It's Not Goodbye...It's 'I'll See You Soon'!

Sean left today for Korea, we dropped him off at the airport at 4am and he had a 7:30am flight to Atlanta, then a 10:30am flight to South Korea. We have been extremly open when it comes to this remote with the kids. I would remind them every day how many days we had until Daddy was gone. I didn't want him leaving to be a surprise to them, I wanted to make sure they knew he was leaving, but he would come home. Brianna and I of course balled our eyes out, Logan though was a rock. He didn't shed a tear instead said to Breezy and I 'Don't cry guys, we'll see Daddy soon in Japan!!'. What a trooper. Brianna cried all the way home from the airport, then we all curled up in my bed (ahem, air mattress...all our stuff is in storage already). I let the kids stay home from school today, I tried to get Brianna up to get dressed and she just kept crying so I figured it couldn't hurt to stay home. The kids and I will be here until June when school lets out, and then head off to Chicago. I can't wait. There is nothing for us here anymore, and I just couldn't imagine staying here for a year. Sean will hopefully come home for his midtour in January which would leave us with just 3 months left in the remote.

Well stay tuned I'll try and get some Disney pictures up, and I will be updating much more frequesntly now to help keep Sean in the loop also.

It's Not Goodbye...

G-O Let's Go, Let's Go, G-O LETS GO!!!

What an exciting day today was! Logan started school, and Brianna had her first game! Shes been in cheer for about a month, and has had practice twice a week for the last several weeks and it was all leading up to tonight!! She's in a group with other 5-6yr olds cheering for a bunch of 5-6yr old basketball players. It was absolutely adorable! She loved it! And I am so proud to say that she was the loudest one there! She is afterall, my daughter. Here's a few pictures and if I can figure out how to put video on this thing I'll add that too! Enjoy!





During 'half time'


And the kids playing basketball, they all ran around with their hands up the entire game!

New Adventure

Today marks the first day of Logan's educational career. Today, he started preschool! It was a very exciting day for us, and he was thrilled at the idea and also very hestitant. I asked him last night if he was excited, and told him that Mommy would not be able to stay and play with him all morning, but that I would pick him up before lunch and he looked into my eyes and said 'But I'll be sad without you Mommy'. I could literally hear my heart breaking. We got there at 8am sharp and he was reluctant to let go of my hand, reluctant to let me walk away and very STRONGLY opposed to me leaving the room. I am happy to say, per his teacher, 2 minutes after I walked away he calmed down and colored me a fantastic picture (which some other child mistakenly took home, I hold no grudge...). Anyway here are a few pictures of him this morning prior to our departure. Please note the kickin Spiderman backpack with 'Clothes INSIDE!!!' (imagine that being said in the most excited voice you can imagine).





Overall he says he loved his morning. He colored, played the 'see who bounces higher' game (I assume it involved a ball?) and made friends with 'boys AND girls'. Happy he doesnt discriminate at 3yrs old. I asked if he wanted to go back as we got to the car, he looked at the building held me tighter and said NO! I laughed and told him not today, but maybe tomorrow and he calmed down and said yes. LOL.

Blog Are You There? Its Me, Rachael...

Today as I was doing dishes I got the urge to blog. So while the kids are taking a bath the dishwasher and washing machine are in full roar I'm going to take this moment of 'peace' (is that Brianna or Logan belting out ABCs?) and blog away.

First off, Merry Late Christmas. And what a Merry Christmas it was! It was great. The kiddos got everything they wanted. Brianna's most special gift was a telescope from Santa (aka Gma Mary). She's been DYING for a telescope. Every time she saw Santa, or wrote him a letter (I think she wrote 7 in total) she always asked for a telescope. Thats kind of an odd thing for a 5 yr old to want, and I realize she might not be fully able to understand how it all works but thats what we're here for :). When Sean went to Iraq we would say good night to the moon and it would relay our hugs and kisses to Daddy. That was a very special thing for the kids because they loved the idea that when we saw the moon, so did Daddy (and yes, it looked the same!). Anyway, we have a telescope and as soon as we get a clear night we are going to see 'everything up in the sky'. Last night we put it out and gave it a try but it was much too cloudy, so Sean pointed it at a light pole and the kids thought it was great. They were under the impression it was a star, but who are we to ruin their fun? Logan very much wanted a train. And he recieved 2! Sean's mom got him a real train set (which I still cannot figure out) which he's had a lot of fun with Daddy setting it all up. We also got him a GeoTrax train set which he adores as he can set it all up on his own. That was also from Santa. Christmas Eve Erikka was kind enough to set the train up for us and so when Logan came out Xmas morning it was ready to go! He sat down and did a full loop with the train before he would even look at another present. I think he liked it :). This morning before I could even blink he had the set dragged out again. They both also recieved LOTS of stuff from our families back home. All in all our Christmas was wonderful. Sean and I did stockings for one another and both bought the same book for one another (great minds...). We spent the day cooking (me) and cleaning (sean) and then had some friends over for Christmas Dinner. I made all of Seans favorites, a honey ham (came out AWESOMMME), brown sugar carrots, scalloped potatoes and a few other things and Erikka made a slammin green bean casserole out of a variety of beans .

In other news we realized the other night we realized we have less than 4 months than Sean leaves, and while time is sneaking up on us we are ready for this next part of our story to begin! Sean is def. ready to leave Shaw and move onto {hopefully} greener pastures, and I'm just ready to get this show on the road. I hate sitting around and waiting and while I don't want to see Sean leave us for a year whats done is done so nowhere to go but forward. Sean and I are planning an Un-Anniversary for the end or March. Its about 6 mo away from our actual Anniversary (which Sean will not be here for). We're going to Charleston for the weekend, and seeing Jeff Dunham (!). We're lucky enough to have known about him leaving far enough in advance that we can plan a few fun things to do before he leaves (the circus which I'm thrilled about, Carowinds again, a few camping trips). These next few months are going to fly by, but at least we'll be having a good time.

That's it for excitment here in our house. I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday and we'll talk to you next year !

Blueberry Goodness

If you're wondering how Bluberry Scented bubbles might taste, let me tell you, not like blueberries. Brianna, the awesome sister she is, urged Logan that blueberry scented bubbles are DELICIOUS and are to drink as well as to blow, multipurpose some might say. As I look over to inform them that is not only untrue but a BAD idea, I am one gulp late. I roll my eyes, a swig of bubbles never hurt anyone right? Surely blueberry ones cannot be THAT bad, right? As I was bringing Logan a glass of water to wash the unblueberry flavor taste out of his mouth he upchucked all over my feet. Now thats a good time, and a good lesson learned. It may look like blueberry, and smell like blueberries but it is not, infact, blueberry. After we got him cleaned up he walked up to Brianna and asked 'Why did you make me drink that Branna?' (he says Branna VS Brianna...). Poor guy.

All Grown Up

Why Hello there friends. Another lovely day in Carolina South. Today was Brianna's first day of school here in Scumter. I was extremly pleased with her teacher (shes the best, her husband is the best...as a result Brianna will be the best just for knowing them), and extremly nervous for her first day of ALL day school. In Ohio it was 12:15-4pm she was gone, now we have to drag ass out of bed at 6:30 to make it to school by 7:30am (ok we like a good 15min snuggle on the couch in the AM) and pick her up at 2:15. not fun. I packed her lunch last night and cried. Like a damn baby. My baby is growing up. She will never eat lunch with me again (weekends dont count). She might as well get a tattoo and go off to college. So I'm over reacting. But still, Im going to miss her. Logan already does, asks me 20 times in an hour where Brianna is. He and Brianna have races to see who can buckle fastest (winner gets to hold the coveted imaginary trophey the duration of the car ride), so now we get in the car and he races himself, LOL. He's pretty pleased with himself that he always gets the trophey.

I've spent my last few days cleaning out the house and have quite a pile of goods to take to Airmans Attic. Trying to declutter before Sean comes home. I hate it. Its like someone goes through my trash and brings everything I've thrown out back inside and laughs at me.