It's Official...

Jake will be starting his new job in April, when he gets back from his military school. While I am excited (and proud) that he got a promotion at work, I am a little apprehensive about what this is going to mean for our family. You see, his new job is in Moab.... I really don't want to move there permanently. It is a fun place to visit, lots of awesome National Parks to explore and lots of other great outdoor activities for us to do as a family. But not very many places to buy things, there isn't even a Walmart there (the closest one is in Grand Junction, CO). And don't get me started on the number of tourists that flock there every summer. Schools aren't that great and the cost of housing is expensive. The agony of selling our house in this market verses the pains of renting it to someone else just makes me want to scream. But somehow we will make it work. The plan for now is for Jake to commute back and forth on the weekends (right now they are only working 4 10's so he can be home 3 days a week) while we stay here and let Lexie finish the school year, and figure out what to do with our house. The stress is building............

Just like Dad

I was going through some pictures that I got from my mom's camera today and I found this picture of Ashton at Halloween and I can't believe how much it looks like Jake. Maybe part of it is the uniform, I don't know, but Jake would even pull this face. He really is a miniature of his Dad.

Better Late than never...

I bought these really cute heart shaped cookie cutters at Target just before Valentine's Day and I told the kids that we would make cookies with them for Valentine's Day. Well Valentine's Day came and went and we never made the cookies. I did use the cookie cutters to make heart-shaped french toast on Valentine's Day so my purchase wasn't totally in vain, but Ashton just wouldn't let it rest, he wanted to make cookies and decorate them. Well it just keep getting later and later in the month and then Jake left and then another week went by and we were running out of month, so finally last Monday I decided that if we didn't do it that night we just weren't going to get around to it. So it made a fun FHE activity. Here are some of the pictures, it was really dark and apparently my camera didn't like it very much cause the pictures aren't very good....(that's probably just the photographer in me talking :)

Single parent time....

Well Jake finally made it to his training, after spending way too long in airports along the way, because of the failure of someone else to do the things that they are supposed to. Its way to long of a story to put all of the detail here, just know that having to rely on someone else to do things for you sucks when that person doesn't really care if you get all the things you need or how long it takes for you to get where you are going as long as you get there. I'm pretty sure that thanks to same said person he will only be gone 2 weeks, which is good and bad at the same time. It just means more trips later this year. I think that Lexie was having flash backs of when he was in the Middle East cause she was having a really hard time all day Saturday, but was much better when she got to talk to him later that night. He hasn't been gone long enough for Ashton to really start missing him yet, it almost just seems like a normal military weekend so far, but that is going to be changing when he doesn't come home tonight. Not that much going on around here other than that, at least for now. I guess that we are in that February rut, when you are sick of winter and longing for spring but it just seems so slow in coming that you could just die.

I'm already stressed out!!!!!!!!!!

Jake came home from drill this weekend and informed me that he has a school to go to in 12 days; and he will be gone, to Missouri, for 2 weeks. (I already knew that, but I was hoping that if I pretended he didn't it wouldn't happen----whatever that didn't work!!) Well it is stage 2 of a 4 stage class that he HAS to take, the first stage being a Internet stage that has totally been monopolizing him the last month. What I didn't know and why I am stressed out is: he found out that he can take the classes all in a row, which I will give it to him will be easier for him. But that means that he will be gone for not 2 weeks, but a very LONG 5 weeks which include our anniversary and my birthday. It's okay he can go, this is our life I am very used to him being gone for military things. It won't be the first time we have been in different states for those two days. (on the bright side we will be on the same continent twice in our married life we have been on different continents for those two days.) What I am stressing about is this is the first time he has gone anywhere and left me home with THREE kids, and the first time that Ashton will really get how long his Dad is going to be gone. Its going to be really hard on the little guy. Thank goodness for cell phones and email; they always help and hopefully this time we can try out our web cams and actually get to see each other sometimes while he is gone.

Let me read you a story

Yesterday Ashton was "reading" a bunch of books and Abbie crawled over and was making a mess of the books he was trying to read. Instead of getting mad at her, he said Abbie let me read you a story. It was the cutest thing to see them together "reading" a book. I had to grab my camera for a couple of quick shots I'm so glad that all of my kids seem to like books and reading, because I love a good book. I read to Lexie as baby and ever since and it has paid off because she is a good reader and really likes to read. It was wonderful the day that she finally learned to read well enough to read a real story to Ashton. It has been much harder to find the time to read to Ashton and especially Abbie, but Ashton loves being read to and apparently likes reading to people. Abbie likes a good book too, usually to eat, but we are working on that.

The Good New is...

Abbie is feeling MUCH better. The bad news is that she has acquired a few new skills this week that keeps me busy chasing her. For those of you who don't know, Abbie was diagnosed with RSV and a double ear infection last Sunday. After a couple of days on antibiotics for the ear infections, and albuterol to help her breath she was back to her old self. Here is a look at all the mischief she has been getting into this week since starting to feel better..
She found the toilet paper dispenser
Caught red handed!! "What? Am I doing something that I shouldn't?"
And making it all the way to the top of the stairs for the first time..
at the bottom... and then the top

Oh what to do.........

I am not very happy about my little experiment with trying out the other blog that I started. I was so excited about it at first because there were so many things to do with it, but now I just don't know anymore. It is a lot harder to find the time to make entries (I can only do that with my Mac, which is upstairs in the office that isn't baby friendly at all.) and I'm not completely sure that anyone is even making the effort to go there since it isn't quite as blogger friendly as this site is. So do me a favor and answer the poll on the side about what you think that I should do. Thanks.....

Abbie 8 months old

I just made this cute picture from the ones that I took today. I thought I would share because I thought it was so cute.

This Sucks

I have been thrown-up on 4 times in the last 24 hours...all of which required a total change of clothes for me and whichever child it happened to be, not to mention the floors, couch and beds. Both Ashton and Abbie are sick, we were up all night, I am exhausted..............poor Jake had to go to work. This is the second round of sickness we have had since Thanksgiving, what in the world is up??