2009...In Review

2009 started with a big move for our family. Brian was reassigned to Fort Meade, Maryland (20 min from Baltimore). We were sad to leave wonderful Alexandria, Virginia, but excited for our new adventure!! Brian was very much looking forward to his new teaching position!










Roxy was added to our family in Jan!! It took a while, but eventually she and Darby warmed up to each other.







With Spring, comes sports!! Brianna joined our Ft Meade soccer league and became the only female member (watch our boys!) of the Black Dragons!! Her coaches were awesome and really showed the kids how to not only play the game, but to be a family and bond as friends! Go Dragons!!








We are so thankful for the street we live on; it's like living on a cul-de-sac, but the street is straight instead of curved. The street goes no where so the only traffic is just from us 6 houses. The kids can ride their bikes and play in the street without us fearing any cars. Our neighbors are the best and you will find us all sitting outside, sipping our coffee, and watching the kids play during a good weather day!





Going camping has become a favorite of our family in the last couple of years. We all seem to equally love the outdoors and exploring new areas. We can't wait for warmer weather and the challenge of finding a new spot to camp!








My Buddy!!! We had such wonderful times together this last year while Brianna was in school. Next year he will be off to Kindergarten and I wanted to savor each moment of his last year home. This picture is from a farm that we go to sometimes to pick our own fruit and veggies. It's great for the kids to see where our food comes from and for us to spend time together.

He may have eaten more than he picked... :-)










Our cruise in August was a dream come true!! We were gone for 7 days, had an amazing balcony room, and enjoyed so many different ports of call. We are so thankful for that time we were able to spend together and reconnect as a couple!


While we were away, the kids played!! Our AMAZING friends added our 2 kiddos to their own 3. They offered and we accepted! Jeremy & Brenda you are the best and seeing you all made our dream vacation complete!








Happy 4th Birthday Riley!!! He asked for a "Bolt" themed cake for this special day. We had some friends over and played outside. It was a perfect summer day!




First day of 1st grade!! She is standing outside her school with good friend, Cody. Brianna has had a roller coaster of a first half of the year! Her regular teacher left to have her baby just 1 week after school started. Brianna has hung in there and flourished despite a sub-par substitute. Thankfully her teacher is back and the rest of the school year will be awesome!








This is a picture of Riley and his best friend Brooke on their first day of preschool! We were fortunate to find a church close by that offered a program for 4's. He is doing so great and really looks forward to it!










One day while Brianna was at school, I totally redid her room!! She had no idea that I was planning it and I had to get it all done in just one day (by myself!). What a difference just a bit of paint and moving furniture around can do! She received this desk and our old computer for her new "big girl" space!







Every once in a while being in the military has some perks. We were able to get free tickets to see the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves! We rode the metro there, walked around the new park (only the 2nd season to be used), and even got to enjoy some hot dogs!! Our good friend and neighbor, Tabitha went with us and we had an awesome day!













Something new for Brian and I this year is that we are the leaders of our church's Jr High youth group. There was a need at out church to start a group for 6th-8th grade and we were called for it. They are named STATIC - Students Taking Action Together in Christ. The kids are all awesome!
This is a picture form our Fall Food Drive that we held on Oct 31. We had about 75 students and adults show up to help. The kids went door-to-door and collected more than 1000 food items!! Not one youth left this even unchanged...what an amazing night!


That's it for now!! I am going to leave December to its own blog!!

A New Year...

I was so great the first half of 2009 at posting blogs and keeping you all up to date on our family...the second half wasn't so good! In fact, I didn't post anything at all! My promise to you all in 2010 is that I will be much better at blogging and sharing pictures. I may never be as great as you, Aly, but I promise to strive toward that goal!!

Be watching for a 2009-In-Review Blog coming soon!

Camping Trip!!

It has been a long time since we have attempted any kind of camping, and thought it was time to give it a shot! We already had most of the gear needed and only had to purchase a few things. I had done some looking online for a camping spot that was close by and had some modern conveniences (bathrooms are necessary with kids!!). We didn't want a campground that was void of trees and had the campers all on top of each other. We found Bayshore Campground in Rock Hall, MD!! Because of Memorial weekend, they were pretty packed but had a space for us. Megan, the owner, was so great over the phone and I couldn't wait to meet her!

Thursday afternoon, we set off!! The car was full and everyone super excited!

We arrived to the beautiful country town of Rock Hall and our camping spot. Megan (who is around our age!) greeted us warmly and lead us to our camp on her golf cart. We couldn't be more thrilled with the location. The whole campground is full of mature trees that provided so much shade and atmosphere. The kids were very wiggly with excitement and proceeded to play with their new ball catching game while Brian and I set up camp. The campground is set on the Chesapeake Bay. While there wasn't really a beach to play on, there were big rocks to sit on and look over the water.

Over the two full days there we explored the area, went to the beach twice, walked through a nature preserve (until the bugs were so annoying Brian exclaimed, "I've had it with Nature!"), and went into Chestertown to their Tea Party Celebration (as in Boston Tea Party). The kids were awesome and very well behaved. They befriended the camp next to us as they had a wonderful dog named Toby! Riley thought the bugs were too loud at night and told them to be quiet! Our camera ran out of battery life, so below are a few of the pics we were able to get.

Can't wait for the next trip!

Daddy and Riley playing catch. You can see the edge of the pond that was in front of our campsite. Little did we know, it was stocked with catfish! Riley will definitely have a fishing pole next time!

Brianna enjoying a cool morning and our fire pit. SMORES!!!

Our tent and picnic table. You can also see the porta potties right behind. Those were the cleanest porta potties I have ever been in!!

We drove by this guy while in the Eastern Neck Nature Preserve.

I took pics of some of the flowers we saw (just for you Aly!!).

Two different views of Chesapeake Bay

Awww...

Some serious sand digging!

Brianna is always so happy while at the beach

They actually get along so well at the beach.

The only bad thing that happened was that Riley touched our propane lantern the first night and burned his hand in about 4 places. The worst is pictures here. It blistered up the next day to about the size of a half dollar. Ouch!

I Was Tagged...

8 things I look forward to...

~the cruise Brian and I are taking in August (with no kids!)

~Brianna's soccer games

~starting back to ORU

~seeing Brenda Schans this summer...its been to long my friend!

~beach trips with the kids this summer

~traveling

~baby #3 (not yet...must wait till AFTER the cruise!)

~some great family bike rides when Brianna is a little more confident and not afraid of her bike




8 things I did yesterday...

~finished up the laundry

~went to our church office to turn in our membership cards...so excited!

~took Brianna to school

~took Brianna and Riley to Brianna's soccer practice

~made some killer scrambled eggs and hashbrowns for dinner...yummo!!

~watched Fringe with Brian and had a cup of coffee

~started a new David Baldacci book

~gave the kiddos a much needed bath after a very dirty soccer practice



8 things I wish I could do...

~fly to TX to see Aly

~work out more (that just needs some extra motivation)

~have a date night with my hubby

~make the time go by faster so we can leave on our cruise!

~go on a missions trip to Australia. my good friend Rebecca is part of a medical missions trip to Papua New Guinea; i've been there before and am dying to go back!

~find a way to make a little extra cash from home

~have a great girls' day with Aly, Brenda, Danielle and all my other girlfriends! i hate that we all live so far apart now!



8 shows I watch...

~Grey's Anatomy

~Fringe

~Lie to Me

~American Idol

~House

~Oprah

~Private Practice

~Brothers and Sisters

Just Listen...

We had a very special day at Church today. Brian and I have started to work with the kids, so we were in children's church this morning. After the worship time, the kids get some "be still and know" time. They are to spread out in the room and have some quiet time with God. After about 2 min (an eternity to a kid!) they are asked if anyone has anything they feel God wants the group to know. Brianna JUMPED up and ran to the front! I wasn't sure what she was going to say or if she would get nervous and not say anything at all. When it was her turn to speak, she said very clearly into the microphone:

"I feel that God wants everyone to know that if you are lonely that you don't have to be because He says He is always with you."

So, of couse, I started to have tears run down my face. I was so proud, yet so humbled by my little girl and how she obeyed what God wanted her to do. I have not a doubt in my mind that there was a child or two in the group that really needed to hear that, and maybe a grown-up too! As adults, we truly lose that childlike faith of "if God says it, then thats it".

How old is your faith?

Brianna's Choir Debut!

Brianna and two of her choir buddies


Brianna has joined the Children's Choir at our church and is having a lot of fun! She really enjoyed singing in front of the Church today and wasn't even nervous (she wanted me to mention that!). Below is a video of their performance...I can't wait to see them perform at Easter!

Spring Fun

It has been a while since we have updated you all with any news. We are settling in great and the kids seem to love our new home and area. Brian is VERY happy with his job and the people he works with. They are a crazy group and very close knit. A bunch of the guys got together to have dinner and see Watchmen last night; I am thankful he has some guys to have fun with! Right now I am not working and staying home taking care of my family. It is great to not be rushing around balancing schedules and never seeing either my husband or my kids!

We have a wonderful neighborhood here on Fort Meade. Our street only has one row of 6 townhouses, so it is secluded from traffic and noise (its like living on a culdisac (sp) that is straight instead of a circle) . Our neighbors are all wonderful and we are enjoying their company. We are excited for some warmer weather that will bring BBQs and nights sitting around outdoor fire pits!

(this was last week when we had about 8in of snow!)

Today, we are having a 72 degree day! It was time to buy the kids their first "real" bikes! Riley is a daredevil and took pretty naturally to it. Brianna is a little more cautious and nervous, but she is doing really great! Now we have to find some great riding trails without too many hills for us to go on family rides together. I am loving the ages of the kids; we are able to do so much and have so much fun without having to worry about all the baby gear to lug around.

a video of the kids riding their new bikes

Also, we have a new member of the family! Roxy is a 1 year old kitty that we adopted. She is super sweet and we call her our "love sponge"! Darby was not too sure about her and we had to keep them mostly separated for the first few days. Roxy was very patient and didn't seem to mind all the hissing Darby was doing. Now they seem to like each other and are even playing together!