the deck reveal

Backyard before- July 2009

Sean and Matt laying the decking. Sept. 2009

staining the deck- Sept. 2009

Stamped concrete is done! October 2009

It's done! November 2009
We put solar lights on each post.

They put the step in today, so it still needs to be stained.

Hooray! The deck is done. :) Hopefully we'll have some warm days coming up, so we can get out there and stain the steps. We are so happy with the deck! It's amazing to me that Sean and Matt did it all. Our backyard still needs a lot of work. We'll be planting a lot this spring!

family day

Finn, Cullen, Luke, and Maggie

Luke is outta there, that megaphone was loud!

Finn checking out the crawl space in the team room.

Cullen watching TV on the loft in Daddy's team room.

me shooting an M9

I don't want to brag, but the Soldier teaching me
told me I was a good shot.... :)

It's got a kick to it!

Me with my friends- Jessica and Allison

We did it!!

Cullen loves a good bounce house!

Checking out the ATV's

Of course, you've got to push all the buttons!
Cullen is good at pushing buttons.

In a very TALL truck.
Forgive me, I don't recall the name.

Tired boys after a long day at Daddy's work.
Notice the two Action Man's. :)

Daddy is finally home from Kyrgyzstan!! He got in while Cullen was at preschool, so Sean was able to surprise him by picking him up when school was over. It was so sweet to see the surprise in Cullen's face. He was thrilled! Finn has really been taking it all in, we can tell he remembers Sean. Finn's also on his way to being a Daddy's boy again, wanting Daddy to carry him, etc. And of course, Daddy brought back souvenirs... Cullen got a Snake Attack Action Man and Finn got the Police Man Action Man with a barking dog. The boys are in love, they love Action Man!!

Today was Family Day at the Battalion. This is the first Family Day they've had since we got here. We all had a blast! It started with a catered BBQ lunch and a chili contest. Jessica, Allison, and I bravely tried all 14 chili's and voted on the best. Some were very unique... one was made with Duck, and another with Elk. Then it was off to let the little ones jump on the bounce house.

While the kids were occupied, the girls and I made a run for it and went to the range to shoot. We caught the last bus out there. It was really fun! We donned our bulletproof vests and helmets and moved out. I shot a few times and had no idea where the bullets were going (the target had a ton of shots in it), so I asked the Soldier helping me. I was worried I wasn't even hitting the target. He told me I hit it every time and the last one was in the gut. When I was done, he told me I was a good shot. Most went into the gut and a few between the breast bone and shoulder. Not bad for my first time shooting a gun! We closed down the range and headed back to relieve the men.

We then let the kids run around the team room a bit. A team guy (with no children) thought it would be a good idea to teach Cullen how to use the Megaphone. I think he quickly realized that was not a good idea. :) Then on the way out to the car to head home, we had to make a quick stop to see some Army vehicles. It was a fun day! I'm sure the boys are having sweet dreams tonight.

A Cullen side note... When we told Cullen about going to Daddy's work today, I think he thought that he was going to work with Sean by himself-- to REALLY work and help. He went on to say, "Mom, when I'm a big kid, I'm going to the Army to help Daddy. You can stay here, cause I'm bigger." When I asked him what he'll do in the Army to help Dad he said "You know, clean up and pick things up."

the short lifespans of snowmen

our beloved Frosty

trying to get a hold of those pesky blueberries

Cullen's first snowman

Frosty didn't see the quick jab to the gut coming.

or the fast footwork...

bye bye Frosty

helping me shovel :)

We got several inches of snow last night. Once Finn went down for his morning nap, Cullen and I went outside. I needed to shovel the driveway and Cullen was itching to go play. As you can see, we built a "beautiful" (Cullen's words) snowman. Cullen found the nice weeds for his arms. Frosty had Finn's hat, broccoli eyes, a pink sucker nose, red pepper mouth, and blueberry buttons. He didn't last long, as soon as I took his picture with Frosty, he was asking to knock him down. If you can't beat them, join them! In case you're wondering, Cullen did manage to salvage the nose. :)

animals.

My boys are animals. Thursday night, we went to a fellow team-wife's house for a playdate. I was excited to go, another friend of ours was in town and I hadn't seen her or her son in a year. After dinner, us mom's were in the kitchen cleaning up and we hear a big bang coming from downstairs, where the 3 older boys were playing. I called down to Cullen to ask what it was, he said the drums fell. A little later we move downstairs to start the clean-up down there. Turns out, Cullen was moving the large drum set from Luke's room to the playroom, where he ended up breaking it. I felt so bad! Looks like we'll be buying Luke a new drum set in the near future. Luke was crying about it, it was an uncomfortable situation to be in...

Then we all move upstairs to clean up. Jack was entertaining Finn and playing real nice with him while we picked up dinosaurs and wood blocks. Suddenly Jack starts crying and runs to his mom. When I asked him what happened, he turned to me and before he could even speak... I saw. Finn bit him hard right on his cheek, not far from his eye. Eight perfect teeth marks. Crap. My boys are animals. Breaking drums, biting 5 year olds... I'm sure we gave them a lot to talk about after we left!

Looks as though my boys are not going to be victims... they are going to be the perpetrators.

Finnster

bouncing on the zebra

stopping to dance to Curious George

getting a different view

one happy kid

Finn is growing up, so I thought I'd just fill you in on the latest. If I could only use one word to describe Finn, it'd be BUSY! A few weeks ago, Sonya and I went out to do some photo shoots of the boys. It was miserable! I could not get one picture of Finn. He would not stop moving!! Then, when he would stop to investigate something that caught his eye, he would not look at the camera. Pictures with Cullen at this age where not as hard.

It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between the boys. Cullen is much more people-oriented, while Finn is interested in how things work. He's already figured out the shape-sorter. They are the same, in that, they are so stinkin' busy and tough!

One thing that's been exciting for me to see, is Finn has learned our first house rule. We do not allow drinks outside of the kitchen. It only took a few short weeks of me chasing Finn through the house to take his sippy back to the correct spot (an easily reached kitchen chair). He knew when he was wrong too, he'd "run" away from me when he heard me say no. Sometimes he'd even find me in the house to show it to me. But alas, he's made it one week without having to be corrected. He now leaves his sippy on the chair, or he'll sit it on the floor just before he gets to the carpet. He's also learned a few new signs... thanks to Halloween, he can now sign candy and cookie. :) It's amazing to me what these little ones are capable of learning!

Another new development for Finn... he now climbs onto chairs and (thanks to watching Cullen) the coffee table. Never a dull moment, earlier in the week, I happened to catch Cullen walking across the coffee table. I corrected him and he stopped. Not more than 5 minutes later, there goes Finn... walking across the coffee table too. Monkey see, monkey do.

preschool Halloween party

Cullen's class

Cullen distracted by Bryden.

Abbygael dressed up as Scooby. Cute!

Zoinks!

Here are some pictures from Cullen's Halloween party at preschool. Another mom took these pictures and emailed them out to me. Looks like they had fun!

heart warming

Today as I was dropping Cullen off for his SEEDS class (his Sunday School class); the teachers were asking the kids what they are thankful for. I stood behind Cullen, curious to what he'd say. First he said his home. Then he said Daddy. Then he kept repeating something that the teacher didn't understand. She turned to me and said he keeps saying something about a stand? Then Cullen turned to me and said it- "Kyrgyzstan" I told the teacher, Ohh, he's saying Kyrgyzstan, that's where my husband is right now. Cullen smiled, I understood him. He was just talking about Daddy. In case you're wondering, I did not make his thankful list... Action Man won out over me.

One more short Cullen story. Before Cullen's last Little Gym class, he was making the usual rounds- greeting all the other kids before class started. His teacher said to me- "Cullen is so social! You just don't see kids his age so outgoing." The story of my life.