Drew's Promotion

A be-lated Congratulations to my wonderful husband, Drew on his promotion to Master Sergeant and new job as First Sergeant. We are so proud of you, Top!

3 little monkeys

More beach video.

The kids were facinated with this snail. It was huge- even bigger than our Italian snails!

Mamaw and Kiwini Poe's Visit

Papaw, Mamaw, Uncle Kendall and Auntie Robin

Mamaw and Aunt Robin catching some rays....

We really enjoyed our visit with Mamaw and Papaw (aka Kiwini Poe) and Uncle Kendall and Aunt Robin. We are so glad they could come and explore the island. In case you are wondering, Kiwini Poe is my dad's name in Hawaiian. Sofi loves her Kiwini Poe. Find your name in Hawaiian:

http://www.alohafriendsluau.com/names.html

Building a castle

My favorite things....

My treasures......How blessed I am!

Thought some of you might want to see the outside of our house. Don't ask me what the ugly tree in our yard is! I'm stuck with the landscaping since we are not allowed to plant at all. Only pots no more than 24 in diameter. At least the house is great!

Hawaii House

Downstairs 1/2 bath- Chocolate and Blue, I love it

View of Formal Living from loft

Loft with desk for kids for our homeschooling

Kitchen w/ eat in and desk (taken from family room)

Family room (taken from Kitchen)

Formal Living Area w/ 2 story ceiling (taken from Dining room/ hallway.)

Dining Room (yellow walls) I love this room! We also added the chandelier. This was my great buy at Home Depot- $12.30

Down to 2 weeks

We are down to 2 weeks as of tomorrow. I worked with Armin (Armin and Marion Tapestry) this weekend at the Primavera bazaar. Well, actually, I worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Drew worked for me on Sunday because it became obvious on Saturday that Sofia and I were sick. She ran a fever for 2 days. She is better today although still cranky. I will hopefully be better tomorrow. We will see. Armin was very glad it was Drew and not me on Sunday since Drew has the muscles and helped load all the tapesties back in the truck.

Derrick has informed everyday how many days he has left of school. 7 1/2 days. He is thrilled! They are also excited about my birthday this weekend b/c it means CAKE!We will be going to the winery, Bessich, down the street, this weekend. They are having their annual party. Glad we didn't plan a trip this weekend. I wouldn't have wanted to miss that! They throw a great party- complete with an Italian Country Western Band. Crazy as it sounds, they're not too bad.

For my friend, Liz

The bulbs I never thought would bloom...

Liz bought 6 iris bulbs at a local market here in Italy. I talked her into giving them to me b/c she didn't know where she would plant 6 bulbs. She had larger beds. I have been waiting and waiting while all the irises around me bloomed. I truly thought these weren't going to bloom before we left Italy. I was so excited to see them blooming yesterday morning! I even tried to talk Drew into letting me sneak the bulbs into my suitcase but he swears I will get busted and carted off to jail or something. Guess we'll see if I am feeling rebellious or not...you never know.

Grady's pansies...

When my friend Liz was leaving, we dug up her pansies and put the in a plastic grocery bag. Well, I forgot them overnight at her house and the next morning, we found pansies drug all over the yard by her very playful dog Grady. I expected them to die, but I planted them anyway. That was in November! These pansies have been blooming ever since in a bed I have not been able to grow anything in. Everytime I see them, I smile and think of Liz and Grady. Thanks Grady! You've got the touch!

Baptism

Here is the video from Derrick and Isabelle's baptism on Easter Sunday. What a joyful day in a parent's life. Yes, there were tears of pride and joy from momma.

Thank you

Thank you to my friends who helped me with Sofia during our move. You guys are awesome and I love you. It helped to make our packing days alot less stressful.

Our pack out went great. We had very professional and efficient movers (the same crew who packed up my friend Liz). I think they did a good job. We'll see on the other end. Apparently, the Army does not fly our stuff there, so it will go by slow boat to China (in this case, Hawaii) and we will see it sometime in August. Pray it comes faster since we did not hold out much for the kids to play with because we thought it would be there end of June (transportation office really gave us bad info!). Oh, well. We're going to Hawaii- can't complain too much, can we?

Mother, Daughter Tea

The girls and I went to the Girlscout Mother/Daughter Tea last Saturday. We had a great time together and with our friends.

Castello Miramare de Trieste

So we all went as a family on Derrick's class field trip to Castello Miramare de Trieste and the camera was out of battery. My bad- we got two pics. Here is the one with Derrick and Isabelle. We had a great time and the castle was so beautiful and elaborate inside. the bottom floor was designed to look like the inside of a ship with wood floor, ceilings, and walls. They even had a fish tank in the floor of the 2nd floor that could be viewed in the ceiling of the 1st! The wood inlay of the ceiling was copied on the floors. They spared no expense. Here is a neat fact, the castle was built for Maximilian, brother of Franz Joseph (the Emperor of Austria). Maximilian later became the Emperor of Mexico! Being from Texas, we had of course heard the name Maximilian alot in our Texas history classes. Crazy how a man from Austria came to be Emperor of Mexico.

3rd grade play

Isabelle played the part of the pig who built his, (excuse me) her, house out of straw. One of her best friends, Sierra, built her house out of brick. If you listen, you'll hear Sofi too!

Moving

I hate the moving process. Can I just say that? The constant weighing of what should you throw out, what should you keep. It stinks! We are still at it. I thought I was done, but no I am not. Drew is currently going through our desk because I can't face it. Almost done. Movers come a week from tomorrow. I cannot wait for this to be over. On a positive note, we are really looking forward to Hawaii. We can't wait to get into a house and start having visits. Pray our house is bigger!

Odyssey of the Mind

Belle & Sofi

Taking a nap on brother. What a good big brother..

Our very own Princess Sofia

Updates

I finally break down to make a post tonight and I can't publish pictures! How frustrating. I have been so busy getting us ready for the move. Drew has been stressing about weight allowances, pet fees, ect. We are selling stuff and cleaning out like crazy. Our movers come soon (thank goodness). I don't think I can take much more of this. The kids are doing GREAT! Derrick got ALL A's on his report card. We are super proud of him. He is also mowing lawns. Made $10 from our neighbors. He loves making money. Isabelle went to Germany in March and competed in Odyssey of the Mind. She had a great time and gained experience. She is also working on her bridging requirements to bridge from Brownies to Junior in Girlscouts. She will perform as a "little pig" on Thursday evening in the 3rd grade play. Sofia is growing by leaps and bounds. She learns more words everyday. Her personality is just a hoot. I can't believe what an amazingly funny little person she is. She keeps me on my toes (into everything) and keeps her Daddy thoroughly entertained! I cannot keep her off the dining room table! I earn my glass of wine in the evening! She was given a small bike today be our friends the Waldons and she was so thrilled. I had to push her around the carport for a full 10 minutes until I was able to lure her off with a promise to do it again later. She is so much fun! I know every time we go to the car she is going to be begging to get on that bike.

Party Pics

Birthday Party Drama

Okay...so you know we don't do anything 1/2 way, right? We had this great pirate party planned for the kids and their friends. We had rootbear bottles labeled Pirate Ale, sweedish fish for bait, treasure chest pinata, treasure hunt planned, and other pirate related activities. We arrived at party location, a lodge with playground in the rain at 11am (2 hours prior to party), to decorate. There was no electricity. By 12:30, we finally had electricity. With the electricity, came the fire alarm going off. We had to get the fire department out with the firetruck (kids thought this was very cool!) to turn off the alarm. They brought the wrong key so they manually cut power to alarm and allowed us to go in to start decorate while they went back to get the correct key. While decorating, a horrid gas smell and smoke started to fill the room. When the firemen returned, they deemed the place off limits. The kids are trying to tear up. It is now 1 pm, party time, and people are arriving! All worked out, though. One party goer's father worked at bowling alley, and they squeezed us in between multiple parties! So, we still have some pirate ale and pirate related snacks. We ate 2 vegie trays, still have hotdogs in freezer, and our pockets are an addtional $150 lighter......but our kids got to see us handle things gracefully. AND, they had the BEST party ever according to their friends. The boys exclaimed that bowling with pirate swords was awesome!

fun run

WOW! Can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. Well, last Friday, I participated in the Base Fun Run- what a contradiction! This was my first 5K race and I must say, it was difficult for me. Thankfully, Drew had the day off so he ran with me and cheered me all the way. He made a great cheerleader! I came in 3rd place in the womens division. Amazing! My friend Kris F and Andrea S came in 1st and 2nd respectively. My next race is coming up soon. All part of training for the big one in April. I must be crazy! Oh....I am down 3 pounds. Hoooorrrraaayyy!

STINKY

Phew...be glad you are not living in Aviano today. The smell of the fish parts spread over the fields all around us is nauseating! I was gagging when we were out earlier. Drew says it is sooo bad, you can taste it. We were all laughing so hard at each others reactions that we were crying. Disgusting!

The beach

Okay, I thought I was done posting but, I couldn't resist these pictures from the beach in Moterosso Al Mare in Cinque Terre. This was the best day! The kids were so excited and happy to be on the beach! We all had a great time.

No way Momma....that water is too cold.

Wow! Look at all that water....

They loved the beach. We brought 1/2 of it back with us....they collected big rocks and carried them all day!

Cinque Terre

Isn't is beautiful. Can't wait to go back!

Pisa

Leaning Tower of Pisa...we had a great time. bought the cheesy leaning tower lamp (& love it), ate some incredible cookies and hit the road home.

Home again

Just got back from Pisa and Cinque Terre. Great trip. Look for pics tonight. We had a much needed (earned) break and some awesome family time! Just what we needed to recharge.

Sassy doo

Someone has a new "doo". Mommy finally relented and boy! does she look great!

blogging

I am new at the blogging thing and as a good (or annoyingly honest) friend of mine pointed out, I have not reached the status of "serious blogger" yet. Evidently I am supposed to post way more often than I have, so I must humbly apologize and try to reform.

Eleven!!

At midnight, January 1, 2008.....I officially became the mother of an 11 year old!

PIGTAILS

Our Sofi is a big girl in her piggytails!