I Heart Shopping (when I get a good deal)

Hit the Gap Clearance Store in Cincinnati again today. I'm always so happy with what sweet deals we get there that I just have to share it with all ya'll!

Here's what I got:
11 shirts for Gabe (He is all set for next summer!)
1 pair of shorts for Gabe
3 long sleeve shirts for me
2 pairs of jeans for me
5 kid hats (One of which had Lexi's name written all over it!)
and 1 volleyball (Gabe's treat for being a great shopper! I really didn't need a volleyball.)

Now here's the best part...I got it all for $71!
Yeah for good deals!


All my loot!


Gabe sporting a new hat!

Swim Lessons

Gabe started swim lessons today. Great idea, right? Well, this picture was taken before they asked the kids to actually get in the water. He screamed the rest of the lesson and would not get in the water. Oh the joy! This is going to be a long two weeks! As we were walking to the car after his lesson he turned to me and said, "That was fun!" Are you kidding me? You just screamed for half an hour and you think it was fun? I sure hope tomorrow's lesson goes better! Oh, and just FYI Gabe gets in the water ALL the time! He doesn't like to get his face or head wet (that's why we're in lessons) but he loves to go to the swimming pool! What up dude?

Bringin' Back the Mullet!

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a mullet on someone and thought it looked good? Well, prepare yourself to be amazed, cuz' my baby's got a mullet and it's pretty darn cute! Check this thing out!

Splish Splash We're Taking a Bath!

The other night as I went to get Gabe out of the bathtub my feet hit water just outside the bathroom door. Yes, there was enough water on the bathroom floor to run out of the bathroom and soak the carpet in the hall. Four towels later, I finally had the water all mopped up and I put Gabe straight to bed. Was I upset, yes. Did he get in trouble, not really. Sometimes we let him splash in the bathtub when the shower curtain is closed and I had told him that night that he could splash while I got Porter dressed. So how can I get mad at him when I wasn't watching him? As to how that much water ended up on the floor, I have no idea! He's two, anything could have happened!
Anyway, I put Gabe to bed and walked downstairs. Big UH-OH! There is water dripping from my living room ceiling! Okay, now I'm upset! Thankfully my awesome neighbors were outside so I sought their advice and company, very grateful not to be going through this alone! So there we sat in my living room watching the water drip and the ceiling bulge. I called the emergency maintenance guy and he told us to poke a hole in the ceiling so the water could drain out. So Josh put several holes in the ceiling (some of which were unintentional since his fingers just went right through the drywall when he touched it). The next morning the ceiling looked better since most of it had dried. Now we just need maintenance to patch the holes. It only took them 6 months to patch the last hole, I wonder how long it will take this time?

Another day...Another load

While John has been TDY I have been trying to stay busy to make the time go by faster. Well, I was successful in keeping busy. So successful that I didn't have time, nor did I try to make time to fold all of my clean laundry. This is the MOUNTAIN of laundry that I finally folded last night! And yes, I slept on the couch for almost a week to avoid folding all this!

Wegerzen Gardens

Yesterday, we went to Wegerzen Gardens with Shelby and Sol. It was such a fun place for the kids to run around and play! Thanks Shelby for letting us tag along!
Wegerzen Gardens is part of the Dayton Metro Parks System. The Dayton area has a great Metro Park System, I love that there are so many neat places for families to go and enjoy for free!

Zippidee Zoo Day!

The Columbus Zoo was free to all military for a week. So while the guys were off work on Friday for the 4th of July we took advantage of the free tickets. Well, so did every other military family! The zoo was super busy, but we still had a great time!

Check out Porter sucking his fingers just like Gabe.

The lion was so cool! He was rolling this ball around, chasing after it, and pouncing on it. Just like a big house cat.

The baby elephant was so cute! I also love how Gabe is holding onto John's head in this picture.

All of us: John, Rachel, Gabe, & Porter. Josh, Dana, Zach, and Dana's Mom Deb. Johnny and Sol came to the zoo too, but they left before we took this picture.
After we left the zoo we hit Applebee's for some lunch. Gabe must have been exhausted because he slept in the stroller while we enjoyed lunch (this never happens)!

Porter and Zachary

The other day I was baby-sitting Zach and I had laid him down on the floor next to Porter. I had to go outside for something and when I came back into the house Zach had a hold of Porter's hair and Porter was just'a screamin! It was one of those moments when I thought, "do I grab the camera or rescue my baby?" Well, I ended up rescuing my baby, but it sure was hilarious to see Zach happy as can be with Porter's hair in his fist!
Here's some cute Zach and Porter pictures that Dana's Mom took.

Just imagine that little hand reaching over and grabbing that tuft of hair...

Temple Trip

We had the really neat experience of going to the Columbus temple with our friends this month when Josh recieved his endowment. As I was sitting in the temple I was thinking about how grateful I am to have such great friends! We really are blessed to have an awesome group of friends right now. We sure love you guys and appreciate your friendship!

Tattoo 2009

Every year the base holds a Tattoo the weekend before the 4th of July. The Tattoo has become part of our 4th of July celebration since we moved to Ohio since it is a very patriotic event and it has the best firework show! Gabe and Sol had a blast running around and playing while we watched the fly-overs. Poor Sol kept getting tackled by Gabe, but he was a good sport about it! Aaron Tippin was the performer this year, but we didn't stay for the concert. Instead we headed home to put tired kids in bed. While we were walking home we could actually hear the concert - good enough for me! Once Zach, Porter and Sol were in bed we sat out in the driveway to enjoy the fireworks. (Gabe got to be a big kid and stay up for the fireworks.) I love that we get to see a great firework show from our driveway!

From the Mouth of Gabe

Check out Gabe's poor knees. Summer is rough on little boys! He keeps saying, "Look, my knees broke!"

Lately when I tell Gabe we are going somewhere he says, "Is Porter coming too? He's my best friend!"

When Gabe is ornery I frequently tell him that he needs to "put on a happy face." Now when Porter cries, Gabe is quick to remind Porter to "put on a happy face, not a grumpy face!"

Last night as I was tucking Gabe into bed he picked up the scriptures, opened them, and as he ran his finger under the words he read, "Heavenly Father, help Daddy be safe, Amen." He kept turning the pages and saying this over and over. Can you tell what we are praying for right now?

I love my sweet Gabe!

Sleep!

Porter slept through the night last night! Gabe didn't, John didn't, and I didn't, but Porter did! Yahoo! He slept from 9PM to 8AM. Keep it up little guy, keep it up!

All American Boys

I had these pictures taken of the boys in John's uniform for Father's Day.

Old McDonald had a Farm

Gabe must have gotten his singing voice from me . . .

This post is for Taylor

Hey Muffin,
Check these bad boys out!
I think I have discovered the secret to mountain peaks in the middle! You have to CALL me to get the secret though . . . that being the case, I figure I'll go to the grave with my secret. What a shame.

ABC and 123

Gabe has been doing a super awesome job of counting and knowing his alphabet. Here is a little Show-and-Tell of what a smart kid he is!

Sweet Big Brother Gabe

Happy Father's Day!

We sure hope all you dads have a super awesome Father's Day! And to my dear hubby, I sure love you and am so grateful you are such a great dad to our kids!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Idiot Warnings

You all know what an "idiot warning" is right? You know the warning labels they put on things for complete idiots. Like on my stroller there is a label that actually warns parents not to collapse the stroller while the baby is in it. The same thing is on my pac-n-play "don't fold this up if you baby is in it." No brainers right? So the other day I totally had my own idiot moment, however, there was no idiot label there to warn me that putting a carbonated beverage in a sippy cup may cause a pyroclastic eruption of Cherry 7-Up to spew into my child's face!" Let me tell you how much my two year old enjoyed being firehosed by his sippy cup . . . not very much! Seriously, did I miss the warning? Or am I just an idiot? Never mind, don't answer that.

Porter Laughs

Porter laughed for the first time today and I caught it on camera!
Pretty pleased with myself right now.

An Unusual Day

So yesterday we got up and were going about our morning routine as usual. Gabe was bouncing off the walls, begging to play outside, I was trying to get a little work done around the house before we went outside, you know, the usual. Well at 10:30AM Gabe fell asleep on the couch, very unusual, but whatever. I used the time to make lunch and get ready to go to the swimming pool. Gabe woke up at 11:30 screaming, very unusual. Wouldn't eat his lunch, not that unusual. Then peed on the bathroom floor while screaming, unusual. At this point I came to discover that Gabe had a temperature of 103F, very unusual! Uh, I guess that means were not going to the pool today. Gabe pretty much laid on my lap sleeping all day, very unusual for my kid who is usually so full of energy I can't get him to hold still for a minute. The poor guy just didn't feel good all day long. I have no idea what caused the fever, but I guess something's been going around because a bunch of our neighbor kids have had fevers this past week too. We finally got the fever to break around 7PM last night and Gabe started acting more like himself. He went to bed around 8:30PM and at 3:00AM was wide awake wanting to watch a Thomas DVD. We made him go back to bed, but he was up again at 5AM. So I took him downstairs got him some chocolate milk, some crackers, and started a DVD for him then I went back to bed. At 9AM he was out running around with the neighborhood kids! I'm so thankful he's healthy and feeling better!

Hello Swimming Pool

Slather on the sunscreen and let summer begin, the swimming pool is open! Last summer we didn't get to enjoy the neighborhood swimming pool since we were in Utah all summer. So I'm really looking forward to spending lots of time at the pool with my kidos this summer. Saturday we went and enjoyed the first day of the pool being open and I can't wait to go back!
Now, where's that sunshine?