We passed!!!!

We passed inspection the very first time!!!!!!

Yipeee!!!!

A few more things to do but we are basically done. Hurrah.

Lots'o'climbing

Hearing something on the monitor, I went in to the the room Isaac and Elijah were in and nearly smashed Elijah's toes to smitherines with the bottom of the door. He had gotten out of his pack-n-play! How did both my boys figure out how to do this right now? While Isaac understands what I mean when I say: "Don't climb out," I'm not sure Elijah is able to remember long enough. Oh this timing is not very good. They can both get out of their beds now. Not especially good when they are sleeping in strange places with who-knows-what that they can get into if they get out. Elijah was walking around the room holding his froggie boots trying to get them on himself. I have heard/seen the crib tents. Thank you to those of you who suggested them. We'll need to rethink everything when we get to South Florida.

In other news:

• Thank you to those of you who have been brainstorming the Scrubs' health certificate ordeal. We have a few irons in the fire and do know (thanks Joy!) that the Lord will take care of this.
• My friend Kara came over to take pictures today. I truly, honestly, thought it would be a fiasco but it was AWESOME! The boys were both in such a good mood. Scrubs really participated well, and while we didn't include the adults (JB had stuff to do and I wasn't in the mood to get prepared for a photo), I am sure she got some good shots. These shots included pictures by the water and two boys playing in a torrential downpour in their shared froggy boots!

* * * * * Please remember my friend from Minnesota, Kristen and her daughter Halle to your list of prayer requests. They have been having a rough go of it. Halle came early and Kristen has been pretty sick. Please be praying for their family.

More prayer

Could anyone who would add something to your prayer request list?

I need to get an appointment for Scrubs to get a a health certificate within 10 days of us leaving for Turkey. However, we are going to be in South Florida.

Long story short:

• It has to be done on a military base. To avoid this means I have to take the form to Miami for a signature and then have it Fed-Exed to Tallahassee and then sent back to me. So a military base if nearly a necessity.
• We will not be on Eglin AFB within 10 days of our departure.
• The Base near Baltimore that I wanted to use is closed for the summer. This is fairly typical of military veterinarian facilities. They usually do not have permanent doctors so they ebb and flow in services they can provide.
• The Base near Baltimore gave me four other phone numbers. However, every time I call they have a recording that says to call back when they are not busy. They will not return messages -- period. It says so on their message.
• I managed to get through to one facility. She told me that they think they can see Scrubs but they cannot make a decision about this until the middle of the month. Her last words to me were: "Have a back-up-plan."

Please pray I can find somewhere for Scrubs to be seen. For sure.

Thanks all!

New heights

Today was exhausting. But obviously not exhausting enough to keep Isaac in his bed.

After putting the boys to bed, JB went back to the hospital to get some work done and then to our old house to do some cleaning up that still needs to be done.

I went out in the back of our TLF to play Frisbee with Scrubs.

I came back in to find Isaac padding around the house looking for me.

He had climbed out of his pack-n-play. It was not against a bed. He just managed to climb out.

This new-found school does not coincide well with the fact that he will be having a pack-n-play for a bed for the next two months.

Stay put little man!

Please sign

While I avoid discussion of politics on my blog whenever possible, abortion is an issue I cannot be silenced on.

Combine it with the military, and I am especially vigiliant.

The Senate will vote on the Department of Defense Authorization bill very soon—and it includes a provision to allow abortions on military bases home and abroad. The deadline for Members of Congress to sign on to the pro-life letter is TOMORROW, so please act now.

Ask your Member of Congress to sign on to Rep. Akin and Rep. Taylor’s letter to Congressional leadership asking for the exclusion of abortion language from the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

A few links

Thought some of you might enjoy these two links. The first is Joia's post on a good bye to our group. The second is Christopher commenting on how "clean" my house is ... sort of.

Wifia farewell from Joia

Christopher Funny

Could you pray (while I wait?)

I am over at Brittny's house right now. She isn't home. It's a true friend when I know I can go into her house without even telling her and that she won't care.

I came over here to try to find the number for our storage movers in my email. I can't find it. JB has turned in his pager. I can't reach him. They told me they'd be here an hour ago and they still haven't showed up.

If you think of it could you say an extra prayer for our family and primarily me? I am feeling like I am on the verge of just breaking down. I am pretty sure it is just fatigue and stress. I love adventure but feel that I am just not very good at handling the things involved in completing an adventure.

I dropped the boys off at Joia's this morning. Sarah said to me the other day that she is "just ready to be a good Mom again." I couldn't say it better myself. I feel like we are just running around, trying to squeeze naps and food and play in. I feel like I am not getting to spend any quality time with my boys. Now the movers are over an hour late, and I don't know why. I know Joia is fine. She told me not to stress today and that if she had the boys all day, so be it. But I feel bad. Bad that she has four kids two days in a row. Bad that I am not spending time with them. Bad that my scheduled day is now going to have to be adjusted in a hundred different ways.

I also got word from our cleaning gal Michelle that I needed to put a work order in for the sink in our master bathroom as it was backed up. It has been backed up for as long as I can remember. I just kept ignoring it. She said we may not pass inspection if I don't. So I called maintenance today. They asked me when I could meet them at the house. I said the next two hours, and they said that wouldn't work for them. So I told them they could let themselves in anytime in the next two days, and they said they can't go in the house without the owner present. I told them that the house will be completely empty. They said it didn't matter. I told them that I thought as long as a work order was in their computer, all was well ... it isn't. So somehow we have to get that coordinated.

Anyways, Brittny just got home.

But pray if you can.

*** Update ***

The moving people changed the time to 3pm without telling me. It is amazing how one small failure to communicate can cause such a cascade of events.

Because they did not come at 10:30 as they had told me they would ...

I had to arrange with my cleaning gal another time to clean as the house will not be empty today as planned. I had to postpone carpet cleaning. I had to go pick the boys up from Joia's, stop back at TLF, pick up their bedding and Scrubs (at which time I accidentally left the front door open and the cleaning people returned a carefree Scrubs to me), then go pick JB up, have him drop us off at Brittny's, put boys down for nap there instead of TLF, and let JB take care back to the hospital all because of this one small change. Joia offered to let the boys sleep at her house but I did not have any of their "comfort items" and I am trying to keep some bit of normalcy in their lives. I also had to cancel an appointment with my friend Kara and have Joia bring us dinner instead of having dinner at their house. (Isn't she great to offer this?)

When I went to Joia's, both she and my new friend Rebekah were there. They were wonderful in encouraging me and telling me that I was handling things fine and that they thought the stress I was experiencing was normal. All three of us have very well-grounded husbands who, while supportive, don't experience stress like we do. I truly just needed a few girlfriends at that moment.

I am now back at Brittny's again, watching out her window for the storage men to arrive ...

Please keep me in your prayers. Pray that I can just take a chill pill and take all this in stride. I know it will pass. I know we will get through it. I know everything will work out. But it's the process of getting to that point that has me a bit frazzled.

Thanks all!

Moving Pictures

Mom K. emailed me this pictures. We let Ray borrow our camera as his family took a trip to Atlanta and North Carolina. However, she stepped up and got some pictures of our HHG moving day. Here are some of the pictures:

The last item to go was our big couch. Here it is being shrink wrapped. It was loud and Scrubs and the boys found it a bit disconcerting.

The boys playing in our empty living room. Isaac is playing with a few cars, as he always does. But Elijah is making his own fun as he always does as well. Here he is with a roll of duct tape.

I didn't think we had a lot of stuff until I see it all sitting outside the house being fit into crates like a puzzle.

Here are the crates they put the items into. They are sealed and stamped and will then make their way to a boat for the float to Turkey.

The crates being sealed.

Here's our kitchen ready to go. The items on the counter were things we were going to take in UB. So they weren't going out in the big move.

Here's HHG and Storage. The items in the closets were waiting to go out with storage. The items in the front were going in the HHG move.

Here's the boys' room. The cribs are waiting for the UB move (which was yesterday.) The other items are going out in HHG.

Here are Isaac and me outside of his bedroom. Isaac has made us very emotional with the things he has said about his bedroom and moving in general. He will often ask for certain toys or clothes or books and then get sad when we tell them they are not here but on their way to "Turdey." The night before we left, he insisted that we "make" his bed. "Make Isaac's bed," he kept saying. Since his bed was made, we have no idea what he was asking for. We finally deduced that he was upset that we had a plain white sheet on his bed. He wanted his safari sheet! So we found one and made his bed. He was so happy. Then last night we stopped by the house to do a few things after having dinner with our friends Zachariah and Robyn. Isaac was so excited to be at his house and walked into his room giddy, only to see his room and say, "Where's Isaac's bed?" We know he won't remember, but it has still been very emotional to see him processing this move.

Honorary

Our wifia is six members strong.

But we also have one honorary member. Brittny. She's a year behind us but has been included in our lives since she got here.

Andrea is off to California. Tiffany to Texas. Sarah to Japan. Jodi to North Dakota. Me to Turkey.

Joia will stay. And so will Brittny.

Brittny wrote a post about her wifia friends. She describes my friends perfectly. You can read it here.

I am really going to miss her. What a fantastic neighbor. What a fantastic friend.

Speaking of Brittny ...

Today I dropped Scrubs off at her house while we had our UB moved on out. The cleaning lady has started to work her magic on the inside of our house. The lawn lady has started to work her magic on the outside. And Scrubs' wet nose and tendency to run laps in the yard isn't a good combination for either of those.

I left the boys at TLF with Joia and her kiddos. I thought about leaving Scrubs too, but he just hasn't been himself. He hasn't been eating well and seems really concerned about what is going on. I thought being with Brittny would help. And it did. Not only did he eat, but he came back to TLF seeming much more like himself.

Anyways, our UB. The guy who was moving it told me he thought we were over 1,000 pounds. He said it felt more like 1,500 pounds. Ugh! I am praying that is not the case. I know we get charged if we go over 1,0000 pounds.

They said 1,000 pounds was roughly one room of stuff which is what we sent.

How the heck do you estimate what 1,000 pounds is? And if you have to do it after your HHG has already gone out, what do you do if you have made a mistake? You can't do anything.

This is one of those moments where I have to turn it over to God. There was nothing I could do but tell them to ship it anyway because we have no other options. Our UB is our "essential" stuff. What else can you do? It's not in my control.

The only thing I can control is prayer.

So I prayed that it wouldn't weigh over 1,000 pounds.

I also prayed for the carpet cleaning machine, but so far, it hasn't wanted to get up and start working again. I thought I would surprise JB who had to do clinic today (his last one on Eglin!) by doing some of the rooms while the movers hauled stuff out. But midway through the thing just up and died. No idea why.

Not sure when we can get that back to the Self Help Store and get a new one.

Our final inspection is Wednesday at 2pm.

Please pray we pass inspection the first time.

Anyways, sorry. Rambling.

I am back in our TLF. Joia took fantastic care of my boys (and even did our dishes for us!)

Love that girl.

Love Brittny too.

But I do not love moving or trying to estimate 1,000 pounds.

Adjusting

We've been preparing the boys, Isaac especially, for our move to the "new house" for sometime. Now that we are in our "hotel," the little guy is calling it a "new tell." He asked us today "Where's my bike Mommy?" And when we left the waterpark on Base after an evening with the wifia gals, he said, "Go home Daddy?" JB told him we were going to our hotel, and he said. "No, no. Go home. Our house."

Rip our heart out why don't you?

Speaking of the wifia, tonight we did all get together for, and really this time, our final hurrah. Jodi and Sarah went in together and purchased Pandora bracelets for all of us with a "W" on it for "Wifia." They are amazing. I will treasure it always.

Between saying good bye to my dear friends and my little guys seeming so confused about where we live and where there things are, I'm a bit sad.

However, I do feel a tremendous sense of relief to be out of our house and to have our "To Do" list no longer hanging over us.

Please continue to pray for our family. Pray that we adjust. Pray that our hearts are comforted. Pray for organization and smoothness in the transitions. And, if you think of it, would you pray that our condo in Minnesota finds the perfect renter or buyer? Thanks all!

Blessings & Surprises

Today included two major blessings ... and two major surprises.

First the blessings.

Blessing #1 After waking up at 4:30am and getting to work on emptying the rest of our house, we loaded up the van at 8:30am, just in time for our cleaning lady to arrive at 9am. However, when we called TLF, we couldn't get into our room until 2pm. What do two adults, two kiddos, and one dog do in stifling heat? Why, Facebook their newest friends, Josh and Rebekah, in hopes that they would let them totally crash their Sunday afternoon. They have an amazing yard, a very cool house, and tons of hospitality so it was a perfect fit. What a blessing to have friends that will let you completely take over their house on about twelve minutes notice.

Blessing #2 After hearing horror stories about a variety of TLF experiences, we were preparing ourselves for the worst. When JB checked us in, the gal at the desk happened to be Russian. JB happened to take Russian in college as his second language. He is in, no way, even close to fluent, but he can say enough words to be polite. This made the gal behind the desk nearly giddy with excitement. It also lead to her saying something along the lines of: "You are going to really like this room." Uhhh, yeah. That's an understatement! It's AMAZING! Three bedrooms, four televisions, two bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, washer and dryer ... even a yard for Scrubs -- fenced believe it or not! Seriously, I can't believe how awesome this place is and how blessed we are to have favor. We will be here for quite a few nights (not exactly sure how many yet) so this is so awesome!

Surprise #1 JB dropped us off at TLF and then left to go get a few remaining things done at the house. I decided to set the boys up in separate rooms, since we have three of them. I put Isaac's pack-n-play in one bedroom and got him all set up for a nap. About ten minutes later, Elijah and I are doing some other setting up when Isaac comes running down the hall. "I waked up Mommy!" he says in his little sing-songy voice. Since neither of my boys has ever emerged from a crib or pack-n-play without me "emerging them," I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I went back into the bedroom to discover that putting a pack-n-play against a bed enables a child to use his stuffed animals to climb up on and then use the bed to flip himself onto. I moved the pack-n-play to a new corner of the room and put Isaac back down.

Surprise #2 After I was sure Isaac was asleep, I went to work setting up a pack-n-play in another bedroom for Elijah. Not thinking Elijah had the dexterity to repeat Isaac's maneuvers, I set his pack-n-play up against a bed in that room. I put him in the bed and then wandered out to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Following the first sip, I heard a loud noise coming from Elijah's room. He was wandering around the room, whining. He had gotten out too! Unbelievable! Neither of them have ever climbed out. And now they do it on the same day right after each other?!

Both pack-n-plays are now positioned away from a bed. Fingers crossed that this will do the trick.

I thought about labeling this post: Blessings, Surprises & Sadness but decided I just can't go there. Last night Philip and Joia stopped by to help empty our cabinets and refrigerator of food. As we sat on the floor eating leftovers, Philip mentioned that this may be the last time Keenan sees Scrubs. Joia also mentioned that this would be the last time that they hung out at our house.

I've been so busy getting everything done to move out, I haven't had the opportunity to grieve what is coming. But last night I really cried for the first time. I've teared up a bunch but last night I got sad.

... anyways, I said I wasn't going to go there. I can't allow myself to process the good byes right now.

So I won't.

I'll stick to my blessings and surprises.

And grieve later.

Thinking of the Present

Today, JB's family headed home. While thirteen people in one house that is being packed up and moved is definitely insanity, we did the insanity with as much grace as I think one family could muster. We spent last night at Destin Commons and JB got to eat sushi at Sushi Siam for his celebration dinner.

Today, we did more than I could even possibly put in one blog. We didn't allow ourselves to take a break in fear that we would not stand back up and continue working. The bottom line is, we did all our final organizing. Every item is packed or in the car or in the hall closet, ready for its next station. We also found out that a pet-friendly room has become available in TLF -- temporary lodging facilities. Fantastic news! Scrubs will now not have to go to dog camp. Proof again that God cares about the little things.

Tonight, we will spend our last night here. Very bittersweet. This is a home that we came to as two people. We will leave it as four people and one big black and white dog. This is the only home that Isaac and Elijah and Scrubs have ever known. We are excited about new adventures. But we are sad to leave behind three years of our life and to say "see you later" to so many wonderful people.

Tomorrow, we will move into our TLF little apartment. The cleaning crews will begin to work their magic inside and out here at our house. We'll have lots of little things to do, but the big things will be behind us. In the tomorrows to come, a moving crew will come for our UB (unaccompanied baggage). A separate moving crew will come for our storage items. We will hopefully pass inspection, and in just a few days we will move out of TLF and begin the drive to South Florida.

The house is very empty. It feels bigger now. Scrubs' barks are louder now.The boys have more room to run but less things to run to and from.

I'm excited and sad all rolled into one big ball of emotion. I feel that I am teetering on the edge of calmness and a breakdown. It feels that ny little thing could push me over the edge. Without JB to remind me to breathe and relax and only think about the present and not the past or the future, I would never be able to handle moving our family to the Middle East.

And so, one thing at a time. Today we will just take care of today.

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

It's Official

Well despite the fact that the morning got off to a bad start ... it ended with JB a graduate of his residency program and after ELEVEN YEARS of schooling, crossing the finish line!

When Elijah woke up at 6am, JB and I, who were sleeping in the nursery on the floor inbetween the boys, decided to let Isaac sleep. Being as Ray and Gabbi and their kids were in the guest room, Mom and Dad were in the master bedroom, and Grant, Elizabeth, Katie, and Scrubs were in the living room, we thought we'd take Elijah out and go get everyone donuts and try to let the house slumber a bit more.

Unfortunately, JB forgot his pass to get back in the gate. I had to drive all the way back to the house, get JB his pass, drive all the way back to the East Gate visitor center and then take us all home.

When we got home, the house was showing the beginning signs of stirring. We woke Isaac up so that Elijah could go back into the nursery and take a quick morning nap before the graduation. When we got Isaac up, we discovered he was swollen. We aren't sure how he could have an allergy attack lying in his bed with no food in his stomach. But he did. JB gave him some Benadryl and then left for the graduation program. However, less than an hour later I had to call JB and drive Isaac up to the ceremony early as Isaac's face was continuing to swell and spread to his lips. John had to give him an Epi pen (a shot.) It was way sad. Isaac was crushed and got very mad at JB. It broke our heart.

After that though, things got better, and when it was all said and done, JB was a graduate! No more school for him EVER AGAIN!

Before the ceremony

JB and fellow chief residents Philip and Kacey getting an "Air Force Achievement Medal."

Residency graduate!

They even gave the wives a certificate. And since Isaac didn't want to be put down, he came with me.

Ms. Jodi with Isaac.

Sarah and Della.

I love this picture of Moriah and Joia.

The graduates. Back row: Eric, Bill, Sean, Dave, JB, Matt, and Philip. The front row: Cliff, Rob, Robyn, Kacey, Shannon, and Philip.

Joia and Tiffany.

Tiffany, Wendi, and Joia.

Me with Andrea.

Don't ask.

Andrea and Jodi.

Love this picture of JB's beautiful sisters: Katie and Elizabeth.

Dr. G. with the babies she has delivered.

Not a great pic of me but I love Elijah in this one.

My friend Robyn with her little John Benjamin.

They actually gave a statement about the Wifia at the graduation. They talked about how wonderful our gang was for the program, our spouses, and each other.

Grant and Elizabeth.

JB and his firstborn.

We are done!

Love this picture of JB's Dad and Mom. What amazing people.

Ray, Gabbi and their kids: Grace and Nate.

Ray and Katie.

Cousins.

Grant and Scrubs -- tuckered out.

Makeshift furniture.

The Beginning of Good byes

These are my best Eglin friends. Tonight we had our third and final banquet. My house is void of furniture and my heart is filled with a sadness knowing that this amazing group of ladies will never be in my life, like this, again. To Jodi, Sarah, Brittny, Joia, Andrea, and Tiffany. I love each and everyone of you dearly. Tomorrow our husbands graduate, and we begin the process of good byes. Off to Minot and Japan and California and Texas and staying put and going to Turkey.

Thank you for changing my life. Thank you for standing by me in three of the saddest and then most happiest years of my life as I grieved barrenness forever and then got two miracles.

Godspeed.

More moving

Last night JB's Dad and Mom drove in with his sister Elizabeth and her husband Grant from South Florida. About a nine hour drive. In a separate vehicle, JB's brother Ray arrived with his wife Gabbi and their children: Grace and Nate. Today sometime, sister Katie will make the drive from Orlando. Unfortunately JB's other two brothers were unable to come in at the last minute due to work and school requirements.

Yes they are all staying here at the house.Don't ask how.

As I write this, JB is up at the Clinic giving a research presentation. All I know about this is that he is giving a presentation and that he couldn't find the belt for his uniform. He said something about having to wear his jacket during the entire presentation because the belt is totally MIA. I worry that it may be packed in some box somewhere. But that's sort of water on the bridge at this point.

The movers are loading the van as we speak. Everything is going very smoothly. There are a few glitches. Things that they can't take for one reason or another. But they are minor things. Liquids and batteries and things that weren't on our "can't take list" but are actually in that category.

I have removed the boot from my right foot for the time being. While wearing the boot on my right foot, I've been having pain in my left foot. The bone scan results showing a stress fracture in the left foot as well explain that. As I am wearing the boot on my right foot, the left is taking more of a beating compensating for the weight. But now both my feet are bothering me. We aren't sure what to do about this right now nor can I worry myself now. Stress fractures often heal without any intervention. But either way, we need to get our moving day completed before I can worry about this. We hope to talk to one of the sports medicine doctors in the next day or two to see how we can heal one stress fracture without making the other one worse.

Otherwise, life is going as planned. The kids are playing across the street at Brittny's house with some of JB's family members. The dogs are there too. I'm answering all the questions the movers have as best I can until JB gets back.

Tonight is the banquet. Tomorrow JB graduates. Wow. I can't believe this is all here already.

Or how empty our house is starting to feel.

This is really happening.

Surreal.

Da-feet

They reread my bone scan at the Clinic. Apparently this is protocol. The second physician who read it said that it definitely was a stress fracture. I guess this explains why the podiatrist said to me: "I don't care what the bone scan says, I say you have a stress fracture." Ha!

However, the reader-of-the-bone-scan-for-the-second-time also informed my doctor who informed JB who informed me that I have two old stress fractures, which look they are almost healed, near the big toe in both my feet. This area has caused me discomfort over the last three years. It's why I have stopped wearing flip-flops whenever I can avoid it and couldn't figure out why other people could wear them all the time. Didn't they hurt your feet?

No. They just hurt mine because I had stress fractures in both feet that were healing.

Sigh . . .

I am hoping this doesn't damage my opportunity for triathlons in the future. Kristi and I are already discussing the next one we can do together when I am on a break back in the States.

We will see.

What the heck is that?

JB brought his Ratatouille rat home from work. It has a motor and rolls around like, well, a real rat. It even finds its way into corners and has to be retrieved. Isaac loved it. And Scrubs spent the entire morning trying to figure out what the heck this thing was.

Sugar & Spice

Hey folks, I am reposting this post from a few days ago in the hopes that you will all help me spread the word about my dear friend Joia's new business venture. I love Joia dearly and I know I have some readers out there that could help me spread the word.

If you like her products, would you consider posting a link to her blog on your own blog? Here is the link to her blog:

http://www.enjoiablestuff.blogspot.com/

Or, if you prefer, can you simply link to my blog at:

http://flakymn.blogspot.com/2010/06/sugar-spice.html

My friend Joia has started a new business venture! She will be selling tu-tu's and other little girl dress up clothes. Check it out!

Brown Boxes Everywhere

Thank the Lord for friends like Brittny who let me and my three boys hang out at her house all day long while the packers worked under JB's supervision back at our house. Of course, she was gone for half of the day, but still. That's a good friend. It worked out so well since they live right across the street. JB and I could meet halfway to exchange a child or an item we needed.

The house is now nearly completely packed up. Tomorrow they will return to do little odds and ends. Thursday they will pack up the truck.

Once they leave on Thursday we will begin the process of sorting through our linen closet, master bathroom, big hall closet, and the closets in the guest room. This is where we have stashed all items that we want to send unaccompanied or to keep on our person. We will have to divide these up and get things reorganized.

Our clothes are in suitcases in the master bedroom if that tells you anything of how we are currently living.

The good news is, as of right now, the only "mistake" I think I made was having packed up all the overnight diapers. I didn't have two anywhere. But this mistake is, obviously, minor, since we can go to the store tomorrow and get them.

We are doing well and the moving day went well. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us.

Over the next few weeks, would you pray for a few specific things:

1. That JB and I will have patience and kindness both with each other, Scrubs, and the boys. Today went fantastic! But when you are living such a crazy life, patience can be the first thing to get pushed to the wayside. In brief moments today, I realized how easily that can happen, and I want to make sure that we are nurturing and not damaging our most important relationships during this time.

2. That our boys will adjust to the fact that we will be homeless for the next month. That they will have sweet sleep and enjoy the newness and lack of familiarity instead of being intimidated by it.

3. That JB and I will have wisdom and insight into how we can make this transition smooth for all of us.

Thanks everyone!

WELCOME HOME!

Praise the Lord that our good friend Clay is home safe and sound after many, many months away from his wife Brittney and their daughters. We are also looking forward to get to visit with their family for a short time on our way to Baltimore for our flight to Turkey. Thank you Clay for serving our country!

Please take the time to visit Brittney's blog and tell Clay and his family that you appreciate his service to our country. Even if you don't support where our country is and what we are doing, you can appreciate the dedication of men like Clay. And even if you don't know him personally, I'm sure they would appreciate hearing from all the people who are thankful for his service.

Making New Fun (Part 3)

Another flashback at the fun we've been making at our house with non-packed items.

Della is moving to Japan. Isaac and Elijah are going to Turkey. Both sets of parents have tons to do so switcharoos have been in the mix! I watch Della for a bit. Then Sarah watches my kiddos for a bit. Since we just live a few houses down, it works fantastic.

Here's a pic of the kids over the weekend:

Playing in the crate that will take Scrubby to Turkey.

Scrubs getting some rest (with the empty pail Della brought him.)

Sweet Della

Contemplating what to color next.

Elijah moving in for the kill.

Color on his car with chalk!? Why not! It'll kill some time at least.

Making New Fun (Part 2)

The packers are here. They came with a small truck filled with packing supplies. They were pleasantly surprised by how organized we were and said they really didn't need anything from us. Since we had rooms and signs providing direction, and JB and I were on the same page, I didn't feel the need to be there to micromanage.

So I called Jodi, who was going to come to Base to take the boys (including Scrubs) to Britny's across the street (Brittny is at VBS with her kiddos), that her help was really not required. Instead, I walked across the street with all my guys. JB is staying at the house, but he is just doing some work on the computer. I'm enjoying sitting on the sofa while Isaac and Elijah are playing with all kinds of new toys. They have some cool trucks and trains (and dolls and strollers!) that are all way new. I think the boys will be occupied for awhile.

Sidenote: Isaac just tried to put sunglasses on Elijah and said, "Come here Elijah boy." So funny!

So while the packers are working across the street, I'm sitting on Brittny's couch with Brittny's laptop and actually relaxing a bit. I am already feeling the "there is no more to-do-list" feeling.

Sweet!

A quick flashback to yesterday at our house. More making fun with totally different stuff.

It's amazing that two pairs of Mickey socks (Thanks Uncle Ray and Aunt Gabbi) can entertain so wonderfully. We go back and forth between sock toes and sock hands throughout most of our days.

Sock toes

Isaac has, at least during the last few days, decided that picture taking is semi-cool again. He's been turning and saying "cheese." We'll see how long this lasts.

Socks hands. Elijah can wear these all day.

Isaac, however, will get frustrated with his lack of dexterity, and eventually want to switch to the toes again. Look at this folks! He's smiling for the camera. Probably cuz he's wearing his "Lighnin' McWeeeen" shirt.