Luke-Ready for Soccer

Luke had his first soccer game yesterday. He's a very good little soccer player. I have to say that it's quite funny watching a bunch of three and four-year-olds "play" soccer. They actually did a pretty good job, that is, the kids who weren't off climbing trees, throwing fits, or just un-interested. Luke was the opposite, very interested. In fact, we think he's ready for tackle football because if the other team had the ball and Luke wanted it, he pretty much took them down. It was quite funny. Other kids had ways of getting the ball. Some fell on it (which Luke fell some too, but usually he tripped over his own feet), and others just picked it up to run with it. Awesome afternoon. What was really nice about it was the fact that all parents knew all the kids, so we just enjoyed cheering on any kid who was able to kick the ball at the goal...any goal. That's another thing. They started trying to actually play towards the right goal, but as kids got turned around and kicked towards the wrong goal, we all cheered anyways. I love watching pee-wee soccer! Great job Luke...it looks like football will be a huge hit with you eventually!

Soccer!

Madison had her first soccer game this weekend on team "YPG Revolution." Aside from crying twice because she got grass on her shin guards, she loved it. We had a discussion about, "There's no crying in soccer," and I think she'll be fine now :)

Soccer has become so popular on post, they have three 3/4 year old teams, two 5/6 year old teams, a 7/8 year old team, and a 9/10 year old team! It's amazing things have come so far. This is the first year teams for kids ages five and under have even been offered.

The Army kids are in a league with the kids at the Marine Base in town (MCAS). Most of the games are at MCAS (about 45 min drive), so pictured above is where we'll be spending the next six Saturdays or so. This past Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day with temps around 75 and not a cloud in the sky (almost never have clouds here!).

I hope she continues to enjoy soccer. I LOVED playing it and hope she will too. Luke's games start next week.

A Revival Like No Other

Our church had a revival today....not the kind most of you are thinking of.

An older gentleman in the choir had a heart attack during church today. One minute, the kids are sitting in the front of the church for Children's Time, and the next minute, they are being ushered out, chairs are being pushed out of the way, to get to this man. He was sitting in the back row of the choir, and just put his head back, and passed out. Edward, along with a couple of non-medical friends, quickly jumped up there and got him on the floor. No pulse, not breathing, nothing. Edward started chest compressions, and within a couple of minutes (and about 100 compressions later), Edward brought him back! What a praise! The EMS arrived and then were able to take him to the hospital, but it would have been a very different story this morning had Edward not been there. We have a very elderly church, and it's amazing this hasn't happened before. Everyone is just thankful Edward was there and able to resuscitate this nice man. Prayers to him and his wife, who was understandably very upset, for a healthy prognosis.

Chili

We had chili for dinner Friday night. I'm not one to make several meals for the kids; we all eat one meal. We hadn't had chili in awhile, and really, that was the one thing I hadn't made them try. Well, we all ate chili Friday. Luke didn't want to try it at first, but I told him it was one of Grandpa's favorite foods (true). Luke will do about anything if Grandpa is involved. I told Luke that Grandpa liked to put a lot of crackers in his chili (also true). I got distracted for a minute helping someone else, and when I looked over, Luke had crackers piled high in his bowl. It was really funny. He did eat it...all of it, and he proclaimed he liked chili.

Shopping Sights

Forgot to post this...A couple of weeks ago, we spent a few days in San Diego. While there, we went to the outlets, which we visit most times we go to San Diego. Edward reminded me to take a picture this time of a couple of our favorite sights related to the outlet mall.

On approach to the outlets...yes, it's at this exit. We're in the U.S., but just barely!

Parking at the outlets...on top of the grassy knoll is THE FENCE. Yes, that's Mexico you see behind the green grass. You literally park at the wall. How's that for outlet mall shopping? It's quite the experience.

On the same trip to San Diego, we stopped at the HUGE commissary at the naval shipyard. Alex fell asleep, so Edward stayed with him. Madison and Luke were delighted to see the slew of space ship carts this commissary had. Our little commissary only has ONE spaceship cart, so they were in heaven! Look at the line of them!

Road Work

For those of you who have visited YPG before, you know we are pretty isolated, and the five-mile road off the main highway to the post entrance was in bad shape. Well, Arizona decided to replace/repave the road. I would just say repave, but they tore up the entire road! And, they didn't just tear it up in sections or have one-lane traffic. No, they TORE it up all at once and had all of us drive on the dirt/sand while they replaced it. I think everyone here was just dumbfounded that they tore it all up at once. It was so bad to drive on it, you were lucky to go 20 MPH because of the and and ruts in the dirt, and it went on for miles like this. Plus, as they were working, trucks would dart in and out to help with the work. Here, at two different points, I had to stop completely for trucks to move around. As you can see, it's definitely like driving across a desert.

Ahh, isn't this just a "beautiful" place to live?? The fence on the right is for YPG, our "gated community."

You can see where they had paved the new road and just hadn't finished it yet. Luckily, we are back up and running with a normal road now.

You can also see all of the "greenery" that grows only in the winter, as it's cool enough to do so. By summer, all of this is dead due to the fact not much of anything can survive 120+ degrees!

What Not to Wear

Awhile back, Alex and I were in Children's Place, and he thought this hat was perfect with his outfit. It's proabably hard to tell, but it's a girl's hat, covered in sequins.

Bug Man

Luke was being extra cautious on his bike with the safety goggles. I think he looks like a Bug Man.

Alex's Big Boy Haircut

I've cut Alex's hair several times, but he finally needed a "big boy" haircut withe the clippers and all. He did a great job, especially after Edward started feeding him one M & M at a time to sit still!

Mommy's Helper

Alex loves helping around the house. We spend a lot of time together while Madison is in kindergarten every morning and Luke is at preschool. Recently, he has moved to one nap a day (bummer), but I can't complain much because he took two naps much longer than the other two kids ever did. Someone needs to explain that his one nap should be LONGER than an hour though!

Around the house, he especially likes to help with the laundry. Here, I was folding laundry on top of the machine (because he'll throw it around the room if I fold it anywhere else), and he was having a snack break in the laundry basket. Notice the broom and mop on top of him. That's totally him...he's obsessed with getting them out of the closet.

Snack break..for those of you in the dead of winter everywhere else, notice the shorts and t-shirt for our 90 degree weather.

He also had his blankets with him. He drags those everywhere. I guess they must be good padding in the laundry basket!

Happy January??

While all of you are posting about the crazy amounts of snow you are getting...

January in Arizona...Jealous?

Strange Place to Sleep?

When I checked on Madison last night, I tiptoed into her room, and I was a little alarmed when I couldn't find her in her bed. I turned around, and I found her sleeping in her doll crib! She's sitting on top of it with her blankets and pillow pet.

"Look Mom, No Training Wheels!!"

Luke had a very exciting afternoon. He took off his training wheels. Edward and I were both shocked at how well he did without them. Way to go Luke!!! He's always wanting to be more like Madison, and he's been eyeing those wheels for awhile. Not even four years old, and he's done with training wheels. Good job, buddy!

Note the cowboy boots...These are the same boots that he wore Christmas morning with the Batman costume and new Razor scooter. He also wore them with his Halloween costume. I never would have guessed these boots would have gotten so much wear! They had actually been Madison's and Luke grabbed them as soon as they were too small for her. I can't imagine how sad he'll be when these are too small for him.

No major falls! He's not afraid, which helps. He just gets on and rides.

Madison and "Her Girls"

Madison received a new doll for Christmas, Alaina, from her cousin Alaina. She loves her so much (well, both the cousin and the doll). If you know Madison, you know her greatest love is for Hannah, her American Girl Bitty Baby she received from my college roommate Jenn when she was one. Well, Hannah now has a new best friend, Alaina. Madison totes the two of them around with her everywhere, especially on her new doll bike seat. She asked me to take a picture of "her girls" all dressed up.

Our Trip to San Diego

We spent a few days this week in San Diego. Our friends had told us to go on a whale watch before we have to move, and with whale season being all "winter," we headed over for a trip. It was a very relaxing couple of days in San Diego. We stayed right downtown, which was great because we could walk across the street to the harbor. The kids had a blast, we all ate delicious seafood, and we're so grateful we could spend a few days in San Diego.

Here we are with the USS Midway (a.k.a Soldier Boat) behind us. We're at the dock where our whale watch was leaving from too.

Here's the Hornblower, our boat. Luckily, we were there on a very good day. It wasn't crowded, and there were maybe 50 on the whole boat.

Behind our boat is a cruise ship, known to our kids as a boat hotel. We tried to explain a cruise ship to them, and Madison grasped the concept that they stayed on it like a hotel. Now, they can't stop calling it a Boat Hotel, and they thought it was so cool to see it loading up while we were in the harbor. After we returned, the boat hotel took off on its journey.

We started out on the upper deck, but after we left the docks, the kids got cold, and we moved downstairs. The air temp was around 60 degrees, but the wind made it colder.

Luke kept telling us he could see sharks with the binoculars...he was looking at the land.

Leaving San Diego

USS Midway again

San Diego on the left with Coronado Island on the right (Naval Base is there, and that's where we stay a lot)

Luke then took up using the Viewmaster, which he brought, claiming it was his own set of binoculars. He didn't see much.

Still looking for sharks :)

Alex was not interested in looking for sea life.

Well, he was interested once we moved inside.

Here's the middle deck where we spent a lot of time. The kids could see well from here, and it wasn't cold.

Whale! See the blowhole "puff" in the distance? We saw nine whales on the tour. The captain had told everyone to yell, "Thar she blows," when they spotted a whale. Madison took that to heart and yelled it EVERYTIME she saw a whale, even if everyone had already noticed it.

Whale

More of the whale...we really had a great time on our three and a half our boat ride. We weren't sure how the kids would do being out there that long, but they loved it. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, and it was amazingly relaxing. We recommend the Hornblower anytime!

******

The next morning, we walked across the street again to the harbor. We see the USS Midway in the harbor everytime we visit and finally decided to visit it. They have a very cool walkway along the harbor, dedicated to the sailors of long ago. San Diego was a major port during WW II, and even my grandpa spent a lot of time here in the Navy during the war.

On the USS Midway, we were able to tour the different decks of the boat, and since it's an aircraft carrier, there were many opportunities to sit in aircraft on the boat.

Up on the flight deck...I would have liked to have taken more pictures, but Alex fell asleep in his stroller, so he and I stayed below while the rest of the fam went up to the flight deck. All in all, we spent almost three hours at the Midway. Luke was thrilled. He has always called it the "Soldier Boat" and was beyond excited we were able to tour it.

Flight deck view

More from the flight deck

Awesome trip to San Diego! We also were able to have some yummy treats from Extraordinary Desserts, a local favorite. Before heading home, we stopped at the huge commissary in San Diego, where they have Julian Pies (from the town of Julian we visited in October). We love those pies and brought two home..one for now and one that was frozen and hasn't been cooked yet. The Apple Mountain Berry pie is delicious!

A Good Big Sister

Madison has really enjoyed having her own room ever since we moved rooms a few months ago. Her brothers love to bother her, but sometimes she enjoys letting them come in and play with her. Alex loves to sit on her bed, and since getting a radio/cd player for Christmas, Madison has been listening to music non-stop. So now, Alex loves to sit on the bed and dance to the music with Madison.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

My sister has a friend who somehow works for/gets sample shoes from New Balance. They are all brand new, but with samples, they only come in one size. Lucky for her, she is the adult sample size. Lucky for us, she happened to snag the kids' sample sizes at the last "shoe party." So, to our pleasant surprise, we received five pairs of shoes in the mail the other day. Madison's fit perfectly right now, so she's been sporting them. Luke's will fit soon, as like the rest of us, he has a big foot too. Thanks Mer (and thank your friend!).