Black Hawk... UP????

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

One of our good family friends is a Black Hawk pilot... so he invited the boys to his hanger after school. Sky gets home from school pretty late, so it was just Kaden & Kaleb. They had SO much fun sitting in the helicopter... and of course they both kept asking if they could take it up!! Kaleb kept calling it a Black Out... and it took me a while to realize he wasn't misspeaking, but was referring to the helicopter in the Transformers movie!! Hahaha, the things they remember! Both boys agreed this was MUCH better than the simulators at the Space Science Center!!!! :)

Kaden loved learning what all the buttons do... so he didn't hesitate to ask a bunch of questions!!

Kaleb has SUCH an obsession of airplanes & helicopters... both Donnie & I are convinced he's going to be a pilot someday!! Of course, we were thrilled when we found out he has better than perfect vision at his eye appt last week... that'll come in handy!!! ;)

What A Weekend!!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The boys and I just spent a great weekend in western Kentucky... we met my parents at my Aunt Janice & Uncle Don's house. On Saturday, we drove out to Lost River Cave, which is the only underground river in the country.

There is a large Amish population in western Kentucky, so we passed several buggies on the way.

We started out panning for gemstones, which even Sky and us adults got into. The little boys loved it!!

Kaden & Kaleb were really good about picking out even the tiniest of the gemstones ...

... but Sky preferred the large ones.

Before we went down into the caves, we took a guided tour and were shown one of the blue holes. Kaden read the stone before the tour started... so when our guide asked if anyone knew how deep the hole was believed to be, Kaden was the only one to raise his hand to say 437 feet. The guide explained how a rock was used to measure the depth, and was obviously taken upstream by the current because it was later discovered to only be 15 feet.

Jesse James, the infamous outlaw, was chased into these very caves by the police where he hid for two days.

It is VERY rare I can get my mom to pose for a picture... so of course I was really pleased to see how well it came out. I teased my dad & told him I was going to crop him out, but how could I do that?? :)

After the tour through the caves, we wondered down one of the many trails... and found the butterfly habitat. The lady working there was really nice to the boys, showing them some caterpillars. Kaleb really liked the pond and asked her where the frogs were, and she explained they no longer had frogs in the pond because they were eating the butterflies. She then told me a story about how a little 2-year-old boy walked right through the pond without a flinch earlier that day. Not 5 minutes later, Kaleb tripped and fell into the pond. Good thing it was only about a foot deep... but how did I KNOW that was going to happen??

One of the many caterpillars we saw.

Not only was Kaden interested in the butterflies and caterpillars, but the pretty flowers too... so my dad told him what kind they were.

It had been a long day... but we had a lot of fun!!

On the way home from the cave, we stopped at this monument which was dedicated to Jefferson Davis', the Confederate President, birthplace. Sky is infatuated with history, especially the American wars... so whenever we have a chance to see something new, we always take advantage of it.

On Sunday, my Aunt Jayne and my cousins, Amy and Andrew came by after dinner to visit. My cousin, Adam, is a year younger than Sky... so they got to spend the weekend together. Adam even spent the night on Saturday and went to church with us in the morning. On our way home, the boys and I stopped to see my cousin, Michael, his wife, Chrissy, and their children, Abby, Nathan & Sarah. We had such a good time talking after dinner on the patio, while the kids played together, I didn't realize until after we left that I didn't get a picture. They recented moved to Chattanooga, TN, which is only 3 1/2 hours from us, so we made plans to meet in Atlanta soon. Thanks to them and my Aunt Janice & Uncle Don, we had a GREAT weekend!!!!

To The Moon... For An Afternoon!!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Today was the last official day of summer... so some girls (not all of our mommy posse was able to make it) and I took our kiddos to the Coca-Cola Space Science Center for the afternoon. And we couldn't have picked a better day, because it was really hot & sticky outside. The kids had tons of fun flying similation aircraft and driving remote-controlled moon vehicles. A real NASA spacesuit was even being displayed. There was an ampitheater, where we layed back and watched a guided tour of the '7 Wonders of Space' on the domed ceiling... which Kaden really enjoyed!! Believe it or not, the pic of the 5 boys together (the 4 baby girls were still in their strollers) was the first shot I took... haha, that NEVER happens. And just look at them posing!!! The outside of the building was so pretty with a gazebo, water fountain and gorgeous blooming trees... so the boys and I had to stop for a picture!!

Back to School Already!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

So today was the first day of school. The boys were excited, but I was a little sad... it's going to be way too quiet in the house with them all gone! The younger two boys had backpacks full of supplies, plus an additional three bags full... so I drove them to school and got pictures of them in their classrooms. Of course, Sky wouldn't allow me to follow him to school... hahaha!! In fact, when I asked him if I could just get a picture this morning... he rolled his eyes at me. So the teenager eye-rolling has officially begun! :)

Kaleb was REALLY excited for a few days before school started, but when I went to leave his classroom this morning, he decided he wasn't too sure about it. After all, last year I taught in the next classroom! But when I picked him up, his teacher assured me he had had a great day!!

Kaden too was really excited! There were a few kids in his class from first grade, and thankfully he decided he liked his teacher on the day of the orientation. His 1st grade teacher is teaching 2nd grade this year, and he was SO upset when he found out he wasn't going to be in her class again. But his new teacher seems just as great!

Kaleb is what is called a 'car-rider' this year. He can't ride the bus until Kindergarten. When I told Kaden that I would be taking Kaleb to school every day and picking him up, he informed me that he was still going to be a 'bus-rider.' So we saw him this afternoon getting on the bus when we were walking out to the car. :)

As you can see, Kaden temporarily forgot the bus safety rules, and jumped off the bus from the second to last step. The first words out of his mouth were, 'Mom, no homework!'

Oh, did I forget to mention I surprised him anyway as he walked in the door? :) Sky said high school is SO much better than middle school, and that he really likes his classes... especially his art class!! He's also taking a really cool human science class taught by a certified RN, which will be great for him because he recently mentioned something about possibly wanting to be a physician!

Hiking Providence Canyon State Park

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Today the boys & I went to Providence Canyon State Park with our friends, the Calls. The history of the canyons go back 150 years ago when poor farming practices were used... and erosion became the result. This may be one of the very few occurrences when a mistake ends up creating something so spectacular!! It was VERY hot today, as you can tell by Kaden & Kaleb's red faces... but all of the boys had a great time and weren't ready to go when it was time.

Taking a little break for a picture!

The boys climbing up the side of one of the many cliffs.

Usually this is filled with water, but it was almost completely dry. Of course, there was enough to create lots of mud... and the boys were all in it!

Kaden & Braydon showing off their muscles!!

I have to just about bribe Sky to go anywhere with us these days... but not today!! Even he had fun! :)

Very Little People

The day before Donnie left for overseas, we sat the younger two boys down to let them know he was leaving. We always wait for as long as we can because we don't see the point in creating anxiety. Sky, on the other hand, always knows a few months in advance (he's been able to catch on to the schedule). So, Donnie decided to pull out a world map and point out to them exactly where he was going... which got a 'Wow... that's really far, Dad!!' Then they starting looking at other places on the map... because of course Kaden had to point out Antartica where penguins & polar bears live and England where the queen lives, which caused Kaleb to point out the Arctic where Santa Claus lives. Somehow, they started talking about Greenland... and Donnie explained that it actually isn't green at all, and is mostly covered with ice... and that very little people live there. To which Kaden looked up and said, 'Do you mean like Kaleb?'

Back-to-School Bash!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Today was a Back-to-School Bash on-post... it was full of inflatables, art tents and game stations... and fun music was blaring in the background. The best part, they were giving out cool backpacks with school supplies... although, Shelly & I were almost up to the table when they ran out. I guess that's what happens when you show up an hour after it starts, I guess we know better for next year!

Our little super heroes!!!

I think this was all of the boys favorite part!!!!!

After stopping for lunch and letting the boys play a little more... they were all so wound up today... we met a few more of our girlfriends and their kiddies at one of the on-post pools. The funny story in that is we were supposed to go to the indoor pool in the new fitness center, but it was closed because they had to change the chemicals... so OF COURSE, that just started our long strew of getting all of the kids in and out of the cars and following each other over to the next pool. We finally stopped at pool #3!!!!! I didn't get any pictures there, because I was too busy swimming (um, and I think talking a bit too). :)