So yesterday afternoon was a lazy one around the condo in between church services! I flipped on the TV and saw that there was gymnastics on. I called E in to watch (knowing full well she was going to want to dress up in full gear, also knowing I didn't pack a leotard with us! Trouble in sight!) Anyways, she came in bouncing and excited to watch! Of course, about 2 minutes later:
E: "Mommy, can I get in my leotard?"
Me: "Well, E, I didn't bring a leotard, I'm sorry. How about you put on your swimsuit?"
E: "Okay" with a little disappointment.
By now, G had come in the room to see what all the excitement was about. E comes dressed in her swimsuit and without hesitation says:
E: "G, do you want to watch me do the gymnastics or the tv?"
G: "Uh, E, I think I am going to watch the tv."
E: "Okay, well, I am doing the same thing!"
Classic E!!! She never disappoints me for a laugh!
E has also had a rough week in transition life this week! She has not made good choices and has been in trouble often this week - usually leading her brothers into temptation as well. I felt like we had tried everything, warned over 100 million times, disciplined until it couldn't be done anymore - it was time to start taking away priviledges. Now, being that we are in transition - we are trying to be a wee-bit more lenient. We also don't have many activities and priviledges to take away. The only major one we have is AWANA, where she is a Sparks member. The kids truly look forward (and work hard, I must add in here) to AWANA. We had warned E all day about losing Sparks and she pushed the envelope too far and lost the priviledge. Now, for the most part, I have enjoyed parenting and the results Ryan and I have gotten from our children. However, this was probably the hardest time parenting E so far. Ryan and I debated letting her "earn it back", however, we felt in the end, the message needed to get through as far as making better choices this week! She had to go and tell her Sparks teacher why she would not be attending and that alone about broke my heart! She did a good job and was super brave and kept the tears away until the end! Her teacher handled it beautifully and talked to E. I had tears in my eyes as we walked away. We are praying that it helps E's behavior and choices this week. All this to say - parenting is hard and sometimes it just plain sucks when you have to do the hard stuff!!!
I will let you all know how E's behavior has been next week! :) Stay tuned! :)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Naval Aviation Museum
Any future pilots in the making? Don't get mad - this may be our Christmas picture - so act surprised! The kids are all actually looking somewhat happy and decent!! :) 
I decided to take the kiddos to the aviation museum one day while it was cloudy and rainy. It is only about 10 minutes from our condo - so we will be frequenting it more than once! The kids were in awe at the size. We didn't make it very far into the museum before the pictures started! It wouldn't be a true trip to the air museum if we didn't have some Blue Angel pilot pictures. 
The kids really like the red airplane!!!
What a ham!
After the Blue Angel stop - there was a huge playset available for 5 very cooped-up children to run free and spread their wings!
We spent a large amount of our time here! Run free my children!!!
A-Hoy Matee!
H raised the flag to announce that the ship had become overtaken by Batchelor Children!
Watch out - yummy has the controls!
Another plane the kids were really into!
The kids really like the red airplane!!!
What a ham!
After the Blue Angel stop - there was a huge playset available for 5 very cooped-up children to run free and spread their wings!We spent a large amount of our time here! Run free my children!!!
A-Hoy Matee!
H raised the flag to announce that the ship had become overtaken by Batchelor Children!Watch out - yummy has the controls!
Another plane the kids were really into!
A patriotic shot!
Even the big kids got in on the fun! Daddy was able to meet us at the museum and expain some very technical things to the children! Glad mommy didn't have to! I must admit - I forced this picture and told Ryan to be a good sport and smile! :)
Anchors aweigh!
Even the big kids got in on the fun! Daddy was able to meet us at the museum and expain some very technical things to the children! Glad mommy didn't have to! I must admit - I forced this picture and told Ryan to be a good sport and smile! :)Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Park Pictures
We were able to get to the kid's favorite park before leaving MD. They call it the "Wooden Park" and love to spend time there!
"Peek!"
Here are the three older kids getting ready for AWANA. G is in his second year of Sparks and going strong! E is in her first year of Sparks and achieving so much! R is finally in Cubbies and has wanted to be a Cubbie Bear for over a year now. He loves it and feels like a big kid when he gets to go!
"Peek!"
Here are the three older kids getting ready for AWANA. G is in his second year of Sparks and going strong! E is in her first year of Sparks and achieving so much! R is finally in Cubbies and has wanted to be a Cubbie Bear for over a year now. He loves it and feels like a big kid when he gets to go!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Picture-Less Post
Many of you have asked what is going on with us lately....
Well here we are in a nutshell!
We are in Week 9 of school and going strong. The kids are learning so much.
G is in First Grade and Math is still his favorite subject. He enjoys reading now and has really started to blossom! Anything he can read - he will!
E is in Kindergarten and loves it as well. She is learning to read and can read shorter words, and read a Bob Book to Daddy tonight! She is learning to add as well.
R is in his first year of Preschool. He loves the one-on-one attention during school. He has learned two letters already and knows his colors and shapes already! (I think it helps having older siblings!) He qualified for Speech assistance, which we are thankful for. We have been requesting Speech Therapy for over a year now, and someone finally listened! He is getting better with talking, however, outsiders have a harder time understand him.
AWANA has started up in full swing. Trying to manage 3 children's verses is quite a challenge for me. During school we have been memorizing verses, so luckily, they haven't lost their memorization talent during the summer months! E is sooooo happy to be a Sparks girlie and R was jumping at the seams to be a Cubbie. He has been wanting to be a Cubbie for over 2 years now! I get nervous about him being by himself with others having a hard time understanding him, but he seemed to do just fine!
During all of this, the Navy has decided to move us to Kansas. We are excited about a new adventure! Since this is our 9th move in 12 years of marriage - we are pretty used to it. However, it is different doing it with 5 young children! We are pulling out of Maryland on Oct. 2nd and will be heading to Pensacola to live in a condo directly on the beach - I know, I know - suffering is hard to do - but someone has to do it! The kids are excited to be on the beach and so is mommy as it will help pass the 6 weeks we are going to be there! We are fortunate, that we will be able to see 3 sets of old friends that we haven't seen for some time! All have had babies/kiddos that we haven't ever met before! Ryan is going to be flying the T-6's there, and he is happy to be in flying status again! We will be closer to Ryan's family, as we are excited about that as well - seeing as we will be adding a new nephew to the family in December!
So there is us in a nutshell - never a dull moment!
Come and see us in KS if you get the chance!
Well here we are in a nutshell!
We are in Week 9 of school and going strong. The kids are learning so much.
G is in First Grade and Math is still his favorite subject. He enjoys reading now and has really started to blossom! Anything he can read - he will!
E is in Kindergarten and loves it as well. She is learning to read and can read shorter words, and read a Bob Book to Daddy tonight! She is learning to add as well.
R is in his first year of Preschool. He loves the one-on-one attention during school. He has learned two letters already and knows his colors and shapes already! (I think it helps having older siblings!) He qualified for Speech assistance, which we are thankful for. We have been requesting Speech Therapy for over a year now, and someone finally listened! He is getting better with talking, however, outsiders have a harder time understand him.
AWANA has started up in full swing. Trying to manage 3 children's verses is quite a challenge for me. During school we have been memorizing verses, so luckily, they haven't lost their memorization talent during the summer months! E is sooooo happy to be a Sparks girlie and R was jumping at the seams to be a Cubbie. He has been wanting to be a Cubbie for over 2 years now! I get nervous about him being by himself with others having a hard time understanding him, but he seemed to do just fine!
During all of this, the Navy has decided to move us to Kansas. We are excited about a new adventure! Since this is our 9th move in 12 years of marriage - we are pretty used to it. However, it is different doing it with 5 young children! We are pulling out of Maryland on Oct. 2nd and will be heading to Pensacola to live in a condo directly on the beach - I know, I know - suffering is hard to do - but someone has to do it! The kids are excited to be on the beach and so is mommy as it will help pass the 6 weeks we are going to be there! We are fortunate, that we will be able to see 3 sets of old friends that we haven't seen for some time! All have had babies/kiddos that we haven't ever met before! Ryan is going to be flying the T-6's there, and he is happy to be in flying status again! We will be closer to Ryan's family, as we are excited about that as well - seeing as we will be adding a new nephew to the family in December!
So there is us in a nutshell - never a dull moment!
Come and see us in KS if you get the chance!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Crayola Factory Fun
Our family vacation this year took us to Pennsylvania. We knew we wanted to go to Sesame Place (pictures of that adventure to come!) We also decided it would be fun to go to the Crayola Factory. So here we are!
CHEESE!
Color wonders are very popular at our house. We usually like to reserve these wonderful inventions to a long car trip. They were so excited to sit and do some coloring at the Factory!
We thought this was a cute idea - however, then we realized we were dealing with H! They had a display up where you could write on the walls (which were clear) with special markers. What a great idea! Oh, wait, we had a detailed conversation with H about when and where we would be doing this! I now fear if he has a marker and folllow him around the house to make sure he isn't writing on the walls!
They had the mirrors that made you look silly and the kids really enjoyed this part too. They especially like it when Daddy went in and looked funny!
This was probably my favorite part of the whole factory. I was able to get G and E into an older section to use melted wax to do some drawings. They heated the wax up and then you would drip or splatter it onto a pre-designed paper art. It was fascinating! Many adults were in this part doing it as well as kiddos!
Of course, sidewalk chalk is VERY popular with R and E! These two would draw all day! E is very artsy, so she had a difficult time all day trying to get done with her projects at each station in the time alloted. Of course, all the boys were done quickly! Some of them E had to finish at home!
Yummy had a great time as well. He was able to snooze in the stroller for part of it, so he was pleasant! There were also parts where he could get out and crawl around.
CHEESE!Color wonders are very popular at our house. We usually like to reserve these wonderful inventions to a long car trip. They were so excited to sit and do some coloring at the Factory!We thought this was a cute idea - however, then we realized we were dealing with H! They had a display up where you could write on the walls (which were clear) with special markers. What a great idea! Oh, wait, we had a detailed conversation with H about when and where we would be doing this! I now fear if he has a marker and folllow him around the house to make sure he isn't writing on the walls! 
They had the mirrors that made you look silly and the kids really enjoyed this part too. They especially like it when Daddy went in and looked funny!
This was probably my favorite part of the whole factory. I was able to get G and E into an older section to use melted wax to do some drawings. They heated the wax up and then you would drip or splatter it onto a pre-designed paper art. It was fascinating! Many adults were in this part doing it as well as kiddos!
Of course, sidewalk chalk is VERY popular with R and E! These two would draw all day! E is very artsy, so she had a difficult time all day trying to get done with her projects at each station in the time alloted. Of course, all the boys were done quickly! Some of them E had to finish at home!
Yummy had a great time as well. He was able to snooze in the stroller for part of it, so he was pleasant! There were also parts where he could get out and crawl around.
The kids had a great time at the Crayola Factory! We were so glad we decided to go! Highly recommended!
The kids found it funny to pose in these characters!
The kids found it funny to pose in these characters!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
And Now, drumroll please....
BEFORE. . . . .
AND AFTER. . . . .
E wanted her hair cut short, so we had a girls night. E and I went to get her hair cut off and then out to dinner. She said goodbye to about 4-5 inches of hair and hasn't looked back since! 
the back of her hair.....jpg)
With her new haircut, came a new attitude that's for sure! We love it and are now used to our little girls hair! Ryan only cried for about 10 minutes! :) Just joking - he likes it too!
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