summer fun

here is the favorite hang-out in the yard. Its the only place to find shade, aside from the patio!
Wilson, Walker and Muskoka enjoying the "pool." This is Walker's first birthday present from Grandma Rose. Fortunately he doesn't mind sharing...actually, he probably doesn't know that he is sharing! Oh well...

unexpected benefit

One more reason to get a dog...early mornings outside. I didn't realize how much more time we would be spending outside when we got a puppy. But of course, housebreaking is a lot easier if you spend most of your time outdoors, right? The boys love getting outside early, even if they are still in their jammies. It also helps because we have decided to reduce our TV viewing and Wilson hardly notices that he only watches 2 shows a day now. (I know its still an hour a day, but I have to shower sometime!!) By the way, we decided to cut down on TV because we were debating sending Wilson to pre-K next year and I thought why keep him home to watch TV all day? That would be silly right? The first few days we had some withdrawal and I wondered how I would ever be able to get anything done. But we are getting in a routine now. We try not to turn the TV back on until 8 pm so we can enjoy some TV-free time with Daddy too. We (I [and Brad when he can]) watch the news until Brad leaves and then Wil watches two shows sometime throughout the day. Oh, I forgot another reason that prompted the shut-off...Wilson knows too many company slogans and jingles...its almost embarrassing!
Close-up and personal, she wanted to check out that "thing" in my face.

walker takes the plunge

Walker braves the lawn. He no longer dislikes the feel of the grass on his legs, so he is everywhere now. I am a bit concerned that he might crawl over to one of Muskoka's "piles" and eat it. Everything else goes in his mouth immediately, so you can understand my fears. So far so good...

housebreaking a new puppy is tiring...

Brad and Muskoka were both worn out by Friday night last week. By the looks of it, they are already tired this week too, the pics of Brad in uniform were taken at lunch today! You can tell Muskoka likes Brad! She is getting familiar with the boys. She isn't as scared of Walker as she was last week. And Wilson is less scared of her now too. She's ready to go at 5 am though. (Guess that's why she's so tired!)

game day central 2007

The theme for Vacation Bible School was "Game Day Central." Here are a few pics of our three-year-olds. They had a good time!

Wilson and Olivia hanging out after VBS last week.

Meet Muskoka on the Rocks

here is our new labradoodle puppy. We got her from Lake Country Labradoodles.

We'll post more pictures. These are just some snapshots from tonight.

Flight Medic

Hey, just want to put this out to everyone. I just found out the Army is in need of Flight Medics. They are even letting medics out of my brigade to go to the school (which is a huge deal). So I am in the process of putting a flight medic packet together. I need to pass a flight physical, take a PT Test, and mail every thing off. Please pray that if this is what God want he will open the door. They have classes that are still empty for this year, and if I can get this all done I should be able to get a class date in the next two - three months.

I really want to be on a helicopter in the worst way. Since I was a little kid I've always wanted to fly; however, since I am color blind I can't be a pilot, and this would at least get me in the air.

In the words of Queen....

And another one bites the dust!!!! We paid off our last credit card today. In a couple of weeks we'll be able to call and close the account all together. This is the best feeling in the world. Now we can focus all our attention on that pesky student loan!

and to think, we fed him...

I can only imagine how messy he will be when we give him his own cake on his birthday next month. Maybe we will celebrate outside and with a white cake, rather than chocolate!! You can tell he enjoyed it though! Yummy to his tummy.

Wilson did a better job staying clean... Walker's tray is clean too, we put the cake in his mouth and somehow he got it all over his face!

happy mother's day!

What a treasure it is to be a mommy!

tornado warning

So we got to try out the storm shelter last night. Wilson was thrilled, he said to me earlier in the evening, "I hope we have a tornado!" And, "I can't wait until we have a tornado." I am not sure where the excitement has come from because he has seen some pics of tornado damage on the news. Anyway, shortly after dinner, the sirens went off and Brad and I decided it was time to move some of the boxes of books out of our safe room. Once inside, Wilson did not care to go look out the window with Brad to see if a tornado was coming or not.

There were no touchdowns anywhere close to us, and the storm last night didn't seem nearly as bad as the one on Sunday night. We have severe weather in the forecast through Friday. And, it is a bit more frightening here in tornado alley compared to Michigan. Fortunately, Wilson is intrigued by it and Walker bounces with the lightening strikes!

Brad has allergies

Ok, that is an understatement. Brad went back to the doc yesterday and got the results of his allergy tests. The normal range of antibodies in the blood is between 0-500 and Brad was over 20,000 for a number of allergens. He will be going to an allergist, he is just waiting for the appointment to be set up. The doc said he will probably be getting allergy shots to help with some of these allergens. All of the allergens he was tested for are local.

more yaya pics

When thinking about where we live from Michigan, somewhere over the rainbow pretty much explains it. Wilson and I love looking for the rainbows after the rain showers here. Luckily, mom was able to get a few pics of this one. By the way, we have had bad thunderstorms (with more on the way tonight), but thankfully no tornado threats.


Wilson had a blast in the sprinkler with Papau. He slept well that night too!

Snapshots by Yaya

Walker and Wilson had fun playing outside with Yaya and Papau this week. Yaya snapped some good pics, I am sure I will put some more up in the next couple days.

We had a ball...

Here are a couple of pictures of Brad and I before his ball on Friday night. We had a pretty fun time.

by the way...

We have some good news...our old house rented about two weeks ago which means we will get some money back from our April rent and we won't have to pay anything for May!!! God is good! We knew we made the right choice to move on post and this is just one more confirmation.

Also, Brad went back to the doc on post this morning. He had a good appointment and the doc seemed to listen to his concerns and willing to keep exploring options. Brad had some blood drawn and will probably be sent to an allergist after the test results are back. Also, the doc switched Brad from zyrtec to claritin. Brad has been battling fatigue and we are hoping this may make a difference. If you google any medications you take, you will find some websites that rate them. Yikes, its a bit freaky what some people blame their medicines for! We are just hoping Brad won't be so tired.

I guess that is all for now. We appreciate your continued prayers for our family!

playing together!!

Wilson and Walker digging into the lego bin!

HI

Tunnel Rats

These are pictures of how our boys sleep. I know it is a bit absurd, but they both burrow under the covers when they are falling asleep. I am glad Walker is getting bigger, because the whole SIDS thing is a bit freaky when your baby likes his head covered up!!!