NEW MOON and a HOT date!

Team Edward baby!!!!

Renee found her family at the movies!

She LOVES when he wears this hat!

"I packed your ANGRY eyes" lol

FUN double date!!!

We went on a FUN double date with Renee and Gregward! First we had dinner at Red Robin............yummmmmmmmmmmm, then on to the MUCH anticipated, NEW MOON! We had a blast and laughed A LOT and oh yeah, the movie was good too! :)

Ava's Soccer Party

Josh and his little sister, Sara
Kayla (a.k. Cheese), Ava and Maria...................3 TOUGH chicks!

Ava and Cheese

The Kings and their HUGE trophies!

Coach Tony and Ava

Ethan and Sara (same K class) He says "Sawa" and love her! Awwwww

GO KINGS! In a previous post, I talked about how awesome Ava's team was! It was such an exciting year now that she's competitive! Their team came in second in their conference. The had a GREAT coach and Asst. coach along with a very talented group of kids! We had our end-of-season party at Golden Corral where they were given their HUGE trophies! She was in heaven!!

Ethan's Basketball B-day Cake at Miriam's!

Miriam and Ethan

Miriam (our friend and neighbor) is an AMAZING cook and baker! She made both kid's cakes last year and again this year too! This year Ethan requested a basketball! It was AWESOME and tasted just as good as it looks :) Thanks again, Mir!!

Ethan's party cont. ADULT FUN!

Gregward would make a GREAT HOST! lol
STUD!!!!!!!!!!
Why does rabbit ears NEVER get old? lol (Jill and Mike)

The Girls (Jill, Anna, Miriam, Renee, Me, Brandy and baby Miranda)

Renee and Greg

Jason shooting me at point blank range (feel the love!)

GI Jason

Greg and Mason

Mike, Jason and Zach W.

Seriously?

G and Jilly Bean

Just like Assghanistan, right?

The girls wit da curls!

Jilly Bean and Renee

J hunting the kids

Greward "gettin some!"

The Big Boys (uh......I mean, Men) in their "Charlie's Angels" pose

Hard to say who had more fun at Ethan's party....................the BIG kids or the little ones :) You think the guys would be sick of playing Rambo since it's their job, but they never grow up! LOL :)

Ethan turns 6!!

The Stowe Fam
Mike and Mason
Ethan's party room (turn head to read sign-lol)

Blowing out candles

A "VERY COOL" Mason

NURF GUNS!!!!!!

PIZZA!

Miriam and Zevi

J and Ethan

Me, Ethan and Alex

Jill and Zach

Anna and Riley

Rambo Zach W.

Rambo Zevi

Check out the tongue! lol

Rambo Ethan

Rambo Zach S.

Renee (other mom) and Ethan

Mike and Jason

Rambo Alex

Attack on Jason!!!

Rambo Mike

The Red Team!

The Green Team!

The party boys with Hostess, Rachel

Coloring Ethan's shirt

How is it possible that my BABY is 6? Since we had such a GREAT experience at The Recreation Station for Ava's party, we decided to do it again 3 weeks later for Ethan! Only this time, we made it a LASER TAG party and Ethan's BEST present............................DADDY WAS HOME TO PARTICIPATE! WOO HOO! In fact, I'm not sure who had more fun, the little boys or the BIG boys! lol Ethan invited 10 of his great friends and we had the same hostess, Rachel, from last time, so it was a BLAST! There are soooooooooooo many pics to prove it :) Happy 6th Ethan! We love you!

Dress-up and a fashion show

In PJ's with self made bed head to be funny!
Work it Rockstar!

Cheerleader and Go-Go Dancer

Rockstar and Cheerleader

Bride/Princess and Vampire

Ava and Grace had a sleepover and they had a fun time playing dress-up while giving me a fashion show! They are so cute and had SO MUCH FUN!! Thanks Grandma Fiore for ALL the wonderful dress-up clothes for Ava's b-day! She LOVES them! :)

Ava's cake at The Schwab's house!

Miriam can bake a mean cake.............in this case, a mean CUPCAKE cake!! As always, it was deeeeeeeeeeeeelish and we had some neighborhood friends over to enjoy as well! Thanks Miriam and Zevi, Amy and Megan, and Jade for coming!

Ava turns 8!!

Ava and Katia playing video games
Ava riding a motorcycle
Anna and Katia

Jill and Grace

Maisy B.

Ava's new (Karito Kid) doll...............It's Italian and named "Gia"!!!!

Didn't I just have you?

The cake

Another webkins

A Vera Bradley purse!

PIZZA time!

Skating!!

GREAT FRIENDS!!!

FUN party!!!

Carly displaying GREAT balance with her cake plate!

Coloring a take home shirt to remember a FUN day with GREAT friends!

This year for Ava's b-day we had a roller skating party at The Recreation Station! She was able to invite 10 GREAT friends and we had our own special party hostess who took care of everything!!! They decorated Ava a shirt, roller skated, ate pizza and cake, opened presents and played TONS of games for 2 hours! All I had to do was take pics and enjoy (some of the moms skated too and we had a BLAST!) HAPPY 8th B-DAY AVA!!

Seems like just yesterday.......................... :)

Ethan's Soccer Season '09

This was Ethan's first year playing soccer and he was FANTASTIC! He scored at least one goal almost every game! One game he scored 6 out of 8 and another game he scored the only 2 goals! Being new to the game, he didn't get the concept of playing defense very well and would score from anywhere and steal from his own men! LOL He's aggressive though and very athletic at EVERY sport he plays! We really loved watching him this year and look forward to MANY more years of sports! Here's a pic of the soccer cupcakes I made for the last game and one of Ethan getting his trophy.

J has been home 2 weeks today!!

Skating with Ethan at a party
Our double date with the Miles' to the Haunted Forest

The "Punkin Patch"

Welcome home cupcake with the Jews

Surprising the kids at school the day after he returned

Will someone send this man a new shirt!!! Look how MANY times he has worn this freakin shirt! I surprised him with it when he returned from ASSghanistan and now I'm cursing the Old Navy that I bought it from! Stupid Redskins shirt! There has even been days he's worn it with NO proof in pics...................right Jess? UGH! I also got him a Chgo Bears shirt...............haven't seen it ONCE! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ava is the VIP for her 3rd grade class (Mrs. Davis) in Nov. '09

Standing in front of Ava's bio in the cafeteria (why do I have a MJ curl?)

Above Ava's head is her bio and pic from her Daddy/Daughter dance last Spring
So nice for J to be here for things like this :)

Receiving her pencil and FREE meal coupon for The Golden Corral (yum - ugh!)

Ava and Mr. Osgood, the PrinciPAL

VIP!!!

Every week each teacher selects a student from his/her classroom as the VIP for the week. They are chosen for reasons such as good behavior, academics, helping in the classroom, etc. Throughout the week they are awarded certain privileges like being the line leader, posting their bio and pic on the wall in the cafeteria, having a special lunch, receiving a free popcorn on Friday and getting an award from the Principal, himself! Jason and I went to the award ceremony and had a DELICIOUS lunch with Ava in the cafeteria! It was fish sandwiches! We were sooooo lucky! ;) We had a lot of fun and are so proud of Ava and her constant desire to be better and do better at everything she does! Congrats on being VIP Ava! We love you!!!!

Marine Corps Ball '09

Me and Anna McCuen
Jason and Russell Fluker

US at the Ball

The Prom pose before the Ball

Patrick and Anna McCuen and Us

Russell and Christy Fluker and Us

We had a great time at the 2nd Division Ball! I borrowed a dress from my friend Stacy and LOVED it! Thanks again Stacy! Since Jason lost weight during his deployment, his Blues were extra comfy so he could actually breathe and EAT! :)

Welcome Home cupcake with the Schwabs!

J's FAV cake in the shape of a HUGE cupcake!
Rabs, J, Zevi and Miriam

Miriam made Jason a DELICIOUS Harvey Walbanger cake in the shape of a GIANT cupcake to fatten him up again! It was yummy!!

Haunted Mansion

I NEED this shirt!!!! :)

J's lost 30 lbs, so Renee thinks she can take him now! HA!

Two days after Jason returned from ASSghanistan, we went on a double date to the Haunted Forest on base with Big G and Renee! Probably not the smartest date night post deployment, but he was fine and didn't try to kill any zombies! Renee might have peed her pants.................a little. It was FUN! Greg was just glad he didn't have to deal with Renee and I alone AGAIN! lol

Halloween '09

Ava and Remini
Ethan and Brady

Ethan and Ian

me, Jill and Renee

Nathan, Zach, Ethan and Alex

Zach and Ethan

Renee trying to get a "camo-free" kiss

Maddie and Ava

Ethan and Alex

Ethan and Zach S.

Twins

Kayla and Ava

The Marine and the Vampiress

Sean, Ethan and Ava

Trunk or Treating at the school the day before Halloween! Didn't take any pics on Halloween night, but the kids were the same thing. Ethan...............a MARINE, AGAIN! Ava.............a Vampiress!

Fall '09

Carving! (it's a punkin NOT a terrorist J! Look at his veins!) lol

The "Punkin Patch"

decisions..............decisions

Yes, we were raised in a barn!

Greeeeeeeen Acres is the place for me!!

"I carried a punkin" (Dirty Dancing........"I carried a watermelon") LOL

Ava has to have the BIGGEST one!

She'll just roll it home.................

.................or break her back trying to carry it! LOL

Me and Renee at the school

Me and Renee at Ava's game (FREEZING!)

Face painting at Family Day

Riding horses at family day

Ava and Renee at game

Ava and Gregward

LOVE the FALL! Since I haven't blogged in forever.................here's some pics from the last 2/8 Family Day, one of Ava's FREEEEEEEZING soccer games and the punkin patch :)

Daddy surprises the kids at school!

Since Jason came in late, the kids stayed at Renee's and went to school the next morning, so we could, ummmmmmm, "visit" LOL It was soooooooo exciting to surprise them at school today! They couldn't believe it was really him! They couldn't stop staring, wouldn't let go and smiled the BIGGEST smiles I have ever seen!! It was AWESOME! :)

Welcome home Jason!!!!!

Balloon surprise from Williams' Family!
Sign the kids made!

"I gotta feelin' that tonight's gonna be a good night" :)

It's really you!!!!

MISSED YOU!

LOVE YOU!!!

The day we have been counting down to! Almost 6 mos. ago, Jason left for ASSghanistan and is FINALLY home! This deployment took forever and was very hard, but GREAT friends and family made it easier! Renee (my Co-parent this time instead of Lins.... LOL) kept the kids for a few days so I could DEEP clean and de-dog the house! Words can not express my gratitude to the Miles' fam. over this deployment! I couldn't list alllllll of the help, favors, support, advice, encouragement, etc. if I tried! Just know that I love you, WE ALL love you and are grateful and thankful for EVERYTHING you've done for us!!!!!!!! Jill loaned me her bows and came to help me decorate! She also had Ava one afternoon while I cleaned like a mad woman! She has also been there to ALWAYS help when I needed it (and I needed it often!) The Williams' fam also surprised us with these great balloons when we arrived home! Thank you Jilly Bean and I Love you too!! Thank you to everyone for the packages you sent to Jason, the letters and cards, the e-mails, the support and most of all, LOVE! You just can't go through this alone and we are so blessed to have SO MANY wonderful people in our lives! My facebook messages have been AMAZING! A million times...................THANK YOU :)

Ethan's New Room (almost done)

Ethan wanted to redo his room, so we sold his car bead and painted the blue wall............brown. What better decor for him, than CAMO! My friend Amy gave us her son's bedding which was practically new! I bought this cool camo netting to hang from the loftbed so he has a real fort to play in! All I need to do is get some cool Marine stuff to hang on the walls now. He loves it!!! OOH RAH DEVIL DOG!

NEW RAZORS!

Auntie Kelly sent the kids their b-day presents early so they could still enjoy them before the cold! They each also got a shirt! Ava's is for school and Ethan's is for church with a matching tie! WOO HOO! Thanks Auntie Kelly! :)