Navy Ball

Every year, all the branches of the military have an annual ball. It's never worked out for us to go to the Air Force one because Scott has either been on a trip, deployed, or I've been big and pregnant! Corey works for an Admiral this year, so he and Dawn had to go to the Navy Ball. Dawn begged & pleaded for us to go because Corey was going to have a "working evening", so I added my begging and pleading to hers & Scott agreed to go. Our friends Chris & Lea offered to watch our kids for the night, so we even got to stay in a "hotow" and spend the night!!! So, after Daniel's birthday party (see below post), we ran home, hopped in the shower, packed everyone's bags & dropped the kids off. Scott & I then hightailed it over to the Big City to get dressed & hang out with some of our best friends for the night. Here are the pictures:

The four of us looking pretty darn good, if I do say so myself:

From Navy Ball

Dawn & I with the view of Busch Stadium behind us (from our room):

From Navy Ball

"Stayin' Alive":

From Navy Ball

Scott & I after a few hours of drinkin' and dancin'. Jackets had come off!

From Navy Ball

From Navy Ball

Jackets off & party shirts on parade:

From Navy Ball

Ladies' close-up:

From Navy Ball

Overall, it was a fabulous evening. Scott had a blast, so here's to hoping next time one of these balls rolls around, I won't have to beg so hard to get him there!!

Daniel turns 4 (again!)

Daniel's birthday was back in July, but he decided to forgo his party until Daddy and his two best friends were back. Poor thing ended up a bit confused--all day, he kept asking if he was "five now??" We bought a party at one of the local firehouses back in February when we went to the auction to benefit William's school, so that is where Daniel got to have his party.

From Daniel BD party

Colin loved the big "uck"!!

From Daniel BD party

Such a happy birthday boy!

From Daniel BD party

From Daniel BD party

William & our neighbor Chloe:

From Daniel BD party

William, Daniel, and Will:

From Daniel BD party

The firemen gave a talk & demonstrated how to put on their gear. The kids were fascinated:

From Daniel BD party

From Daniel BD party

From Daniel BD party

All of the kids got a turn to spray the hose on the truck:

From Daniel BD party

From Daniel BD party

The cake:

From Daniel BD party

Blowing out his candles:

From Daniel BD party

So happy opening his presents:

From Daniel BD party

From Daniel BD party

Will & Luke--his two besties who were in Seattle all summer:

From Daniel BD party

Dawn & Shelby--two pretty ladies!!

From Daniel BD party

Family pic with one not-so-happy C-man:

From Daniel BD party

Daniel with our neighbor Maddie & his "chill pillow"--one of his favorite presents:

From Daniel BD party

Daniel had a great time at his party & wanted to do it again ASAP!!

A Night in St. Louis

We decided to head over to St. Louis for the night since Scott is off of work tomorrow and the boys don't have school for Columbus Day. There is nothing my boys like better than riding the Metro and staying in a hotel that has a restaurant and a pool. Ahhhh.....the small things in life! Scott and the big boys took the Metro over & Colin & I drove over in the van. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and then let the boys swim in the pool for a very short while--that water was COLD!! After our short swim, it was Colin's bedtime & we rented "Toy Story 3" for the big boys. Just a small example of how tired ALL of my boys were:

From October 2010

The next morning, we headed over to the big outlet mall. There are several things for kiddos to do, including a carousel and a Nascar land with several rides. I had to ride them with Colin, who LOVED going around in the little cars.

From October 2010

Look how happy the D-man was! Note the huge water spot on his T-shirt after a mishap with his drink at lunch :-)

From October 2010

William had a blast! We practically had to bribe him to get him off the rides:

From October 2010

Daddy & Colin on the second turn on the carousel:

From October 2010

And, the big boys wanted to ride in the "carriage":

From October 2010

Annual Bourbon Party

Every year, Corey & Dawn have a blowout party with lots of good food, good friends, and good BOURBON! Since we've had the good fortune to be stationed with them at several assignments, we've been able to attend several of these parties. The timing of this one was impeccable! Scott & I got to have a much-needed date night after the craziness of his homecoming week.

Me & Dawn before the festivities kicked off:

From October 2010

Corey & Dawn:

From October 2010

And, me and Scott:

From October 2010

THIS was the silliness that ensued after a few rounds of bourbon, a few cigars, and a huge LSU victory:

From October 2010

Here's to hoping we'll be able to make most of the ones in the years to come!!

Daddy is home!!!!

Scott came home today! He's been gone since May 28th. I really wasn't sure how Colin was going to react since 4 months is a looooooong time when you're only 16 months old. Scott & I decided to do a staggered welcome home. William and Daniel both went to school this morning and Colin and I went to the airport to get Scott by ourselves. In true "me" fashion, I forgot to check the batteries on the camera and it died before we got to see Scott. Colin was having a blast running around the practically-empty airport when I got a text on my cell phone from Scott saying he was a couple of baggage carousels down! So, I let Colin walk down there & kept telling him to "Look who we're going to see"! He's looking & looking & looked right through Scott! When he finally realized who he was looking at, his little face just LIT UP and he got the biggest grin on his little face. Scott reached out to take him from me & Colin kept the same huge grin & matter-of-factly pushed his hands away. It was pretty cute! Like he was saying, "I'm sooooo glad to see you, but you can't have me yet." It took him about 20 minutes to warm up & then it was Daddy, Daddy, Daddy all the way.

We went home so Scott could change & then went to pick Daniel up. When his teacher opened the door to let Daniel out, he got soo excited & then got a little shy & buried his face in Scott's neck. Once he recovered, he had to take Daddy around & show him his classroom and everything he's been doing the past month. On the way home, we grabbed lunch & headed home. I finally managed to get a few pics:

From October 2010

Still not real sure about him:

From October 2010

From October 2010

Big kisses for his favorite Daddy!!

From October 2010

In the afternoon, Daniel & Scott went to get William from school. Colin was still napping, so I stayed home with him. In keeping with our tradition, Scott forgot the camera, so no initial pics with William-man. Scott said his face lit up, too, when he saw him. William introduced Scott to his teacher & told her proudly, "This is my Daddy! He came home today." Overall, a pretty good homecoming, I'd say!

Backyard fun

We had a busy little visitor in our backyard today. The boys were VERY excited to see him hopping around :

From October 2010

From October 2010

We also got lots of outside play. We had a little cool snap & we've been enjoying the cooler weather. The boys got out their sidewalk chalk & had a blast drawing pictures. They made me take lots of pics so Daddy can see them when he gets home! Yippeeeeeee!! Daniel made William draw all of his favorite things.

This is William's version of Frank the Combine. Note the "horns" and the grain chute:

From October 2010

This is McQueen--simple & to the point!

From October 2010

Here is a Metro train. Note William & Daniel riding on it:

From October 2010

I was very impressed with my newly-discovered artist!!!

Time for Apple Pickin'

Every fall, the boys' preschool has a field trip to Eckert's Farm in Milstadt for some apple picking. This year, the weather was absolutely beautiful, if a little warmer than we'd have liked. Everyone had a great time grabbing some apples, drinking apple cider, and then feeding some goats and camels.

Luke, Daniel, and Will waiting to board the wagons:

From Apple Picking

They had a ball drawing "A"s in the dirt b/c "A" is for apple!

From Apple Picking

Colin spent our waiting time on my back, which usually makes him pretty happy, but his newfound "I want to be a big boy" mentality (see earlier post!) made it pretty difficult today. He just wanted to be playing in the dirt with the big boys!

From Apple Picking

Lyndi and Daniel waiting, and waiting, and waiting:

From Apple Picking

And, finally, APPLES!!

From Apple Picking

From Apple Picking

From Apple Picking

Havin' some lunch, just 'cause it's cute--C-man has decided he wants to eat his sandwiches like a big boy now. No torn-up pieces for him!

From Apple Picking

Checking out the goats:

From Apple Picking

From Apple Picking

From Apple Picking

From Apple Picking

Overall, a great morning! It would have only been better if William had been able to go, too. Poor little guy had a rough day. He refused to get out of the car at drop-off because he wanted to go apple picking, then managed to fall off of the monkey bars at school at noon recess, necessitating a trip to the ER! Thankfully, everything was fine, but he gave Mommy a pretty good scare!