Happy Birthday Katie!!!

...My little girl is nine years old...

...and looking so much older than nine these days...

 

We celebrated Katie's birthday by having dinner at Cici's Pizza per the birthday girls request. Unfortualtey, Luke was still feeling under the weather and the outing to Cici's was more than he could handle.  Poor little guy didn't even make it to see Katie blow out her birthday candles and make a wish! 

Katie wanted her favorite Chess Cake for her birthday!

Katie celebrated her birthday with her friends that weekend with a slumber party!  (I don't know what we were thinking when we decided to have two slumber parties on back to back weekends!?! I am blaming the lack of sleep on the reason I am so behind on my birthday blog post!)

 

The girls had so much fun! There was lots of laughing, giggling and squealing that lasted into the wee hours of the morning!!! They played games, did arts and crafts projects and watched movies!!!

...and they sang happy birthday to the birthday girl so she

could make the last of her birthday wishes...

I love these happy faces after a late night of partying!

 

Happy, happy birthday to my little princess!!!

I hope all of your birthday wishes come true!

 

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

Happy, happy, 7th birthday to John!!!

...I love the look on his face and his smile in these pictures. 

They capture him perfectly!...

...after much discussion about his birthday,

John decided he wanted to have a sleepover...

This seemed easy enough, since the only requirements

he had for his party were the following:

1. Pizza

2. Cookie Cake

3. Gaming (as much as he wanted)

4. They didn't have to go to bed until midnight!

The boys had a blast, they gamed until their hearts content and by no means did they go to bed before midnight! It was more like 3:00AM! And considering they were all up by 7:00AM, I have no idea how they are smiling and awake in this picture!

(It must be the sugar from the donuts!)

John said, "This was his best birthday party EVER!"

 

***Just a little note to any mom considering letting their son have a sleepover, DO NOT bother cleaning the bathroom before the boys come over!!! I will forgo the bathroom stories, but trust me I should have just cleaned it once after the party!***

His real birthday was pretty low key as he spent the day recovering from his late night of gaming with friends! He did blow out the candles again, and make one last birthday wish!

 

Happy Birthday John,

May all your birthday wishes come true!

 

...Good Life...

....I know that I have a good life and so much to be grateful for...

 

When someone you love passes away, it makes you reflect on a lot of different things. Donnie's Grandma (August 20, 1925-January 26,2013) passed away on Saturday.  She was a beautiful woman who was full of spunk, and I know that her spunky personality is what I will miss most.  I am thankful that the kids and I were able to spend some time with her this summer. Katie and John even got to take a ride in the convertible to get some ice cream with their Great Grandma Ginny! I know they will remember the special times like this one forever....

...the thing about life is we don't know if we will live

a long, happy life or if it will be cut short...

 

So enjoy the good days with friends

....celebrate the small things in life....

....don't be afraid to try something new....

....live out of your comfort zone every now and then...

....smile and enjoy the gift of life....

...In loving memory of Virginia Ahrens...

....Life is Good....

We are finally back into our groove. The holidays are behind us, the kids have had a full week back at school, I've started to actually cook and workout again, and we've enjoyed a few meals with friends this week too!

Life is good!

...the kids have been able to really enjoy their friends this week...

 

...extra playtime on the nights we had dinner with friends...

 

...and a good ole' fashion play date...

Luke and his "girlfriend" Abbey played for hours.  It was the kind of play date where you almost don't know they are there playing because they are playing so well together they don't need you for anything. It is so funny listening to them.  I wish I had recorded a few of their conversations. Their giggles and laughter will make you smile from a room away.  I was actually talking to Donnie as they were playing in the living room and he commented on how they sounded like an old married couple. And in many ways they do, they have such a special friendship that I can't even begin to imagine them not going to school together next year.  Of course, you never know with the Army.

 

The kids even had a sleepover this weekend. The boys crashed at our house and the girls at the other.  I makes me realize how much I must have worn my parents out with sleepovers when I was little. As a parent I now know that it isn't the sleepover that is exhausting, it is the next day that you have to make it through that is the challenge. My kids DO NOT do well when they don't get enough sleep.  But it was totally worth it! Awww to be a kid again!

We've been blessed with warmer weather this weekend too! The snow is slowly melting away, and I know that I should enjoy this brief thaw in our winter because more snow is on the way! Warmer days means the kids can stay outside and play in the snow much, much longer!  Snowball fights with the neighborhood kids, building snowmen, and small forts that don't last long with the melting snow.  Listening to the laughter and squeals while they play makes me smile!  It reminds you that life is good.

We are in a good place.

Holding on a little longer until we are cuddled up together again!

...the weekend...

...I have started to type and

have retyped this post multiple times...

 

....the original title was going to be panic stricken...

 

A long story about how I lost/thought my wallet was possibly stolen....and while for about 10 hours I was truly distraught and panicked...that disaster is almost behind me...I should have new credit and debit cards in a few days, and I now have a new military id and drivers license...all that is left will be to update our online services with our new information (such a pain).  And oh by the way, I found my wallet!!  Too late bad it was after I had cancelled everything!

...The highlight of our weekend was getting a Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer book delivered to us by our elf Twinkle.  He flew all the way to Afghanistan to have Donnie record this book for the kids!  We all loved it! It was wonderful to hear his voice reading to the kids! I think they listened to the book 3 times in a row before taking a break to do something else.  What a wonderful Christmas surprise!!!


 ...We continued our holiday fun with Katie's Christmas Dance Recital.  I only managed to snap this one quick picture because I was recording the dance for Donnie.  However, I only managed to record the first 4 seconds of the dance, so that didn't really go as planned... 

 ...Thankfully my friend, Jen Ulasiewicz,

takes beautiful photos...

http://www.jenu-photography.com/

...Christmas is such a joyful time of year! I love that there are so many fun things surrounding the holiday season.  We had a little more holiday fun seeing The Littlest Elf at the Lake Ontario Playhouse.  An adorable little play about the newest elf trying to find a Christmas song to sing for Santa! 

The Christmas Countdown is on...

...and it won't be long until we will be turning these blocks around and counting down the days until Daddy's home! Thank you, Heather for the perfect gift!

 

I'm thankful...

...for so many things, especially Thanksgiving with friends. We spent it with the Crow family at a beautiful little farm house in East Durham, NY.

It was a perfect day for a country drive that morning. Once we arrived the kids played outside, made holiday crafts, and passed the time playing games while the grown-ups prepared a delicious feast.

The best part of Thanksgiving was being with friends who make you feel like family. Mark's parents and his brother and sister-in-law made us feel right at home, and like such a part of their family Thanksgiving. Blessed, the only word I can think of that comes close to describing our time with the Crow's.

I'm thankful that Donnie is safe and hopeful that next year we will be together on Thanksgiving!