Just Kick It

James played  his first city league sports league this year in Lansing, KS.  He played for the Dolphins in the 4-5 year old league.  He of course was the superstar in our eyes. After playing in a Christian league I was a bit anxious about how playing in a city league where we knew nobody would go. Thankfully we got a great coach and teammates. There were 12 kids on the team but they split them into 2 seperate fields on game day so that the kids would get more play time. James would be on the field alot and was quite competitive. Sometimes I wanted to crawl under my chair because he was soooo competitive. Everyone would get a kick out of his facial expressions when he missed a goal or if someone got in his way. Luckily he only pushed into another player in an unsportsman like way. :)..whew.  I was very thankful for such a good season. Oh yeah, I am 'that' mom on the sidelines yelling for my baby! It was also so cute watching Ethan kick his little soccer ball into the goal during half time. He is going to follow in big brother's footsteps I do believe.

The season ended at the end of October with a parents vs. kids game. It was quite humorous to watch because some parents were really getting into it and keeping the kids from scoring. I am thinking some of these men were quite sore the next day.  In the end the kids beat the parents with 1 score. Now on to wrestling season...I am a nervous wreck!!!

Wonderscope

While we are in Kansas I want to explore and do things that are fun for our family to do together. Since this next year will probably be our only time in the midwest I am determined to make the best of it. Due to the weather today i chose to do an inside activity. So we all gathered into the van and made our way to Wonderscope Museum in Shawnee, KS which is about 30 minutes from Leavenworth. When we arrived I was pleasantly surprised that we got in free since we were military. There were several rooms for the boys to explore but while they played they also learned....pretty sneaky :). There was a rollercoaster room (you used golf balls to explore different types of energy), art room, market room, water room, hospital room, and Lego room. The boys favorite rooms were the rollercoaster room and art room. Once neat thing about the lego room is that they had huge sea animals made out of Legos only!! To think of the time and construction it took to do it was awesome. It was a great time with my boys! I was so glad that Shawn came too!
After leaving Wonderscope we headed to Fritz's Railroad Restaurant that a friend highly recommended. We walked in and immediately both boys eyes lit up at the train that circled around the entire restaurant. But wait it gets better! Once we are seated more fun comes. We place our order by calling it in through a phone at the table. The food is then delivered by a train car overhead that drops the food on a shelf that lowers the food down to the table. Everytime the train car went overhead Ethan would raise his hands anticipating it being our food. Finally the food dropped and we ate some good old fashion burgers. This was one of the only meals that Ethan was somewhat behaved. He was mesmarized by the trains which was so sweet. Of course James loved the restaurant too. This restaurant will definitely get another visit from the Dalrymple Family!! It was a huge hit!

Ethan is terribly two

It's hard to believe that our baby is TWO years old! When he was born it was such a wonderful blessing...then shortly after that the challenges began. Ethan has been quite a challenging child and very much of a mommy's boy. However, since I know this is our last baby I enjoy it to an extent. I didn't rush him to walk or talk like I feel I did with James. I want him to be my baby and he will be forever.

We moved to Leavenworth, Kansas shortly before Ethan's 2nd birthday so we knew it would be just us celebrating. But in the same respect I wanted him to have the fun and memories of his birthday.   Several days following up to his birthday we talked about how he would be two and he was very adimint about a "choo choo" cake.  The morning of his birthday, James and I took him to Play, Bounce, Jump here in KS. Ethan and James bounced untile they were bounced out! Later that night we had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, the kid loves salsa!! Of course the evening was finished by enjoying a slice of "choo choo" cake. Ethan got several new, fun toys. His favorite that night was the Dancing Mickey Mouse. To hear his sweet laughter was music to my ears.

Ethan is communication so much better now. He talks alot and I often have to interpret for him to others. He gets so frustrated when you tell him "no" and will have a meltdown wherever we are. He also loves to yell and i mean YELL 'no' if things don't go his way.  His newest thing is to cross his stubby little arms and say "no fwair". He is gonna be my little spitfire for sure. He thinks he is bigger than he is and tries his best to keep up with his big brother.

Ethan loves anything you can dip. That is my trick lately, whatever I fix him I put a dab of ranch or ketchup for him to dip his food into so that he will eat. He is such a picky eater that anything he eats is a victory. Of course he is only picky for me :)....anywhere else they talk about how well he eats :). That's my baby! He loves fruit and cheese. I always catch him in the fridge getting some type of cheese out :).

On the other hand Ethan is such a sweet boy. I love to hold him and read books. He loves to read and itneract with the stories. His favorite right now is a book my mom bought about Alabama Football. He will yell "Woll Tide" after each page on cue. It is so sweet. I love when he first wakes up and grabs his Mickey Mouse to love on and says 'good morning'. I love that he says he's sorry and hugs his brother when he knows he did something wrong. I love that he is independent but still needs mommy to kiss his boo boos.  I love that he still likes to be held as we walk at times. I love to see the bond between my two boys and to hear them giggle and enjoy life together.

Ethan is following in the footsteps of James when it comes to sports. He loves to hit the tball, kick the soccer ball and jump into the pool. Ethan is James biggest fan and yells for him at each soccer practice and game.

My baby is growing up so fast. I do feel guilt at times b/c the time I had with James just isn't there for Ethan since my time has to be divided. However, Ethan is adjusting and progressing just fine for his age. I am so thankful God chose me to be his mommy and that he is a healthy (active) toddler boy. I love his little personality and hope that he continues to bring smiles to himself and to others. My hope for him is to know and trust God and Jesus and to live his life in accordance to Their plan. I honestly believe if this happens this will allow everything else to fall into place.

Final Splash

Before moving from Alabama I was determined to have James one final hoorah with his friends. So amongst the chaos of moving and being homeless I decided to book the Muscle Shoals splash pad and le the kids have some wet fun. Of course I chose the hottest day which was great for the kids but the adults were sweating like nobody's business! Several of James school and church friends came. It was such a fun time, I think we were there about 3 hours total! We took a break to hydrate and feed the kids and then they went back to playing. James enjoyed this time with his friends. We have met some wonderful people through Kings Kids and Highland Baptist Church. Saying goodbye is so difficult especially when your child has to say goodbye. James is so strong though and told me he will miss his friends but he will meet new ones in Kansas. Gotta love his strong, sweet spirit. James battled at first because he would come to me with a sad look and say he didn't want to move. I pray he finds some friends in KS to fill the time while we are there!

Leavenworth or Bust!!

Well it's that time again, moving time. This will make our 4th move in almost 9 years, compliments of the good old US Army :). For me this will be my hardest move probably just because we are leaving home, aka Alabama, AGAIN .But on the flip side I have got to spend a little over two years back in Bama! I have enjoyed family time, spending lazy days with  my best friends and finally found a church we adored. Ethan was born in Alabama and James actually got to attend a MMO program for 2 years in a row! He is 4 and has been to 3 different ones. Picking up and moving to the unfamiliar is hard. I often ask why I married a military man because I don't like change at all, I am a very structured, scheduled person :). All I can say is God had a plan for me :).

After drying my eyes from goodbyes I hit the road running! So we left out on Saturday July 16 to drive to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, home of the largest military prison :). Since Shawn decided to do a full DITY move (where we move our selves entirely) we had to drive seperate vehicles since he had the boat to pull. So I drew the lucky straw to drive the boys..lol. So we loaded up on movies and snacks and hit the road running. We made a few stops along the way so the boys could stretch but overall it was a pretty smooth ride. Ethan did remarkably well which was my biggest concern. Even now at almost 2 years of age he is the worst traveler. We timed it so that after we stopped for lunch he would take his nap which would put us stopping for the afternoon once he woke up. it worked out well. We drove about 5 1/2 hours and stopped for the night. We let the boys swim before supper and bedtime which helped wear them out.

We got up on Sunday morning to begint he final drive to our new, temporary home for the next year or so. We finally arrived that night and I was VERY pleased with the home and the neighborhood. It seems like a lot of ILE students live here and there is a playground 2 houses up from which is awesome!! The boys loved their rooms and James loved the fact that the house is a "stair house". The house has 2 levels but we use the downstairs for a playroom which is awesome. The living room, dining room, and bedrooms are all upstairs. It has a nice fenced in back yard and deck. Overall I love the house!

I attended my first PWOC meeting last Tuesday. This is a bible study for military spouses which is awesome, being back in the military population is so refreshing after being away for almost 2 years. I hope that I am able to build some great friendships out of this group. James and Ethan both clung to me when I dropped them at the childcare rooms but when I returned they both seemed to be fine. I hate leaving them when they are upset.

After unpacking some boxes I explored the town...Wal-Mart is 0.3 miles from our house! Lots of good shopping within 30 minute radius. I think I was more excited to hit the commissary!! I know that this is a huge adjustment for us. Moving definitely was as hard when we didn't have children especially children who comprehend moves and miss their friends and families. I pray daily that i can provide what the kids need to make the transition as easy as possible. James has been defiant and difficult lately but I hope once he begins a preschool program he will be ok.

This is Army life...many moves and changes still to come :) since we have 12 more years to go!

Take Me Out To the Ballgame....

We had one more load of goods that Shawn's sister was bringing the following weekend. So we decided that we would all go to the Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay baseball game in Missouri. It was only about 40 minutes away and we got a great deal on tickets! After enjoying a wonderful dinner with them we headed to the ballpark. Our seats were way up in the stadium but it worked out well because there were a lot of empty seats and with 4 young boys we  needed room for them to roam. James paid attention rather well to the game and learned a lot which he gladly showed me while we played baseball outside the next day :). He called strikes, fouls etc. Even Ethan did good at the game. The temperature was 104 when we arrived so it was super hot. We stocked up on beverages, snocones and funnel cakes.

The game was so fun. Although I really didn't watch much of the game I loved the enthusiasm of the crowd. I loved when they played music and vamped up the crowd. Just watching my boys enjoy something new was worth it to me. I am sure we will have many more fun adventures while here in Kansas.

By the way...Kansas City won in overtime!!

Paradise 2011

We took our annual trip to Destin this past week and as usual it didn't disappoint! We stayed a full week at the MWR Campgrounds and it was a little slice of heaven. We got there on Wednesday and immediately hit the beach for some fun in the sun. James boogie boarded all by himself and was a pro at it. Ethan loved the sand and loved stomping sand castles as I build them. It kept him happy so I just kept doing it :).

My favorite part about the beach is always the yummy food. We try to find the restaurants where kids eat free or for cheap. Well we lucked up and found several at the HarborWalk. We ate at Harry T's which was delicious!! (Thank you Chresta for the wonderful suggestion)I found my favorite new place for fish tacos...wonder if I can convince Shawn to drive there when I have a craving?!. We got a ocean front dining table where the boys could watch the boats and waverunners pass by. Of course they loved it and all I heard the entire time was "boa" from Ethan. After finishing there we explored the rest of HarborWalk which was awesome because it was kids night there. They did free face painting and both the boys got their face done. James chose spiderman and everyone loved it. Of course we rode the little train that went up and down the HarborWalk....anything to do with "choo-choo's" and we are suckered into it. To top the night off we watched fireworks which was so pretty. Ethan was terrified and even after they were over kept saying "scare me" and "pop, pop". He is so funny.

AS if this place wasn't wonderful in itself....it got even better when my sister and the Conner's arrived on Saturday. This was Ava's first trip to the ocean so they were so excited. As soon as they arrived we went to the beach and bathed in the gorgeous sun. She loved it and loved the sand even more. After fun in the sun we headed to Fudpuckers for dinner to see the gators. The food wasn't that good this time but it was fun with our family and friends.

Of course we had to it Harborwalk while everyone was there so we did. It was so nice down there. The adults (minus myself) headed to the adult slushy machines :). The kids enjoyed just walking around and riding the train.  Also earlier that day we went on the pontoon boat. It was AWESOME!!! We left out abou 10 a.m. and cruised down the harbor....we were thrilled when dolphins jumped out of the water. There were so many of them, it was beautiful. Everyone in the boat squealed with excitedment as we tried to get as close to them as possible. Mike even attempted to swim with them which was quite humorous. After that amazing specticle we headed to the sandbar to do some snorkeling. James of course caught on so quickly and loved it. He loved seeing the fish, crabs and other little critters. He was determined to catch some fish so he grabbed his empty cheetos bag and gave it his best.....but boy are those fish fast. So he put a couple of hermit crabs in the bag. We all snorkled and it was so fun. The water is so clear, like glass. I love it there.  They have an inflatable slide in the middle of the sandbar which of course James wanted to do. So after a few slips and slides we were ready to head back. I attempted to swim out there but the current was so strong. I began to panic b/c I had Ethan with me so I hollered for Mike to come get Ethan. Talk about working hard to get nowhere...Whew!

Our final day in Destin we spent kayaking that morning. James and I shared a 2 man kayak while Shawn and Ethan shared a 1 man kayak. James (of course) was awesome and paddled great. Shawn was filming us on the kayak and all of a sudden a huge splash...yup Ethan toppled in while trying to look over the front. Thank goodness for his lifejacket :). In the video you can hear him splash in and the camera goes wild while Shawn is trying to pick him up. Oh my accident prone little man.

I love our camper during our beach trips....it is one of the few times I don't mind staying in it over a hotel. I know we couldn't afford to go if we didn't have the camper. It is great family time to just relax and enjoy one another. This trip definitely was special because of Andrea and the Conner family joining us. I have gotten so close to them all and to have a final...HOORAH was so nice!!