Catch Up!

WOW!! I need to catch up on the last three months! Needless up say.. We've been busy! After Andy returned we took a much needed week long cruise to the Caribbean!! We had an amazing time full of fun, relaxation, and great family time.

The ship had so much to do!! We were usually torn on what to do as there was so much!

Andy REALLY enjoyed to relaxing ship time...

Ok.. Maybe I did too!

And the kiddos did too...

Crystal clear water in Cozumel.

We coldly have asked for a better ship! This is what we walked onto after each port stop! They had music playing loud, people dancing, and nothing but smiles!

We took a two hour tube ride down a river in a jungle in Belize!

Andy and Drew went on a chartered boat trip and came home with dinner! The cost included a restaurant cooking the fish for us!

We had an amazing time and it was just what we needed.

Daddy's Home!!

A few weeks ago Andy returned home from his six month deployment! (This post is a little late.. It's been crazy in this house!)

We were told to meet at the base theater at 5a.m. The escort all of the troops onto base in buses and cop cars escort them on with lights on and all!! So I woke the kiddos up and we hurried off to the theater! They then announced due to the fog they could not land at the airport and were being re-routed to New Orleans!! The fog lifted and they arrived at noon!

Everyone was do excited!! 

And the search was on to find Andy's bags!

It's so great to have him home and to have our family complete again.

Love Brooke!

Brooke LOVES the kids and wants to be where they are all the time! Here are a few photos..

Claire came into my bed the other night and Brooke was laying on her dog bed in our room. She is NOT allowed in our bed!! However, she somehow noticed Claire had snuck into my bed while we were still down stairs and jumped into my bed and laid right next to her!

After I put the kiddos to bed Brooke and I go down stairs. The other night she snuck back upstairs and was sleeping with Claire!

Drew had a sleepover and again, Brooke laying on the air mattress to be close to them!

We are so lucky to have such a relaxed puppy!! (She has her moments though..!)

Puddle Fun

Yesterday it rained allllllll day! By the time Drew was home from school it had stopped and was actually really nice out, just wet. So I put my crazy hat on and told the kiddos they could go puddle jumping with some neighborhood friends!! They were ecstatic!!! 

The kiddos were running Brooke through the puddles!! 

Three loads of laundry later, one dog bath, and two baths for the kiddos with extra bubbles.. We were clean! Energy was exerted and they slept hard!

December Randomness..

This past weekend I took the kiddos to Disney on Ice! The show exceeded my expectations and was actually really cute! Drew and Claire loved it!

Enjoying some delicious and sticky 

cotton candy! 

                    Eddie the elf....

  Eddie our holiday elf returned in full force on December 1st! Drew and Claire come RUNNING down in the morning to see what mischief Eddie has been into!   

Every night I make Eddie do something different until Christmas Eve when he flies  back to join Santa! So far I've remembered to do something every night except once! I still pulled it off as I woke up at 4am in a sweat as I had forgotten to hide him!! Ran down stairs and made it a success for morning! 

I LOVE the age Drew and Claire are at!! It truly makes the holidays SO much fun!!

Here are a few things that Eddie has been up to lately..

Christmas

This Christmas was a little different as Andy was deployed this year during the holiday season. During this deployment December 25th was the day I was dreading as the kiddos start counting down the days till next Christmas staring the 26th of December. It was extra hard for Claire as she fully didn't grasp why Andy couldn't JUST come home for Christmas. So, I knew I needed to do something to make this magical and fun! I booked us a trip to our favorite and RELAXING resort in Florida leaving Christmas afternoon.

I took the kiddos there Labor Day weekend alone with the kiddos and we fell in love with the place. You can park your car and not get in it again until your ready to check out! 

The resort had a shuttle that drives you around, too many pools to count, beaches, movie theater on site, trails, tree houses, too many restaurants to pick from, and to top it off a zip line across a bay! 

Another moment I was dreading was making cookies from scratch.. Boy I HATE baking!! I love to cook, just not bake! It was a success though!!

Tearing into gifts!

Stopping to enjoy the bubble wrap..

Then it's all over and were (I'm) left with this!!

We had a good turkey meal. Claire loved helping carve the turkey!! (She also enjoyed snacking on it while she helped!)

Packed up the car that afternoon and checked into paradise!

Our room over looked the cute village!

Taking a break on the beach for a quick photo!

Jumping the waves!

On the resort site their was an American Girl store. Claire was in heaven!!! The lady who worked there couldn't have been nicer! EVERYDAY when we went in their the lady would gather doll clothes that matched Claire's outfit!! Claire was in heaven!

I brought the kiddos bikes then our condo came with a couple of bikes! Everyday we were out biking on the resorts amazing trails. I had to drag the kiddos off of their bikes as I was tired before them!

If we weren't biking we were at the play ground, in the hot tub, or in the amazing pool!