A Cup of Tea

Julie Svatek, Lesley Rashman, Sherree Trammell & Me!

A few of us took Sherree out for 'tea' today at the tea room in Kailua called "A Cup of Tea". Sherree is moving to Pensacola very soon, so it was an opportunity to have one last outingwith her. Her husband is going to be a flight school instructor, and we will all miss them VERY MUCH!

Julie had been to the tea room a few times before but it was a first for the rest of us! We started out by choosing our own flavor of tea.... had scones, and then indulged ourselves with tea sandwiches and a variety of desserts. To end the day, they served us a dish of ice cream! It was delicious, and so much fun! It was a great girls day out!

And we even got to gawk at the Red Hat Society ladies behind us!

Bible Olympics

Trevor's pre-school had their annual Bible Olympics yesterday. Addison and I were able to go and attend/participate! They started us off in the chapel with their monthly bible verse the kids memorized and a welcome song followed by instructions on the events:

Then they set us free to wonder the area to participate in all the activities. We started off with a couple tattoos...

Addison played in the sandbox while Trevor got his tattoos

And then it was off to conker the Wall of Jericho. (which I think was the kids' favorite event... you may want to mute your computer for this video) They stacked up a bunch of empty cardboard boxes in a row to make a wall...then they marched around it blowing the most annoying sounding whistles ever made until the teacher rang her bell and they lunged at the wall and knocked it down.....and then had to rebuild it!!!

Then we went to God's Snack Shack for fruit and water. Before we knew it we were off to the potato sack races, which was Trevor's favorite event. (Addison's too)

Addison just chased the kids back and forth and screamed and laughed. She thought they must have looked pretty ridiculous hopping around in a bunch of sacks.


We made it back to the chapel for some hula hoop fun...



And then it was time for the closing ceremony where the kids sang one more song before receiving their GOLD MEDALS!

Toby Keith flies with the Uglies

Toby Keith (the "other" love of my life) was in Afghanistan on a USO tour and was the honorable guest of the Ugly Angels a few days ago. They got to fly him around and enjoy a little concert in the desert, as well as grill out with "Big Daddy".

Here, the pilots are fighting over who gets to fly Toby...
Kelly Attwood won because he was the section leader.
Attwood on left, Nick on the right

Toby under the shade hanging with the Uglies

Prepping for a picture with the flag

Toby signing the flag box (that is being shipped to me!) as Nick tells him: "You know my wife said she'd leave me for you"....Toby's response: "Aw shucks man, you gotta take better care of your woman!" I'm all giddy typing this out because Nick and Toby talked about me....EEEEEeeeeee!!!

Posing for a pic with Toby, the flag and the helo. Nick is just to the right of Toby.

On stage getting ready to sing.

Attwood and Nick enjoying a post concert smoke.
Nick flying 'home'

Afghanistan
(the green fields are either poppy or wheat)

Toy Room

The past couple days my friend Julie has been coming over to help me finish painting the toy room. I had our 'handyman' come over last week to get the room ready to paint. He finished mudding and sanding the room for me since I absolutely DESPISE doing that kind of work. Plus... I've been sick of looking at a partially mudded toy room for way too long!
So today, we finished up and Trevor helped me unload all the shelves and move them back to the toy room....and then load them back up again. Don't worry, I didn't lift anything that was too heavy!

A QUICK ADDISON UPDATE: She woke up with NO fever today! Yay....BUT! We have two new molars on the top! So... I now know the cause of the fever.... teeth!

3 Months Down

So we've hit the 3 month mark! We are almost halfway there!

Nick has gotten settled in Afghanistan and has been flying quite a bit. He still isn't liking his sleeping arrangements of sharing a tent with 12 guys, or his uncomfortable cot, but other than that he seems to be doing fine. He is able to email nearly everyday (on their single computer) just to check in (mostly quick one liners) and calls every few days. Now that he doesn't have his own internet access we aren't able to Skype.

He has taken a liking to Welch's Fruit Snacks if anyone is looking for something to add to his care packages!!!!

Other than that, I don't have any other information to report from him. Continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

A Fabulous Weekend

We had a GORGEOUS weekend! Saturday was so nice! Meridith and I and the kids packed up and went to the beach in Kailua and met my friend Julie there.

Addi & Mommy

Addi making her funny face for Julie


Addison was quick to jump in our open chairs when we would get up for something. She thought that was pretty funny.

We spent the whole afternoon chasing after the kids along the water....

and building sand butterflies (thanks Grandma "Bob")!!!

In case you were wondering, McKenzie was at her friends house after an overnighter and they both opted out on coming to the beach...I KNOW! She's crazy!

Sunday was just as nice, and HOT! But I had Julie come over to help me get some painting done in the toy room and kitchen. The last few places in the house I haven't painted yet! I am determined to get some more things done on the house during this deployment before baby comes and Daddy makes it back. Don't worry mom....I know my limitations!

Don't worry, that is just the first coat, and the color is darker in person, the picture makes it appear pretty bright red! I love how it looks though!

Today pretty much looked like this all day long.
HARD RAIN

Trevor took the camera and ran around the house taking pictures of everyone and EVERYTHING...

Meridith and McKenzie took off after school and went to see the Hannah Montana movie, which.... they both LOVED!

And....Addison woke up with a fever of 101.5

We snuggled most of the day and struggled to get her temp down, despite around the clock Tylenol. I don't know if she's coming down with something or just getting more teeth.

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!
For health and weather!

Happy Easter!!!

The Easter Bunny brought some goodies for the kids this morning!

Trevor was very excited about his giant chocolate bunny, and enormous M&M!

OMG!!!! McKenzie was so excited about her Green Converse Shoes, she had to IMMEDIATELY text her BFF Tiani and tell her about it....and THEN she could pose for a picture. LOL!

I made reservations at the O'Club on base for their Easter Brunch. However, the only time they had available when I called last week was 8:30AM, so I guess it was more of an Easter Breakfast. Here we are all ready to go! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa "Bob" for the easter package we got the other day. The kids were all able to wear the clothes you sent!!! Yes, McKenzie is wearing a dress. She was upset her green converse shoes didn't quite match....oh well!

After we filled out bellies, the kids grabbed Addi's hands and assisted her up the steps... she thought that was pretty silly! And the girls posing outside for a quick pic! It was a beautiful morning!

After arriving home with full bellies from breakfast, the kids were BEGGING for the Easter Egg Hunt. Please, please, please! So, here they are, buckets and egg carton in hand, receiving instructions on who has what color of eggs and how many they need to find...

And then they were OFF...

Trevor at the halfway mark... 6 down, 6 to go!

Addison did pretty good, except each time she would bend over to grab an egg, her basket would dump out...
*Alaina, notice the 2 cute little baby banana trees growing behind Addi in the first pic. The original tree has passed on, but not before sprouting a couple offspring! Yay!

Just a few more.....and then it was inside to inspect the contents!

Now it's quiet time before deciding what to do the rest of the day besides sneaking pieces of Easter candy...

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!