Happy 4th of July!

I have ever so many awesome posts in my mind about the last few wonderful weeks we have spent in Georgia. BUT for today, I wanted to post something for July 4th. And I promise to get back in the swing with some great vacation stories. . .

We actually had our cookout on July 3rd this year because we are all heading back to Illinois on July 5th. Cooking out and celebrating did not seem wise the day before a big trip. We all went to Mimi's house for some hamburgers and hot dogs that David cooked for us on the grill. I was so fired up because it has been ages since Daddy and David have both been home in Georgia at the same time. AND I am obsessed with family get togethers. I drive everyone crazy because I love my family so much, and I always want to spend as much time as possible with them. I don't need anything fancy. I just like hanging with my peeps! So once I cross the border from Tennessee back into Georgia, my mind is already planning as many suppers and get togethers as possible.

We had a lovely time at Mimi's. We ate and laughed and visited. Poor Momma didn't feel well, so she missed the fun (and food - the food is almost as important as the fun and family time, right?) And Lucas could only stop by at the end, but when you live far away from the fam like I do, you always take whatever you can get!

THEN, my rock star of a father had to leave Mimi's house and head to the Peachtree Expo with David. I have posted before about Bay's involvement in the Peachtree in Atlanta each summer. Oh and in case you are unfamiliar with this awesome race, click here. Well, he and David both had to go to pick up David's number. David was tickled to be able to run his 6th Peachtree this year with Daddy. He'd like to run more, but with his crazy schedule, he is not always in town (or in the country). AND they had to coordinate with the Race Director for Bay to start the overseas races.

After they got everything squared away, they swung by the house to pick up the kids and me. You know we LOVE to go with them to be a small part of the Overseas Peachtree Races. And it was so awesome! This was the 4th time the kids and I went. We had to miss last year because we had just moved. BUT everyone remembered us, and they were so glad to see us. Everyone at the Atlanta Track Club is so friendly and awesome! Their photographer always takes tons of pics and he even shares:

Bay says "GO!" to LTG Webster at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

And of course, bright and early this morning, Bay and David headed downtown with 55, 000 of their closest friends to run 6.2 miles. The weather was awesome. Many years, it is crazy hot and humid, but our runners said this year was quite comfortable.

Aren't they cute?

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

We are all so blessed and lucky to be Americans.

And we are also blessed to have so many brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines in harms way on this day (and every day) protecting us and keeping us free.

God Bless America!

O Christmas Tree

I know that lots of people love Christmas. And other people do not. I mean, I think just about everyone likes the idea of Christmas and holidays and giving and family fun. But lots of people get so caught up in the stress of it all that they don't appreciate just how awesome it all is.

Luckily, when you have children, you have the opportunity to look at it all through their eyes. That makes all the difference! And I can remember being younger and everything being fun and magical and exciting. So I have always sort of reverted to those feelings around Christmas. And watching my children makes it even easier (and more socially acceptable). I want to listen to nothing but Christmas music in the car (thank you Sirius for 2 stations!!). I want to look at the tree with its lights on from the time I get up until the time I go to bed. I want to find perfect presents for people I love. I want to bake cookies. And of course, children are always on board, right?

The day after Thanksgiving, in my opinion is the BEST day to decorate. I am not a big bargain shopper. For real, I would rather skip a bargain if it meant being up and out at 3 AM with crazy, sleep deprived bargain hunters. I really do most of my shopping online now anyway. So it is the day after the big meal. You have leftovers in the fridge, so there is no need to plan what to eat OR to go out. You can sleep late and stay in your pj's and leisurely take the day to decorate.

Now, even though we have done this almost every year, sometimes you should still remind your husband of these plans. In David's defense, we do not always put up a tree at our house. Like if we are between houses or gone the whole time or something. Plus, David has missed a few Christmases. Last year, we decorated right after Thanksgiving at Momma and Daddy's, but David was in Iraq. Although, the year before we actually decorated on Thanksgiving afternoon, so see, you would think he was thinking like I was. Well, um, no. He was planning to sit on his booty all day on the couch, eating cold turkey, and watching football games. Oops. Well, we compromised, and he did lots of things during half times.

Anyway, the kids were PUMPED! And each year they "get it" more, know what I mean? Now they both know that it is Jesus's birthday. (Jessa has even said prayers where she reminds Jesus that His birthday is coming up.) And they both understand about fragile decorations and not messing with the tree too much. It is SO nice!! And they both have their very own Little People Nativities that provide hours of fun.

So the focus of all of our decorations is THE TREE! David got our awesome pre-lit, artificial tree up first thing. I am (a) allergic to real trees, and (b) don't even really like them that much. I like my perfectly proportioned, straight, not flammable, not messy tree. And pre-lit - what a great idea. The Daddys always do the beads, too. That is something that having long arms and height can really help you with, you know?? And my sweet baby boy kept saying, "Daddy, that tree sure looks pretty," the whole time David was putting it up and straightening out all the branches. So precious.

Then it was ornament time. Aw yeah! I am anal about packing all of my ornaments in original boxes. Because with the moving that we do, I want them safe. So I found a spot and sat down with a large Rubbermaid full of ornament boxes and started unpacking them. The kids were beside themselves. I would unpack one, put a hook on it and then they took turns putting them on the tree. The best part is that we were a regular Hallmark commercial, the ones that make me cry every time. They wanted to hear the story behind each ornament. I told them about the Christmas that David was supposed to still be in Macedonia until after Christmas, so I was in GA. And how at the last minute, he came home. And we unknowingly, at 2 PXs, in two different countries bought each other the same "I'll be home for Christmas" ornament. I told them about their first Christmas ornaments, and even showed them mine from 1975! We hung Florida Gator Ornaments and soldier ornaments. They loved hanging all the cool wooden ones we got while we were in Germany. We retold the story of Santa and the Christ child when and the Lion and the Lamb, as we hung these special ornaments. We laughed at the one from last Christmas celebrating the "1st Christmas" in our new house at Ft. Stewart, if we only knew. . . And we saw Dunken's first Christmas one that started out as a black puppy, but David spent days in secret painting like 12 coats on it to make it a white puppy. And the most special ones, the ones that they have started making themselves at school and church through the years. We now have our own glittery Popsicle sticks and Rudolphs with red puff noses. All the the hodge podge of ornaments from each year tell the story of our lives, the story of our family. And the kids were hanging on my every word as I retold the stories that they have heard before. The same stories that we will tell every year until they know them all by heart. The stories that they will someday tell to their children as they unpack all the ornaments from their past. I remember putting up the tree with my family as a child, the memories, the ornament stories. And I hope and pray that their hearts will be full and they will smile as they think of all the memories of their Christmases growing up, they way I do.

So here is our tree:

I just love it.

It is so perfect.

So special.

So us.

I cannot stop looking at it!

In case I did not make it clear, , I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

More decoration posts to come. . .

MY HERO

I am all about the kids having good examples. It is amazing how much you can teach them without realizing it. I do so many things in my daily life the same way I watched Momma do them all my life.

I am also all about people doing kind things for other people when possible. Helping people out is a wonderful thing to do. And if you can help someone out while your children are watching, even better.

I was raised watching good examples of people helping other people. Momma and Daddy were always willing to help other people. Even Lucas is a big helper. On our way to his college orientation, we came up on an accident before the ambulance. Lucas hopped out of the car and headed to see what he could do. He used his own belt to tie a tourniquet and stopped a man from bleeding out waiting on help.

Well, during our Daddy packed weekend, we were driving home and we passed a young girl pulled over on the side of the road. I saw her retrieving things from her trunk, so it was pretty obvious that her tire was flat. I was driving because David forgot his wallet (we are the kind of people that the man drives always, unless he forgot his wallet, or drank beers). We thought there was a truck that was going to help her. But in the rear view mirror, I saw that the truck kept going. So we swung the car around to help

I always wonder if people are too afraid to let strangers help them. I think the fact that he is a handsome, clean-cut military looking man helps, plus, he was in a mini van with a lovely lady, 2 precious children, and 2 adorable dogs.

He hopped out and made quick work of changing the tire. I was so impressed. The kids unhooked their seats and climbed into the passenger seat so they could see Daddy better.

No, it was not former Falcon Lineman Keith Brooking, and yes, Tara, I always have my camera.

As I sat there in the car, watching my amazing husband effortlessly change that tire, tears streamed down my face. It made me so proud that my husband was the type of man who would stop and help a sweet teen aged girl with a flat tire. I mean, I would hope someone would help me or someday Jessa, you know? It makes me happy that there are people in the world who still want to help other people out. And it makes me even happier that my children got to have a front row seat to witness their Daddy doing an awesome good deed.

Field Trip

Last weekend, we had the bliss of a husband and daddy home all weekend. Actually more than all weekend - he was home from Wednesday until Tuesday. A few days of leave, a weekend, and a holiday. Yes, please!

On Sunday, Spencer wanted to show all of us his new park. See, a few weeks ago when Jessa was home with the flu, Spencer's class had a field trip. In preschool, you do not go on the field trip unless you have a parent accompany you. So I dutifully e-mailed his teacher to tell her he was not going to be able to make it. She called me the day of the field trip at 7:45 in the morning to tell me that she would be happy to be responsible for him so he would not miss all the fun. Of course, we accepted and Spencer got to experience a new park. Well, he calls the park "field trip" and don't challenge him on that. Yes, I cried all the way home because I was so so touched at his precious teacher.

He was anxious to show off this find to all of us. It was fun. We enjoyed it a lot. The kids were hysterical because Spencer was the "expert." Every time we would come to a cross roads, Jessa would ask him which way to go. Now, this child had no clue where they went. I mean, it is trails. And trees. And leaves. I was sure that he was clueless when we stopped at a big rain puddle and he explained that this was the "pond" where they discovered a frog. Plus, Jessa was not really asking him. See, she was planting the idea of which way she wanted to go in his putty-like head. He is always willing to let her lead, you know.

J: Spencer, didn't you go this way on your field trip?

S: Mom, Dad, we went this way on my field trip.

J: Spencer, did you see this tree on your field trip.

S: Mom, Dad, see that tree? We saw it on my field trip.

She did not have to work too hard. He was loving the feeling of power he had. He was the leader. He was in charge. Of course, as with most men in power positions, there was a clever woman behind the scenes pulling the strings! Ha! Just kidding, David. You decided that I needed new Polish Pottery all on your own. It was all you. You sure are handsome. How bout those Gators!?

There were discoveries made.

A woolly caterpillar.

We called it a brain. We have no idea what it was. Anyone?

Even bird houses are exciting on at the "field trip."

They had a wonderful time. We all did. It was nice to just walk.

The dogs had a great time, too. Dunken got some awesome off-leash time running around like a puppy.

And even Max has come a long way from when we first took him for a walk. He is learning. Who said you cannot teach an old dog new tricks??

We may have found a new place to hang. Spencer thinks we should go back. At least that is what Jessa told him he thought.

Sports can be confusing.

David Key loves sports. He takes it very seriously. I find it absolutely precious. He is not just a casual fan who talks the talk. No. He walks the walk. He loves his Florida Gators, of course. But to be honest, he just loves football. He is always happy to talk to a true fan of the game, regardless of their loyalties. He even watched the UGA game with Daddy last weekend and cheered appropriately, even though I am sure it was tough. He is a nice, non-trash talking kind of fan.

So we all watch a lot of sports and he longs for the day when the kids will really "get it" and can watch with him. Besides the Gators, we are fans of all things Atlanta - Braves, Falcons, Hawks. We have already taken them to many games - since they were in the womb! And it is important to David to share this love with his children.

Well, some of our dear friends came up to visit a week or so ago. They came so we could all go to see the Braves play when they were in St. Louis. (David ended up not being able to go, of course, he was working.) We dressed the kids in matching Braves shirts, hopped on the train and went to Busch Stadium to see the Braves (most people were not there to see the Braves, but we did not mind).


We had a great time. And the Braves even won (they swept the series!). The kids were remarkably well behaved. Seriously. I had my 2 and our friends had their 2, and we all were able to sit and enjoy most of the game.


During the next week, Bay called and had seats to a Rams game. Wow! Sounds great! We told the kids all week that we were going to a football game. And when we were changing our clothes really quick after church, he chose to wear his Braves shirt. I did not have time to argue, so we went with it.

David (who was in town!! Woo-hoo!), the kids, Bay, and I all hopped the train and headed to The Edward Jones Dome for the St. Louis Rams home opener.

Train ride - on the way.

It was way more crowded than the baseball weekend. And frankly, the people at the dome were not prepared. It was miserable. The crowd was huge and they were frisking EVERY person. Yikes! That takes forever.

A lot of people - oh, and I saw my first real like cheese heads in person!

So after waiting in line for 40 minutes, we were in. And hey, it was only 30 minutes after kick-off. We headed to our seats (these were FREE tickets that the Rams organization gave to the military as a thank you, isn't that nice??). Oh, and we first stopped to get food and drinks. So we hike up to our seats (not complaining, but free seats are usually pretty high up, you know?) with our arms full of food, etc. And we have to "excuse me" across tons of people to sit down. And I for one, sighed a great sigh of relief to be situated - finally. And then Spencer looks at me with this confused and sad look on his face. I said, "What is it, buddy?" And he said in a sad voice, through a pout, "This is not a baseball game." Bless his heart! It all was pretty much the same as two weeks before: a train ride, walking, waiting to get in, buying food, finding seats, and he was shocked to not be at the baseball game when he made it to his seat and looked at the field. I guess that explains his t-shirt choice. . . There are so many sports out there, it really is confusing when you are 3.

He had fun anyway, though.

He loved watching the field through Bay's homemade monocular. You may ask what is a homemade monocular? Well, when asked, Bay said, "The other side of the binoculars quit working, so I broke it off." That's my Daddy! He's a regular MacGyver!

A monocular, what a visionary - no pun intended.

Spencer felt like a pirate with a telescope!

Arrrgh!

The bad news of the day was that Jessa did not feel so well. Of course, we did not realize this until she fell asleep in her seat. The next day, the pediatrician said she had the flu (most likely H1N1), so um, sorry 66,000 fans in the dome and countless numbers of people on the train who we exposed to Jessa's germs. Our bad.

Poor baby!

Baseball, football, whatever, we like 'em all - well, except when you are sick.

Hooray for headphones!

Just before David deployed to Iraq in 2005, he came home one night with a beautiful new van for me. It was so pretty. And I was not even upset - I never said I wouldn't want to drive a van. And when Jessa was born, I was driving my cool new Beetle. Having a van with all that room was so exciting!! AND the best part was the awesome entertainment system. Oh yes, it had a DVD player built in. No more trying to dangle the portable one from the back of the seat and trying to convince a 13 month old not to kick it or eject the movie while I am trying to drive.

One cool feature of this fancy van's entertainment center was wireless headphones. Wow! This meant that I could drive and listen to the radio while baby Jessa watched a movie. I was very happy about this prospect. See, as great as classical music is for babies and as educational as Baby Einstein was, those movies always made me drowsy. Not good while driving, wouldn't you agree??

Jessa's initial impression of the headphones was not as I had hoped. I was leading my horse to the beautiful, high tech headphones, and she was not willing to drink! (did that even make sense? you get my point, right??)

So I continued to drive around listening to her movies. I know all the Elmo's World episodes by heart. La-di-da-di-da. La-di-da-di-da, I know every word to that song! Fast Forward: Spencer is born, and Jessa's headphone strike continues. It was not as big a deal because now baby Spencer could at least listen to the music now.

Just before David deployed to Iraq in 2008, he showed up with a new van for me again. (I know that I am incredibly spoiled!) So we traded the old one without ever using the fancy headphones.
The new new van has 2 screens and 2 DVD players, so the kids could even watch different things! And again, I could listen to the radio, IF they had their headphones on. AND it has Sirius, so I can listen to really fun stuff, IF they were willing to wear headphones.

Now, many Moms would say that I should have given them an ultimatum and said no headphones, no movie. BUT they are SUCH awesome travelers. We have sometimes spent 12 hours in a car in one day. So I really do not mind them watching or listening to whatever they want. There are just times when I would like to hear a song that is not sung by a Disney Princess or Big Bird.

Well, I am happy to report that after owning a van that has wireless headphones for more than 4 years, my babies are in live with their headphones! Woo-hoo! The last trips between Illinois and Georgia have been awesome! We still listen to Kids Stuff on Sirius together a lot of the time. We all enjoy singing along to those fun songs, but most all the movies they watched involved HEADPHONES!

Headphones rock! Spencer can even sleep while listening!

Sorry for the crazy angles, I was driving. . .

And I just realized that Spencer wore the same shirt on both car rides.

I promise he has more clothes. . .
I am so happy to be able to take advantage of all the high tech coolness the van has to offer!

AND I listened to Cosmo Radio like half the trip back, Yay me! Yay headphones!

Happy 5th of July!

Boy are we confused! We woke up in the wee hours of the morning on July 4th to the sounds of thunder. It was one heck of a storm!! The whole rest of the day was rainy and dreary and windy and sticky. And it rained and rained. And then later, it rained some more. The yard was wet and muddy. Our fun grilling out afternoon was nearly impossible. And the biggest tragedy was that the fireworks display that we were looking forward to was postponed! Now, we were lucky that the stormy, rainy 4th of July was a Saturday. This made it easy to shift the fireworks fun to Sunday night.

So we celebrated a Happy 5th of July instead.

I love the 4th of July: parties, great food, fireworks, and family. And I love any holiday that encourages patriotism and flag waving!! The past several years, my cousin Nikki has been visiting the mainland from Hawaii. It is always fun to celebrate with her. We also are usually in GA. Daddy ran his 29th consecutive Peachtree Road Race, and many times, David runs with him. (For those of you not from Atlanta, this is the world's largest 10K that is run each year on Peachtree through the streets of Atlanta.) Daddy is the founder of the Overseas Peachtree Road Races; he started one in Kuwait when he was there (he did not want to break his streak!). And since then, the race has grown to several in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Daddy ran 2 races in Kuwait, and then he has been on the starting line on Peachtree Street at Lenox Square each year to start the overseas races via cell phone. We have gone with him several years.

Our first trip to watch him start the Overseas Races: 2006.

Trip number 2, 2007.

Last year, 2008. Haven't they grown? Holy Cow!
This year Daddy started 5! And it should be noted that the Atlanta Track Club donates all the T-shirts and race gear and has it shipped to the loaction of the race. The runners get the same shirt as the 55, 000 in Atlanta. What an awesome way to support our troops!

We were sorry we were not able to be with him this year, but we sure are proud that he is such a devoted Peachtree Runner and race starter!!

So Sunday, we woke up to another overcast day, but no precipitation - whew!
The craziest part of all of this whole postponing the 4th thing, Daddy was in Atlanta to start races, run a race, and celebrate with Momma. BUT he also had time to drive 9 hours back to Scott AFB in time to celebrate the 5th of July with us! He must have felt like it was Groundhog's Day!

We had a delicious supper of kabobs, potatoes, and salad. And while I got dressed, David churned a freezer of homemade vanilla ice cream. We got the ice cream all fixed in to-go cups and headed to the fireworks.

Look at those rednecks jammed in there to see the fireworks!
It was very laid back and easy. We just went to the town where the show was scheduled and found a spot on the side of the road. We all crammed into the back of the van to see the awesome fireworks! Yay family fun and togetherness!

The only thing missing was a soundtrack. David searched for something on the radio, but he could not find anything suitable. So we all sang various patriotic songs. Jessa sang her own made up song, too. It was a disturbing and graphic sort of cautionary tale about getting too close to fireworks. I will not share it with you. You should thank me.

Spencer could not choose his favorite kind. He finally said that they were all his favorite! And he was so worn out, he fell asleep on the way home, bless him!

I took the picture after we were home -

Don't call DFACS, he was safely strapped in until we were home.
Happy 4th of July and also, Happy 5th of July!

God Bless America!

God Bless all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines!

And God Bless all the families who support them!

Birthday Party

Last Tuesday was my D's birthday.
I am so glad he was born!

(and until November, we are the same age. . .)

The kids and I had lots of fun making decorations for him.

He wanted Red Robin (yum!) for his special birthday supper. We were not allowed to tell the waitress. . .

After supper we all gathered at our house to open presents and eat cake. We had lots of fun. I wrapped up some new socks and undershirts for him. He wanted a new I-Pod since his screen is busted on his. Of course, we got him one, but I wanted him to sweat a little! I cracked myself up!

It was more socks! I bought him like 12 pairs!

I even wrapped some in a small box then wrapped that box in a bigger box.

He was totally confused and SO sick of socks!
Here are the party guests:

May and my cousin (aka the sister I never had) Nikki.

Me and Bay

Spencer, who asked if it was time for cake at least 10 times before it was time.

*Note Bay in the background stealing icing. . .

I also did pretty well baking David's favorite cake using his Granny Key's special recipe.

He said it looked and tasted like Granny's! Way to go, me!

I could not resist sharing a few videos.

Jessa and Spencer are in love with sound cards right now. Jessa picked out the "Hamster Dance" song (go figure!), and they danced it up:

Jessa was in rare form partying it up with her Daddy. When we lit the candles, Jessa insisted on singing her own song for her Daddy. It was so cute and funny and sweet all at the same time. Seriously, I was laughing and crying. Bless her little heart!

I love that she included lyrics about the I-Pod!