Best Christmas present ever!

This Christmas I got the best gift of all, time with my mom! We went shopping, out to lunch, Wrapped presents together, and talked about everything. It was everything i hoped for and mote. If only it had lasted longer! It was so nice to just be me and know i would be accepted just the way i am. I have never minded my life as a military wife as much as I did today. It was so hard saying goodbye. Oh how I wish the miles could melt away.

Ryleigh's Thanksgiving Preschool Concert

Ryleigh  loves her preschool!  I love how organized and fantastic they are.  Ryleigh has also made great friends.  Here she is with Tatiana and they Tatiana and Stevie.

Veterans Day

I loved that this Veteran's Day we actually took the time to honor our Veterans.  With Kyle being in the military we have always used the excuse that we do our part to honor our Country and Veterans everyday.  Today, we felt the need to teach the kids a bit more.  We went to the Disabled Veterans Ceremony in Ozark.  It was nicely done. Complete with a bagpipe player, ROTC posting the colors, a speech by some Colonel that brought tears to many eyes as he mentioned creamed beef on toast (along with the not so nice name for it) and 21 gun salute by Ft. Rucker soldiers. I loved hearing all of my children recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  I honestly didn't know Ryleigh had been learning it in her preschool.  It was a proud moma moment.
As we were walking up to the ceremony, Kyle was carrying Kelsey and I was admiring how beautiful she looked in her hot pink sweatsuit.  All at once I had a flash back of my Grandmother posing for a picture in her hot pink sweatsuit .  A wave of nostalgia hit me and nearly brought me to tears. I miss her so much!

What a great day remember all those individuals who have blessed us with so much in our lives.

Brother love

Fall photos

Fall is my favorite season! I love the beautiful colors that just seem to brighten the earth as a last minute reminder of it's beauty before everything goes dormant for the winter.  After seeing the UT mountains and their spectaular display of colors I must say that the AL sights don't produce that same peacful feeling for me.  The last few years have simply made me yearn for a visit back to UT.  But much to my surprise this year the AL landscape pulled out all the stops and produced a beautiful array of colors along with weather that made you want to live outdoors.  Thanks You, Thank you is all I can say.  It was the lift I needed.  Ryleigh and Kelsey and I spent many afternoons in the park, outside on the trampoline and I even got brave enough to ask a complete stranger if I could take pictures of the girls in his yard.  My picture taking skills need some polishing but here are a few of the best.
P.S. The boys being in school kept them from my picture taking obsession.  They are probably grateful, but I am noticing I need more photos of them!

Kelsey is Eight Months Old

 

Finally a picture to show off those cute teeth.  She has had them awhile and is now working on the top ones. Boy I forgot how sharp new teeth are! Kelsey is such a fun addition to our family!  She loves all the silly things her brothers and sister do to make her laugh.  Connor dances, Brennan knows her tickle spots and Ryleigh does all of the above and more!  Kelsey learned to clap about a month ago, she also shakes her head.  Brennan taught her to shake her head.  At first it was just in copying others but I think she is beginning to shake it to say no.  That seems early!  I am probably in trouble with that. As we all know Kelsey is addicted to her thumb, but she also like to hold any fabric while sucking her thumb.  She will grab whatever fabric she can find and hold it to her face.  unfortunately, sometimes it may be the dirty sock left on the floor, my pant legs while I am cooking dinner or my shirt while she nurses.  As long as she doesn't stick it up her nose!  I had a cousin that did that.

Halloween

Well, I'm a little late in posting this but that seems to be my life right now.  The week of Halloween was full of the school fall festival, soccer games, church trunk or treat, and of course Trick or treating!  I am tired again just remembering it all! The older kids decided to all be ninjas.  I thought it would be cute. I already had a plum fairy costume for Kelsey so we decided that the ninjas were rescuing the fairy! I wish I had a picture of them all together but my picture taking was not appreciated that night. Please excuse the obsessive number of pictures of Kelsey.  I couldn't help myself, she was just so cute!

 

 

The date with Daddy

This was a date we girls had with Daddy.  I have to post both pictures to show how excited Ryleigh was to have her picture taken with Daddy, even if he did have a giant bite of sandwich in his mouth!  The second picture was cute but just didn't seem to capture her adoration for Daddy.

Pumpkin Carving

 Before...

Ignore the unhappiness.  She was having a moment!

  

During...

After...

Kelsey's first lollipop

 A baby's first lollipop is a moment that must be photographed.  It is so fun to watch their eyes go big at the sweet rush of flavor and even better to realize that they have full control over that sweet stick. It is a moment of pure delight for both baby and mom.  Unfortunately, the sorrow that follows when you must pry the soggy stick from their sticky fingers is just the opposite.
The bishop hands out suckers every Sunday after Primary.  Kelsey has had a few tastes here and there but today she got her very own.  She enjoyed every minute of this childhood wonder and followed up with a great fit of disappointment when it was all gone.

Family Weekend Get-A-Way

Sometimes it seems life takes over our lives!  We have been feeling overwhelmed as a family.  Whith soccer, work, church and all the other obligations that seem to occupy our time we needed a break!  What better than a camping trip!  With a baby my request was to camp in comfort.  That is where the R- Pod trailer came in. We rented it from the military MWR.  Normally I would say gross, but this one was brand new!

Our first stop was Conecuh National Forest.  We had camped there last year in October and it was beautiful.  This time it was just as beautiful.  The boys loved fishing the pond and I loved the bike trail that went around the pond.  We did some hiking, had some smores and played uno in the great outdoors.  What could be better!

Hot chocolate!

Daddy being silly!

Love this tree.

Giving nature a hand.  They were stripping the seeds from the grass
and spreading them around to grow.

using his new pocket knife to strip the bark off his new walking stick

Who doesn't enjoy a bath next to the toilet?

UNO time!

On Sunday, we packed up and went to a new location.  I know that sounds like a lot of extra work and it was but we were scouting out new places to visit next time.  And Top Sail Hill Preserve had the beach to entice us.  It was beautiful weather, 75 degrees.  I thought the kids would just play in the sand but the braves the chilly water and had a blast.  This was Kelsey's first time to play in the sand!  She loved watching the seagulls as they squawked at her to share her food.

Connor's version of kite flying.

First time in the sand!

At the end of the day I just wanted a photo with everyone in it, so I got brave.  I asked a lady walking by, who was carrying a very expensive camera, to take a quick photo. I love it!
This was a trip I will remember!  family time!