Max's Quality Time With Mom

While Nolen is at school every day, Max and I spend "quality" time together. When we lived on post that was true. Now we have either 3 hours to waste on post, or we drive back home, spend 2 hours here and drive back out to get Nolen which is what we did today. We colored some together and then I got on the computer to catch up on my Jazzercise bookkeeping. Max was VERY quiet in the kitchen so I decided to check on him.

He was devouring "oiled peanuts". What a cutie!

Staying Busy in the New House

That feels like a bit of an understatement! Between teaching 6 Jazzercise classes each week, driving Nolen to post for school, keeping Jasmine out of trouble, and putting the house together, we've been keeping out of trouble! Ed has been tackling a bunch of projects around the house.
Before we moved in, he put up a mailbox and installed a doggy door. It takes a brave person to start cutting a hole in a door! More recently he installed a smarter thermostat, reran all the cable TV (no pun intended), put up a clothes rod and shelf in the boys' closet, fixed the entertainment center a little, and has more to do installing shelves in the garage and turning a closet into a pantry for me.


Meanwhile, I have tackled recovering the couch. It was Ed's idea but I'm such a control freak....It seems to be going pretty well. We'll see how it turns out. I should have taken a before picture. One of the back cushions had a huge hole in it and we had already repaired holes in the seat cushions so drastic measures were necessary.



The boys haven't been getting as much attention lately as they did this summer. I try to take them to a park a few times a week - and its been cooler lately so that has helped. Yesterday, Ed took them out to fly a model rocket. ALL of the boys loved it! This is a picture from Lake Tholocco on post. The boys LOVE the teeter totter, and even though Max chipped his tooth on it back in February, I still let him play on it. I'm such a good mom!

Ed did a bunch of yard work yesterday. We have some great plants and trees all around the yard but the back yard especially needs some TLC. HE borrowed a pole saw from the neighbor and was cutting dead branches out of trees yesterday. We have about 5 oak trees in our yard. He has also started a compost pile! We want to extend the patio and I want to screen it in, but I suppose that is more of a long term goal. I think these are Mexican Petunias.

Ed is also really proud of his roses that are growing down by the mailbox. We need to cut them way back at some point. They have been blooming lately since the trimmed them.

Well, I think that is all the news that is fit to print. Time to get dressed for Jazzercise. Another busy week begins!

Long Time - No Post

Sorry for the big gap since the last post. Things have been extremely busy around here...let's see where should I start??

Well, the most exciting thing is that we bought a house in Enterprise! We absolutely love it. We closed 2 weeks ago and moved in this past weekend. It is MUCH bigger than our house on post was and MUCH cuter too. Ed is thrilled to have a house where he can do all the projects he wants - if only he had more time. He just started his second semester of his Masters degree in Operations Research. I don't know the names of his classes, but I do know that one of them uses Applied Linear Algebra. I took theoretical Linear Algebra as part of my math degree. It is not an easy class. He has been spending a lot of time studying, watching lectures and doing homework. What happened to all of that lazy time we had back in Alaska? Seems like we used to sit around watching the snow fall for months at a time.

Anyway, we closed on the house 2 weeks ago and then went over and had a picnic dinner on the floor.

The boys love the new house. They have a lot more room to play. Ed has already painted the boys' room. It was pink, and now its blue. He put in a doggy door for the dogs and the boys apparently (we'll get to that later), and he put in a mailbox. He is really enjoying all of it...if only trips to Lowe's were free....hmmm. I told him that he spends money at Lowe's the way I spend money at Target! That's not good!

Moving day went well. I took the kids and got out of Ed's hair. He had some great friends helping him and everything was finished in 4 hours!!! Now if only we could get everything put away that quickly! We hung out at the boat races at Lake Tholocco with Austin for awhile.

And the last bit of news for right now...

Yesterday I went to the old house to grab a few more things. I was packing up the Weber when a big fat green worm caught my eye.

(I'm working on the formatting here but enough is enough! - Oh, durr, I can edit the html...I used to be a professional! Haha)

Anyway, found a big green worm, made all of the neighbors check him out, decided to try to bring him to our new home. I have never in my life seen a worm this big! He is a half inch wide and about 4 inches long. He crawled across the ground, up my bike tire and all the way to the handle bars! His face looks like a hairy acorn to me and check out his crazy feet! The only worm that compares is Slimey. After some research, I believe he is a Luna Moth of the Giant Silkworm Moth family. Luna Moths have a wingspan of 5" to 6"!! Woah! How big is our bug house??

Birthday at the Lake

We took the boy to Lake Tholocco for Max's birthday picnic. They always have a blast at a lake! Tonight we brought their Tonka trucks. Max just got his for his birthday. We also brought Jasmine. She LOVED it! She kept running into the water, then running around on the sand, then back into the water. Ed played fetch with her on land and in the water. She is a great swimmer! We grilled hamburgers and then sang happy birthday to Max and ate cupcakes. I would say that despite the fire ants, the evening was a success!




I have never seen a butterfly like this outside of a butterfly exhibit! Isn't it pretty? Here are the butterflies we saw at the museum at UF...

I can't believe I caught this picture. She chased the butterfly for a little bit before he flew away.


My big boys with their big trucks!
Dinner at sunset.
Max blowing out his candles. It was a little windy so Ed was trying to keep them lit.

Max's Third Birthday Party

Jasmine "Daisy" Smith

We have a new member of the family! I was leaving Jazzercise one day in late June when my friend pointed out a stray dog that was hanging out in the parking lot. We managed to get her to come to us and gave her some water. She was so grateful she started licking us all over. She was filthy, skinny and looked like she had chewed through a tie out cable that was still attached to her collar. We called animal control and they came and picked her up. I think I was already in love with her. I called to find out if anyone had adopted her and what would happen if no one came to get her. Long story short, we have a new dog. She is about 6 months old and has SO much energy. Bugsy wasn't a big fan at first. He used to sit around and stare at her like a grumpy old man, but he has since warmed up to her. She is a very smart dog, crazy for tennis balls and needs to be taken outside 3 times a day to run off her energy. I joke sometimes that if I don't take her out, she is going to eat the kids! She LOVES to chew on stuff, as any puppy does but she is better when she gets plenty of exercise!
I love her white chest and white paws and black face. She has gained weight in the last month and her coat has gotten much shinier. She was in bad shape when we got her!
Nolen and his doggy. He loves it when Jasmine kisses him.
Max loves to pet anything while he sucks his thumb. Yesterday morning he fell asleep in Jasmine's bed.
Snuggled up like old friends.

These pictures make it look like Jazz sleeps a lot...the truth is, she is either sleeping or moving so fast you can't get a good picture!

Nolen's First Day of School!!! (Part Two)

Nolen was very excited to go to school today! He is in Mrs. Livaudais's (pronounced Liv-a-day) afternoon class at the Primary School (Pre K, K and 1st grades) on post. I dropped him off at 12:30 and walked him to his classroom. He put his backpack in his cubby and took off to play with the puzzles. He rode the bus home this afternoon and is in a very good mood. He said he played in the kitchen today but that they didn't play outside because it was too hot. I'm so excited for him. I hope he continues to love school!
Nolen showing me that he is going to the "4 School."


Such a big school and a big backpack for a little kid!



Nolen doing a puzzle in his classroom.

Max was upset that Nolen was at school without him so we made cupcakes for his brother and then we had some school time of our own.


My big boy riding the bus home after his first day of school.