Alpha Battery Graduation

On February 19, 2010 we were honored to attend the Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 79th Field Artillery Basic Combat Training Graduation Ceremony at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

It was so great to get to see where my brother had been for 9 weeks. We arrived on Wednesday evening, after a very long day of traveling, and stayed for the family day presentation Thursday and graduation Friday. We started out Wednesday with a 2+ hour drive to the Indianapolis airport. Then, ate lunch and headed to the dreaded security check. Going through security wasn't as bad on the way there as on the way back...let's just say, if I can avoid it, I will not be flying with my kids anytime soon! Some people can be really helpful and some people can be total jerks. I'll share one story (of the many from this trip) with you. We had to check two bags this trip because we just had too much for four people to carry on. So, we get to Dallas (our flight was from Indy to Dallas and then we drove the 3 hours up to Lawton/Ft. Sill, OK) and head to baggage claim. There are revolving doors to get in (weird and totally not accommodating to anyone with a stroller or wheelchair) so Artie and I decide that he will go in and get the bags and then meet us back out. Um yeah, so there was no sign posted but once he went in, he couldn't get back out. In the meantime, I'm holding the fort by myself with a ride-a-long stroller, Spencer in the seat at the front and one of the two car seats we were traveling with in the spot where Avery rides. I have the other car seat on my back in a carrier, along with the diaper bag and my huge "personal item" (aka overnight bag filled with toys for the kids, all kinds of snacks, my school books, portable dvd players...). Then in my other hand-that isn't pushing the stroller-I have both of our carry on pieces of luggage strapped to each other so they'll both roll together. Avery has her preschool backpack, which is about to topple her from the weight of everything inside. Okay, so security inside is screaming at Artie that he can't go back out and he's trying to tell them that I'm right outside the doors with all our stuff and the kids. They don't care. They keep telling him to call me-even though I see him and he sees me right through the revolving doors that I clearly can't get through with my long stroller-to tell me to come through the revolving doors. Ugh. Meanwhile, people are whizzing by me as they de-board planes and I'm trying to keep track of all my stuff and my 2-yr-old who pretty much has free reign at this point. Avery is trying to play in the revolving doors and I'm standing right there doing my best to not let her and a lady on the other side with Artie says in a very rude tone "where is her mother?!" Thankfully, my husband put her in her place, geez. Finally, a nice man who is returning a wheelchair to somewhere in the airport sees what's happening and offers to take me to a security check to get through to Artie. Well, he grabs the stroller-to help me out-and takes off and never looks back once. I freak out because Avery is slow as molasses with her backpack on and I have everything on my back and shoulders and one hand so all I can do is try to hold her hand. I keep encouraging her to go faster while keeping one eye on her and one eye on the man who has temporarily kidnapped my son when a random woman walking past us tells me that my daughter's backpack is falling off and she looks really uncomfortable and that I need to stop and help her and if I don't she will! OMG! So I said "look lady (yeah I said that but I was pretty much at the end of my patience rope here), see that guy up there, he has my son and I am trying my best to keep up with him because I do not know where he is going, thank you but we can't stop." Finally, we get to where the guy was taking us and it's a security point where people are going through the opposite way we're trying to go. Luckily, after the man with the wheelchair explains the situation, they stop people coming through and let me go through to Artie, waiting on the other side, with all of my stuff! Phew, sorry, there was no way to make that story short! Anyway, we made it and traveling was very stressful and I literally slept the whole day Sunday when we were home just to recover!

Now on to the actual graduation.

He was so happy for his first flight:) Unfortunately, our flights happened to be smack in the middle of nap time so we had a bit of a fussy guy towards the end of both flights, but he did really great:)

Jake's little corner of the world for his 9 weeks at Fort Sill (He was the top bunk).

His closet-reminded me a lot of college!

This name tag reminded me a bit of grade school! His platoon was called the Mad Dawgs:)

The start of the family day presentation. They did little demonstrations of everything they had been doing during training. I really liked the cool purple colored smoke they had (to the left)!

The Mad Dawgs marching in.

The presenters/MC. You can see peoples heads in this shot of other family members. This place was seriously packed! They had a ton of bleachers set up and there wasn't an empty seat anywhere!

A quick pic after the presentation. The soldiers had about 10 minutes to see family/friends before marching back to the bay to change into their Class A uniforms. This was the first time we had seen Jake since we'd gotten to Ok.

Family picture.

One last formation! Jake is 4th in from the left. This is the pad beneath the bay where he had numerous formations during his training.

Two very proud sisters of their little brother!

Right after graduation on Friday. Doesn't he look sharp in his Class A?! He already has a pin he gets to wear on his uniform for his sharp shooting skills:)

Family pic where everyone is pretty much looking!

Siblings:)

This is pretty much the only shot I got inside at the actual ceremony. This is how they sat for the entire hour of graduation. They weren't allowed to look anywhere or make a sound. Jake's second from the left. It was pretty cool because they went up row by row and said their names and where they were from:)

Jake had pass time both Thursday and Friday for about 8 hours each day and it was so nice to spend time with him. It was incredibly hard to say good bye when we dropped him off Friday night because I don't know when I get to see him next. He left for Georgia Saturday morning at 1am. He safely arrived at Fort Gordon (Augusta area) and is trying to get used to the freedom he has. He actually said he almost missed the discipline of basic! He was supposed to start his AIT this coming week, but will be a "holdover" for quite sometime, probably not starting for 1-2 months (and his AIT is 5 months long), so he's going to be in Georgia for awhile. We can't go see him until he phases up to phase 5 when he will get weekend passes. It takes a lot to phase up and I'm nervous that we won't get to see him until graduation! My daughter doesn't understand distance and keeps asking to play video games with Uncle Jake or go see him because she misses him-it's heartbreaking! Hopefully we'll get to start planning a trip to see him soon!

Thanks for reading, if you've hung on this long! I'm a little overwhelmed because I haven't been on a computer for much leisure time in almost two weeks so hopefully I'll get more pics of the kids up soon!

The "Present"

We took the kids out this weekend for a few errands and to celebrate Valentine's Day-and to get out of the house since we haven't much with all of the snow-and along the way we, well Avery, were the recipients of a kind act. While at Old Navy, Avery was playing with the giant gum ball machine and wanting a gum ball. A nearby dad gave his much-older-than-Avery daughter a coin to get one out. We thought she was getting it for herself and told Avery to let the girl get her gum ball. Avery graciously stepped aside, but then to our shock, the dad told his daughter to give it to Avery:)! It was just so nice of them. I think both Artie and I were completely blown away-even though it was just worth a coin-it was such a sweet gesture. We don't have friendly people like that in Fort Wayne, so it was a wonderful Valentine's Day treat to have someone be so nice. Since Avery has gotten her gum ball, she pretty much has not let it out of her sight and calls it her "present".

Behold, the "present"...such a small thing to make a two-year-old so happy!

We finally upgraded Spencer to one of these bibs since he has become a very messy eater.

He has been trying to figure out how to get it done and, finally, this week Spencer pulled himself up:) He's very excited with himself and his new accomplishment!

So now, he can do things like this!

We took Avery to the mall yesterday for a fun Valentine's treat-to play in the indoor mall playground...which was absolutely crowded and she was violently pushed out of the way on more than one occation-seriously parents, watch your kids-but she had a great time and she was really good!

Our princess-the lighting in the store wasn't very good and, well, our camera is starting to bite the dust-but she was so cute running around the store just like this!

Just a girl so happy to be riding Rocket:)

And a shot of Domer out in the backyard with all the snow...I know we didn't get as much as other places, but I am really ready for spring!

Other than that, we've been laying pretty low. I'm still getting over being sick and enjoying watching the Olympics. I was excited to see the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, light the torch for the opening ceremonies. I'm sure everyone remembers my obsession with him (my aol mail address and aim even included "gretzky") and how crazy I was when I got to meet him at Notre Dame freshman year when he was there to speak at a pep rally-dream come true!! Love you, Wayne:)

We leave tomorrow for the start of our trip out to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for Jake's graduation on Friday! Family Day is Thursday, so we are heading to Indy tomorrow and flying out from there to Dallas on Wednesday...then driving the 3 and 1/2 hours or so up to Lawton, OK where we will be staying. There is no Target store anywhere within about 45 miles of Fort Sill/Lawton so I'm a little nervous how I will survive; thus we are planning a stop at one just outside the airport at Dallas to get my last fix and to get anything for the kids I'm sure we'll forget! I'm very apprehensive to fly with two kids, including one that will require a car seat on the flight-Megs, I know you've done it by yourself with 3, so I have hope:). We flew with Avery when she was 6 months old and that was a lot of work-with getting through security mostly-so I'm pretty nervous. I'm sure it will all work out. I'm just so proud of my little brother and can't wait to see an end to all of his hard work these past couple of months and the start of a new experience when he heads out to Georgia-Fort Gordon-at the end of this week for his AIT training!

Have a great week, everyone:) xo, Steph

Being Sick

...Goes something like this in our house:

Make sure to drag all blankies and comforting animals/babies out to the living room. Then make sure slippers are tightly on and thumb is in the mouth all while nestled on the couch. Of course, this is Avery's comfort when she's sick, the rest of us aren't big thumb suckers:)

For me, I only want potatoes (in the baked or mashed variety) with these noodles when I'm sick. I do not know why this combo is comforting to me when I'm sick, but it works!

This is also another tell tale sign that Stephanie is sick-hot tea! I do not like hot tea, but when I am really sick with the sore throat, aches, fever, etc., there is not a whole lot that comforts me more than hot green tea with honey.

Miss Avery and I have had the pleasure of being affected by what ever this bug is. Spencer had it all last week (and even into this week some). It takes FOREVER to go away. I have been sneezing for three days straight. Meanwhile, I'm dealing with a two-year-old that will not keep her finger out of her nose because she has "boogies" from her nose being so stuffed up and they are "bugging" her (note: quoted words are from the princess herself). It's the kind of cold/flu that you just want to stay in bed for days because nothing tastes right, you're so tired that your vision plays tricks on you and you're just cold all the time! I'm thinking spring can get here anytime so I can open the windows and let in some fresh air!

And just because I think he's so darn cute, I'll end this post with an adorable picture of Spencer playing in his ducky tub this week with a soap beard:)

GO COLTS! And enjoy the commercials if that's what you watch for-I hear they're actually supposed to be decent this year. Plus, for the first time in, like, forever Pepsi doesn't have a commercial during the Super Bowl...so, come on Coke, let's see what you can do!

Bargains

Most people know that I am a bargain hunter. There is nothing I like more about shopping than getting a great deal! I don't usually ever buy anything unless it's on sale (anything we don't need, that is). Here are some of the great deals we have gotten recently.

Avery is really into Tinker Bell and we shop the Disney Store often-which is a great place for deals, usually. I found this tucked away in a corner of the store and it's great for...

All of Avery's hair clips, ties, and bows! I love this thing and it was more than half off!

A new princess bank with princesses that you can play with! Again, more than half off!

This is a remote control, flying Tink. A great bargain at 1/5 its original price. However, both kids cry in terror when she flies!

I don't know how those of you with baby food in the house store it, but this stuff makes me crazy. In an attempt to get Spencer's food more organized, I came across this great storage unit at Target-love Target!!

Awhile back I had a post about Avery's Glo Buddy. Well the thing has been dying lately and Avery will not sleep without a light in her bed. Luckily, I found this gem on clearance at the Disney Store. The mushroom comes off and changes colors as a portable night light...it lasts for 6 hours:)

All these books at Barnes and Noble for under 6 bucks!

This is my favorite! This is a BCBGMaxAzaria dress and cardigan, originally around $450 and I got them for around 80 bucks!! My first designer pieces:)

Now some of the kids...
So, last post I said I was going to cut Avery's hair-well here it is! I ended up taking off about 6 inches! She was great and looks adorable:)

Avery has the most baby fine hair, so cutting her hair off to where there are no layers (from growing out baby hair) has really helped.

This is what Avery typically does now when I have the camera out. She says cheese, but won't look at the camera!

My little man giving his "scrunchy" nose smile. If you look closely you can see his two bottom teeth:) By the way, Spencer got to this sitting up position all by himself! He's doing it like a pro now, getting to this position from crawling.

Spencer also does this a lot!

The other night Avery and I were making some Valentine cookies and I turned to put the first tray in the oven...when I turned back, this is what I found Avery doing!

Someone liked raw cookie dough:)

Happy Hump Day!