Training Wheels

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This week, Austin learned to tie his shoes! His new favorite pastime is shooting Airsoft guns with the neighborhood boys. What is an airsoft? The gun shoots airsoft bbs, but supposedly isn't dangerous? Any thoughts on this?

Ashley, my sweet girl Ashley is having a rough week. First, I took off Ashley's training wheels, but she hates me for it! After one near spill when I let go and she was riding alone, she yelled, threw her helmet off and ran inside. I went inside and she told me she made me a drink. I looked at it and realized at once she had put tabasco sauce in it!!!! Little stinker!


Also this week, Ashley got strep throat AGAIN. This is 1 day after her last round of antibiotics. She's had strep 4 times this school year! Yikes. So Ash is getting evaluated by her ENT for her tonsils to be removed next month.

Critters

Spring has sprung. The weather is beautiful. Flowers have bloomed. The grass is green. The trees have green hearty leaves.
And, the bugs have bugged out! All the critters are now climbing out of their hibernation, peaking their heads out from under their rocks from the long hard winter. Austin loves picking up anything with his bare fingers-spiders, worms, mosquitos, anything. I haven't seen an insect or arachnid he's afraid of!

Welcome Spring!

Tea Party

This week was the week of tea parties! First Ashley started with a Princess Backyard Birthday party at her friend Amanda's house. They had Tinkerbell everything! A backyard party with a girly table full of crafts, rings and hair baubles for the girls to play with, a Barbie cake and Tinkerbell pinanta. They had a ball!

Then I got to attend the MVES volunteer tea at the school. It was a delicous spread and the teachers/principal was there to thank us for volunteering throughout the year. It is such a joy at that school! I just love it.

Ash was sick last week with strep (again!) so I missed the preschool volunteer tea. Oh well, you can't make them all!

Earth Day 2010

As Room Mom in Austin's 1st Grade class (LOVE IT!) it keeps me hopping! For the Earth Day Celebration, we had the kids make little greenhouses for themselves, "earthcakes" with oreos and gummy worms, we had them nibble on fresh mint (leaves) and play "pass the earth ball" (like hot potato), and make a paper hat/decorate it station. The kids had a blast. So did I!

Tiger? Not yet.

This year again Austin was able to take a golf lesson at Piedmont sponsored by MVES. So much FUN!!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game....

GO RAPTORS!!!

Austin started baseball this year! Cameron, his best friend is on the same team (we worked it out like that) and they are the RAPTORS!

Baseball practices are long, dirty, and the games are even longer. But, it teaches Austin skills he didn't know/have before. He's learning and his coach, Coach Martino is extremely patient and gives great instruction to these 7 year old boys. Austin, who likes kicking the dirt more than catching- does like hitting the ball and we're working on catching and throwing.

This will be a fun season.

Go Raptors!

Scoop scoop, kick kick!

Ash started swimming lessons today!

Ash has been fearless in the water. Until....

The day we went swimming without a life vest. I made her swim and she went under the water a few times and quickly decided that this swimming thing makes her choke and get scared! So, I told her we'll start swim lessons and she wanted nothing to do with swimming anymore. So at the Freedom Center, I thought there might be a mutiny.

But, I was pleasantly surprised that she got in the water with her buddy Gavin and things were okay!

She told me after lessons that she never wanted to go to our pool, but only wanted to go to the Freedom Center.

Okay little guppy.

Thanks Friends...

The Benson kiddos-such great friends/neighbors!

BUSTED!

Napping in Daddy's spot...miss you Dad

Sweet Robyn...thank you....thank you...thank you...

At least 2 hours a day, we play in Ash's room with her dolls. That's at least 4 trips up to play dolls. Everyday. 2 hours. Everyday. But she loves it, therefore I make up different scenarios to role play with her Barbies. When we've repeated the same storyline, a princess may go flying across the room in disgust thrown by Ash. I've gotten very creative.

This weekend we went to Thai Basil with our dear friends the Hucks and Forsee's. The delicious Thai Basil in Chantilly that was featured on Food Network's 'Throw Down with Bobby Flay'...known for their paid thai..yum. I must say though, Pei Wei is a close second.

I also won BUNCO this week! Vegas $tyle...so fun.

So... JD went back on Tuesday back to Baghdad. Ugh.......

I am so thankful, lucky, blessed for all of my dear friends, neighbors, and family who comfort me. That's another reason I am staying here while Jonathan is deployed for the next 2 years.

We've decided back in January not to go to Germany. We've dedicated another couple of years to serving in the Middle East where Jonathan is doing great things with the vetting program and enjoying making a difference. I am thankful that he is making a difference in Iraq and consider myself lucky (although it's very hard alone here and miss him terribly). Someone has to do what he's doing and luckily I'm a strong enough person to raise my family here. We consider him a hero and we are very proud of the work he's doing. He's a hero and making history. I'm very proud of him.

So, back to my attitude of gratitude. I have so many people serve me in different capacities, I feel never-ending love from everywhere. I consider myself so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people, friends, a great ward and blessed to have such a tight family.

Love you all.

Angie

Easter Pic

Great Falls

Happy Easter!

Cadbury Eggs, chocolate bunnies, grass, dye kits, cadbury eggs, hunts, new dresses, hats, pictures, cadbury eggs...

I love EasteR!

Our Easter festivities began this year in Charleston, as we had a hunt before we left. The kids were playing prison rules during the hunt.

We then had another hunt at Ash's HBC preschool, and yet another one at Church. In fact we even were one of the winners of the "Egg Drop" Challenge. My buddy Ginger did an amazing job with the Easter party. She had 2 firetrucks come to the church and they put up their ladder to reach 4 stories high. We had to come up as a family of a way to keep a raw egg in a box-and when the firemen dropped it from the 4th story ladder, it wouldn't break. We did it! Champion Egg droppers!

April Fools!

I love Holidays...including April Fool's

"....April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is a day celebrated in various countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on a fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible.

Traditionally, in some countries, such as the UK, Australia, South Africa and parts of Canada, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool".

So, I had to continue with the tradition of marking the kids faces while they're asleep at night. And still year after year they're surprised when they wake up!

Hee hee!

I also filled their milk cups full at night and put them in the freezer. I topped the top 1/4 cup with fresh milk in the morning and when they drank, they frozen milk stopped them. "Hey!"

Hee hee!

"What's that? A snake!" As I throw a rubber snake. (Screams!)

Happy April Fool's!

Hee hee!

Happy April Fool's out there to all you others that love holidays

(and jokes) as much as I do.