Last Day of School...

Can't believe the school year is OVER! May 16 and we're out of school...completely foreign to this Midwest girl who is accustomed to starting school after Labor Day and getting out mid June. So we're off...summer 2012, wonder what is in store!        

       First Day of School,  2011                                             Last Day of School,  2012

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was extra special because my mom was in town for the occasion! The girls haven't seen Nana in almost 7 months so they are enjoying having here visit for the week!

I'm a very blessed mommy!

Daddy and all his girls!

One week from today...

Colonel Steven H. Stater
Commander, 14th Operations Group
cordially invites you to attend a
Change of Command Ceremony
at which
Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. O’Connor 
will relinquish command
of the 48th Flying Training Squadron to
Lieutenant Colonel James B. Hall 
on Thursday, the seventeenth day of May
two thousand and twelve
at eight forty-eight o’clock in the morning
BLAZE Hangar
Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi
Reception to follow immediately in the BLAZE Hangar

Returning to Columbus...surreal.

Returning to Columbus has been surreal.  It feels like coming full circle in a sense.  For those of you unaware, Columbus was our first assignment in the Air Force. We were known as FAIPS (First Assignment Instructor Pilots).  We came here in approximately August of 1998...we were young Lieutenants straight out of pilot training.  Low man on the totem pole.  We were newlyweds.  We were young.  We were enthusiastic.  We were naive.

We moved away in the summer of 2001. I had earned my Masters degree.   I was pregnant.  We left a family of 4.5...hubby and wife, baby to be and our sweet Yellow Lab and Golden Retriever!   It was pre the 9/11 days...things were so different.  We were so different.  We were young.  We were enthusiastic.  We were naive.

Fast Forward 11 years.  Wow, things have changed.  Times have changed.  The Air Force has changed.  We have changed!  Base housing has changed (thank God!).   So we return to where we began in so many ways...as a career, as a family etc.  We now have 4 kids.  We are down to one dog.  We've endured years of TDY's and Deployments.  Literally.  We added "Colonel" behind our title of Lieutenant.    Brad has gone from being the Executive Officer to the Commander of the Squadron, to being the Squadron Commander.  We aren't as young. Perhaps a little less enthusiastic. Definitely not naive.

While surreal, coming back has been fun.  AETC (Air Education and Training Command) bases are disproportionately young compared to many other air force bases due to the nature of their mission.  This type of base trains new pilots...the majority being straight out of college or a service academy.  A large number of those students remain at the base for additional three years to be instructors (FAIPS). In light of that there is a big demographic of "kids" here in their young to mid twenties.  It makes me feel old and at the same time I'm hoping it keeps me young.  I've enjoyed playing intramural volleyball for the first time in ten years. I'm supposed to play in a flag football tournament in a few weeks.  It's that college campus type environment and activities that are one of the fun elements of being here and living on base.

So returning to Columbus has a sense of coming home.  We're glad to be here.  I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer moving Columbus  to a metropolitan area a little further north...but then I guess it wouldn't be Columbus.   We have lived places that are "cooler"...both literally and figuratively...but "cool" loses something when you're husband is constantly TDY or deployed for a year.  So we're thankful to be together and we're glad to call this small town home for now and to call this community our family.

Finding Our Niche

It is hard to believe that Mississippi has only been home for less than 5 months! I suppose I should find this fact encouraging as I think about how adjusted life feels in that short amount of time. I already have several junk drawers in the kitchen...isn't that a sign of having lived somewhere awhile?    

The girls are growing up too fast! Baileigh is ten in a half and 5 feet tall. I think by fifth grade I'll be looking her in the eye. Mckenna is 8 and still keeping things exciting! She has started guitar lessons and is still hoping we can figure out how to work gymnastics back into her life (closest gym is in a town 45 minutes away). Brooke is finally starting to read and I'm hoping that she doesn't regress this summer. Morgan,despite being three, keeps up with her older sister's schedule and pace. She is a roller coaster...more highs than lows thankfully.

A highlight to this move to MS is that the girls have been able to attend a small private Christian school. It is SO much like my school growing up that I attended K-12! It's crazy for me to think about the fact that I spent 13 years in one school and my ten year old is already on her third school in fourth grade (and it would be her fourth if I hadn't home schooled briefly this past fall!). The tight knit community and small environment of their school have been a good fit for the girls...instead of being eaten alive in a big pool they have quickly gained acceptance and have each seemed to find their own niche.

I'm Back! Take Two!

Okay...Take 2! I know I posted a few months back saying I was back to blogging. And then, as you can see...I quickly failed! I've spent all day contemplating my first post as I make my return...again...but I'm just so excited about the look of my new blog that I can't wait to be inspired. And, as you can see, I'm not inpired. But I am excited, and I figured that is good enough. So I'm back in the blogging saddle. I know you're all thrilled...well, maybe just my mom! I know blogging has taken a backseat to Twitter and Facebook these days...but it is still unique in and of itself that it offers a format more similar to journaling. My beautiful refaced blog is thanks to my talented friend, Heather. She does lots of other great things so check out her site! Maybe I'll gain some new readers off of FB...let me know if you visit. I figure if I build it they will come...so I'm building.

A New Year, A New State

My poor blog...so neglected. In my defense, life has been busy. Since my last post I was busy with: a surprise 40th anniversary party for Brad's parents, Thanksgiving, stomach bug, packing, moving, unpacking, holidays, unpacking, unpacking, new school, unpacking etc.

These are both excuses and reasons why I haven't posted in so long. So now that I find myself with a rare twenty minutes (that I should be unpacking) I have decided to touch base with my blog. One more excuse is that I've been waiting on updating my header before I became faithful to my blog...but my creative friend who has done my blog also moved over the holidays and experienced short term apartment living as well so I completely understand why she has been too busy to worry about the look of my blog!

So for any of those that are't aware of our changes via Facebook...we are now in Mississippi at Columbus Air Force Base. Returning to this base has been surreal...we were hear from 1998 to 2001. We were a very different family then...a family of 2 humans and 2 dogs. Now we're 2 humans, 4 kids and 1 dog. More and more this is starting to feel like home and we look forward to making more friends and getting plugged in at a church.

I'm taking baby steps so that is all for this post. More to come soon...I hope!

Halloween

I can't believe Halloween was already two weeks ago...seems like it was a few days ago.

This year I had a karate kid...

A hippy...

My bumble bee...

And a Michigan cheerleader...

My gang. Because we're living in an apartment right now we went to our church for their fall festival. The girls enjoyed playing the various carnival games to earn candy. Everyone was having a good time until we realized we had lost Morgan! We essentially walked away from her after a game...making us the parents of the year! She was only "missing" for about 2 minutes...but it was long enough that we all decided we were ready to go home afterwards! When we found her she just wanted to be held by Daddy.

Be Afraid...

We're trying something new while we're in San Antonio...karate! All three girls were excited about the idea and were able to participate in the same class, so I was sold!
I figure this is good training in self defense for when they start dating.

Back To School!

This year is a first for us...home schooling! In order to spend the fall with Brad in San Antonio it obviously meant changing schools. Considering we would be moving again around Christmas we made the decision to home school this fall. It has allowed us the opportunity to see a lot of Brad the the flexibility to go to Cleburne, TX a lot to see Brad's family.

Despite not being in a traditional classroom we had to take the obligatory "back to school" pictures! This fall starts Kindergarten for Brooke! Hard to believe...it will be sad to have her gone all day with her sisters in January. Morgan loves having all her sisters around to play with and she will have a rude awakening in a few months.
Brooke picked this lunch box because it had a matching ice pack that looked like the doggy...she was sold!
Mckenna's 2nd grade year! She just turned 8 and continues to keep us on our toes...next picture proving my point.

This is the result of her accident on August 1...rollerblading and kicked over a glass vase in the garage and fell on it. 14 stitches and now we're off to see a plastic surgeon tomorrow to see if there is anything more they can do to help its appearance.
Doesn't stop her spunk, beauty and enthusiasm...
Last but not least...my 4th grader! Almost 5ft and wearing a size 6 shoe, yet only 9!!!!! Imagine by her teen years. I am enjoying kissing her forehead while I can...soon I'll barely be able to kiss her chin.

Three of the four...

The present

I'm so far behind on this blog that I keep trying to figure out how and when to catch up...I finally decided today that there is no time like the present. Today. Now.

Short summary.

Brad has been home almost 2 months.

One month ago we said goodbye to VA and we moved across country into our temporary home in San Antonio.

I'm home schooling the girls until we make our "permanent" move to MS...sometime around mid to late December.

We're keeping busy and enjoying the family time.

Geesh...two months in 4 sentences! Very uncharacteristic of me!

Current day...Morgan is potty training/trained. She is doing great and I'm anxious to be past the phase where I'm visiting every bathroom in the greater San Antonio suburbs.

Older 3 girls are doing karate twice a week and love it...pictures soon. Morgan takes a tumbling class and listens so well to her teacher.

Brad is about to hit the flight line in the T-1...wrapping up academics and simulators.

We're enjoying the time together as a family, but it feels like a vacation, not a move.

We miss our VA friends.

Here are a few pictures from Brad's return that I never posted...we were fortunate to have someone from Operation Love come to the homecoming and capture the moment.

I also hope to have a few pictures from a going away party that friends threw for us...waiting on pictures from a friend (ahem...Desi!;)

Welcome Home! Goodbye!

I haven't published in several weeks for a few reason...the primary being that I couldn't! I was having problems with my blog and couldn't publish my posts.

But I'm back...obviously.

In the past two weeks Brad returned home! Yeah! Pictures to follow soon.

The reason I can't post pictures at the present moment is that the CD is in a box...
because we're moving.

Thus the goodbye.

As I type the movers are loading the truck...ironically that means I finally have a few minutes to just sit and wait and as a result Brad had a chance to look at my blog and was able to correct the issues that had plagued me for weeks.

Tomorrow our residency in VA becomes history.

This move is very surreal at the moment. I've been "selling this house" since January...since I bought and assembled a new desk for Brad's office in anticipation of staging the house. Since I started shopping realtors in March. Since I started making sure that the garbage can was completely full every time I set the can at the corner in order to start the process of decluttering. Then the realtors. Meeting them. Interviewing them. Selecting them. Then the cleaning. The staging. The listing. The offers!

It truly has gone smoothly for the most part and we really couldn't ask for more. Brad's hard work payed off andthe house was easy to sell. But the process is still long and exhausting...and I am ready to be done with it...yet not ready to leave.

We've truly enjoyed these three years. This is Morgan's birthplace. This is the first move the older girls will really remember. This is the house we remodeled. This is where we've made great friends.

This is going to be hard to leave.

This is not goodbye...we like to say this is "until next time".

MI Vacation Recap

Over the fourth of July I took the girls up to MI to visit friends and family. This is the third year we've had the priviledge of doing this trip...I'm not sure it will be possible next year once we move so I was soaking in every moment and enjoying it in spite of Brad's absence.

We took the scenic way to MI and made a visit to Taylor University. The girls have heard stories of my college years and it was really fun to spend time with them on campus.

We enjoyed the fourth in my friend Tricia's new pool while watching the Blue Angels flying over...

The girls continue to love tubing and seem to never grow tired of it...