Headed to the big D, and we do mean Dallas

Last weekend was our 10 year anniversary and we initially wanted a romantic getaway to celebrate but that happened 6 months ago in Hawaii and our schedules are crazy right now, so what do you do? You take the kids and make it a family affair!

We drove to Dallas late Friday night so we had to pack in a lot of things over the next day before heading home Sunday. Breakfast at IHOP, a trip to the Dallas Zoo, shopping at American Girl, ice skating, and swimming filled up our Saturday. We met up with some friends, the Swaseys, and spent our weekend with them and had a great time.

Joe always says, "A zoo is a zoo is a zoo" but he had fun anyway. (At this point in our lives, we do it for the kids) The kids were so excited to see all of the animals and Clark took pictures of every breathing thing in every cage.

They also had a fun "children's zoo" section where the kids could slide, climb, crawl, and splash. There was a stream that ran through the middle with big climbing rocks on both sides. All of the children took off their shoes and socks to walk and splash in it. Since I hadn't brought any changes of clothes, I gave the kids a leg boundary where they couldn't get wet. Clark and Kate did fine, for the most part. Carlee was maneuvered away from the water every time she got close but Jake was another story. Apparently he took my words to mean, "Sit down in the water and kick your legs on top so the water doesn't get too high up your leg." Needless to say he was soaked to the bone and loving every second of it. He would run up and down the stream kicking and splashing everyone. There were some parents herding their kids away from him but others just smiled. Obviously with kids and water together, nobody is safe. Jake was so wet that Joe called him over to wring out his shirt. As soon as the shirt was off, so was Jake. He ran around the whole park singing, yelling, splashing, and showing off his "muscles". When he was done, he had to have his shorts wrung out as well and then he was ready to go. We went back to change and then headed to the Galleria mall.

Katelyn got an American Girl doll for Christmas and has been obsessed ever since so when I saw that they had a store/bistro in Dallas, we decided to take her. She was so excited. Melissa took Mia and the girls loved it. They picked out a couple of outfits and Emily (Kate's doll) even got her hair done. The store was so cute and fun. They had special salon chairs for the dolls to sit in while getting their hair done and there were special booster chairs that attached to the bistro tables so they could "eat" with you. It was quite the experience.

After shopping for Emily, we took the kids ice skating at the mall's indoor rink. This was the first time for our kids and they could not wait. Carlee had fallen asleep so I stayed with her and Joe took the kids. It was so funny to watch. We explained how to ice skate but it's easier said than done, I guess. Kate and Jake spent their time "skating along the wall". If someone was in Kate's way, it cracked me up to watch her reaction as she debated whether to let go of the wall and skate around or patiently wait for them to move so she could keep hanging on. Jake let go long enough for me to take a picture of him "standing on the ice all by himself" but he hung on most of the time. He had said earlier that he didn't want to ice skate, he wanted to fall on the ice. After a couple of falls, he realized it was better to actually skate. Clark hung on for the first while but was determined to skate by himself. He would not give up and by the end was skating around with Joe and doing quite well. He was soaked and sore from so many falls but was happy that he finally got it.

When we went back to the apartment the kids wanted to go swimming in the frigid pool and then get snacks for the drive home so the dads took the older kids while Melissa and I stayed with the babies. Finally after hot baths and that long day, the kids crashed. Whew! We were all so tired but what a great day. Thanks, Swaseys, for good company and good fun! We'll have to do it again in Vegas, baby!

4 year old Logic

These were a couple of pretty funny conversations with Jake the other night during our bedtime ritual . . .

Mom: Jake, you need to have a bath tonight.

Jake: No, Mom.

M: Yup, you haven't had one for a couple of days and tonight's a good night.

J: What do I smell like? (He is smelling his arm)

M: Dirt and sweat.

J: Nope. I smell like roses. I don't need one.

M: Jake, you don't smell like roses. If you did, I would be able to smell you from over here.

J: Mom, I really do. I smell like roses so I don't need a bath.

Dad (yelling from downstairs): Jake, you don't want to smell like roses. Roses are girly. Do you want to smell like a girl?

J: Okay, I'll take a bath.

After his bath . . .

Mom: Jake, let's go brush your teeth.

Jake: I already did.

M: No, son, Mom needs to do it at nighttime.

J: I want Dad to do it.

M: He's not here so it's my turn.

J: I already did it.

M: Jake, you made the deal with me that I brush your teeth at night and you brush them in the morning. It's nighttime.

J: Mom, that was the old Jake. This is the new one.

M (laughing): What?

J: That was the old Jake. I am the real one and that is not the deal.

M: Yes, that is the deal. You made it and we are sticking to it.

J: I ask the questions around here.

M (laughing again): Well, you can choose to let me brush your teeth or let the dinner bugs eat at them all night and one day you might wake up without any teeth and you'll smile like this (I smiled folding my lips over my teeth looking really goofy--a little exaggeration, I know)

J (laughing): Okay, my bad. You can do it. But I get to do it in the morning.

M: Okay.

J: By the way, Mom, can you change my name to Sonic? That would be awesome.

M: No, it's already on your birth certificate as Jacob.

J: How about Jacob Sonic Stuart and you can just call me Sonic?

M: Well, why don't we leave your name like it is and sometimes we can just call you Sonic for fun when you are running really fast?

J: Okay, thanks, Mom. That's awesome!

Mom (thinking to herself): What an awesome creative goofball.

Obsessed

My 16 month old Carlee is obsessed with . . .

CELL PHONES--she calls them "HLo?" and talks nonstop into them while pointing her finger, laughing and saying jibberish.

"WaWa"-Eggo Waffles, "Bapples", "Cookie", and "Dink"


BABIES--her baby doll and blanket she calls "Baby" and they go everywhere she does and can't be left in her crib. She also loves to kiss and lay on other babies when they are kicking on the floor or relaxed in their car seats.

SHOES and BOOKS--She brings them when she wants them.


RUNNING--It's more like a hip wiggle while swinging her arms but she does that more than walking these days. She runs to the front door everytime it opens for "DaDa" or to the pantry and refrigerator if the doors are left open


Blowing kisses and saying "Nigh-Nigh" as we carry her to bed

DUMPSTER DIVING--She heads to the kitchen garbage for any leftovers I have thrown away

YELLING--"Mom!" when I go up or down the stairs without her, "No, No!" at her brothers and sister when I tell them to come eat or do their chores. She even lectures them when they are disobedient by jabbering and waving her hands around, and "Joe!" when I call for him or he is working outside

"Bite!" every time someone has food

Climbing "Bup" on furniture, stools, beds, chairs, etc. to get what she wants or to be held

And making us smile and laugh all the time with her spunk and darling personality.

Lucky Day

Saturday, April 19th, brought on yardwork, housework, a baseball game, an open house, lunch at a new burger joint and the best luck a kid could get . . .

Clark had his first baseball game and did great. He has never played before and has been looking forward to baseball season since school started. He's actually pretty good at hitting and throwing so we convinced him to play this year. From the first practice, he has been so excited to play. During the game, he hit the ball when he was up to bat and made it to first base. Then when he was playing first baseman in the outfield, he caught the ball from the center fielder and tagged the runner but he barely made it to the base in time and was safe. But wow! what a catch. He even got a high five from the other team's coach!

After the game we decided to try a new burger joint called Bigz Burgers. It has a big deck for outdoor dining and an open grassy area for the kids. I think that they will probably add playground equipment in the future. The burgers were huge and greasy. No quarter-pounders there. Joe and the kids ate them up (I couldn't finish mine) and loved playing in the dirt and grass after eating. Those are the kinds of restaurants that we love.

We then decided to go to Malibu Grand Prix for some miniature golf. Malibu is a fun center with arcade games, bumper boats, go-karts, batting cages, and mini golf. It was fairly busy when we got there but this is where the luck began . . . As we stood in line to buy our mini golf passes a woman walked in with a stack of coupons in her hand and gave some to us for free rounds of golf. WaHoo! We love coupons!

Clark had a lot of power in his hit and his ball flew over a few holes so he did a lot of chasing. Katelyn had a gigantic swing but couldn't actually hit the ball to save her life. Joe had to show her that she didn't need to raise her club over her head and swing with all her might. She just needed to be soft and gentle and the club would meet the ball. Jake was multi-talented in his swing. He could swing left-handed, right-handed, hit it like a billiard ball, drag it across the green with his club, and throw it towards the hole. Carlee loved chasing the balls, picking them up and moving them somewhere else, putting them in the hole, running down the little hills, and stepping on the obstacles. All of them were very happy yelling out their scores as they ran to the next hole. Jake was probably the most honest as he turned to Joe with a big grin and a thumbs up and said, "Dad, I got 14 on that one!"

After playing we went into the arcade. Clark is so lucky when it comes to these games. He wins every time. The last time we played at Sea World, Clark won a huge lizard, and about 6 little stuffed animals so of course, the arcades are his favorite and he gets so excited to play. Clark immediately went over to the stuffed animal claw game. He won a dog, but wanted Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog. He tried to get it but it dropped last second so he tried again and won. Jake was immediately in tears because he wanted it but Clark got the last one. Jake kept wailing and crying so Clark was a sweetheart and gave Jake all of the tickets he had won in Skeeball so Jake could pick out a prize.

Meanwhile, Joe went to the token machine and put another dollar in just to get a few more tickets for Jake when out comes about 30-40 tokens! He gathers them up and takes them to the counter and explains what happened and the employee says, "Well, since you're so honest, just keep them and give them to your kids." So of course, they have to play until all the tokens are gone. Katelyn won 150 tickets on some game in one shot and then Clark won the Jackpot on another game and scored 1550 tickets! It was so insane watching all of those tickets come out of the machine into a huge pile on the floor. Everyone was looking at him and some kids were freaking out over it. Anyway, Clark and Kate decided to pool all their tickets and then Jake could get something really great but there were so many tickets that they all got something great! Clark got a dartboard, Katelyn got some fancy Disney princess jewelry, and Jake got a hot wheels race track. Joe and I decided that Clark is the lucky token in our family and we are definitely taking him to the casinos when we get to Vegas!

On the car ride home, Clark said, "This is the best day ever! It's almost like Christmas!" The kids were so happy and thankful for such a great day and Joe and I were surprised and thankful that we only spent $5 when were expecting to pay a lot more.

Later that night, when Joe was tucking Clark into bed, he said, "Dad, this was my luckiest day ever!" Joe agreed and then Clark said, "But Dad, your luckiest day was when you married Mom." Of course, Joe agreed again. What a charmer!

Hide and Seek

You know one of the best "mom" moments is when you listen to your children playing together and getting along. They laugh and talk to each other and you eavesdrop to hear the cutest comments, questions, and replies. These are some of my favorite moments . . .

On Thursday, I was cleaning the bathrooms upstairs and listening to Jake and Carlee play together in the playroom with Lego Megablocks and Power Rangers. Usually I hear, "No, Carlee! I don't want them like that." or "Mom, can you come get Carlee? She's wrecking everything!" but this time they were getting along and even making synchronized sound effects. So I was listening, smiling, and working. A few minutes later, I noticed it was very quiet. I thought that they had shut the door because I could still hear some very muffled giggling. I went on with my work and got it finished and went to get them for lunch. The playroom door was closed but they were nowhere to be seen. I checked all the closets and rooms upstairs. I could still hear them but couldn't find them anywhere. I walked downstairs and again, they were nowhere to be seen. Then I noticed that the laundry room door was open and it is usually shut. So I walked into the laundry room and this is what I found . . .

Movie Night

Every weekend our family has a movie night. We sometimes have pizza for dinner but we always build some type of fort made of blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals, have popcorn, and watch a movie. The kids love it. Clark, Kate, and Jake get all snuggled up on their pillows and blankets and set their "guys" up to watch the movie too. Carlee will lay on her set-up for about 7 seconds and then she usually wrestles the others or tries to tear down their forts. As long as she has popcorn she will sit still but as soon as it's gone she goes to bed. Maybe she'll appreciate these family movie nights in a few months.

Crazier Things Have Happened

It has been a crazy couple of weeks in our home. A week ago last Friday Joe had orders in hand and was scheduling the movers to come pack and move us when he got a phone call to come back and discuss PCS assignments. They were thinking of sending him to Korea for a one year unaccompanied tour. He came home sick to his stomach and told me the news. The only way Joe wouldn't go was if another resident volunteered instead. So we were on pins and needles all last week discussing our options and wondering what the decision would be. On Friday morning, we got the word that the other chief did volunteer and that we will still be going to Las Vegas. We are so grateful for his decision and can now start the house hunt.

Then on Friday afternoon, our realtor called and said that our home buyers unexpectedly got military orders for Colorado and had to back out of the contract. Thus, our house is back on the market. It is really disappointing since there is only a few weeks left before graduation and we were already geared up to be out of our house and living out of suitcases for a few weeks. But oh well, crazier things have happened. It keeps us on our toes and makes life interesting.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

#1--Vegas, Baby! That's right. We are moving to Las Vegas! We are pretty excited to move there and it was our first pick in choices from the military. It will be nice to be within a day's drive to visit family, I have a sister in St. George, we are closer to Disneyland, and we are moving there with some great friends to join others already there. We can't wait until Graduation!

#2--SOLD! Our house is out of the contract period and ready to go. After some emotional days last week fighting over decorative shelves, drapes, the inspection report, and searching for a home for a family of six for 5 weeks, all is well and we are just about through with this selling process. Yes, I am attached to some window treatments and shelves, not wanting to give them up so there were some ridiculous tears and irrational behavior on my part. Joe was willing to give me unlimited funds to redecorate a new house just to get me to calm down and be more kind to the new buyers. But again, everything has worked out like we knew it would and we are truly blessed. Joe is frantically trying to get orders in the next week so the military can pack and move us in two. We will be house hopping and staying with friends until we get into the TLF and the kids finish school. Then we'll hang out for another week after graduation for Joe to finish up loose ends and have his special graduation dinner. Then we're off!

We can't believe how the time has flown the last 5 years. It has been wonderful here and we've met many wonderful people but unfortunately, being in the military, you realize that time is short and temporary. We get to take good memories and friendships with us and the understanding that our lives have been blessed by these and we will never forget them.

Eggsellent Easter

We had a great Easter again this year. Saturday we accepted an offer on our house after negotiating back and forth for several hours. When all of that calmed down, we colored eggs. The kids were so excited and had been waiting patiently all day. They picked out their favorite colors for their eggs to go first. Carlee was just as excited but after a couple of accidents and yanking on the tablecloth constantly, she had to be strapped into her booster seat and observe from afar. She wasn't an active participant but she did bang a few eggs together and point to the colors. When the eggs were colored, decorated, and designed, we had rootbeer floats and pizza and watched Enchanted. The kids went to bed full and happy.

Easter morning started at about 8:30 when Carlee woke up. The kids searched for their Easter baskets and started right in on the chocolate. After seeing their gifts, the Easter Egg Hunt happened in our living room. Carlee was too busy eating M&M's and feeding her baby so she did not participate but the other three ran around finding as many eggs as they could.

After breakfast, the kids got ready in their Church clothes and went outside for pictures. Unfortunately, I wasn't on the ball this year (due to house showings, negotiations, etc.) so the boys wore their yellow shirts from last year and the girls just got new pink skirts. They were still happy for their pics in our front yard. We then watched, "Finding Faith in Christ" and talked about our Savior and His resurrection. After church, some friends invited us over for a delicious dinner and great conversation. It was a wonderful day and we are so grateful for the chance to celebrate the Savior's life and sacrifice for us.

Let Them Play!

These are pictures of our great time at the New Braunfel's Children's Museum. It was a really cute place and the kids had a fun time. There was a house for the kids to "live" in complete with an outdoor swing. The bank was next door and a grocery store was next to the bank.

Across the "street" was an ambulance and hospital including a baby nursery, which was Katelyn's favorite, of course. Outside the hospital was a campground with a cave full of mice and bats, a campfire, tent, canoe, and Indian teepee.

There was even a rocketship and art museum for the kids to make their own creations. Outside the museum was a waterworks area, sand pit, mini rockwall, and several animals for climbing. The kids could even practice their auto mechanics by giving a Volkswagon beetle a custom paint job.

Spring Break

Well, people (mainly my sisters) have told me that I write too much and that it takes hours to read so I'm not going to elaborate or give too many details on this one. It will be short, sweet, and to the point. This is what we did Spring Break week . . .

Monday--St. Patrick's day picnic with friends at the park eating green food

Tuesday--Tried to go to a museum but was way too crowded. Tried to go to new McDonald's with nice play place but couldn't find it so went home

Wednesday--Melissa helped me sew a zipper into a pillow, ordered Pei Wei takeout, and let the kids play (She actually sewed it. Thanks, Melissa!)

Thursday--Drove up to the New Braunfels Children's Museum (totally fun), lunch at Dairy Queen, and Outlets, which again were way too crowded with clothes all over the floor and too many people to maneuver the stroller through. Did find cute stuff at Gymboree, though.

Friday--Crazy Day that was supposed to be relaxing. Woke up late, slow-moving morning. 10:30 started cleaning the house, stripped the beds to wash sheets and start laundry. 11:00 Phone call to look at the house about noon. Still in pj's, got dressed, remake the beds with dirty sheets and surface-clean like a whirlwind, no time to vacuum. 12:05 Left and ran errands--B1G1F Webkinz at Justice for Girls, drive-thru lunch at Chik-fil-A, pick-up another Webkinz at other Justice store, got gas, stuck in Sea World and Six Flags traffic, home for playdate at 2:30. 4:30 Received offer on house. Joe home at 5. Dinner and shopping at Target. 9:00 Joe had to work. Bed.

Saturday--Counter-offering all day long. House cleaning. Laundry. Accepted offer and House is under contract. Colored Easter eggs. Watched "Enchanted". Bed.

Sunday--Happy Easter. Easter baskets. Egg hunt. Ready for church. Watched "Finding Faith in Christ". Church. Dinner. Blogging. Bed.

There you have it. Few details and no pics. Which do you like better? (I'm talking to you, mean and unappreciative sisters!)

Come and Get It!

After 10 years of marriage, having four children, and a third move coming up, we decided to hold our official first yard sale last weekend.

When we put our house on the market last month, I went through every tote, container, bin, drawer, and cupboard in the entire house for items to either trash, donate, store, or sell. Everything was re-organized, labeled, and hauled to their respective places. Joe reserved a storage unit for the "extras" that were moved out of our house so that it looked more empty and spacious for potential buyers. I was sad and relieved at the same time during this process. It was hard for me because I saw my home's personality packed up as our family pictures, home decorating items, and small furniture pieces were packed in the Yukon for over 6 different trips to the storage unit. My walls look empty but so do the closet floors. This is where the relief came in. All of the unused outgrown clothes and toys, holiday decorations, scrapbooking stuff, craft totes, quilting fabric, medical papers and files, and kitchen appliances are packed and stored away. It is actually nice to see our closet floors. It's hard to believe that when we moved into our first purchased home "that is so big" 5 years ago, we had 2 little munchkins under the age of 3. Now we have 4 and are starting to bust at the seams! So the time had come for a YARD SALE!

Every six months our community holds a yard sale. My friends, Kaori and Melissa, wanted to join with me so we lined tables up in our garage and laid everything out on them and under them the week prior. So after about 3-4 more trips back to the storage unit to bring items back to our home, we were ready and the garage was packed. On Saturday the official time to start was 9:00 a.m. but when we opened our garage door at 6:30 a.m. to start pulling out the tables and lay out the tarps, we were swamped with several people. They were in our garage and we couldn't even get our stuff out! Joe sold our TV and a couple of our car seats before they even touched the driveway. The craziest thing was that it was still dark outside but, don't worry, these hard-core yard sale buyers had brought flashlights to peer into the boxes and through the piles of clothes. I have never seen anything like it. I guess yard sales are like Black Friday to some people. I am in bed on Saturday morning for as long as possible.

The kids were pretty excited about this sale because they helped go through toys, books, and stuffed animals that they don't play with anymore. They also wanted to provide a bake sale. My cute friend Melissa made a darling sign and got these cute aprons for the kids to wear while working their bake sale. We had told them they could split the money they earned so they were thrilled. Mia, Katelyn, and Kaiya worked the booth while Clark and Jake were the marketers making loud (embarrassing) announcements and giving incredible bargains such as "Buy One, Get Two Free". They were also trying to sell Hot Wheels cars on the side. We had cinnamon and orange rolls, muffins, rice krispie treats, and cookies. Our next door neighbors were selling too and they set up a drink stand. The kids made about $55 and were so excited with their earnings.

We did very well and got rid of a lot. We have quite a few outgrown clothes left, mostly long-sleeved stuff from living in D.C. that is not appropriate to wear in hot TX weather, and a few items that I wasn't willing to barter on but our storage unit is now keeping only our treasures. I even got a suntan from standing out there for 8 hours. (Okay, a sunburn, that is now peeling) But our first yard sale was a success--a ton of work and preparation, but it paid off. Maybe we'll do another one in 10 years.