Almost Christmas

Well, It has been more than a month since I have updated so I will see if I can get it all in. If you notice above we have a new addition to our family, Tasha, but let me start with Thanksgiving...

We had our neighbors with thier two kids and our good friends who also have one child over for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyhting turned out great and I think everyone had a good time. Thanksgiving has to be the worst holiday for kids though...to them all it amounts to is another day where you force them to eat and there aren't many other highlights. Of course Matt missed being able to watch the game on Thanksgiving. He had to get up very early in the morning the next day to catch the game.

Matt and I both had very busy weeks the first two weeks of December as we tried to get ready for the holidays as well as finals. In addition we are both still working on our online class. I got my grade back for my class already and it seems that I got an 89%. It sure does stink to be that close to an A and not get it. Matt is still waiting for his grade in History, but I'll bet he got an A.

I stopped doing the daycare and turned all of the extra toys and other stuff back into the office. I feel like a huge load is lifted off my shoulders and I am so happy that they will not be coming to inspect my house anymore! I am still watching the infant (Aidan). His mom doesn't care if I do it through the family child care people or not and now I can split the time between her home and mine.

Colin has been talking a lot more and now frequently uses the word "no" as well as several others. He is also pretty fiesty lately and certainly knows when he wants to do things such as eat or sleep. Of course he is still cute as can be and has aspirations of becoming the Future President (If you read the shirt in the picture above).

Ryan is now an old pro at tying his shoes and so he has moved on to riding his bike with no training wheels. He can actually make it all the way around the parking lot now without falling. Now all he needs is a bigger bike, but there is a birthday around the corner so I will probably wait until then. He is enjoying his break from school although I think he might be a little bored. We did make Christmas cookies though and he rolled, cut, and decorated his own. He did a great job.

Matt has to work this week and then he will have next week, the week after Christmas off. Hopefully, we can go a few places as a family while he has that time off. He also has a pretty long break from school (unitl the end of January) so he is ready to relax a bit. His history class was very difficult and I know he isn't looking forward to the second half of it next term.

Matt's Squadron had a Christmas party last Friday that we got to go to. We didn't drive there and had someone watching the kids, so we both got to have some fun. We even won the game of Pictionary in the drawing for prizes.

We have quite a few places to go and people to see over Christmas weekend, so I am sure we will be busy. Despite everything, we sure do miss being around family for the Holidays. I will update again after Christmas with pictures of the kids and us. Until next time...

Pictures

We got our family pictures done the other day and they turned out pretty good. The more people you get together though the harder it is to get everyone to look and not blink. The first two pictures are just pictures that my friend also took that I think turned out particularly well. The second picture is next to where we did the actually photo shoot. Hopefully, I will get some chrismas cards together soon and send them out with the pictures.

Ryan had a parent teacher conference the other day and it was mostly good. She said that he is at a kindergarten level for most things and even at a 1st grade level for some. She did say that he needs to work on his behavior when it comes to getting along with the other kids. Hopefully, he will get better as the year goes on. She also said that because he is ahead in so many areas that she is going to set him up with a few long term projects to work on.

Colin says bye-bye now. We had him evaluated by the early intervention people and they said that he is not delayed but rather slightly behind the curve. So, they just want to make sure that he adds a few words from time to time.

Matt and I have been busy with school. Matt got an A on his first test in history and so he is happy about that. I have been busy with the daycare this week as well. Next week will be a short week for all of us due to Thanksgiving. We hare having Thanksgiving dinner here and we invited a couple of people to come over.

Well, I have kids coming so I better go. Love you all.

Halloween

Well, I am not going to make this very long but I wanted to update after Halloween so that everyone could look at the boys' costumes. Ryan did a lot of trick-or-treating and Colin went to a few houses as well. They both looked great and got enough candy to last the year as usual.

Also a bit of new news on Ryan...he can spell three words now four if you count his name. He can spell and therefore read the words "yes", "no", and "mom". He is always coming home with the new things that he has learned that day.

Anyway, I better go, I have homework to do!

Holiday

This will be the second time I have updated the journal although after I typed the last one Colin reached up and pushed a button to delete it, so here it goes again. Today is Columbus Day so we are all off of work and school. I got to sleep in today because Matt got up at 5am to watch the Cowboys play. Actually, I think that he watched the two am game as well and just stayed up all night. He is in bed now and wants me to wake him up at about 4pm. Colin is asleep as well and so Ryan and I are being very lazy!

Ryan loves school and is ahead of his class in most ways as far as counting and writing his name. He is very impressed by one girl who can tie her own shoes though and even calls her his girlfriend. He loves his teacher and that is a big plus as well. He is also still loving football and will often times ask to watch it on TV when Matt isn't even here. There goes any TV time I had left! Ryan has been sick the past two weeks and I had to take him to the emergency room. It turns out he had a very bad ear infection and his eardrum burst. He is feeling much better now.

Colin is doing well and is a pretty good listener. He lays down when I tell him it is time to change his diaper and gets his shoes out when it is time to go. This is quite the opposite from Ryan who I used to have to force to the ground for a diaper change. He also says "Uh-Oh" all the time now. It is very cute. Colin has been sick as well and went to the doctor on Friday only to find out that he as well has a very bad ear infection. He is beginning to get better already. You gottta love those antibiotics.

Matt just finished up his government class and now has a two week break until the next term starts. He is still playing flag football and really enjoying it. Right now his team is undefeated and so we are excited about that. Work has been slow and boring for him lately, so nothing much is new there. Matt has also been playing basketball every saturday which is also a lot of fun for him.

I am sick as well and have been for the past 2 weeks or so. I started getting sick on our Anniversary so we ended up not going snorkling and playing very little tennis. I also had a birthday this weekend and so I went out for a sort of girls night on saturday. I had fun but I am sure I got sicker in the process. I am also getting ready to sign up for next term of classes, I am still not sure if I am making the right decision, but I guess I will only know in hindsight.

Anyway, Happy birthday to all of you who just had a birthday in september and the beginning of October. I hope this finds all of you well and that you enjoy the pictures above. The pictures of Ryan are from his first day of school.

Sunday News

Well, I haven't updated lately, but mostly due to a lack of anything interesting happening. We have been busy, but it has just been much of the same. However, here it goes...

Ryan starts school tomorrow and is very excited. I hope he stays as enthusiastic and then I will be happy as well. His teacher came here to our house for a home visit and he really seems to like her. On that same note and even better, she really seems to like him. That sounds a little silly since she is a teacher, but there are many adults who, by no fault of their own just don't like Ryan. I can pick those people out almost as soon as we meet them. Ryan has also been really into football lately. He runs around the house throwing it up at himself and being his own commentator.

Colin has been saying quite a few more words now. Although he says them only from time to time instead of constantly. He is getting so hefty with his big belly that a lot of his clothes are starting not to fit. I guess it is about time to move up a size. He still loves water. We went to a birthday party yesterday where they had a pool and sprinkler and he wouldn't hardly get out of the water, not even for cake! I wish now that I would have taken my camera over there.

Matt is finishing up his this term of school an dso he is happy aboput that. If we can find a babysitter we are going to be taking a class together this next term. It will be a Spanish class, this way we can practice together. Matt has been taking plenty of days off of work lately, mostly due to his frustration with everything and everyone there. He gets mad and he takes leave so he won't have to be there. Matt is playing flag football and has his first scrimmage today. Then we are going out to eat a day early for his birthday. He has his birthday off, so he will be going golfing and also taking Ryan to school for his first day.

I have been busy taking care of too many kids and trying to do other things as well. I got up early yesterday and went to tent sale they had for all kinds of toys. I have finished shopping for Ryan and now just need to get him a couple of small things. I got Colin a couple of things too, but even though he doesn't have much I probably won't get him too much more. We have so many toys already. After the tent sale I went to a yard sale they had on base and got tons of clothes for Colin. Matt and I have an anniversary coming up, so we have a babysitter for half of the day. We are going to go play tennis, so snorkling, go out to eat, and then go to the movies. I am very excited and I just hope the weather is nice.

Anyway, I have to head to grocery store for my weekly visit. I hope all is well with all of you and I hope to hear from you soon.

Note: Believe it or not Ryan loves tacos now and actually ate most of what was on his plate in that picture above.

Just a Short Note

It looks as though Ryan got into the pre-K program. I haven't officially gotten called but I have an inside source who says his name is on the list. I think they are supposed to call tomorrow. The school starts on the 19th of September which is a week later than I thought, but that is okay. I am hearing that there is an orientation on Friday of this week. That would be great.

I am taking the daycare kids to Mona Kids Jungle, that inside playland type place tomorrow, so it should be fun day. I called today to see if the school here had recieved my transcripts yet and they have so I am going to go in on Friday to have them do an official evaluation to see which classes I need to take and which ones will transfer over. I should be able to get a good idea of how long it will take me to finish then.

Matt and I have both been trying to get back to gym lately and Matt has his first test in goverment on Thursday.

Well, like I said this is going to be short. We love you and miss you all.

Another Exercise

 Hello to all who read this. I apologize for the lapses in updates. Things have been very busy here getting ready for the school year to start on top of everything else. Even though as of right now we don't have any kids starting school, I swear it is just the time of year and the busyness of everyone else that makes it busy for us.

Matt is taking part in another exercise. Just in case you don't know this is when he works 12 hour shifts, runs around in chem-gear, and pretends he is in the middle of a war. It means incredibly hot, irritating, and long days for him. He has also started taking his governmetn class which he says is okay. It is nice that the terms are only eight weeks here. It kind of lets you get done with a class before you get too sick of it. Matt is already in bed tonight, so hopefully he will feel a little more rested tomorrow.

We had an addition to our family over the weekend. We adopted a kitten. She is very cute and the kids love her. As much as we want to be dog people, we always end up with cats and that suits us just fine. Colin has never laughed so much all at one time. He just follows the cat around laughing all the way. We named her Bella, which means beautiful in Latin.

Ryan just finished up soccer and I am going to try and put up a couple of pictures of him in his soccer uniform. He is addicted to the playstation now and is alarmingly good at it for a four year old. we have had to set a limit on it now, as he was choosing that over anything else including playing outside and even going to the pool! We find out this week if he gets into the Pre-K thing. He has had trouble adjusting to having lots of kids here for the daycare and seems to be rebelling even more lately.

Colin has officially said two words. He said Mama twice the other night and then the day after we got the cat he said Kitty in the form of "Titty" two times as well. I know that is what he said because he pointed right at her and said "Titty!" It was very cute. He has also gone back to sleeping through the night and getting up at about 5:30am. I feel a little more rested this way though, so it is better. Colin has added a high pitched scream to the list of things he does now. He is definately deciding what he wants and uses that scream to let us know!

I have finally finished that baby sweater that I started forever ago. I will put up some pictures of it. It is a size 6-9 months but I needed a model so I used Colin. I just have to finish sewing in the loose strings. I am also working on getting my financial aid paperwork into the school so that I might be able to qualify for that this term. We shall see. I need to get my butt in gear though if I want it to go through in time. I have been busy with the daycare again. Everytime I think "Gosh, I don't have any kids lined up." I start getting a million calls. It is good though as I wanted to get some things paid off before Christmas.

Okay, I think that I have updated on everything and everyone. Thank you to all of you who continue to read this and thatnk you to all of you who I have recently been getting a couple of emails from....Allison, Nikki...I appreciate it. We love you all and miss everyone. I will try to upadate next weekend again.

Murhl, the picture of Colin on the phone is when he was talking to you the other night. Sorry it took me so long to get it up there.

Just an Update

Well, it has been forever since I have updated so I figured I better get to it. I got my camera fixed and have new pictures to post, but for some reason the website is not taking them right now. I figured I would just write and try to add pictures later. Everyone is doing okay here and we hope everyone out there is doing well.

The boys have both just gotten over some sort of virus. They have both been very sick stomach wise, but it looks like we are coming out of it now. Colin had it for a whole week, but Ryan only got it for about 24 hours. Thankfully, we can all sleep a little better now that they are feeling better. We have been staying inside a lot lately so as not to be out too much in the heat, but we try to go out in the evenings after dinner to get some fresh air. However, just like in Texas when we were there, it is too hot to go out in the daytime and there are tons of bugs to eat you alive in the evening.

Matt and I have been keeping busy. Matt starts back to school this term in about another week and he will be taking an American Government class. Government and history are two things he has an interest in. I say more power ot him because I would be asleep in seconds. I have been busy with the daycare. I am actually full everyday this next week and then in about two weeks I am going ot start caring for a two month old.

We should also be finding out in about two weeks if Ryan is going to get into the Pre-K program here or if we are going to have to find an alternative for him as far as that goes. I keep my fingers crossed on a daily basis that he gets it, but we shall see. Colin has been getting some more teeth in. He chews on his fingers so hard he leaves marks all up and down them and needless to say the pain is interrupting his sleep again.

Anyway, I am sorry to be kind of brief, but I have to get to bed at a decent time so the kids don't drive me crazy tomorrow. We love you all! 

4th of July

Well, Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope you all had a great holiday. We all had a long four day weekend and the weather was actually nice. We went to the pool one day, to the beach the next day, and we had a cookout with the neighbors on the 4th. Then we all went down to the park on base where they had little carnival rides, games, and food. After we stood in long lines for eveything we sat down and listened to the band play and then watched fireworks. The fireworks were great! It is truly a special thing to celebrate the 4th of July with only military people. There is so much emotion and so much pride. I had tears in my eyes several times between the tribute to those who are deployed and the patriotic songs that even the kids knew all the words to. I felt so proud to be standing among all of these wonderful people who do so much everyday to keep alive exactly what we were celebrating. Matt had class, so he had to miss most of this, but it was still a great night.

Ryan is doing well and he really enjoyed the fireworks. We are still having our usual battles for good behavior with him, but I am not so sure this will ever end. I took him to the tennis court on Monday and we had a great time. We staye dout the in the heat for almost two hours and he was begging to stay longer. He isn't that great at it yet, but with his knack for sprots I am sure he will have it soon.

Colin is doing okay, but is running on very little sleep these days. He has decided that he wants to sleep in our bed now, which for those of you who know us well, this is not an option. He wakes up everynight at least once and cries. I can't leave him in his bedroom to cry, because he will wake up Ryan. So I bring him into our room and put him in the portable crib. He then screams and throws everthing out of the crib. He can keep doing this for and hour or more, but as soon as I pick him up he is out on my shoulder or in my arms. Last night I finally got him to go back to sleep after more than an hour of cying, but he woke up and hour later. I was too sleep deprived to fight him anymore so I just layed him down in our bed and he was out like a light. If he only had his own room, this would be much easier. Hopefully this is just a phase, because I need more than 5 hours of sleep a night!

Matt is doing well and looking forward to his much needed time off of work when my parents come. He also can't wait for this terms classes to be over. This late night class that lasts until 11pm is killing him. He is taking not getting his promotion better than I expected although he is definately upset, he is not as mad as I thought he would be. Hopefully, they will offer some good classes next term and he can get on track with a new goal. I am trying to get him to play football with his squadron, but he doesn't want to because it is only flag football and wouldn't be as much fun. Whatever!

I am pretty busy with the daycare. I actually have kids all day everyday this week. I am also looking forward to the two weeks I am taking off when Mom and Mark come. I can only hope the weather stays as nice. I kind of fell off as far as my gym goal goes. I did well for the first two and a half weeks and now I have barely been going. I am just too tired most nights to even consider it. I am also looking into doing some volunteer work at the clinic or the hospital over here to keep up some of my nursing skills. I have my CNA right now, but if I don't do some work I will lose it. I am hoping to volunteer maybe one afternoon a week once the school year starts and then maybe every other saturday. I don't know yet, but I want to do something. Even though I am now doing this daycare and contributing to the income, I still feel stuck (if that makes any sense). Oh, and now I have another friend who just found out she is pregnant. That was my last person to workout or go out with. I have got to put up an ad or something that says, looking for friend who is not pregnant and who is not going to be pregnant in the near future.

Well, I should go. Colin just woke up from his nap and I should get him a snack. Sorry again for no pictures, my camera is still broken! Love you all.

Upset

Well, we finally ound out about Matt's promotion, and he didn't get it. It turns out that three girls got it, so Matt will have to stay at his current rank for about another 7 months. This wouldn't be so bad except for this way he misses the cut off for testing for the next rank by about 1 week. Also this means that people who came in a whole year after him will sew on the next rank well before him just because he signed up for four years and they signed up for six. I feel upset, so I am sure Matt feels even worse. There are other people who have gotten BTZ when they don't even have their mandatory training done!

I am in shock!

Love you all but I better go now before I complain too much more.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there. I posted above Matt's Father's Day gifts from Ryan. Hopefully they will come out okay. One is of Matt playing golf and the other is of Matt and Ryan playing basketball. We thought they were great.  Matt spent Father's Day sleeping in and then he went to get a new pair of shoes. I made steak for dinner at his request and for the first time since we have been here, I was able to get the cut of steak that I like. They were great! We both went and got a massage on Friday night, which turned out to be very weird. First of all the "business" was in an apartment and second of all the people who did the massage were both men. I was slighlty uncomfortable with this, but Matt was even more uncomfortable. Thank goodness I didn't go by myself because I would have been freaked out in that situation..and apartment, two guys who don't speak english, a full body massage! Needless to say in the future even if a woman answers the phone (as in this case) I wil be requesting a female for us both. Other than that the actual massage felt quite good and helped my muscles to relax after that week of going ot the gym.

Colin, my Baby who doesn't cry and eats everything, is now quite a noise maker. He has been crying a lot at night and often times spends hours following me around the house and crying. He has also decided that he doesn't like much of what he normally used to eat. Now it is much more fun to throw it all over the floor. He is also still a little sick and getting a few teeth, so maybe he will resume his normal self  sometime soon.

Nothing really new to report on Ryan or myself. I'll let you know if anything of interest happens! Love you all, and hope you had a great weekend.

Oh by the way, it stopped raining for one day after eight straight days of rain and now has started raining again!

Once Upon A Time The Sun Did Shine

Just not here...We are now in our 5th straight day of rain and it is going to continue through the weekend. When I say rain, I mean rain, it has been pouring most of the time and giving us an occasional sprinkle.

Okay, now that I complained about that...How is everyone else doing? I haven't heard from most of you in awhile, so I hope all is well. Honestly, I wonder how many people read this as I only hear that a few of you do.

Matt has class now on Mondays and Wednesdays until almost 11pm. I know this is hard for him as he gets really tired. Hopefully he will get some good rest over Father's Day weekend. His package has gone up for BTZ (the promotion thing) and now we are just waiting. We thought he would hear sometime this week, but it may not be until the end of the month now. Who knows! We also found out that there are only three slots for BTZ and probably at least ten - fifteen people going up for it.

Colin has been very fussy with me lately and I think he is getting a little sick. He hasn't really gotten sick very often so maybe that is the problem, he doesn't know what it feels like. He has figured out how to make he ride on toy scoot around a little bit and so he enjoys playing with it a lot more now.

Ryan has been doing "homework" nonstop. He has these SchoolZone workbooks that I got for the plane ride and he loves them. He works on writing his letters, numbers, letter sounds, and following directions. We are happy that he is so into it, and with all the rain it sure is good timing.

I have been doing the daycare and I am anxiously awaiting my first monthly inspection. I just want to get the critisism over with and move on. I get a call olmost every day for the daycare so it is nice that I am able to make a little bit of money. I have also stepped up my gym workouts. I am now going to the gym five times a week so I am very sore. I am hoping that I will really be able to see some results this way.

Well, I have to get these kids in bed. Sorry there are no pictures this time. I dropped my camera in the sand and now it is not working properly. Love you all.

Quick Update

Well, it has been awhile, so where should I begin...

The pictures above are from a trip the kids and I tokk with our neighbors to Comprehensive park. I know the name sounds horrible, but the park is wonderful. I can't wait to go back. Not only was there play equipment, but there were fish to feed, trails to walk on, turtles to watch, and beautiful scenery. Needless to say we had a great time. Hopefully, I will be ablr to remember how to get there.

Our neighbors also took us to a nice beach on Memorial day that we all really enjoyed. Had the water been warmer we would have had an even better time. There were quite a few Americans there even though it is primarily a Japanese beach, but we don't mind either way.

I have finally started keeping kids for the daycare. It is going okay. I keep busy more with making sure everything is up to "standard" than I do spending quality time with the kids. Hopefully, I will be able to find a better balance once I have my first monthly inspection. Ryan acts up everythime I have parents here, so I am sure they think he is always that way. Really, he is very helpfull especially with the babies, but as soon as the parents get here he starts jumping on the couch and throwing balls around the house.

Matt should be finding out if he is going to get that early promotion really soon. All his supervisors are telling him he will definately get it. I just hope they are right and not making him hopeful for nothing. Matt has also been busy with school an dis finding plenty of time for golf as well. We are going to try and go get a massage soon. His for fathers day and mine for mothers day.

We cancelled our scuba lessons as it turned out to be a lot more money than we were willing to commit. I still kind of want to do it, so I may try to find a girl to take the classes with me.

The kids are doing well and I really don't have too much to report on them this time around. Ryan has a little photo album that he has been carrying around with people that he misses in there. Any pictures that you all might want to send of his friends, cousins, or family would be great.

I hope all is well, and I will try to have something a little more interesting next time.

 

long day

I am so tired today that I feel I could topple over at any given moment. Matt is on night shift for this week and although HE should be the exhausted one, I get very little sleep with him gone at night. The dumbest thing is, that I find myself staying up until all hours of the night to watch things that I would normally never give a second thought to. I have probably watched more TV this past weekend and the beginning of this week than I have since I have been here. Not tonight though...as soon as Colin goes to bed I am forcing myself to lay down as well.

Above are Colin's 1 year pictures. I only bought one picture of each pose as just that cost me $52. As a girl who is accustomed to Sears $6.99 deal, I cannot fathom spending the $300 dollars for the whole package. So, as that stands, let me know what sizes you want because I figure this is why I bought a printer with a scanner. Mom, I know his mouth is open in these pictures as well, but I figure maybe that adds to his cuteness.

Matt has a four day weekend coming up...we can't wait. We don't have any special plans, but it will be nice after this week of 12 hour shifts for him. Matt also got his grade in Biology, which he got a pretty strong A in. He is very happy.

I kept my neighbor's daughter today and yesterday as my first official client for the daycare. It was very time consuming trying to keep everything picked up and exactly as it needs to be. It only made it harder that we had to be very quiet so as not to wake Matt up and it was raining outside. However, on the bright side, since Matt has a four day weekend today is like Wednesday instead of Tuesday!

Colin must be getting more teeth because he bites me every chance he gets. He especially likes to bite my leg right where it is at the level of his mouth when he is standing. I have several little bite marks all around right below my knee.

Well, I hope this finds everyone well. I miss all of you. Send an email and let me know how you are doing.

Love you all....

Okuma Trip

Hello everyone! I figured it was about time I update this this so here it goes...

We went to Okuma, which is a military resort, this last weekend. We had an okay time considering it rained the whole time we were there. Thank goodness we got a suite with a tv and dvd player instead of a cabin or something. The beach up there is really nice and there isn't much coral so your feet don't get hurt from walking there. Island kind of bends around close to the beach so it is a truly beautiful view. Even though it was raining we made the best of it and did the glass bottom boat ride, the bike rentals, and the putt-putt golf. We can't wait to go back in July, I just hope it is nicer weather. Up above are some pictures of our trip.

Colin is walking everywhere now. He still falls a lot, but he continues to get back up. He ate his cereal with a spoon the other day, so that is also new. He loves the water. He has no fear of the water at the beach. I have to watch hium really closely, because he thinks he can swim! He lays on his belly and moves his arms and legs around.

Ryan is doing well. We went to the elementary school to get him an application for the pre-K program here and he was so excited. He kept saying.."Is this going to be my room?"..."Is this where I will eat luch?"..."Is this the library where I can read?"..."I they going to be my friends?" We passed several classrooms, the library, the lunch room, and several kids on the way to the office. I am glad that he is so excited, I hope he stays that way for awhile at least.

I finally got my licsense for the daycare, but I haven't had any kids yet. I am going to keep my neighbors daughter on Monday and Tuesday, so she will be my first. I am keeping busy with other things, the gym and trying to explore the island a little. I think I am going to take a couple of classes this next term here, but I am not sure.

Matt has an exercise going on right now, so he has to work horrible hours. He goes up for BTZ (where he would move up in rank early) in about two weeks. I really hope he gets it. We probably won't find out until the middle of June. He is only taking one class this term, which is the last class he needs to finish his associates degree. He needs to take Chemistry and A&P, but they are not offering either right now. Unfortunately, it looks like they are not going to offer A&P for a long while, so we are not sure what he can do...I guess we will have to wait and see.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I will talk to you soon.

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's reading this. I hope you all had a great day. My day was just okay. Matt had school on Sunday morning, so I took the kids bowling. I got to take a short nap in the afternoon and then we went out to dinner at what is my favorite place here so far. I did some housework and then went to bed.

Colin is walking a lot more now. He can walk from one room to the next now and not just inbetween  the furniture. He can even stop and change directions now. One of the pictures above is of him walking outside. The other pictures above were taken at Monakids. It is sort of an inside playground for the kids. Similar, I guess to a Chucky Cheese.

On the way to Monakids we went to McDonalds to eat lunch. At McDonald's we ran into two little Japanese kids whose parents had let them go there by themselves. They were 4 and 6. They were bad little kids, as I am finding many Japanese children are! The Japanese just let their kids run wild in some instances where Americans are much more strict. The little boys tried to take Ryan's food, but he couldn't understand them so he just said Konchiwa! It was an interesting encounter.

We went to the Okinawa Children's Zoo on Thursday, which was fun for the kids, but sad. The animals at this zoo have very little room and most of them look sad and underfed. It was children's day which is May 5 and is a national holiday, so they had tons of stuff for the kids to do and the zoo itself was packed.

This weekend, we are going to head up to Okuma, which is the military resort here. I can't wait because I hear the beaches there a beautiful. Then on June 5th we start our scuba diving lessons.

Well, I better go. I hope this finds you all well. We miss you and love you all.

 

Colin Is Walking

Colin started walking the other day. He is only walking to and from things and still crawls most of the time, but he is on his way. The first day that he really was walking a lot he passed out on the floor that night at 7 o'clock! That is when I took the picture above. Walking sure is hard work!

The kids and I went to the beach yesterday. It was a beautiful day, but the beach that we went to was not all that great. I took a couple of pictures though. Ryan sure does love the beach, as does Colin.

Anyway, not much else is going on and Ryan is bugging me to go outside, so I guess I better go.

We love you all!

Sad Today

I am not really that sad as much as I am just feeling down. I got an email from my friend from nursing school and she gave me her journal address (which I had lost), anyway, it was so nice to hear from her, but sad to hear about nursing school. On her journal I get to hear what my old classmates are up to and what I am missing. I sure wish I was there with them. It is almost like I can feel any knowledge that I had slowly slipping away. When Matt comes home from his biology class asking for help studying things like gametes and genes I have to rack my brain and then sometimes look it up for things that used to be just like second nature to me. As far as anatomy is concerned, I may have totally regressed! I just feel so useless here. Matt wants me to help him with his classes and my brain is filled up with what time the baby needs to take a nap. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the kids and being totally involved, I just get a little tired of it I think.

This brings me to my next problem, I have recently been feeling like maybe I want to have another baby. I have been trying to talk Matt into just that, but before I do I need to make sure that it is not my lack of purpose feeling that is pushing me to want more and that I really and truely want one more child.

I guess I will have to think about it awhile longer. I guess I better end this now though as we are all still in our pajamas on this lazy morning.

Days Off

Today is a rainy day so we are all sitting around doing very little. Today is Earth Day, so I took Ryan down to the park where they were having an Earth Day Festival. We had an okay time and we got to tie-dye a couple of T-shirts.

Matt had Thursday and Friday off and we all had a great couple of days. On thursday Matt took Ryan golfing on the real golf course. It is only a 9 hole course, but it was Ryan's first time, so that was big enough. I guess Ryan did pretty well. Matt says he even hit one shot all the way to the green (about 110 yards)! It doesn't sound like it is very far, but it is good for him.

Friday Matt and I took the kids to a sitter and had the day to ourselves. We had planned on going to the beach, but the weather wasn't nice enough. We played tennis in the morning for about an hour and a half, then we headed out for lunch. We went to an authentic Japanese steak house and had some great food. There were a couple of big differences between the one here and the one we went to in the states. The biggest one is that the chef doesn't do any tricks or entertainment while cooking your food. Then we headed over to a store called Uni-Qlo, which is the Japanese equivilent of an Old Navy. However as far as clothes for Matt is concerned he has to buy an extra large which fits him like an American medium. I guess since the people here are generally small, there isn't much accomadation for people who are tall or overweight. Then we went to a huge 100 yen store. That is like a dollar store in the states, but there is much more at this store and the stuff is a lot nicer. Then we went to a plant/ walmart type store. Matt had been looking for hat like the one in the picture above and this is where we found it. All the Japanese people around here where hats like this when they do yard work. They usually cover them with some sort of material, but Matt hasn't found any that he likes quite yet.

Colin finally took a step today! Just one and then he fell down, but at least that is something!

Well, I am going to take a nap on this rainy day. I hope all is well with everyone else.

 

Busy Days

Well, where do I start? It has been awhile since I have updated. It has been really nice outside so we have been going for a lot of walks as well as going to the beach. I had my inspection for the daycare and I passed. Now my package of information has to go up in front of a board to see if they approve.I don't plan on actually taking any kids until June. We will see...Matt isn't too thrilled about the whole idea, so if it disrupts our family life too much I may not continue.

Ryan has been riding his new bike like crazy. Whenever we go for a walk he rides his bike. I try to wear him out by riding on a lot of hills, but he is always full of energy. He loves going to the beach. The water here stays shallow for a long way out so he has tons of fun just running around and splashing. Of course he loves to play in the sand too. There aren't very many waves most of the time, so I can just let him play. Ryan has been really itching for time with Matt lately. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he is asking to go outside and play football or golf. Yesterday we spent about three hours at the beach and then Matt took Ryan to play soccer out at the soccer field.

Colin is doing great. I can't believe he is almost a year old. We are going to go down to the park next weekend and try to have a cookout for his birthday. We mainly just invited all the neighbors. Colin loves the beach as well. The water is so shallow that I can just take him down and sit him in the water. He has a great time splashing and crawling around. He has been trying ot color lately. He likes to pick up a crayon and then he will look for a paper, crawl over, and try to draw. He has been thinking about walking lately, but still hasn't made that leap.

Matt has been busy with school and work lately. He is still working on that one big job and he has a test coming up in his biology class. I hope he gets an A because he has been working so hard in the material. He was able to go to the beach with us yesterday. I know he hates to be leaving for work and have to see that we are heading to the beach. He hasn't made tons of friends here to do things with outside of work and I know that kind of bums him out. Most of the guys he works with here are young and not on top of things. People who act like idiots at work and don't know thier job drive Matt nuts.

I myself have been keepingbusy running errands, doing stuff with the kids, and exercising when I can. I am going to take a knitting class at the craft center that starts in about a week, so that shold be fun.

Well, I hope this finds you all well. Love you all.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you all had a great day. We sure are missing everyone.

We had a pretty good Easter. Ryan dyed easter eggs on Saturday. and as you can see above, Colin just kind of stood by. Ryan got so excited that he was making the eggs different colors that he said he wanted to eat one. I got him to take one bite but that was it. He said that it was "not really good."  Colin will eat anything though, so he had a few bites.

On Sunday, the boys got their Easter baskets and Ryan got a bike. He needed one because his old bike was accidentally placed in storage. Ryan spent the morning riding his bike and Colin was busy playing with the eggs. We had some neighbors and some friends of Matt's over for dinner. We all had a great time and there was more than enough food.

Matt has been really missing Offutt. You think Nebraska is never a place you would miss, but we sure do. Whenevr you move it takes getting used to though and we have only been here for two months.

Colin has started shaking his head no. It is very cute right now, so I just enjoy it as I know that soon it will be annoying...

Well, I better go. It is rainy today and so I haven't done much. Love you all!

Late Night Cleaning Spree

Well, here it is almost 11:00 at night and I am still awake. I always do my best cleaning after everyone is in bed. It makes for a late night for me, but it sure is nice to wake up in the morning and have nothing that really needs to get done. I know, I know, if I would stay on top of things in the first place it wouldn't take me very long, but we all know that is not me!

The beginning of the week kind of flew by for me...Ryan was very good and didn't get any time outs for two days in a row. But as soon as Matt mentioned that we might be turning over a new leaf and I complimented his good behavior, it was all down hill from there.

It is Easter this weekend, and I think we might try to go to church, but we will have to see. The last time we said we were going to go to church, Ryan had to get stitches! I am having Easter dinner over here. The neighbors from across the street as well as a couple of single Airmen from Matt's shop are coming over.

Matt has been very busy at work this week. His crew just got a huge job where they are installing hundreds of phone lines in a building that is currently not being used. It is only him and a few others, so he is busy. He loves it that way though. Who ever would have thought that Matt would be so gung ho about the military!

Colin is starting to stand on his own. He will only do it for Matt though. Whenever I try to get him to stand he turns into rubber legs. He seems to like basketball already, he watches it on TV and he claps and smiles whenever Matt and Ryan play.

Anyway, I hope this finds you all well. I better get the rest of my stuff done so I can get my butt in bed. Love you all...

Nothing Much

Well, It is finally the weekend. I went to the Chibana flea market today. It is where the peole on base set up booths and the Japanese come to shop. Never again will I go there to buy anything, because everything was really over priced. No wonder everyone says they make so much money there.

Thursday Ryan got his stitches out and he did okay with that. I asked the doctor about the money and he said if I don't see it by Monday to bring him in for an x-ray. Yeah, I love spending hours at the doctor. Ryan has been really acting up lately. We thought it was terrible twos and threes, but now here we go with the fours...

Colin is getting more teeth, and so he is pretty fussy. I am trying to get him to take his milk from a sippy cup and he is not really wanting that.  I'm not sure if I am going to actively pursue the sippy cup thing right now or not. We will see.

Anyway, I better go so that I can get some stuff done around here.

Love you all.

Beautiful Day

Wow was today a nice day. Finally, not only is it not raining, but the sun is shining and it is warm! Ryan had gymnastics this morning and he enjoyed that. After lunch we went to Kadena Marina to take a look at the beach. It was so nice that I just let Ryan go ahead and run through the water. He had a blast. Colin spent his time just crawling through the sand and tossing it up in the air. The first time Ryan felt the sand (He had just turned one) He cried and pulled up his feet. Not Colin, he got down and dirty right away. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. I forgot the camera! (Bad Me) Anyway, we had a great afternoon and we home just in time for Colin's nap.

We love and miss you all!

Getting Settled

What's that? I'm up for the worst mother of the quarter award? Well, I'm not surprised. All in one day the following has happened. At 7:30am this morning Ryan fell into the coffee table and split open his head. He says that he wasn't jumping on the couch, but Matt and I suspect otherwise. Needless to say we rushed out the door and down to Camp Lester where the emergency room is to get stitches.

During the stitching up process, Ryan had to be wrapped in a sheet and held down be myself and two other people. It was horrible. He screamed and flailed around until exhaustion set in. Anyway, we made it through and went home. For his "bravery" we took Ryan out to lunch. So, did he learn his lesson? Of course not. We hadn't been home for two minutes and we already had to tell him to stop jumping on the furniture.

The afternoon went by with few life altering events. However, as I am making dinner, Ryan comes to tell me that his belly hurts. I ask him why...and he tells me that he put money in his mouth and it went down his throat. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be lodged in his airway. But when I ask him if he can feel it, he points to his throat. (great...emergency room here I come). I decide (along with my neighbor nurse) that he should eat something before I take him in to see if it will go the rest of the way down. Again...does he learn his lesson. No, once it doesn't feel stuck anymore, I ask him if he will ever put money in his mouth again...He says, "Well, it's okay because he can just poop it out!" Maybe he would learn more if I just stayed in bed in the morning. 

It has been a hectic day and neither Matt nor I know what to think of our intelligent child doing very stupid things. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

I haope this finds all of you well, and I apologize for all the rambling.

In Okinawa

Hello everyone! I know most of you know that we got here safely, but I figured I would go ahead and post this to let everyone else know. We are moved into our apartment and finally over the jet lag. We have a phone, I didn't bring the number with me, but will send out a mass email with it soon. We don't have all of our stuff and the computer yet, so I am at the library doing this. I just wanted to let you know that we are safe, sound, and finally a little happier. I will update more in about a week when we a hopefully going to get our things.

Love you all,

Karen

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are home from our month long vacation. It felt so nice to sleep in my own bed last night, that I thought for sure I might never get up. Colin must have felt the same way, because he did not get up until 9:30! Today, we are jsut enjoying being back together, since Matt came back two weeks ago, and getting stuff around for the movers. The movers are coming on the 19th and 20th, so we have a lot to do.

Christmas and the New Year were great. We got to see tons of family and eat lots of good food. Ryan got too many trains to count, so he was very happy. However, he is already asking for more stuff for his birthday. Colin got to be a little clingy over the holidays and would cry everytime I left the room. He is already starting to go back to the laid back Colin we knew though and is currently playing with his toys.

We did many other things on our trip including a trip up to Maryland. Ryan and Brenna were almost inseperable (mostly because Ryan followed her everywhere). They had a lot of fun together. Ryan also had fun playing with Caroline. We even got to go to the park and feed the ducks. It was an amazing 67 degrees for a couple of beautiful days. This being said, we are completely in shock in this 0 degree Nebraska weather.

Of course, our days were busy while we were gone, but I am sure you don't want to read about every little detail. So I will just go ahead and wrap it up so I can put some pictures up.

We love you all...and I will be sending out a mass email with our new address.