Four Teeth and A Shiner

This is a pretty good picture of the teeth . . . Sammy has four of them. The bottom two came in first and the top two finally broke through last week. He's getting good use out of them lately, we've had broccoli two dinners in a row. He bit me for the first time today, good thing he's not a vampire! Those little teeth are sharp!


And, the Shiner! It's a pretty good one . . . he got it when he pulled a bar stool over on top of himself and the rim of the seat nailed him right above the eye. Poor kid . . . let's see how it compares to the shiner Carli had at about the same age:

Carli's definitely wins, I think. She got hers when Eli held the receiver of a toy telephone over his head and whipped it around Indiana Jones style, nailing her in the face with the phone. Fun times at our house!

Eli's Birthday

Last week was Eli's birthday. I'm still getting over the fact that he's six years old . . . He's a big boy now! Sending him off to first grade this year was bittersweet for me. You'd think I would have experienced these emotions last year with kindergarten, but being pregnant on bed rest with a herniated disk at the time, I couldn't wait for him to start! It just seems like he has grown and changed so much this past year. He's still very emotional at times, but he is starting to mature and there are moments when I wonder at this little boy we're blessed to have in our family. I think the best moments are when he's playing with Carli and I overhear him say, "Carli, you're my very best friend." I swear, every time that happens I choke up!

Anyway, on to the birthday proceedings. The 20th was the actual day and I knew he would be in school all day, so we planned a special breakfast. I knew that waffles with cherry pie filling and cool whip would be a big hit. Way to start the day off right!

We arranged a babysitter for Sammy and picked Eli up after school so we could go to the afternoon showing of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Carli was good for about three-quarters of the movie until she got bored, luckily, we had the whole theater to ourselves, so she just ran up and down the aisles. Eli and Ben were totally enraptured, of course, and enjoyed every minute of it. (I must admit that I jerked awake a couple of times, but don't tell Ben! =)). After the movie we drove through Taco Bell for burritos and took them home to get Sammy. It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to pull out a blanket and make it a picnic. After the burritos, Eli and Carli put on a show for us, trampoline tricks included, and then we went inside and he opened his gift from Nana and Papa. He was thrilled with the Star Wars blaster, especially after just seeing the movie. I think Eli had a great birthday . . . I know I enjoyed it!

Saturday afternoon was the actual party. We had a pretty good turnout and a friend brought a slip-n-slide, so between that and the trampoline and wading pool, everyone had a great time. Ben made the cake since I was busy with church stuff in the morning, and he had the great idea to put a SpongeBob Frisbee on top (yay for TJ Maxx!). Eli loved it and it turned out really cute! They got to have their cake and play with it too. Way to go Ben!

The Airshow!

The whole family in front of Ben's plane: the Rivet Joint

This last weekend was the annual Airshow and Open House here at Offutt AFB. We didn't get to go last year because I was on bedrest, so we've really been looking forward to it. We weren't disappointed! We checked out the website first and found what we thought was a good place to park. There were places all over town where you could park and be shuttled to base. We figured parking on base was a good option, even though we would still have to be shuttled over to the tarmac. Turns out that we went to base, parked, got on the shuttle bus with kids, stroller, water, blanket, snacks, etc, and then went back off base and all the way around to the other side to enter again. I guess the FAA shuts down certain spaces when they know crazy airplane stuff is going to be happening there, so there were several parts of base that were closed down. Once we got to the other side, we noticed that there were several open parking spots right in the commissary parking lot! It was a huge waste of time doing the shuttle bus thing, but I think the kids enjoyed riding on the bus. Oh well, next year we'll know just where to park!

Sammy and Luella on the bus ride home

There were tons of vendors, of course, and big tents with food and activities. The kids spotted these little bicycle planes right away and had a great time "flying" around the track. There were about a million bouncy houses, but you had to pay to jump in them. I thought that was pretty lame. We bought some tickets and the kids got to pick two bouncy houses they wanted to play in. There were several open planes, and some that the kids could sit in and walk through. At some point during the festivities, we realized that the camera was missing. We backtracked and scoured the ground, figuring that it had fallen off of the stroller. I was just sick thinking about the pictures we had lost and the thought of paying for a new camera. Ben checked the lost-and-found thinking there was no way it would be there so quickly, but it was! I couldn't believe it! I was so grateful and happy that the people who found it were so honest. It totally made the day for me that someone turned it in.

After that we found some grass to sit on and waited for the Thunderbirds to do their show. There were vendors selling smoothies and drinks for crazy prices, so Ben just ran across the field to the commissary and bought a box of ice cream sandwiches for 2 bucks and we all enjoyed ice cream while we waited. Yay commissary!

The show was awesome! Some of the stuff they do is just crazy. Carli told us she wants to fly one of these planes when she grows up . . . talk about fulfilling your parents dream! Ben would bust his buttons if one of the kids became a fighter pilot. There actually was a female pilot in one of the Thunderbirds, Ben thinks she's the first. They did a great job. (We actually saw a lot of the Thunderbirds this last week. On Friday, they were practicing and the flight path went right around our house, then the show on Saturday and Sunday, then this morning they took off for Colorado and we saw them leave.)
So, except for the wasted time on the bus, the camera scare, and a few diarrhea runs to the bathroom with Eli (which actually was a good thing because Ben just ran into the firehouse with him and told them he was sick and got to use the bathroom there instead of waiting in line with about 500 other people!), it was a totally fun day! The kids were really good and the weather was fantastic! It was hot in the sun, but there was a little breeze and some cloudy moments throughout the day. When we finally got off the bus, we went to Mcdonalds for dinner. They had an Air Hockey game there and Sammy thought it was hilarious to watch Ben and Eli play.

Sammy loves Air Hockey!

Nothing's better than a package!

Last week we got a great package from Nana and Papa. Every few months Papa goes to a business conference or something of that nature, and comes home with all sorts of freebies like calculators, pens, stress balls, stuffed animals, etc. Carli and Eli just love opening the package and seeing all the cool stuff inside. This time the squishy guitars and trucks were a hit, as were the little stuffed guide dogs.



Everyone also loved the Red Wings gear, and Sammy will be sure to trash this bib next time he eats! Ben said it's the best Red Wings shirt he's had yet and I love mine too (I'll love it even better when it fits! :) ). Thanks Nana and Papa, you're the best!

This Guy is Awesome!

"Person of the Week." A clip from ABC news about a guy who goes every morning to the Dallas airport to greet soldiers returning from Iraq.

I really appreciate every time someone goes out of their way to thank Ben for his service as an Airman(He gets a little embarrassed; he figures he's just doing his job). We do sacrifice a lot, for me the greatest sacrifice being when Ben is deployed. This video is just awesome... I love people who are so patriotic and who take the time to thank the soldiers. It really is appreciated!

Good News

Check out this blog . . . Cheerful Scoop. It's a blogger in San Francisco who is as sick as I am of all the bad news we hear about in the media so she posts about only good news. Awesome!

Check Out Those Stripes!

Yesterday, August 1, 2008, Ben officially became a Staff Sergeant for the Air Force! We got to go on Wednesday to the promotion ceremony. It was really cool to hear the general speak and see all the promotees.

He really loved going into the office yesterday with his new name tag, even though he could have passed on being nailed in the arm repeatedly. (That's tradition... when you get promoted everyone gets to hit you as hard as they can, as if they're helping you "pin on" your new promotion.) He has bruises on both arms. He said he's glad that we don't drink because it's also tradition that when you get promoted you buy everyone a drink since you're the one who got the raise. Whew! Another great reason to stay sober.

I was (and am) so proud of Ben. He has worked really hard and he got this promotion way before we expected it! I'm so glad he has found a job that he loves and I hope he continues to love it.

Congratulations to Ben, a great husband and dad and my best friend. We love you.