First Day of School

Joanie and Jared's Wedding

While we were in California, we went to Chris' sister's wedding.  The family got to get dressed up for the formal event.  Kayla was Joanie's flower girl and Chris walked her down the isle.  We had a blast.  All the pictures at the wedding were taken with Chris' camera, so one day when I get those I'll  post them.  Congratulations Joanie and Jared Rollins!

Austin Lost his First Tooth

Austin lost his first tooth.  He wasn't excited about loosing his tooth.  He let it hang in his mouth until the last possible moment.  When he finally let me pull it out, it came out quick and painless, but he was so upset because he didn't like the way it felt having a missing tooth in his mouth.  He calmed down about 10 minutes later and let take a picture another hour later.  

Chris' Homecoming at the Airport

Myrtle Beach

This last weekend, the kids and I had the opportunity to go to Myrtle Beach for a Military Spouses Retreat put on by the Chaplin in Chris' Brigade.  They paid for the hotel, food, and even childcare when I was in the seminars.  We had so much fun!  

This is the view from our hotel balcony.

The kids and I would go from the hotel pools (yes, plural), which included a lazy river and a couple of hot tubs, to the short walk to the beach.  We had such a blast.

 

 

Saturday night, we went to Broadway on the Beach which has everything you can imagine.  Tons of shopping, restaurants, and rides.  We ate dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  They had guys on stilts who made balloon animals, and it was a fun atmosphere.  After that, we walked around and let the kids go on some of the rides.

After we checked out on Sunday, we we stopped at the Ripley's Aquarium.  That was a lot of fun too.  We got to see a diver in the tank feeding the sting rays.  It was so nice to get away and not have to worry about anything.  We are so grateful for the opportunity and we definitely  want to go back with Chris. 

This month, Kayla received the Terrific Kids Award from her class.  Basically, it's like student of the month and they make a big deal about it at school.  All the parents were invited for an award ceremony with refreshments following.  Kayla's teacher wrote this on the award: "Kayla exemplifies good citizenship in the respect, integrity, caring, attitude and fairness she demonstrates daily.  She is a happy child who enjoys being involved and accepts everyone open-heartedly.  It is important to Kayla to be patriotic by supporting her dad and all service members who are serving their country."  I am so proud of you, Kayla!

After many, many years of coveting and dreaming of having a piano, thanks to my wonderful parents, I finally got one.  I have enjoyed playing it every day and have even started giving the kids piano lessons.  Kayla is a natural and loves it too.  She wakes in the morning and first thing, starts practicing her songs.  Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!

Easter Day

I know I'm a little behind, and not on top of things like everyone else, but here are pictures from Easter.  In the morning before church, the kids found all the eggs the Easter Bunny left and got a lot of cool stuff in their baskets.  After church, Grandpa did his Easter egg hunt outside.  He hides them really good.  You can never have too many Easter eggs!

Char's Surprise

For Easter, the kids and I went to Charlotte to spend it with my grandparents.  What they didn't know, was that my mom was flying out from California to be there too.  My mom flew in the day before Easter, and the kids and I picked her up from the airport.  The whole ride back from the airport, going to my grandparent's house, Kayla and Austin were coming up with a big story to tell my grandma about how we picked up a hitch hiker and the hitch hiker needed a place to stay.  The video is after Kayla and Austin came to the door and told my grandma about the "hitch hiker."

Squadron Easter Party

Yesterday, was an Easter Party for Chris' squadron at work.  The kids and I had a fun time, and the weather was perfect.  The Easter Bunny was there and I was surprised that Austin even went up to him.  Characters of any kind aren't Austin's thing.

There was, of course, an Easter Egg Hunt . . . 

Face Painting . . . 
and candy.

Oh yea, and airplanes.  The park was on Pope Air Force Base right next to the airfield.  So, we got to see many planes take off and land.  

Wilmington

On Saturday, I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to go to Wilmington for the day.  They have an old Battleship there that we've always wanted to go and see.  Wilmington is such a beautiful place to visit.  We had fun touring the Battleship and I decided that I would go crazy being on one for months at a time.

Could you imagine having to sleep like this?!  

For all you fans of One Tree Hill, here's the River Court with beautiful Wilmington in the background.  It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it was cool to see it.  The kids and I had a wonderful day and will probably go again soon.

Glasses

So, about a month ago, I finally went to the eye doctor because I knew I needed glasses.  Kayla and I went together, and the doctor confirmed that I needed glasses.  But, thank goodness I only need to wear them at night when I drive.  A week after our appointment, I got a note from the school saying that I needed to take Austin and have him get an eye exam.  Austin was so excited because he was feeling so left out that he didn't have glasses too.  He has a slight astigmatism  in one of his eyes, so he got glasses to wear in class.  I thought it would be cute to take a picture of me, Kayla, and Austin all wearing our glasses.  I told Austin to get them, and he said, "They're not in my case,mommy, where did you put them?"  I'm thinking to myself, "You've got to be kidding.  The boy has had those glasses for two whole days and has already lost them."  

Needless to say, they are still missing, so no picture.  But here's a before and after picture of me with my glasses.

By the way, thanks, Julie, for the gift card.  I got the dress with it and love it!
      

This is at the Martyrs Monument in downtown Baghdad. A bunch of my paratroopers re-enlisted here. It was nice to see a bunch of  my platoon in one place. Its been 3 months since we all have been at one place.  Things are going as good as they can. Its starting to get hot here, which I am dreading. 

Austin's 6th Birthday

Yesterday was Austin's 6th birthday.  He had a great day.  I went to his classroom and dropped off cupcakes and stayed to help with their Dr. Suess birthday celebration.  Then, that evening we had a birthday party at a miniature golf place, and played arcade games, and had pizza and cake.  We all had a fun time.  Happy Birthday Austin!

Here are some pics from Baghdad. The one is of the cross sabers. The other one is of me on the right and my platoon sgt (SSG Hitchcock) and my aid station NCOIC (SSG Rudy). As I have told many of you, things here are a lot better than last time I was here. Last time I was at this same location, we were chasing the bad guys around. It is a wonderful thing to see the Government of Iraq (GOI) take charge of their own country. Thanks to all the family that has sent me packages. You never realize how much mail means to you until you're gone for long periods of time. Love all of you.

Chris