Trip'... (you know Kitty,... your Family is part of our Family!... ;) )
I did *not* get any pictures of the Big coasters we rode... or any of the *cool* rides Olivia got to ride. This is because we had to leave all Camera's behind. So, i only got pictures when i sat behind w/ Evan, and found a good photo spot :(.
A lot of these pictures are of Evan and the Girls having fun on the Children (toddler) sized rides. They did enjoy those type too... mostly because there was No Wait... and they just could ride and ride... ;)

~Jeffery & Evan~

~Olivia & Evan~

~Ethan, Amelia 5, Evan 3, Mikaela 7, Olivia 6 & Jeffery 11~

~Evan, having some fun in a arcade, while the big kids rode a 4~D ride~

~Olivia~

~Evan~

~The kids standing in front of the Griffin Roller Coaster. The guys rode it 1st,... and then I rode w/ Ethan and Jeff. It's the Worlds Tallest Dive Coaster, (205 feet up... 90 degrees straight down). Amazing! Fun~

You have to watch this Video of The Griffin Coaster, AWESOME Video! Awesome ride!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3P3qB5h1KI

~Olivia & Mak~

~Baby Bumpers~


~All the Kiddos~

~What a cute water ride... especially for Evan. I think Olivia thought it was a little baby, but she had a blast doing it with Evan!!~

~Olivia, after one of the water rides... i think the Rapids~

~The guys & the kids (minus Evan, Kitty & I) were all on this boat! What Fun!~

~Again, everyone but Evan, Kitty & I (Kitty got Sun Sickness, and had to rest for a bit mid-day)... I love that ride!~

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I wish i would have had more pictures... but i was not Camera Happy this year.

Busch Gardens Photos [website photos]

Here are a few of the rides we did. Olivia and her 2 friends had a TOTAL Blast. :)
The 1st pic is of "The Big Bad Wolf" ... Olivia's 1st Roller Coaster Ever! She rode is 2 years ago... she had Just hit the 42~43 inch mark then. She is now 50 inches... and was WAY tall enough. Rider has to be 42 inches, for sure!
It is a Wild Ride! Olivia's (me too) Favorite ride in the park.

The next one is "Escape from Pompeii". This is MY Personal 2nd Favorite... I missed it this year, because I had to stay back with Evan. So, The "guys" and the 3 little girls went... They had a blast. :) Must be 42 inches to ride.

This is "Roman Rapids", again must be 42 inches to ride. This is the W-E-T ride! You will get TOTALLY Wet if you ride. Of course, i stayed behind w/ Evan. We had ice cream... and waited. Again, the Guys and the kids went together. The wait was Extra Long for this one... because it was 90+ degrees that day!

This pic is of "The Lock Nest Monster". This ride you had to be 48 inches to ride. Mak and Olivia were both well above that, and so they got Blue Bands. The sad thing is Mak did not want to ride... and Olivia DID (she is a DARE DEVIL!)... We just never got around to it. :(:( I was a LITTLE worried about Olivia riding... but... she was game!

Anyways, Next time she will ... and is looking forward to it. :)

This was a Crazy Ride! Kitty, Jeff and Myself rode at the end of the night. Eric, Ethan and Jeff rode about 30 minutes before us... For me? It was a bit Jerky, and i felt sick for about an hour afterwards. :( After this we did the Log Flume, and i was about to puke! haha!

But, Evan had his 1st "real ride" all day, so i was happy...

Busch Gardens [Williamsburg, VA]

Every year Busch Gardens has Here's to Hero's. This special program is for Military, it includes Free Admission for the service member and 3 of his family members. You have a choice where you can use your Free Admission. Any Busch Gardens or Sea World. :) What a Great Deal! (Saves us about 200$$)
Now, just because it's Free... does not mean it's Cheep! haha!
No matter the cost, it's a Fun Filled Day for everyone...Mostly! haha!!

On Friday, we were chatting w/ our friends Kitty & Eric. Eric mentioned us going to Busch Gardens on Saturday. We all thought it was a Great Idea... and we went!
Woke up early, Hit up Dunkin Donuts and headed out. The Drive is about 45minutes ~ 1 hour. We got there early, and got a great parking spot.

We spent the entire day (9 am~10 pm) at the park (It does not open until 10 am... but we still were in the park getting things situated.)

We had 4 adults, 1 teen, 2 "blue" bands, 1 "purple" band & 1 "red" band. This made for an interesting day! We had a little bit of everyone! :)
Of course the adults and Jeff wanted to do coasters, the Little kids wanted to ride 'baby rides'... and the Middle Kids (Blue)... wanted Everything (and thought they were so 'big' and kept wandering off ~sigh~).
In retrospect we had a Great Overall Visit, with a Few kinks. ;)
Evan, (Red) could not ride Anything with the rest of us... so one adult had to stand back with him, and take him on little rides. Oh, wait... he could ride one ride... Log Flume. That's it. He did have a blast on it though.
Evan... I wish he was one inch taller!!! He was measured @ the park at 41 inches! If he were 42 inches, he would have been Purple, and could have rode on MANY more Family Style Rides. (We may have to make a Fall '08 trip before he head to Japan.)

Olivia and Mikaela.... they were Blue Bands, and that meant they could ride BIG Rides!!! Unfortunately they only got to ride One Coaster. (Everyone was Pooped by the time we got around the the other big coaster they could ride.) They had to be 48 inches tall to ride "The Big Bad Wolf" and "The Lock Nest Monster". They did get to ride The Big Bad Wolf. :)

What a GREAT fun filled day. We Loved it!

Happy 6 1/2 Birthday to You....

.....OLIVIA~!!!

You dont know it yet, because your still at school, but TODAY IS YOUR DAY!

I cant believe tomorrow you'll be 'almost 7' more than 'just 6'........

I'm Not Dreaming...

It's Doubly Official!!
Yup, you heard me!!
Ethan called this afternoon while I was in the YMCA working out.
I returned his call about an hour later... and we played Phone Tag till about an hour ago.
He had Our Order's in his Hands! OMG!
Yup, they came today.... Were Moving to Japan!!!!!!
I just somehow can not get my mind around it.

So this means we have 4 months until we load up on the airplane to Japan!

The details are not worked out yet.

One thing we do know is we can't Fly before October 1st, and that Ej will need to be checked out of his command as soon after Sept 15th as possible (He wont have a "Job" after Sept 15th.) So, this might mean we will have 2 weeks of Packing out with Ethan home and Helpful and not on the ship going "in and out". I hope thats the case, and it works out nicely!

I am Glad to hear this news... Olivia will have more than a single week @ here school... and we wont be moving during the Middle of Summer (Heat Central here in VA.)

We left Sasebo Japan on November 29th (i think) 2003 and we will be arriving October 2008... 4 years and 11 months... and One Evan later... haha... Time moves so slow... and yet FLY's! Weird! I feel like we "just moved"... yet it was so long ago! :(

~SIGH... and the "stuff" begins!~

Evan...

The 'Caption' is below each picture... Enjoy!

Evan, riding his bike. Man, he caught onto "bike riding" Quicker than Olivia ever did!
Do ya like his Boxers? Yup! He stripped after the playing the the hose and decided he had to ride his bike in his undies! haha! We went Directly to the bathtub after these pictures.

Evan giving me a Goof-Ball Look. Seriously, He is a Character!!!
(See the "jug" drink next to him? Gosh... That's what Dad's are for... to buy the Fun, unhealthy stuff...He brought a whole case home for the weekend BBQ's... Sigh! There 'gone now'... haha)

All Smiles! Lov'n control of the hose!

Side yard fun...

In the Above Picture Evan was having a Super Fun time w/ the GIJoes Ethan saved for him... from his own childhood! 20+ yrs old! I was so happy to see them playing Together... I had to snap a picture. Evan and Olivia both enjoy these toys...

Evan playing at a park a few weeks back, we took a picnic lunch. ;)

Olivia...

In the above pic she has lost 7 teeth. She is working on #8 right now.

YES, the Camera is FOUND! T/Goodness!

Funny thing is i did not even look that hard.

While loading grocery's in the VUE ... i saw it, haha!

Boy, was i excited!!

When i got home from food shopping we spent a little time outside, it was a beautiful day.

I took some pictures of Olivia.

Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Weekend!

I guess my Biggest Plan of the Weekend is to find my Camera, i feel lost with out it! :(
Other than that, we want to
*have a few BBQ's
*detail the VUE
*try Kittys 'Wii Fit' (wanna try it before we buy it!)
*maybe go as a family to see Narnia

It's a cool day, high of 69 today. Weird!
I was expecting a hot weekend.
I guess the 'pool' is out~ haha

I'll be back with more from the weekend later.
Happy Happy Weekend Everyone!

Olivia & Evan's 1st Spring

Here are 2 pictures.

Olivia was 5 months and Evan was 4 months.

I just love looking back! they were so Small... and Cute! ;)

Part 2... Date Night

I just HAD to add a comment about "Teppanyaki Grills" for all you who has Never lived in Japan.
In America... when you think of a Japanese Restaurant you think of the Guy cooking for you, and "Fire" and just the whole 'show' of dinner.
Well, in Japan... at least in the 2 places we have lived, It's hard to find that style of dinning.
We did go to a dinner, in Sasebo Japan about 6 years ago, just Ej and I for a Anniversary Date. It was at a Nice Restaurant. They had a Small Room w/ just a few chairs off the the side of the Regular dinning room. We went in, it was Just us, and a chef. He cooked JUST the meat on the grill. It was Kobe' Beef. It was VERY $$ and VERY GOOD... the best ever actually. Melted in your mouth...
Anyways, the point to this is that the American Version of Japanese Dinning is Very Far Off what Actual Japanese dinning really is. (if i am making sense!)

In Japan You have a Few Common Options. A Sushi Bar or "go round". (where the Value Priced Sushi is on a convey-er belt, and moves by you, and you select the 'plate you want' and play per color of plate.) Second Choice... is a Cook it yourself type. IMO, those are the best. I love to cook my own beef/chicken... (all kinds of 'parts'... haha)... Also you can cook it yourself in a boiling soup bowl... there are Many Options of Cook it yourself restaurants in Japan... my fav!
Also there are regular types of eatery's... The one main difference is WOW... the best customer service ever, and wow... nothing compares, Esp in America. And , You don't Tip... that's a Plus.
There are tons of eating options in Japan... from Fast food to Street food... to Vending Machine Food. Yup... the Japanese Sell Everything in a Vending machine. Personally i have bought Hot & Cold Coffee and Tea in Can's... in Vending machines. Also i have bought Beer...(they shut off after a certain time at night)... You can also buy Chicken, Rice and Fries... in a HOT Cook Vending machine. Ice Cream in a Vending machine, and.... Oh, the "Catch your own Lobster Claw Vending machine"... um, No Joke! (You can also buy Non Food items in a Vending machine.....)

Ok, enough about this...

The point is, i cant wait to head back to Japan... to get my Food Fix..... because there is Nothing like it in America!

Date Night...

Last night was 'Date Night'. We had a sitter for 3 hours, Free.
We remembered Very last minute about this... and were not prepared.
We could not see "Narnia" because it's 2:20 minutes long, and we would have to consider Travel, Lines... and Parking/Walking. We would go over the 3 hours, for sure. So,... because we could not go to the Movies, like we Really Wanted... we were Stumped.

'Its Weird. Because we have children, and we have adapted to doing Everything with our children, we don't know what to do Alone.
I asked Ej is we were Weird,... haha... he just said we have adapted to Not having a reliable babysitter for over a year. I guess i will agree with that, for now. haha'

So ... we dropped them off @ the 'sitter' and headed out. Of course, we had a ton of ideas, and NO plan. (this is typical us) So we decided to Drive around, and look around and 'what we wanted to do'... haha... no joke. Lets just say this... we drove around so long that around 7:45 pm we Finally decided to go to a Japanese Steakhouse and have some sushi and a Teppanyaki dinner. We wanted to stay local, so we did not go to our Favorite Teppanyaki Grill http://otanigrill.com/ Otani's.
We decided to go to a Smaller, More local one. It was NOT 'up to par' IMO... but we ate, and it was ok... we got to talk, and that was nice. The Funny thing is... i said to Ej "Gosh, i miss the kids"... he agreed. Otani's is Olivia & Evan's Favorite Place to eat. Olivia is a sucker for Sushi... she loves it, and can eat Many Roll's... Loves it.
We ordered a "Green Dragon Roll" last night, and it was Tempura Shrimp rolled in Avocado... w/ a few other things. It was good... As close to 'a Taste of Japan' w/ the sauce they used... But,... one thing is for sure, we cant wait to eat 'real' sushi again!

Ok, so when we were done eating, it was time to drive and get the kids, haha. We did pick them up 30 minutes early... but that's ok.
It was a Fun Night, i only wish we had a plan, or 30 more minutes... making it 3 hours and 30 minutes. I really wanna see Narnia!! haha

Camera Lost...

I am Peev'd! The camera is LOST!
I know it's gotta be here somewhere, this is aggravating.

TGIF

Yea It's Friday!!
On another note...
This YMCA Challenge is really helping with some winter weight loss!
4 and a half pounds gone this month. :):) Super Cool!
I guess the Weights and the Killer Classes are kicking my butt!

Hump-Day

Lets see, Not much to chat about this week.

The past week has been busy, but nothing exciting to chat about.

Yesterday i had a Veg-Out Day with my Friend Kitty. Her and I spent ALL day (9:30 am~2:30 pm) playing Wii... haha... and running up to a Wii Game Store... to get a few more Wii games. haha! I am Loving the Wii, and so is the family.

Today is Recovery Day. Laundry, Dishes... picking up.

The past 3 weeks another Friend of mine encouraged me to Join her in a 12 week Challenge @ our local YMCA. The 1st week was Mellow, the 2nd... a bit more, and now... we are just killing ourselves! haha!
Last night we did a Cardio-Kick-Boxing Class... It was BRUTAL! So, today we are taking the day off. What a Nice Break!
We will be back in the saddle tomorrow, Her? in the PM and I will go in the AM. (We have Dance Thursday nights.)

Thats about it from here... Oh did you notice the School Ticker? 29 days to go!!! Awesome!

2 years ago. A look back...

Wow! 2 years ago? Gosh! time Flys! I think... i think... i am wanting a BABY again looking through these pictures! :( They grow up soooooo darn fast .........

1 year ago! A look back...

1 year ago Olivia decided she did not want Long hair any more.

At 5 years old, i wanted her to have a say in her Hair Options.

So, as much as I did not want it, She did, and it made her happy.

So... She has been Short Hair for about a year now.

Right now, she is trying to decide if she wants it Super Short for Summer... or if she is growing it out. (I am thinking Short... because It's at the 'Weird' stage right now... we will see!)

Medial Screening Update

So, While we have been busy, we all (the 3 of us) had Medical appointments.
Evan is Healthy, I am Healthy... Olivia... she had to be referred to the Naval Hospital. They were listening to her heart, and heard a Murmur. So, a few days later we took her to the Naval Hossy and yup... she does. But, the good news is ... it's perfectly ok :) and nothing to worry about. (The doc's also heard 'something else'..... but that's A-ok too!)
Ethan is last... then we are OK. :) We are just waiting on some paperwork. He was told it would be here this month.

Evan on a side note needs his immunizations up to date, but i have a Waiver... so No Rush!

Summer Enrichment ...

Olivia was sent home with a packet about a Summer Enrichment Program. It is for children who work above their grade level. It's with the Public School system. She was recommended to attend! :) We are very happy of course. The only draw back is the $$ and the fact that i am counting down the days until Summer Vacation, and now... We will get about 2 weeks of summer and then back to a schedule! This summer program runs 4 weeks, and is only 1/2 day. These are the good things. The bad things are she will have to ride a bus (not something i am fond of) or be driven. Also, it starts about an hour earlier than 'reg school'.
So... School is out the 2nd week in June, Dance Recital 3rd week of June and Summer Enrichment is 4th week of June.
June is going to be busy! :(

Did i mention that Olivia grew out of her Dance (tap) shoes? Yup... last week she could barely Squeeze into them for class. MAN! This is like growing out of your backpack the last month of school... SUX!
The worst part is i don't even know if she will do dance next year, because were moving! Sigh!!!
So, she is a size 1 shoe!

We are back!

Wow! I cant believe it's been almost been a month!
The Week Long TV/Internet Fast went from 7 to 10 days! It was So Hard, but So worth it!!
We as a family learned so much!
The feeling was like a "power outage". Very Weird, but Interesting.
I enjoyed it and recommend it!

The following 20 days went fast. We went to Meemaw's house and visited. Then, She came and saw us. She stayed for a few days while Aunt Ro and Uncle Jim came with thier 2 youngest girls. It was a very nice, and needed visit. :) We enjoyed it!

Meemaw just left today, and of course, that is sad! :(

With just about a month left of school, we are ready for it to be over. The Weather is Beautiful... and i just want Olivia and Evan to be having a Blast outside. Soon enough!

I'm Grounded...

I have not been my personal best.
I have grounded myself from TV & Computer for the next week.
I wont be around.
This is something I need to do for me. ;)
So, Radio it is… haha… I’ll have to Blog (the old fashioned way) and let you know how it panned out. ;)

See you in a week!

Update [#2] ... Dryer...

Well, the news is that yesterday it cost me 110$ to have him come out... (he spent 2 hours, and only charged me 1 hour ... :) ... )
He called this morning about the Part and Cost. It's going to cost 135$ and i also have to pay another 110$ to have him instal it. :(

So this Frikken thing has cost me 350$ ... I could have bought a Freeken New (Cheep) Dryer.

I guess i have to think it would also cost to Deliver[a new one], and [the new one] would not match my washer... (LOL)... At least this hopefuly will last a while... (at least until we leave??).... LOL

This is what an Emergancy Fund [repair fund] is all about ......... [Dave Ramsey]........
Love that book!

A few pictures...

Evan having fun w/ his 'Geo Tracks'

It's not looking good!

The dryer guys are here... ACK! I have a bad taste in my mouth... Please oh Please let it be Fixable! (Gosh, i can not believe this... a 4 yr old dryer.)

Update: Yes, its fixable...:) But, it's going to cost us. Total? Maybe 150~200$. But, thats nothing in comparison to the cost of a new just like it. :)
It's not fixed yet, ... tomorrow. They had to go and get the parts. :)
It was Electrical. I did nothing 'wrong' ~few~ ;)

~big sigh!~

A New day tomorrow w/ a doctors appointment for Evan. It's a Well Child Visit. He also need to get his shots updated. (We are Delayed Vax People).

This week is turning out to be more interesting than i thought... ;)

Wednesday... hump day...

Lets see, Today we start the beginning of Overseas Screening. Well, Not Officially. haha
All of us have to have Our Medical and Dental up to date. So,... It's my Turn. :( I am headed to the dentist today. It's been a while... over a year, and i am NOT excited at all. So, ... i guess we will see how it goes.
The kids went last month. (When we wanted Overseas, but did not yet know if we were going.) The kids teeth are doing great! ;)
And they are all set to go, along with Ej... now... it's up to me! ~SIGH~

Well, i am back from the Dentist. Few! It's been longer than i thought. I cant believe it! I am almost imbarresed to type how long it's been.... Almost 4 years! (Turns Red!)
The good news is the Doc said my teeth look great, and he was happy... happy with everything bu 2 Tiny Tiny 'cavitys'...ack!
Actually, it was not bad at all. He said they were Way Small... and it took just about 5 minutes each. Not bad! :)
40$ later, and i was on my way home! :)

So, Now we are all 'Class 1' Dental! ;)
Dental Down... Medical to go!

The Start of a New Week...

Well, the week did not start off that good. Lets hope it gets better!

This evening, after washing Ej's White uniform i went to load it in the dryer, and guess what? The Darn thing wont work! I just can not believe this! This Dryer is only 4 yrs old, and a Very Good/Nice type. We have never had a Appliance Problem before, so i feel kind of like "WTHell"???
I guess tomorrow will be filled with Call's and Estimates! SUX!

The good thing is Kitty, my good friend, had me over @ 10 pm tonight and i dryed Ej's clothing, and it looks Great!
And i had a GREAT cup of coffee and GOOD company too! Thanks Kitty *wink~wink*

On another note, i went to the food store and got a "truck load" and we are set for a week or so. We truly needed food. I am glad i went, but i dis-like going in general.
List's and dealing w/ Crowds. Not my favorite thing.

Today was pretty mellow, until the After School stuff happened... dryer/food shopping.

I cleaned out the 3rd bathroom and cleaned it up. I took everything out, and De-Cluttered. :) That bathroom is "out of commission now". I Locked the door behind me! I am Tired of washing down 3 bathrooms. The Funny thing is the kids Always get a bath in our room anyways, because i am always doing other things, & i dont want to leave them in thier bathroom.
So, Now we have 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs bathroom.
Most people would think i am crazy, but... i would rather have Less Work!

Well... lets hope the week gets better!

It's Official!

A Little Bird~y told us on Monday that our Bid for Yokosuka Naval Base Japan was Accepted. We heald the news all week...(boy, that was hard!)
In an e-mail dated for Friday April 4th we were given the Official word!
Were Moving!!!
We don't know the Month or Day yet. Also, We (as a family) have to pass Medical & Dental Screenings...As long as we all pass... we should be in Yokosuka Japan for the Holidays.
I will be around a lot over the next few days to add New Info, and Pictures of our Future 'Home'.
I have already had a Few Questions like...

*Are we Happy: Yes! Very!!
*Was this our Choice: Yes, We waited for Japan, Europe or any Overseas to Actually "Pop" up.
*Where is Yokosuka: "Yoko" (as i will refer to it) is about 45 minutes from Yokohama & about 2 hours from Tokyo. Yokohama is Japan's 2nd Largest City & Tokyo is Japan's and The Worlds Largest Metro City!
We are super Excited & hope all goes A-Ok with Screening!

Spring Break is Over...

Well, It's over. The week of Slacking, and just laying around is done. haha I am glad in a way. I enjoy the structure of the week. Although, i will miss Olivia Terribly and wish it Was Summer already, the next 2 months will be nice.

This morning went off with out a hitch. We got up about 7:30 am (as normal). Olivia was already dressed and Evan too. :) I had not even got out of bed yet.

It's very funny. We have been Very Relaxed this week, and yet Monday Morning hits, and the kids are back in the Swing of things Directly! It's almost as if they missed the Structure too.

:) I am Glad i am not alone!

Let see, This weekend we 'forgot' to go as a family to the YMCA for Swimming. I feel sad about it. Maybe we will have to make time During the week to go.

Daddy will come home tonight. I sure do miss him, even on these overnights.

I have yet to plan dinner, ... I really need to make a trip to the store. This is one thing that is a PITA about having one car. (but hey, the Good out weighs the Evil on that one!)

Here is Evan playing with Tape, Sciccors and a STAPLER (for the 1st time)... he just love to destroy paper! haha!