Grandma & Grandpa Visit & More

After our big snowfall we had some special visitors come into town......Grandma & Grandpa Huber! The kids were very excited to see them. Unfortunately, they were all kind of under the weather most of the time especially Avery & Blake. We tried to keep our distance from Grandma as much as possible so she wouldn't get their germs.



coloring in the new coloring books from Grandma & Grandpa

 

 

The other day Allie came home from school and wanted her after school snack.....which prompted the other two to want one as well. They all climbed on the couch to eat, even though they know they aren't supposed to eat on the couch! They were so cute I let them stay. Shame on me! Blake is becoming quiet the cheezer when it comes to getting his picture taken.

A couple weekends ago we went to Build A Bear in Indy.....you won't see Blake because he wasn't really all that excited about it.

Just about every Wednesday we go to Crafternoon at the library. We always get there late because it starts before school even gets out. We usually have less than an hour there but we squeeze in as much as we can. Allie loves it! Avery has been once but it's really for kids in 1st grade and up.

We had to put this stool up about a month ago. I was afraid Blake was going to seriously hurt himself.

most times he was standing on this

Trying to climb up with very little room to stand

falling off

Blake loves headbands

Snow Day!!!

It finally snowed!!!! We took advantage too because I highly doubt we'll be getting anymore. We had SO much fun. Well, Blake....not so much. He ended up sitting on my lap, at the bottom of the hill, and we just watched the girls sled. He did end up trying it out with Allie and they crashed.....oops! He usually loves being outside. The girls are out there playing with Papa right now. I asked Blake if he wanted to go out and he just shook his head no!

I'm such a whale in this pic but Blake is super cute

 

Midnight

 

Last night Blake woke up at 11:50 pm! I mean he was wide awake. I was SO tired. I turned the lights on over the fireplace and told him to play with his cars.....and he did for 2 hours! It was kinda cute listening to him quietly chat away and make noises for his cars. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open and defintiely dozed off a few times. One of the times I woke up to him giving me a little kiss and whispering something to me. :) Another time I woke up and didn't see him anywhere so I jumped up and he was right on the floor beside the couch, where I was, lying down......I think trying to go to sleep. I barely missed stepping on him and he popped up. I asked him if he was ready to go to bed and he shook his head yes.......and he went right to sleep.

A Day in the Life

I figured I would update on Derek. He seems to be enjoying his job and basically working around the clock. Only time to eat and sleep (about 5 hours). He still manages to squeeze in a Skype call or phone call just about every day and if he can't he'll usually send a quick email. 2 months down, 4 to go. These past two months have been extrememly slow. He's been on two deployments before that were 3 months long and I don't remember them feeling like this. Probably because we still have so far to go.

I'm not exactly sure what he's doing over there. It's one of those Top Secret deals. Like I said, he's enjoying whatever is he's doing and feels like he's making a contribution. And it's a hands on job, which is what he truly enjoys.......although he is now going to be taking on a leadership position on top of all of whatever he's already doing.

Our life prior to the deployment was crazy too. With his job as General's aide for much of the time we were in Texas we barely got to see him. He had to work long hours and was gone a lot (an average of 3 weeks of every month). We would still get to see him most weekends though, thankfully. After his aide job was up he left for Squadron Officer School (SOS) in Alabama. That schooling was 8 weeks long. We did meet up once in Houston to break up that time........and celebrate Blake's 1st birthday. THEN, when he got back he was doing several different training classes for the deployment that sent him away for long periods of time between October - early December, even missing Thanksgiving......and obviously he missed Christmas. I am SO looking forward to us being able to spend more quality family time together. Hopefully this next job allows it!

Here are some pictures, the first is recent and over "there" and the others are from SOS this past summer/fall.

The Grasshoppers. The guy on the left, NIMo, is one of the Commanders out there. Derek will be working with him in his new leadership position. He also was General Heitholds Aide a few years before Derek was. The girl in the middle, Kaylee, also worked with Derek and General H. She was there visiting for a couple days.

These next three pictures are of Derek's squadron at SOS. One in their blues, on in PT garb (they made and designed their t-shirts, and in their daily BDU's.

One weekend Derek and this guy went over to Atlanta, where this guys Dad works with Boeing. They were able to get into the flight simulators and do some flying.

Derek's SOS squadron had to make goals, so they made a goal that they could eat 1,000 wings as a squadron (over the 8 week period). And they did! You might notice some spots on Derek's arm.........he got into some poison ivy or oak whlie he was out there.

Valentime's Day

This post is really late. At least I'm getting it in before February ends. We don't really do much for Valentine's Day, or Valentime's Day as the girls call it (Thank you Junie B!). I didn't even get Derek a care package sent in time.......I just sent it last week. He didn't even get to call me because everyone else was trying to contact their loved ones.......so I got a short & quick email. I just got the kids a few things (coloring books, a little bit of candy......that they didn't like.....and balloons.) The balloons were just from the dollar store and they have held up better than any helium balloons I've ever purchased! This picture was just taken today and they are still holding air!

 

Blake absolutely loves balloons and is one of the few words he can say. ("boon")

 

The girls had great fun at their school Valentine's parties. They love writing out their Valentine's cards and choosing who will get what. Then they also love showing off the cards they received as soon as they get home!

We found a cute and simple craft to put together for their teachers.

 

The M&M's were the most expensive piece! The painting part was fun.......the glueing, not so much. A big blob of glue dripped to the floor and Allie leaned her hands down and put them right in it, causing 1st and 2nd degree burns. So, in the midst of putting these together, we made a trip to the ER. Luckily we weren't there too long and were home by 9:30 or so. But the girls wanted to finish their teacher's gifts so it was a very late night for them! I then had to cut up a bunch of fruit for these cute little individual fruit cups I made for Allie's class party. So it was a really late night for me. Luckily an old friend of mine, Deidra Newby, brought us some yummy Valentine's day cookies......they helped keep me awake the next day!

The Wrong Side of the Road

For those that haven't heard, Derek received his PCS (permanent change of station) orders. He is to report to RAF Mildenhall (Royal Air Force Station Mildenhall) by 15 August. Where is RAF Mildenhall you ask? ENGLAND!!!! It's about an hour and a half north of London. We are excited, nervous, overwhelmed.......you name it! We'll probably be there for 3-4 years. That's the usual amount of time to stay in one place but, then again, you never know with the military. With that being said, there is a slight possibility that his orders could change in the mean time.....like I said, you never know with the military. Official orders are usually processed 90 days out so we don't want to do too much planning until May or so.

I am a planner though so I'm already going crazy trying to figure out all that I'm going to have to do on my own to get ready for this huge move (since Derek doesn't get home until July.) I really don't even know where to start! But, like I said, we are super excited. What a great opportunity to travel all over Europe. We absolutely loved our quick week and a half excursion a few years ago! We think this will be a great experience for our kids and hopefully bring our little family closer together because we've been apart for WAY TOO LONG! We'll also be only 6 hours from our good friends, the Barkers, who are in Germany right now! Bonus! Plus, the language in England is....English so we don't have to worry about a language barrier. Driving on the wrong side of the road will take some getting used to though!

Random Pictures

We try to go to the library once a week

She refuses to take naps......obviously she still needs them

hanging out at GG's

All three kids were able to wear this winter coat!

Letters from Texas

Remember the letter that Allie wrote her classmates from Kuentz (Sweetest.Girl.Ever.) Well, she got some letters in return yesterday! She was thrilled. That smile you see in the picture never left her face! It really did make her day. The letters were so sweet. Most of them were saying that they missed her, they told her what they were learning, and what they got for Christmas. Her friend, Natalie, also drew her a Valentines picture with a Valentine card attached. This morning I asked Allie if she missed her class at Kuentz and she said yes and closed her eyes. I asked her why she was closing her eyes. She said she could picture them that way!