A New Day

I woke up today knowing I have to let my worrying about our move go.  God’s got it all under control.  We have a limited number of days here to enjoy our family and friends in Pensacola.  I can’t worry and enjoy myself at the same time so enjoy wins.  I’ve been praying about this move for a few years now so I’ve got to trust God has heard those prayers and will work it all out.  I’ll call the housing office next week.  If my being there will help move things up or doing any good whatsoever, then we’ll go, but if not, we are staying here.  We’ll give it time for families to move out of housing or if that’s not the case, then we’ll rent a house off post in Rolla and move onto post when a house becomes available.  It’ll mean the kids have to change schools, but kids are resilient…remind me of that later, okay?

So anyway, today, camping, Gulf Shores, Alabama.  It’s beautiful out here but so hot.  I took Caden for a bike ride around the block this morning and I had sweat rolling down my back when we got back.  Caden’s bike is way too small for him, but it’s makes starting in stopping so much easier since his feet are so close to the ground.  We need to work on turning and he’s still a tad bit wobbly, but he’ll be a pro when we leave here on Tuesday.

I had to take Jaelyn to urgent care this morning.  She’s had a one dog barking cough that turned into a whole kennel of dogs.  She sounded horrible.  The doctor diagnoses her with a sinus infection and gave her a z-pack and a stronger antihistamine than she was taking.  Medicine and Jaelyn’s mood don’t always mix so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

After lunch, we headed for the pool for a little bit.  The pool was packed. 

My parents have always been here in the spring and fall when the park was empty.  They continue to be amazed by how many people are here camping.  I’m amazed by how many people are here camping in tents.  That’s pure craziness.  Don’t they know it’s 98 degrees outsider.  I’m intrigued by all the tent campers.  That would be so much nicer than our tent J.

We checked out the beach again this evening.  We took the kids and let them dig in the sand and dip their toes in the Gulf.  It’s still hot, but the breeze coming off the water is cooler.

I love this picture...Gramps the Protector

Ever the model - notice how she turned her shoulder in

Albuquerque is Hard to Spell

I made it to NM safe and sound. 4 weeks here then up to FLW to start the grind.

I was planning to go hiking today since I got here a day early, but The Sandia mountain is off limits to hikers due to the drought and dry conditions, so I am gonna Geocache a bit, and then veg out with some movies.

P.S. Pensacola, I do not miss the humidity.

My Super Little-Man

My Amazing Little Man

The girls learned to ride a two-wheeler when they turned six.  I’ve been telling Caden it’s his turn for months.  He’s been resistant and has used the excuse that he doesn’t have knee or elbow pads everytime I’ve brought it up.  The roads out here are so nice and it’s not too busy so I put knee pads on our shopping list yesterday.  This afternoon, my Dad took Caden’s training wheels off his bike and we got busy.  It started off a little rocky and Caden wasn’t quite sure, but within an hour, he was cruising up and down by himself.  He didn’t even need me to get him started after a while.  Within a few days, he’ll be cruising along with the girls.

And a bonus picture that has nothing to do with bike riding because he's just too darn cute for his own good!

Base Housing

To steal a phrase from the eighties, I’m so over this move.  The ladies at the housing office change their story everytime we talk to them.  I was excited that we’d moved up to third on the housing list.  I checked it today and we’ve moved back to fourth.  It’s so frustrating.  Everyone seems to get priority over us.  One time we call and they say we should have a house two to four weeks after July 1^st.  Then, they tell us they’ll have a house as soon as we get there.  Next, they are saying they have no idea when we’ll have a house.  We have to make a decision about what to do soon.  I’m not sure we’ll be able to move straight onto base so now we have to decide where we want to live until there’s a house available.  I found myself searching for short term rentals last night around midnight. 

I’d appreciate prayers because I seriously think I’m going insane thinking about all of it.

Glamping With the Grandparents

We got up this morning and everyone started packing.  Dan for his 2 day drive to Albequerque, New Mexico and us and my parents for our camping trip in Gulf Shores.   We made it out here around lunch time.  It’s beautiful.  Our spot is on water (I’m not sure what body of water it is), but we can see across to the sand dunes on Gulf Shores.  This is the first thing I saw when I drove into the park...

Thankfully, we only saw three baby alligators and those where in a big pool in the nature center. 

Once we got everything set up, headed to Walmart for supplies and lunch and then the fun began.  We had an early dinner and then swam.  The pool here is really nice.  It’s pretty big with a covered area and a fountain in the middle.  There’s also a splash pad that Caden had a ball playing in. 

After the pool, Jaelyn and my Dad went back to the motorhome while the rest of us went across the way to the beach.  It was so peaceful to walk on the beach and watch the sunset.  Caden and Allie had a wonderful time finding shells.  We are going to go back another night to take pictures.

Bonus at the Beach

We drove out to Pensacola Beach this morning to spend time playing with my friend, Jennifer, and her family (whom I'm going to refer to as the Beatles from now on - it's not their last name since I don't use last names, but that's what my kids sometimes call them.  Hope you don't mind, Jen.).  Tangent, sorry...anyway, as we drove over the beach bridge, we saw a jet flying down the beach. Yea!  The Blue Angels' Beach Air Show is this weekend and they were practicing.  We only got to see a few passes, but it was great.  I love watching the Blue's fly!  We also saw Fat Albert which is the Blue's support plane. 

We had to stay out of the water for about 40 minutes during the practice.  That was kind of yucky and the kids got antsy, but once we could go in the water, we had so much fun.  My kids will never be satisfied with just sticking their toes in the water again.

Jaelyn, Caden, and Allie waiting to get in the water.
We liked seeing the big Coast Guard ship in the water.
It left once the Blues were done flying.

Dan enjoys his shade!

Cassidy and Jaelyn catching a wave

Kelly and Allie

Caden loves riding the waves

I have a great photo sequence of Jackson and Caden as they rode this wave.
They both made it way up on shore.

Allie is still loving her new bangs.  She's such a girly girl.

Me and Jennifer with our girls.

Caden and Brody

Delaney, Allie, Jackson and Caden

Jaelyn

We are going glamping with "Gramps and Baba" (as my kids are now calling them) for a couple of days.  I'm debating bringing the laptop because I told the kids they had to unplug while we were gone.  It seems a little hypocritical to make them unplug while I'm hooked into wi-fi.  We'll see...

Out of Whack Allie

Allie was so out of whack today.  Yesterday was Jaelyn's turn, so I guess Allie deserves a day every now and then too.

It started out well.  The kids watched TV, had breakfast and played.  Jaelyn was up some last night, but made up for it by sleeping till 9:00 (an all time record).  We ate lunch and then headed to Uncle Nathan and Aunt Cathy's house to swim in their pool with Grandmother.  We had fun for the most part.

Caden practicing his Tae Kwon Do jump

Allie's dive is beautiful...legs straight, toes pointed.  We just need to work on tucking her head.

I'm not sure what set her off, but Allie got her nose out of joint.  She was out of sorts the rest of the day.

While I was fixing dinner, my mom suggested Allie go lay on her bed and watch a movie to chill out.  She went back there and closed the door.  When my mom checked on her a few short minutes later, she was not happy.  Allie took a pair of scissors out of the vanity drawer and in her words "pretended like she was two."  She cut big slits in the shower curtain (which she will pay for) and then took a snip out of several spots in her hair.

Check out her hair line in the center of her forehead. 

You can see it better here.  It's maybe 1/2" long.  I could seriously hurt her.  Her hair was beautiful.  She also took some length off the sides that I was able to blend in.

I didn't want to cut bangs because I love seeing Allie's pretty face, but I had to cut them to try and hide the bald spot. Allie LOVES the bangs and thinks she looks beautiful!  I really hope her happiness doesn't encourage her to do it again.  I seriously thought she'd outgrown cutting her own hair when she was six.  She's been working so hard trying to grow her hair out.

I don't see it looking at her, but in this picture, all I can think is "Nobody puts Baby in the corner." Do you see it too?

Where's the Best Place to Eat a Popsicle?

Why, up high in a tree, of course!

This and That

My Dad loves woodworking.  I have his masterpieces all over our house.  I haven't yet gotten my hands on his newest interest...carving.  Dad took Jaelyn out into the garage the other day and carved her a "Mountain Man."  He let her paint, glaze and varnish it.  I think it turned out great.  And even better, he put a magnet in it so it can go on MY refrigerator.

Jaelyn was out somewhere and saw faux painted birdhouses.  She wanted my mom to buy her one, but it was a big waste of money.  Instead, Jaelyn asked my Dad to make her one.  They immediately googled Missouri birds and learned the Blue Bird is the state bird.  They researched Blue Bird houses and within an hour, Grandpa and the girls were out in the yard collecting wood to build three bird houses.  Dan even put in his order for a faux bird house for a geocache hiding spot once we get to Missouri.  Shhhh...don't tell anyone.

We've collected a big bag of seashells from the beach and they've been screaming for a project.  I bought the kids cheap frames and let them glue the shells around the edge.  They picked their favorite beach picture to print for a great souviner from our fun summer.

Jaelyn has been jewelry making mode.  She's been making necklaces with seashells that had holes in them.  When she ran out of those, she had Grandpa drill holes in other seashells.  She's had an arm full of bracelets that's she's been passing out to friends. 

Allie has been building with Legos.  She's gotten really good at following complicated multi-step directions without any help.  Currently, she's working on a log cabin.

Allie also put together a 300 piece puzzle by herself the other day.  Several grown ups offered help, but she refused every offer.  I'm impressed.  She does puzzles differently than I do.  While Jaelyn and I have a very definite system to our puzzling (edge, then large elements, then the rest), Allie picks a starting point and works here and there until she finishes it.  There's no rhyme or reason to it, but she gets to the same ending point we do.

We realized that once all the kids have their own room, we'll be short one dresser.  My mom inherited my Grandma Molly's dresser.  It's in her guest room for us to use this summer, but after that she really doesn't need it.  She said Allie can have it for her room.  It's a plain oak dresser, but it needs some updating.  My mom is really into "updating."

Here's the before...

(sorry, my mom took the knobs off and a drawer out before she thought about taking a before picture)

Here's a preview mid-project...

I ordered pink glass knobs.  It's going to be beautiful and the perfect thing to compliment Allie's white iron bed.

A Surprise Visitor

Did I mention Dan decided to drive through Pensacola on his way to New Mexico???  Well, he did!  Instead of driving through Ft. Leonard Wood on his way, he came here.  I didn't tell the kids, although Jaelyn overheard me talking about it so she knew.  He left Maryland at midnight Thursday night and drive all night and day.  He made it here for dinner on Friday.  The kids were excited to see him for all of 60 seconds before they went back to whatever they were doing.  Honestly, it was kind of funny.  Dan has a few more days to stay with us before he heads on. 

We are currently #3 on the housing list.  We'll have to make a decision about where we want to live if a house doesn't open up by the end of July.  Keep praying for a house on base because that's what we really want.

Hog Heaven

I've been horrible at remembering my camera lately.  I missed out on another geocaching night out with Jen and Rich and a family get together with Dan's family.  Thankfully, I have a camera on my phone or I would have really missed out on capturing one particular event...driving Grandaddy's tractor!!!!   Granddaddy said the kids could look at it and then he came with keys.  It looked like Caden and Jaelyn steered around the yard without much help, but Allie needed slightly more assistance.  I am standing firm in my decision that I taught Allie to ride a bike, someone else can teach her to drive!  Way to go Granddaddy.  You made their day.