{I really need an update!}

I want to get on here to fill you in on some things that have been going on around here. It's been awhile!!!!

1. Gavin and Tanner are in soccer right now. They love soccer, and i LOVE watching them play.  I hope Gavin sticks with soccer for the rest of his life. He really excels at it, and is always a top player on his team. I really love watching him play games. He makes goals for his team and is such a good asset for the team. Tanner has also made some goals. He is a great defender.  He really tries to use his strengths. It's very interesting watching him and his strategies. I think he realizes his strength isn't running and kicking the ball, so he lies in wait as a defender. And he is great at stopping the other team from making a goal. He has been like  that since he has started a few years ago. I remember his very first coach telling me that Tanner was good at scanning the field, seeing where the ball is going to go, and getting in place to stop it. He doesn't chase the ball. They both do really well. They play soccer inside the house all the time too. Even when we were recently locked up in the house due to a typhoon, all of us played a game of soccer in our house. It was fun. :)

2.  Gavin has accomplished quite a few things so far this year.  He was one of the top three in his class to reach having read 1 million words so far this year.  And he was also voted by his classmates to be the first student of the month for the school year. He LOVES reading, and reads and reads all the time. I am glad for that. Reading is a GOOD thing.  He just became a member of his school's Firebird Drummers Group. He will learn up to 21 performances doing taiko drumming. Tanner is a good little reader too. I mean, i know if he can read the Book of Mormon then he is doing really well. He was already reading from the Book of Mormon in his kindergarten year(towards the end).  The reading level of the Book of Mormon has got to be a Z. I was very surprised when he first started reading to us out of the Book of Mormon. He can pronounce most of the words in it. It's awesome. He is also doing the 100 mile club again this year.  He really likes to accomplish things. It makes him feel good.

3. Jaydon is my little pill. He really likes being at home with me, which i am glad about. Now that my pregnancy mood swings are kicking in he is driving me up the wall a bit more than usual. It's not him. It's me. Poor guy. I noticed myself being grumpy with him the other day. I stopped and said, "Jaydon, is mommy nice?" He said, "yes, you are the nicest mom." I smiled. I said, "Do i ever get grumpy with you?" He quickly replied, "NO. you don't get grumpy." haha!  I was surprised. I think he loves me so much he just doesn't notice my grumpy moments, AND those moments must not phase him. He just blows it off. I love that. He can certainly get VERY bossy with me, MORE than i like, but he is so sweet to me. He often tells me he likes me, and cuddles me, and tells me im beautiful. I love that. He is a good good boy. He has playtime with a few friends every thursday for 3 hours. He really likes it. Plus i have  scripture study class i go to every tuesday, so he plays with the kids in the nursery for that. Plus we see friends during soccer practices and games, and at church. He definitely gets plenty of interaction with friends.

4. Shane is doing great. He was picked as the 1st alternate for the pediatric program. So, we need to know by February wether we are getting out of the military or staying in. He just finished a program called the C to B program.  It ups his yearly bonus a decent amount.  We are thinking we should take advantage of it, stay in a few more years to pay off our loans, and then seperate.  We will see what happens. I know that whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. He is still in the branch presidency.

5. I am good. I am getting over the nausea, mostly. BUT the headaches still persist. I had major food aversions during the first trimester, something i didn't have with my other pregnancies. I mostly ate Inari sushi, a tomato, pickle and onion sandwich, soups, crackers. Those were the things i could eat mostly all the time. Everything else was on a day to day basis. One day i liked something, the next it made me gag.  Or i thought i could eat something and about a fourth of the way through i couldn't eat anymore because it made me sick. I had a hard time eating vegetables. I couldn't do it. Now that im feeling better, ive been craving vegetables...and hummus! yum! And my appetite is crazy! Ive forgotten the hunger pains! oh my gosh. Ive done a good job over the past years learning to control my appetite, learning what real hunger pains are versus emotional eating.  Now, i feel like a slave to my hunger pains. I have to do what my body tells me to do. :) I feel like im eating something every 1-2 hours. I was released from the RS presidency and put in as a CTR7 primary teacher. I miss RS. But im excited for a change.

6. Shane and I took a trip to South Korea recently. Im hoping my next post will have all the pictures and details of that trip. It was lots of fun. AND our TEN year anniversary is coming up very soon!! woah!!!

7. I can't believe our time is coming to a close here on Okinawa. It has flown by. We have less than 10 months left here. That's insane. We are having a baby in April, and probably 1-2 months later we will start packing up our house. crazy. We don't know what we are going to do yet for a job. I can see us getting straight out next year. I did some chatting with some friends last night and learned about a few options we have for getting out next year that won't make the transition so scary. I could see us getting out. BUT i could also see us staying in for another 1-4 years.  Decisions , decisions.

8. For halloween, i think we are going to be zombies. That should be interesting. I get to put my makeup skills to the test. :) haha!

{Aaaaaand we did it again}

We are now expecting baby #4! I am just about 11 weeks along. I am actually 10 weeks and 2 days, according to my last period, but the baby is measuring at 10 weeks and 6 days along. We've got a good strong baby so far. We are really excited, but still can't believe we are doing this again! haha! All the boys are very excited. It's been fun having some older kids who actually show interest and understand what it means to have a baby. They can't wait to hold and take care of it.

Shane really thinks its a boy. He has that feeling, he says. I don't know what i think it is. A big part of me thinks its a boy, but mainly because that's the way our history has been. Why wouldn't it be another boy?! I am planning on a boy, honestly. BUT a small inkling in me thinks its going to be a girl....kind of basing this off of a feeling i had a while back, but maybe that feeling was nothing(maybe just me getting my hopes up). I would be happy either way. The baby was moving around a lot during the ultrasound. The heartbeat was very fast(174bpm), said the ultrasound lady, but still a healthy heartbeat.

(Day 5 unplugged)

Just another day unplugged. The boys had a good day today. A Huge reason why it was so good is because we went to pet box and bought them a pet.  They have been wanting a pet for a long time. We can't get them a dog until we move back to the states. Soooo, we bought them a hamster. They are in heaven and want to hold it all the time, but the poor little guy is still so scared of his new surroundings.
It was another good day of no movies, cartoons, tv, video games, etc.

(Day 4 unplugged)

It was another great day. We did a lot of running around to get some things done. We played a little bit too.  The biggest difference I notice since starting is their behavior and attitude towards me. They aren't whining and complaining at me or giving me bad attitudes. They act more content.  And I am loving being unplugged a lot more than I thought I would.  I am really enjoying time with my boys and its bringing us closer together, I think. I am really glad we did this.
Months ago I "unplugged" myself from Facebook. I completely deleted it. i haven't regretted it for one second. It was such a distraction, and i didnt realize how it was the negative effects of it until i got rid of it. I can see this being a similar thing. Really, when I think what life is about, really about, then it makes it easy to get rid of distractions that take me away from the things that matter most.

{Day 3 Unplugged}

Today was another great success.

1. We played WAR again....about 10 times. The boys always win. They cheat a lot too. I never win.

2.The boys each had their own canvas , paintbrushes, and paints. They created their own drawing on each canvas. We ended up hanging them up in their rooms.

3. We made some flubber. It didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to because there was an ingredient i didn't have. I tried to replace the ingredient with somehing else, but it didn't work. The boys had the idea to put some of this liquidy flubber in their own sandwich bag. They had fun squishing it all around in their baggies.

4. We cleaned the whole house. The boys didn't complain! Another shocker!

5. They spent the whole evening with Shane building and making forts. Shane bought some fort frames on amazon. The boys are always trying to make forts, but it can be kind of hard to make a good fort. So, shane surprised them last night with frames they could put together to make a legit fort. They played in it for a few hours last night and have been in it all this morning too.

The mood in our home was definitely a noticeable change today. The way they treated me was a very noticeable difference. I did try laying down to take a nap on the couch. The boys rarely let me sleep for long(Jaydon). While i was sleeping Jaydon came up and started rubbing his cheek on my cheek and then kissed my cheek. He kept doing that over and over. Finally, i woke with a smile and said to Jaydon, "You are so sweet. What are you doing?" He said, "I just felt like rubbing you and kissing you." hahaha! He cracks me up. Tanner and Jaydon kept kissing my cheek randomly throughout the day. 

I have a yucky cold right now. So,  yesterday they would randomly go get me some tissue for my nose, and i didn't even have to ask for it. One time Jaydon said, "Here's some tissue for your nose mom. If you need anymore i can go get you some."  They were sweet to me all day long. I loved it.

Mood changes:  Not whiney.  More loving. More happy. More giving. Obedient.

{Day Two Unplugged}

Day Two unplugged went good.  I think we spent most of our day playing games with each other. They are really into playing WAR right now(a card game i played a lot as a kid). 

They spent time covering our glass patio doors with drawings using window crayons. I think that was their favorite.

We went to the BX so they could buy a toy with some money they earned, and then we made cookies and ,of course, ate them.

They played outside with friends for about 30 minutes. Gavin spent a few hours over at his friend's Levi house. He is a good friend to Gavin and a good influence for him.

I made Jaydon lay down and take a nap this day because he was acting like he needed one.

We had to run to the grocery store. I needed some food for dinner because we were going to have some people over, but they ended up not being able to come.  I also was very in the mood for soup for lunch. Oh man, nothing has ever hit the spot like that soup did for me yesterday. Soooooo good.

It was another good day, with another day of great moods in our house. My kids have their moments, but these past two days ive seen great improvements in their attitudes and behaviors. BUT i must say, i have noticed that Tanner is getting more of an attitude lately. He usually isn't like that. I am wondering if its the middle child syndrome kicking in. He is acting like he is trying to fight for a voice. I usually hear him though. SO, i dont know. We will see.

Day two unplugged: Another success.

{Day One Unplugged}

Let me first start with some background information so you understand why we are doing what we are doing.

Anytime we let our boys watch cartoons, a movie, play their DS or play the Xbox it makes them, surprisingly, grumpy. If they play xbox or their DS they get grumpy at each other during the game.  After a movie is over or the cartoon is over they act really tired and grumpy. The behavior, as a result of those things, puzzled me. I didn't get it. I thought they should be happy since they were able to do something they really enjoy. Then I realized that maybe we should take those things away since they aren't bringing the right mood into our house.

Not only that, but i have often felt like we are getting further away from each other, in a sense, because of all these distractions.  We stop communicating and let the technology do the communicating. That's not right. Everyday i pray that i can improve and become a better mom and wife. I want nothing more than to be what my husband needs and what my children need. It's my number one priority, as it is for every mom and wife i'm sure. And sometimes i feel like i am not reaching my goal. And its frustrating. I have high expectations for myself. I don't beat myself up over failures, but i keep working until i finally figure it out. I feel like i should always be progressing, and if i am not a little better than the day or week before then i work on becoming better.  I had a voice whisper to me the other day telling me i can become the wife and mom i want to be. It's all up to me and the only person holding me back is ME. I know this, BUT it really hit me the other day. Sometimes trying to become who you want to be can be a hard and long journey, and sometimes you just don't feel ready for the journey and so you don't start. I think maybe that's where i was at, but not anymore. I feel ready for the journey. I am sure i will have some hills and bumps along the way. What is life without those hills and bumps? And storms, and mountains..... etc.

We are going completely unplugged for a whole month in our house. My MAIN goal is focusing on keeping the boys away from it during the day. No cartoons, movies, video games, nothing.  Soooo, you know what this means for me. I have to actually be a MOM. :) haha...

When we first told the boys our plan they were really upset, but then when i sat down with them and asked them what they want to do during the day, instead of watching something, they perked up and started naming things off. They actually seemed excited. It made me excited.  So, i found a lot of fun activity ideas online, i wrote them down, and we all went to the store today to buy all the things we need for our activities.

So, our first day unplugged went like this....

1. We went to the BX and also to the crafty store and bought all our fun supplies.
2. We went home and ate lunch with daddy.
3. We did a science experiment with ivory soap.
4. They built some fun shapes and designs with clothes pins.
5. We returned a library book, dropped off a gift to two ladies i know, and then went to the park.
6. We returned home and cleaned the house.(with no complaining! shocker! )
7. The boys made their own t-shirts by ironing on their own design that they drew with crayons.(Tanner had a melt down when his didn't turn out the way he hoped)
8. We made two catapults , and made a bet on which one could launch a marshmallow the furthest.
9. I had the boys help me make dinner. (I usually NEVER have them help me because i am OCD in the kitchen. I had them help and it went fine. I didn't spaz.)
10. We ate dinner.
11. The boys did my workout with me.
12. Then we ate popcorn while we played candy land.
13. They got showered up and brushed their teeth.
14. Played a game of war.
15. Lights out.

I must say, it was exhausting. I was very ready for them to hit the sack when 8:00 hit. BUT it was a good day. The mood in our home was a GOOD mood(success), especially Gavin's. He is the one i struggle with the most. I think i have found that he REALLY needs lots of time spent with his parents(one or both). That's his love language. When he gets the time he needs every single day then he is happy and content. When he isn't getting it then he can be fairly grumpy. But overall, today was a good first day. I am happy with the way it went. I hope i can do this for a whole month. I have to.  PLUS, they start school in 6 days. That helps me a bit. :) haha!

{Some things you just don't divulge}

But this time i am. Ever heard of the name Ed Bassmaster? If not, he is this guy that makes tons of youtube videos playing pranks on people.  I think he is hilarious. Some might not. haha! For some of his pranks he goes around NYC farting(fake farting of course) really loudly while he is standing RIGHT NEXT to people. So, he is basically farting on people. What i find hilarious is the reaction and look on the face of a person who is getting farted on. I die laughing. I mean, i get tears in my eyes and nearly pee my pants. Why is it so funny?!?! And when Ed does this to people he can keep a straight face. That's makes it even more hilarious. He has tons of other funny pranks, too. But this is one that makes us laugh the most.  Well, It just so happens that our boys watched one of those videos with us. :/

Now onto the next part of the story.

Last night for Family Home Evening we decided to go for a ride. It felt really nice outside and to get out with the windows down  letting the nice breeze in sounded wonderful. The boys wanted to roll the windows down and as we drive by people walking on the sidewalks they wanted to sing to the music really loudly so they could be heard. They think that's funny. We did that a few times. Shane can hook up his ipod to the car speakers so we can listen to his musicplaylist in the car. So anyway, then shane was like "what should we do now?"  Here it comes..... Gavin says "Lets go drive through the BX parking lot and play farts from the farting machine(an app on his ipod), with our windows down."  "You have GOT to be kidding me?", i say.   No. They aren't kidding. Shane even says, "That's a good idea Gavin! Smart thinking!!!" as if Gavin just came up with the smartest idea ever.

We arrive to the BX parking lot and i am thinking of all the things that could go wrong with this. I could see shane blasting a fart over the speaker right as we are passing by one of his patients. His patient would notice him and then suddenly be afraid to sit in his chair ever again. I really feared this for him. He didn't think twice about it. We did see a family from church, the Tryon family. We could have easily strolled by them and blasted the farts over the speaker, but luckily shane was smart in that moment and decided that would not be a good idea. Afterall, she is pregnant with twins and due within the month. Probably wouldn't be funny to her.

Shane was driving as slow as a snail when we passed by people in the parking lot blasting these farts. As if the loud blasting farts wasn't good enough, he had to make sure these people could study our faces as we are doing it. That way when all these people see our faces again they will remember us as the people in the farting van. I kept saying "Why are you driving so slow?!"

I was horrified inside, BUT at the same time i couldn't stop laughing. I was laughing so hard that it hurt. And nearly peed my pants. Shane wasn't embarassed at all. Some of the things he gets embarassed about and does not get embarassed about completely boggles my mind. He slugged by these people pressing the fart machine button over and over and over again. The boys were dying laughing. Really. It WAS hilarious.  BUT at what cost?!

I am just thinking to myself "WHAT are we teaching our boys from this?!!?" It can't be anything good. I mean, we did get a few laughs out of people when they heard it, but that's it. Are we teaching them to be rude and obnoxious?

It all started over a year ago when Mandi, his sister, was here visiting us. We would drive around Okinawa, and shane would start singing opera-ish "Konnichiwa!!!" He got quite a few looks from the japanese. I mean, it really was hilarious......But ever since then our kids try sticking their heads out the window, when they see people on the sidewalk, and try "singing" to them....its more like screaming. And now they have taken this a HUGE step further with the farting thing. It makes me nervous for whats to come. Very nervous. I would like to put a stop to it, but if shane and all three boys are on board with it then my voice of disapproval is kind of like a distant sound that you hear but don't give any thought to.

So, some things you just shouldn't divulge. This seems to be something i shouldn't tell anyone. Afterall, WHO does that?!?! When have you ever gotten a response "We drove around the parking lot and blasted farting noises" when you asked a family what they did for their FHE activity?! NOBODY does that. Well, except for us.

{More Summer Fun....}

One Republic came and performed for us on Kadena AFB. It was totally awesome. :) We went early to let the kids ride some rides and play those cheap carnival games. We bought some cotton candy and snow cones.  We went and sat by our friends, the Heatons, for the show.

We were close enough to the concert to be able to walk. How awesome is that?! These two boys were being so cute and i had to catch a picture of them...

 Lead singer of One Republic... He is even better in concert than he is on the radio or CD. That's my opinion. He has a great voice and puts on a good concert. I really loved it.

 

 Right at the close of their last song the fireworks started going off. It was pretty good fireworks. But of course, right in the middle of it Jaydon had to go pee. He always seems to do that right at the most INCONVENIENT times. :) We still love him though.

We have been doing TONS of swimming. Gavin and Tanner are good little swimmers. Tanner gets better and better each time we go to the pool. Jaydon has taken HUGE steps forward with his abilities. He will go under water and push off the wall to me. He will jump in to me. He will float on his back. He gets braver and braver with each hour of swimming. I am trying to get us to the pool often so that they can become good little swimmers...

 

 

 

Shane did a color run and this is the end result....

We rented a private charter boat for half of the day. We went with all our friends(21 of us) and did some scuba diving and snorkeling. We stopped at two spots for it. This time we went on the Pacific side rather than to the Keramas.

 

 

 We had a small bbq on the boat. We ate hot dogs and chips. yum. haha.... it was really good company and just good fun. I really enjoyed it. I had trouble with my EAR on the first dive and had to come in early. I couldn't even go down on the second dive, unfortunately. I tried but my ear was in lots of pain.
 And ever since then i have a headache and nausea that just won't go away. Not sure what i did to myself.

Shane will now be wearing a shirt everytime he swims. We went to sand dollar beach a couple days before this trip. Shane snorkeled around finding sand dollars for me, and he got FRIED. His whole back blistered. His poor back. I will not allow him to go without a shirt anymore. period. :) gosh im so bossy.

There are lots of Okinawan festivities during the summer , so we decided to go watch. We have a japanese friend who said she would be in the Eisa performance which is the main reason why we went to watch the Eisa drummers. But she didn't end up being in the performance, unfortunately.

{So far...}

So far this summer we have had tons of fun. It is WONDERFUL waking up to no routine. :) That may seem crazy to some people who need a routine all the time. During the school year mornings are somewhat chaotic, so its the chaos that i do not miss. This last weekend we took a trip up to Okuma. There was a dental picnic we had to attend and we figured we would stay the night and enjoy our time up there. Our dental friends stayed the night too and we all stayed in a condo that has 7 rooms. It was lost of fun. We played at the beach Friday and Saturday. Friday at the beach was fun because the kids had big waves to play in and they had a blast with the waves. Saturday was perfect because the sand was so soft(normally is very rocky because of all the corral) and the water was perfect. The heat that day was intense, and it felt good getting into cold water and just playing. Here is part of the view we have on the beach.....

I am still in awe and amazed by how beautiful the water is here. There are times , while on our drive here and home, the blues you see in the water are unreal. I could stare at it all day.

 

 

We hiked up one of the steep hills to get some great views of the ocean. We ran into this monster spider. This is a banana spider. Don't even get me started. I have a phobia of spiders. If we didn't have a bunch of friends with us i would NOT have walked under his web. I would have turned back around. I am getting the itchy just thinking about it. You probably can't tell, but these spiders are the size of my hand.

 

We went on another buggy bike ride and stopped here for a picture. I love being goofy in pictures because it makes them so much more fun to look at. I am trying to carry on the tradition of the open mouth smile that we did so often with our friends in Thailand..... oh, by the way.... we really didn't plan what we were going to wear this day. We often find ourselves wearing the same colors and i never realize it until someone points it out to me. We happen to be wearing blue today. Not planned.

Playing in the sand with his friend Jack...

Also, this summer, we have made smores. Smores over our firepit in the backyard and smores over the stove top....

 

We also went to look at the Bon-homme Rashard. I don't know if i spelled that right. It's a carrier. On it you can see a bunch of Ospreys....

You can also see two different kinds of helicopters and on the very left those are a bunch of Harriers. Hopefully i spelled that right.

 We have found Tons of HUGE hermit crabs....

 Really cool shells...

 And TONS of sea urchins!!! I was most excited about the sea urchins. They are hard to find usually. But for some reason on this particular day they were all over the sand!!

We have also been to the pool. Gavin knows how to swim, and gets the wrist band to swim in the deep end. Tanner can swim now, but he still makes me nervous. His head is barely above the water when he swims. Jaydon has usually been pretty scared of the water. He clings to me pretty tightly. BUT after being at the pool for a couple hours he warmed up. He started putting his face under water and jumping in while gripping the side. I was standing at the side of the pool as he was doing this. He put his face under, and let go of the side. He then starts kicking for his life when he realizes he let go of the side and can't swim. I grabbed him and pulled him out of the water. He scares me.

We have also started making our own popsicles. The boys loved helping me put them together and were soooo excited to finally get to eat them.

Tanner and Gavin were in a basketball campe last week. It was Monday through Friday from 9am to 3 pm. They really liked it. Jaydon didn't like the boys being gone again. But it was good for them and they learned a lot. After they got home from basketball camp they would then play basketball at home the rest of the day. It was a lot of basketball!

I can't remember if i mentioned this in a previous blog post. I am sooo impressed by Tanner's reading skills and his abilities to figure out how to say words. I would say the scriptures are pretty difficult for kids. Tanner is six but he can read the scriptures and often is able to figure out the harder words. He is a full on reader now. He is reading The Friend. He just taught us FHE last night out of it. I am so excited for him.

I will post more of our summer adventures as time goes on. :)

{Summer time!!!}

 

June 13th at 11:30 a.m. school was dismissed for the summer!  The boys are excited! :) I am excited too!!!

 

 

 

June 11th was my 32nd Birthday. eek!  Shane surprised me BIG time on my birthday. He was getting ready to walk out the door to head to work. Before he left he told me to look behind the speaker on the computer desk. There was a paper and I opened it up and it gave me clues to find "events".  He lead me to the first event that said he has taking the whole day off to spend it with ME on MY birthday. I have really been needing some major one on one time with him, so of course i started crying because i was so excited that i would be spending the WHOLE day with him. He found a babysitter for Jaydon all day long. I haven't been so excited for something in so long. :) So, first he took me scuba diving. This picture below is of us AFTER scuba diving...

Then we went home to shower and we went out to lunch. After lunch, we went to a couples massage. ONE hour couples massage. Oh man it was wonderful. I loved it.

The massage place was called "Secret Garden". It was a secret garden. I really like this place.

 

 

Then we went to pick the boys up from school. It was a pretty hot day so we sent them outside to play with their squirt guns and run in the sprinkler.

While they were out running  in the sprinkler shane was baking my birthday cake. He also was really on a mission to get our house looking orderly. I loved it.

Shortly after dinner there was a knock on our door. I answered it and all our friends were standing there and said "surprise!"... Man, i felt really loved. Shane had called them and asked them to do it, but it still felt so nice knowing i have friends that close to me that would be willing to come over and make me feel loved. Shane got the firepit going in the backyard for us, we all sat around it and chatted and ate cake and ice cream. We also had a pinata for the kids. It was actually supposed to be for Jaydon's birthday party but we forgot to do it. It was such an enjoyable evening hanging with friends who feel like family. Shane really made me feel loved on my 32nd birthday. It was much needed and i feel so grateful for that day. :)

On June 12th Gavin had his last field trip of the school year. They went bowling. I hadn't been on a field trip with him and he asked me to go on this one. I found a sitter for Jaydon and i went along with them. It was so fun watching the kids. They did glow in the dark bowling, they blasted the music and had a huge screen at the end of each bowling alley that played music videos(appropriate ones of course)...some music by Bieber, Swift, harlem shake, michael jackson. All the kids sang to all the music, danced , etc. I think they got more into dancing and singing than they did the bowling. It was fun.  I was able to get some video of Gavin dancing. He was cracking me up. This picture below is Gavin and his friend Triego. He and his twin brother were in our branch for awhile until the boundaries changed. Plus they were in the same class. Gavin had an amazing teacher for his 2nd grade year. Mr. Reinert. He was just such a good teacher. This was his last year. He is now retiring and moving to Hawaii with his wife.

Eating lunch at the bowling alley, the YMCA song came on and before you knew it , all the kids were up SCREAMING Y, M , C, A! It was fun watching them. :) Most of the kids are to the right of this picture.

{Fun and more fun...}

There have been a few things going on around here lately that i haven't posted about yet. There was a father and sons campout that ended up getting cancelled due to the rain. So, the boys still had an outing. They had a lot of fun. I went over to a girls night out, but everyone of my friends brought their daughters. I didn't have one. I felt kind of out of place, but i still had fun. :)

 We ended up buying the boys bunkbeds. They all wanted to share a room really bad. We looked into a different set, but when we realized it couldn't all fit into their room we were all very disappointed. I had the bright idea of putting a trundle bed underneath the bunk bed set so they could all be in the room. :) So smart i know. haha. The boys love it. We all love it.

At the beginning of the school year Gavin and Tanner signed up for the 100 mile club. You are supposed to run 100 miles by the end of the school year. You can only run the miles at school...you can't count miles you do at home. They all did it! Well, Jaydon didn't, but he did run a lot with the boys so one of the teachers ended up giving him a shirt too. :)  Once they hit 25 miles they received a shirt. At 50 miles they received a 100 mile club pencil. At 75 miles they received a 100 mile club sports bracelet, and at 100 they received a certificate and a gold medal! Tanner had to work extra hard the past month in order to get it. Missing a whole month of school set him back. We were getting up early and going to school to get some miles in, and we would stay after school. He finally finished the day before the ceremony for it. They were all so proud of themselves.

 Jaydon had a birthday get together on Saturday. He turned 4 years old on June 1st!!! I can't believe it. 4 years old!! My kids are growing so fast and it kills me.  :,(  We invited a few families over with kids that are friends with Jaydon and we grilled up some chicken and veggies, and the rest of them brought sides to go with it. Of course we had cake and ice cream! Good thing i made two cakes because both the cakes and the gallon of ice cream were devoured in minutes. Serious.I would say the kids devoured most of it. And of course Gavin puked for about 4 hours that night. Pretty sure its the ice cream. It's happened before. I notice a pattern here. haha...We also had a bouncy house, and they all had fun jumping on that. plus we turned on the hose and let them play in the water since it was a pretty hot day. I just can't believe he is 4!!!

 We have been wanting a firepit ever since we arrived to okinawa. A few of our neighbors have one and we get excited when we see them out there because it makes us want to get one. Finally, shane got online and ordered us one. We went outside in our backyard and used it for the first time last night. We made smores. It was so fun. We want to make this an FHE tradition, and hopefully invite a family over every monday to do it with us.

Tanner is such a good little reader!! He is really doing great. I love watching them grow in school, and in every aspect of their lives. I am impressed. I just received a letter from the school saying that Tanner's kindergarten class exceeds all the other kindergarten classes when it comes to reading and writing. They were very impressed with their skills. They have such a great teacher, so i am not surprised by it. :)

We went over to our friends house the other day to let the kids go down their slip n slide. They have a steep hill and it makes the slip n slide awesome for kids. About Gavin's second time going down he collided at the bottom with his friends knee. His knee went right into Gavin's forehead. I mean this when i tell you, i have never seen such a huge goose egg on a kids head before. My kids have had some pretty big ones on their head, but this was the mac daddy of them all. I was worried that something serious was going on underneath that goose egg. Shane took him home. 3 days later he still has a deformed looking big bump on his forehead. It is blue looking. I feel so bad for him. Then, the next day he nearly broke his pinky toe on the bouncy house. His pinky toe is all swollen and blue. Plus he got sick. All that in a couple days. It comes in 3's right? And my boys have a thing with 3's. Jaydon's birth month is 3 months from tanner's birth month. Tanner's birth month is 3 months from Gavin's birth month. We have 3 boys. Then look at this pattern....Gavin was born 1 week early. Tanner was born 2 weeks early. Jaydon was born 3 weeks early. Gavin and Tanner are 1 year and 9 months apart. Tanner and Jaydon are 2 years and 9 months apart. We didn't finish the pattern with having one 3 years and 9 months apart from Jaydon. Maybe we can finish it with having one 4 years and 9 months apart? We would have to get on that one pretty quickly. haha! I am weird sometimes with numbers. The funny things is, i stink at math. Maybe it's more about the patterns than the numbers that i like. 9/11 was a terrible day. 3/2011 was a terrible day for japan. 6/11 is my birthday and that was a terrible day for my mother. haha! Okay, im done. I know my husband will get on here and read this and give me a completely weird look. :)