Snow Day

We had our first snow in Virginia. The boys have been anxiously awaiting snow and we got word that Tuesday was going to be the big day. Sure enough we woke up and there was a "dusting of snow" on the grass and deck. Perfect for playing, but not enough to do damage on the roads. The perfect kind of snow. Parker was all about it (and so was Pete who got to go in 2 hours late to work). Austin on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it. I asked if he wanted to go play and he said, "No, that's PArker's snow." Then I asked if I could just take a pic of him in the snow and he said, "No, no pictures when it's snowing. When there's no snow, then you can take a picture." haha.

 The cutest snowman with chocolate chip eyes and a cantaloupe nose.

And the epic snowball fight. Word to the wise... if you're the cameraperson, be prepared to be a target!

DC Trip

One thing that's really nice about living here is that we get to connect with folks we wouldn't normally see and see places that aren't are usuals. We left early Saturday morning to drive up the Washington DC. We drove about 3 1/2 to get to Gaithersburg, Maryland where are friends from law school live. It was fun to see there house and give our boys a chance to play. They got along so well and the adults all got to chat for hours. We also had delish paninis, so now that's my new mission... buy a panini maker.

Here are Miles and Parker. Park is about 9 months older but Miles is taller. Shocking.

 Sarah and me.

 Then we drove down to Alexandria, Virginia to see my friends Arin and Evan's new house. It's so cute. A bonus was that my cousin who has an internship at the Pentagon was able to visit too. Fun night. The boys hadn't seen her in a long while, but they felt comfortable right away:)

 We took a cold walk to get some delicious dinner. So much fun being with special friends.

 Us with cousin Kiersten.

 And us with Arin and Evan... and the dog, Costello.

 Kiersten wedged between the boys when we went to drop her at the train station.

We opted to drive home that night since it wasn't super late and we had friends coming for dinner the next day. It's always nice to be in your own bed, but we just felt so blessed to have so many wonderful people in driving distance. CAn't wait to get up there again, or better yet... have them come down here to visit:)

The chair

I had some of the ladies in the neighborhood over for a brunch. They were so cute and gave me the lowdown on the neighborhood. They are all retirees, so among their hobbies are thrift store shopping.  I mentioned Pete and I have been wanting to buy a chair, but just can stomach the price tag right now. They said they'd keep their eye out.

Not a day later, I get a knock at the door and one of the ladies excitedly told me she had found an almost-new chair at a nearby thrift store. And it was $30, so it was worth checking out. Parker and I headed over and he fell in the love with the "bush" pattern. I texted Pete a pic and he said, "If it doesn't smell and it is somewhat comfortable, buy it." So I did and with the military discount, it came to a whopping $24! It's ugly, sure... but you can't beat the price. Now we're on the hunt for a chair cover:)

The last of San Diego

Geez... I thought I was done with San Diego pics. Here are the last few. 

Papa and Aussie. 

 Austin and Stanley.

 The boys and their favorite people:)

 One last park day with Sadie.

 While we were spending our last days in San Diego, Pete was spending some time with his brothers in Virginia. So glad Dan could come out to visit. (Dan, Pete, Scott, and Lance).

 My cutie.

 A fam pic with my aunt, uncle, and cousins at Ryan's engagement party.

 Grammy doing what she does best.

Birthday #31

I'm in my 30's. Crazy. I had a nice day and we celebrated by going to Texas Roadhouse. It was delicious and the company was great. 

Also, a shoutout to my mom who's bday was on the 9th, and my dad and Chloe who also had birthdays on the 14th with me. Love the month of January!

Fashionistas

I love this tiger shirt Austin got for Christmas. Then I try to document it and he refuses a photo. What a stinker. 

 The boys love when it's just barely warm enough that they can go play outside. Nerf guns are the best in this house!

 Pete dressed the boys for church the other day. They knew they looked good. Khaki is a new favorite color around here. Pete explained to me that Officers are the only ones who wear khaki pants, so if you see someone in all khaki on base, you know they are accomplished. One of his instructors once told him his favorite color was khaki. So I think you'll be seeing a lot more khaki on these boys:)

Family fitness

Every Saturday morning we have been going to the gym on the Little Creek base. They have a family section so the kids can play in a blocked off area, and then there are machines and weights in the same room. It's a great option for us. And it's free... the price is right. I also tried a yoga class on base last week. I met Pete at the end of the work day and then he took the boys home while I stayed. I also met another JAG wife, so that was fun. It was a good class overall, but the sound of jets overhead is a new yoga sound:)

The boys favorite thing at the gym in the boxing room. We are there early enough so it's usually empty and the boys can go nuts in there. They got every bag swinging!

 We had great weather on MLK day, so we headed to the park with every other child in the area who was out of school. The park also has great running trails, so Pete went out on a run, while I watched the boys and wrote some thank you notes. It was a nice morning.

 This was Pete's arm workout following bath time a few days ago. haha. Creative.

 Austin can't wait to go to preschool. Whenever we drop off Parker he doesn't want to leave and then talks all about the lunchbox he's going to have and who his teacher will be. Excited for his turn next fall. Here he is twirling through the hallways.

We had parent teacher conferences last week, and Parker's was very good. It was not so long ago that we were worried about Parker because of his high activity level, intensity, and impulsiveness. But I am so pleased to report a great amount of growth in his maturity and abilities. He is doing very well. He pays attention and strives to make good choices and be an example to others. His teacher said, "I wish I had 50 Parkers in my class." He really is a sweet boy. Love him so much.

The grandparents

On one of our last nights at home, we had my in-laws over for dessert. It was fun being all together. 

 The boys and all their grandparents:)

 With Grammy and Papa:)

Catch-up

By this point, I'm so far behind in blogging I don't even know what I've posted. So forgive me if these are redundant. Just trying to document all the pics. 

The boys love playing at Grammy and Papa's house. Especially after Christmas. Mr. Potato Head was a hit. They love the angry eyes!

 Nerf guns have also been the hit of Christmas. That's all the boys want to do. Love when they have opponents besides me, even though I will say they are very good about not shooting me. Daddy is the best nerf gun guy. He even went out and bought himself a gun so he could fully participate in the nerf war. They play for at least an hour a day and it's a full contact sport.

 We also went to Sea World while we were home. In case you think my life is picture perfect (haha!), here is my attempt at a single posed pic by the Christmas tree.

 Another highlight was the snow hill. They loved throwing snowballs at the wall. Parker even did the sledding this time. So fun!

 Did I mention I have some awesome friends from high school and we love to get together around the holidays when we're in town? It's so much fun to reconnect. I would say we all look mostly the same 12 years later. These are some special girls.

 My grandparents were down for a few days after Christmas. We enjoyed going to Islands for dinner one night.

 And then there's my Home Alone kid. Is he a Kevin McAllister clone or what?

 Another exciting thing is that my brother is getting married in May. Chloe's parents hosted a lovely engagement party at their home.

 We made them a little cake. Not sure this will be their cake topper on the real day, but not too bad!

 Austin loved all the snacks.

 These two are trouble.

 They got "bath crayons" for Christmas, which ended up looking like bloody bath water. I thought the sharks would start circling at any moment. Gross.

 One night the boys were getting silly and Jeff and Marina were indulging them in some wrestling.

 Then we played Headbandz. It was really fun with a big group.