Hurricane Status!

I was smart and went to the base Hurricane Briefing not long after we arrived.  So I know the low down on hurricanes now... or something like that ;)  And I wasn't opposed to evacuation - I just hear "family fun trip" when I hear evacuation.  Although my outlook changed a little this last week when we learned that Preston was made the Ride Out Element Medical Leader.  Meaning he would be one of 42 people that would have to remain on base when and if there is actually an evacuation.    His job would be to ensure safety for those on base and for when it is time for everyone else to return to base.  Not sounding so fun anymore knowing I'd be the one driving my children out in the wind and rain with the little sense of direction that I don't have.  So we were so thankful a few days ago when Hurricane Isaac decided not to run right over top of us anymore, but head westward instead.  However, since hurricanes (and all that comes along with them) tend to be a little unpredictable, school and work were cancelled for today.  But we woke up to a beautiful morning, a little windy yes, but still not a bad day.  So we spent the morning on a family run/bike ride.  And then this afternoon we headed to the base beach to check out the coolness...

There was water everywhere - places it isn't normally.  As expected the wind was producing some incredible waves (the pictures don't do them justice). 

Oh, and Brynn spotted this snake on our way down the boardwalk :)  She was thrilled...

We were not standing that close to the shoreline at all.  We had explained to the kids the dangers and that we weren't there to play.  But every now and then a massive wave would make its way all the way up to us.  One caught us off guard and Dylan was swept away even further onto shore...

Oops!  Did I mention the wind and the waves were powerful?!  He actually handled it fine and didn't mind.  He likes playing in the waves normally so this wasn't much different I guess. 
***OK so yes... PJ had the camera in his hands when Dylan got pummeled by the wave.  And we all watched, not much we could do in the moment... except I instantly burst out "Preston what are you doing???  Take a picture!!!! I hope you got a shot of his feet in the air!!!!!"  I knew he was fine, but then we of course went to his rescue.  And his face shot is of him spitting out the salty water.  He does that on a normal basis.

Kate wasn't a fan that's for sure...big surprise.  I think we took a couple steps backwards in getting her to adjust to the beach :{

 But it was cool to go see anyway.

 

We have gotten so many calls and texts of friends and family checking on us.  Love that we are loved and thought of!  So rest assured... our little family is doing just fine!

Kate's Second Birthday!

Even though we've been trying to prep her for her big day, I'm pretty sure Kate had no idea what was going on when we waltzed into her room bright and early this morning busting out the Happy Birthday song :)  We were very excited for her.  And she was very excited when we brought her downstairs and showed her the "Mee Mee" decorations and presents.  Brynn was so sweet and worked very hard making Kate a special card and couldn't wait to give it to her (and help her with the rest of the cards and presents).  And we had a yummy breakfast of donuts (family favorite) and had time to play with the new toys before getting ready and heading off to church.

And she knew right what to do when it was cake time.  In fact she blew out the candle about three times before I got her to wait long enough after I relit it so we could actually sing to her.

And while she was thrilled by the mickey cake she really just wanted the ice cream.  After she finished the second helping of ice cream off her plate she slowly worked the whole tub of it closer and closer to her and dug right in...

And we let her because its her special day :)  Happy Birthday to my big two year old Kate!!!

*** Kate had her two year well check a few days later.  She weighed in at 28.4 pounds which put her in the 71st% for weight.  And she measured 35" in length which is the 79th% for height.

Pen Pals for Preschool

A little background... for the past few months Dylan has been waiting to get mail.  I'm not exactly sure when or why it started.  It may have something to do with the fact that Brynn will occasionally get mail from her pen pal Abby, and then she got birthday mail, and then Tyler got his birthday mail not long after that, and now Kate is starting to get some.  And its always exciting to get mail.  But its never been for him.  But he always asks, and is always disappointed.  And its very sad.  Ok, moving on...
For preschool time on Wednesday I read a book to Dylan about Alfie.  Alfie the alligator wrote a letter to his grandma and then he waited and waited and waited to get mail back.  Well finally the mailman approached him and asked if his name was Alfie.  Alfie responded yes and excitedly asked if he had a letter for him.  The mailman said no, Alfie got sad.  BUT, then the mailman pulled out a package!!!!  Alfie hadn't gotten a letter, even better, he had gotten a box with cookies and a note from his grandma.  So there was a happy ending to the story.  But it had me reminiscing about my college days when my mom would bake cookies and mail them to me.  And it had me thinking about my sweet son who wanted nothing more than a simple letter in the mailbox.  And so of course we got right to work practicing our letters by writing a letter to Gramma.  Genius!  And maybe I knew that Dylans story would be very similar to Alfies and I didn't particularly want to spend the next week or so trying to explain to my almost 4 year old why mail takes SO LONG to get from here to there and then there to hear.  So Gramma may have had a little heads up that morning that a letter was on its way and maybe she could just stick something in the mail as quickly as possible.  No harm no foul, just a little cheating maybe.  But all for the sake of this... 

Oh I'm sorry, did you see that smile!??!!?!!  Tippy toes and all.  Yes, in the past two days we had checked the mail about 7 times.  (Soooooo glad I was smart enough to tip off the Gramma and so glad it came SO fast!!!)

Yes!  Dylan got mail!!!!!  It actually said Dylan Wilson on it!

Psst.... Don't you love how Dylan is so excited about his letter that he doesn't even notice or care that his big brother is behind him trying to sneak a cookie?? (What a face Tyler has)

And his letter clearly stated that these were his special cookies and he didn't have to share if he didn't want to.  But he didn't even stop to think about it or hesitate, he wanted to :)  And he was so proud and excited to give everyone one.  Brynn was even off at her first day of hip hop dance classes and when we left to pick her up he asked if he could bring hers (which he had already set aside for her) and give it to her right away.  

Not much later while we were in the car Tyler nonchalantly says, "Mom, when we get home I was thinking I want to write Gramma a letter."  Oh really... I wonder where he got that idea from :)  I mentioned that I thought that was a great idea and she'd love to hear from him, but maybe I wasn't sure if she'd be up to baking cookies again anytime soon.  He said that was fine.  Huh ok.  And when we got home he approached me with paper and pencil in hand.  He needed help sounding out some words and I asked him what he wanted to say.  His response, "Please send transformers."  Well shoot.  I tried not to laugh while we had a little talk about expectations and why we do things.  In the end he decided he wanted to write a nice letter anyway and just see... 

So many lessons to be learned from this one little preschool object lesson... thanks Alfie.  And thanks Gramma!  The best lesson of all, Dylan learned he is loved lots and a lot!  (Oh, and it really is cool to get mail.)

School!

Friday was orientation at the kids new school.  Things are a little different here.
For example...
- School goes from 7:25am to 1:30pm.  Yep, that means they get on the bus around 6:50am and are home just before 2pm (right about the time I thought I'd be having quiet time with the younger two and having a minute or so to get things done - nope!)
- The school is all detached outdoor buildings and so the kids were a little concerned about remembering where they go and which building they belong in.
- Not only do I pack the kids a lunch, but they also have snack time that we have to pack/plan for.
- There is a dress code of solid red, white, and blue clothing.

But I think they are going to love it at Tyndall Elementary.
Here is Brynn at orientation meeting her 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Tramontana...

Here is Tyler with his 1st grade teacher Mrs. Metcalf - who he accidentally forgets and calls Mrs. Cow :{...

 

Here is the teacher gift we took them...

 And here they are this morning, bright and early, so excited to be heading to the bus stop...

And Dylan, poor Dylan.  Preschool doesn't start here until the age of 4 and he missed the preschool deadline by 11 (yes eleven) days!!! Which was so sad because he was so excited to start this year like Brynn and Tyler.  But unfortunately he is home with me for another year...

...which he ended up being ok with for now.  I promised him lots of fun.  Let's hope it stays that way and I can keep him busy enough!

Cleaning off the Flip...

Back when we were at my mom and mom and dad's house Kate had fun playing on our old swing set... 

 

 And the boys had just watched their first Star Wars movie.  So after we helped Gramma get her new treadmill all set up the boys decided to make a spaceship out of the box and play with light sabers.  Probably one of my better parenting moments letting them do this ;)

...if you listen in the back ground we were noticing that Dylan was the more aggressive one, always on the attack, not scared.  It appears I should have seem glimpses of my brave, not cautious little boy already before we moved here.

And this was Kate playing a new game with daddy last night :)  Can't help but love her husky laugh that is all hers...

And back when we were still in Illinois, PJ was going to give me an afternoon off (from the kiddos) so I could actually get some packing done.  He showed up, home from work early, with a slip 'n slide and decided he was going to teach the kids how to use it properly... you know because apparently you have to slather it up with soap and get the right technique for sliding...

Just a Sunday afternoon drive home from church...

Autobots... Get Him!

 How does pizza and movie night always so easily turn into this?!...

 ...Oh, well that's because I have two Transformers living in my house.

Wait, that's right... I meant three Transformers living in my house.  Sorry Kate.  Yep, she messed up her hair before daddy even got home because she was "rolling out" (aka crawling around with her forehead on the ground bulldozing anything in front of it - right after she "ch ch ch" transformed). 

And Transformers are tough.  They don't even notice the bumps or bruises they get along the way...

Although mommies are tough too.  And brave.  It should be noted that I risked my own safety to get up close so I could get these pictures :)

My personal favorite quote of the night (heard many times)... PJ: "Dylan!  No!  Wipe that look off of your face.  I said I was done.  Dylan!"  And then the attack would come and the brawl would continue.