Life

It being the month of November, I decided to make this post about some things I am thankful for. I am thankful that Dave is home this Thanksgiving time. He has been home about 6 weeks and I am so thankful to have him back in the home. Thankful for the extra hands and the extra love to go around. I am thankful for the game of LIFE. The kids love it and there are great memories made while we sit around together at the table and play it. And I am especially that this time, I didn't have to play!

Their New Room

Unfortunately, I am short pictures of the house. I don't know how I haven't taken any yet, but I did take a picture of the kids room.

It was Dave's night to sing to them before bed.
We only qualify for a 3 bedroom on post. I wanted a room for a classroom, so since the bedrooms were a decent size, we bunked all the kids together. The boys each have a bunk bed and then of course, the girls sleep together. Laycee cannot stand sleeping alone. They all seem to be ok with the arrangement even though they do keep one another up at night sometimes. They are growing up so fast so I enjoy this time having the 4 of them bonding together.

Losing Teeth

In June, just before her first birthday, Haylee lost her first tooth. Then she finally lost her second top tooth. It took a lot of wiggling and working. She had an infection in the gum and it was a painful pull. Since these pictures, she has lost the other top tooth. She is so cute without her two front teeth! I love it. She is so excited to finally be losing teeth as well!

Pumpkin Patch

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So again, I know I am so far behind on blogging, but I am going to do my best to catch up. This year seemed to be and up and down Halloween. Dave and I went on a cruise right before Halloween. And between him working half days and our homeschooling, the month has just flown by. Anyway, we tried to squeeze in a few fun activites. For the first year ever, we went to a pumpkin patch! We went kind of late in the month so there were only a few that weren't rotten, but we ended up finding 2 big ones and then 4 small ones for the kids. The kids had a great time running around trying to find the perfect pumpkin. The weather was beautiful and it hadn't rained in a bit, so it was not muddy. It was a great adventure and a fun first time doing something new!

I'm Comin Home

About a month ago, Dave finally came home from the middle east. We are so excited to have him home after being separated so long. Our lives have been so up and down in the last year that this was a great up! We are thankful he made it back safe and healthy. We continually pray for all of those whose family members are still there.

Rain

In honor of the rain, I decided to go ahead and post these pictures while I am still working on some technical difficulties of other stuff. We took these the first week we were here. Mom was here and we were trying to unpack everything in the rain. The kids were so excited to get some rain jackets...

And umbrellas. Since then, the weather has been amazing. Many days of sunshine, perfect temperature. We have been loving it.
The kids wanted to go to the park while we were unpacking, so they dressed up in their boots.

She loves her boots, she wishes she could wear them all the time

He loves his too. His are really warm too, so he could probably wear them in the snow as well.

We were happy for the last month of sunshine and decent weather. It has begun to turn cold now and as I mentioned, its raining today. But the kids still love to get outside, jump on the trampoline or go to the park. We love it!

Inspiration

Oh I know I know, you are all waiting to see pictures of Dave's homecoming and the house. But I am having some technical difficulties... so, instead I am posting some things that I have been inspired by. The fall weather is in full swing. The stores are filled with holiday spirit. The ground is covered in big, beautiful fall leaves. Oh the wonderful feeling of having Dave home has led to so much motivation. I have posted this first blog a few years ago, but thats the best thing about inspiration... you can revisit it and it means something completely different!

I made the most delicious salmon recipe from there today. I was looking for some new recipes and thought maybe I should look at the crockpot site again. I was in love and overwhelmed with delicious recipes. I also have been working on a lot of whole wheat recipes... I will hopefully post some successful ones later.

Oh this beautiful book. I am not crafty, but Dave told me I needed a hobby. I decided that I was ready to try and revisit sewing. I saw this book in Barnes and Noble and fell in love instantly. The patterns are amazing. The author explains so much that even a beginner sewer could figure it out. I am in love love love! There are so many pretty things in there.

Hope you are all feeling inspired this fall season!

The Move

The day after Dave went back to the middle east, we finally got a call from the housing office saying we would have a house ready in a few weeks. I was so thankful for this call because Dave was supposed to be home in 5 weeks and we had no idea about housing. We put out names on the list in June and in August, we finally got that call. The house was to be ready mid Sept. So... 4 days before we were able to move in, we headed out from AZ with every inch of the car packed and Nana in the front seat.

The first night we drove to Stockton, CA. We wanted to get a full day of driving in and we did. Of course, as soon as we got there, the kids wanted to let out all that energy they built up. The next day, we set out to go through the rest of CA...

and almost all of Oregon. We considered going all the way, but all of us were getting bored and tired.

The second night, we were a little smarter. We stopped a bit earlier and walked over to the grocery store (to give the kids a little run time) and picked up dinner.

What did we pick up? None other than french bread and cheese! lol. The 3rd day, we treked the last 4 hours to WA, hoteled close to post and went to do some important errands before accepting the house. Finally, on the 4th day in the rain, we got the keys to the house and mom and I started working busily on unpacking the car and the storage shed.

Move Part II coming up

Hair Changes

So there are times in life when a change is needed. And that change came when I could not stand Laycee's "long", half curly, messy hair another minute. So, I wanted her to have a cute boy cut. The hairstylist was trying to talk me out of it, but I insisted that this is what I want. Sure enough, I love it! This is the front...

Here is the back. It's straight here, but I scrunch is because there really is no way around the relaxed curls she has.
Haylee got hers trimmed up too

I love it, but I have recently considered re-growing hers out. After our 6 month bout with lice, it seems as though we have FINALLY beat it.

I loved her long beautiful locks... so maybe in the future you will see her with long hair again, but I believe Laycee's do will be a keeper for a little while. I just love it.

First Day of School

So the Dave left from leave to go back to the Middle East, the kids and I decided to go ahead and start school. Here is Trent working on his math.

He does really like math... composition, that is another story!
Here is Haylee working on some critical thinking I believe.

I have really liked this program. We did the through the first test prior to leaving AZ. Now we have begun again. The classroom is a work in progress, but we are making it. I have been really pleased with our decision to homeschool this year. It helped a ton with the transition and since Dave is working 1/2 days or on leave until pretty much the end of the year, it is nice to have them home with him.

Saying Goodbye

Dave's two weeks home can and went all to quickly. On his last night, the kids had their final "daddy time".

We played glo guns.
And then it was time to say goodbye.

They were all crying before he even got to hug them.

I think this picture is priceless.

I felt like this goodbye was much worse than the first time he left. To the kids, Dave was leaving for another 10 months even though we told them that it would be a short goodbye. We jumped right into life the day he left. He left early in the morning, but when I got home from the airport, we went right into the first day of school and trying to keep life as busy as possible. Dave only had 5 weeks left on his tour upon his return, which in comparison to 10 months is short, but no one like their daddy and husband gone for even 5 weeks. I was very thankful for homeschooling during those 5 weeks because it helped give us all a purpose and goal while finishing out his deployment. We are so happy he is home now!

Pool

So one day while Dave was home, we went over to mom's community pool and bbq and played in the water. I loved this picture of the boys... so like men to be fascinated with food and fire!

Graduation

So Aug 6th I officially graduated from ASU with a Bachelors in Family Studies and Human Development. I completely missed the due date to walk in May because the days just got away from me. I obviously wouldn't be there to walk in December. So, Dave and Kevin threw me a graduation.

Kevin was the guest speaker.
Laycee said a princess crown was a must.

We never get a picture together, Haylee was our photographer.

And, as always, Laycee is never far away.

It was fun to have them celebrate. Mom took us all to ice cream after the "ceremony". It was a fun night and I am so thankful to be finished. It only took me 9 years, one marriage and 4 children later, but I did it.

Camping

We are finally back up! The internet is running in our new house and most of the packing is finished. Homeschooling is underway and my afternoon run is in the schedule. I feel like I am functioning, mostly, once again, so I found a few minutes to blog. I know so much has happened since I blogged last and you are all anxious to read about the news, but in true Lexi fashion, I must finish what I started first. So... back to August... 2nd week, while Dave was home on leave, we took a few days to go camping. It was a nice chance to get away, play some baseball, shoot some bow and arrows, eat some smores and just have fun with one another. We took nature walks and listened to Laycee continuously complain that her "puppies" couldn't keep up (those would be these imaginary puppies that are very important to her lol). It was a great trip and a nice close to Dave's leave.

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