Sponger

Have I mentioned how much we love the water? I really don't think I could tell you enough times to make you believe it, really? If it were possible, we would all have scales. Jeff loves to surf, Jt loves to swim and is now begging Jeff for a surf board, T man can hold his breath under water and has no fear of the ocean and I well, let just say if it has a pool a neighbors fence isn't going to stop me. Well, at least when I was younger. Jeff has taught me to long board and I really want to try paddle boarding one of these days. Something to try before we move from here.

Well, we spend a lot of our free time at the beach when Jeff is home. I would take the boys by myself, but thats just to hard!

Here are some of the pictures I took of our last beach day with my camera.

Enjoying the view

Jackson is a Sponger.

Catching his first wave!

He totally had a blast and is hooked! We had to take him out the very next day to do it some more!

I decided to get in on some of this action and take the opportunity and have some fun with my big boy! Seems like I'm always on the sidelines these days.

Easter 2012

Easter 2012 in Jacksonville, FL was pretty quiet and fun! We had Jeff's mom and step dad here along with my new friend Candace and her little clan. She is a fellow military wife that I met while Jeff was in Thailand. Her 2 little girls get a long great with the boys so we decided to celebrate Easter together. We colored eggs, played and went on a Easter egg hunt together.
We definitely missed our little cousins and family back home.
Jackson couldn't wait for the East bunny to come. He kept saying he was going to stay up all night waiting for him!

Well, when he woke up in the morning this is what he found.. 

Jackson's goodies



Tanner's goodies



Candace made this funny little bunny! Isn't he cute? To bad we ate him up and made him into garlic bread! lol




Jt and Leiana waiting to seek their Easter eggs



and they are off...



collecting his eggs



We had a great Easter spending it with Kathy and Art and our new friends! We hope you all had a great day as well





Exploring the Ortega/St. Johns River

The Friday before Easter my In-laws decided to move their boat to a different marina. They invited the boys and I and we jumped on the offer. Seeing Jacksonville from the roads is ok, but by boat! That's would be a different sight for us!

We got to see downtown, the Maxwell coffee factory, Jaguar Stadium, a Bald Eagle carrying a fish over our heads, the 9A bridge from below and dolphins! the weather started out nice, but as we got closer to the ocean the wind picked up and the wakes got bigger. I wouldn't have thought wakes could get that big in the river.

The start of the trip

Papa art and his little mate

Granny Kathy and Jt sitting on the bow

Downtown Jacksonville

Maxwell House Coffee Factory

Jaguar Stadium

1 of the many Tug Boats

Getting some sun

The 9A (a bridge we cross everyday to get to town or the beach)

Can you see the dolphin fin?

We had a great time on the boat. I think Jt will be a boater of some kind when he grows up! He loves fishing and had a great time helping grandma run around and direct or help Art with ropes, etc.

Daddy Came Home

Jeff had his first deployment of his pilot career. He left March 5th and came home March 28th. 3 whole long weeks, which seemed like forever, but it went by pretty fast. I met another wife from the squadron and went to the gym with her just about everyday. She made some of the time go by faster and having Kathy here helped a lot too. She kept us busy and helped a lot with the boys.

Jeff participated in Cope Tiger: exercise with more than 1600 combined service members from the U.S., Thailand and Singapore try to enhance and improve procedures in air power.

He wasn't sure if he would be going, but was ready for the challenge.

We weren't thrilled it would be during Jts birthday, which Jeff missed:( We celebrated early, so Jt was happy about that. (Jeff will post pictures of his trip and tell you all about it)

The day Jeff came home, I made this sign for him while Jt was at school and T was napping. I figured I would make it and then they could color all over it. At least Jeff would see the big writing and then all the scribbles. Well, we forgot it when we went to greet him at the base! lol

When we got to the FANG, they were just flying over in formation. Luckily I was with Candace who's husband is in this picture as well. He's the one splitting off and Jeff is the one flying straight.

After we got through the squadron and outside to the flight line, they were all lined up and waiting to taxi in to their final resting spot. Jeff is the closest one to the pole.

T, Leiana and Jt waiting for their daddy's

The sign outside of the squadron

What a better welcome! having all the smiles and hugs and a rainbow in the background!

Waiting for Jets to shut down

And they were off! Jt was so excited!

T kept saying, Dadda, dadda!

The guys were handed a beer right after they stepped out of the jet

And we are finally home with the sign I forgot! So glad to have him home and so are the boys. Especially home and safe with us...

Welcome home babe, we missed you lots!

Playing Catch Up!

So the last week has been so busy and I haven't really found the time to sit down and post anything. I have all of these picture that I've been taking and waiting to be shown, but I find something else to do. Besides the kids make it near impossible to be on the computer these days.

Each collage is in a day! So this one below was 2 weeks ago when Kathy and her friend Pam got the boys and I to the beach for a couple hours. It was spring break for some kids, ok maybe a lot! The boys didn't mind all the people, but it was definitely harder keeping an eye on them. Good thing Kathy had Jt and I had T man.

We had a great time playing in the water (probably 75+ degrees) and beautiful outside. One of the good things about being in the Atlantic ocean, it's super warm and not cold like the Pacific back at home. People were surfing in their board shorts! The water back home is freezing in the middle of summer. People still wear thick wetsuits in the middle of summer back home. So this here is super nice!

Lately the kids are wanting to color, draw or play with play-dough. Ok, not lately, Everyday! Especially Tanner! He loves the markers and emptying out Jts play-dough bag. He gets a kick out of making a mess and throwing it all over the floor. I do have to say he's a pretty good little helper when it's time to cleaning up! So that makes it worth while being he enjoys all of it!
Jackson has been learning so much at school too. He is always bringing home papers of things he's written and now sees words and is spelling them out to me. He even came home yesterday adding and subtracting without looking at the paper. Wow, I am totally impressed!
At the end of this particular day, I couldn't pass up this beautiful sunset! 3 layers of colors and the way the sun was highlighting some of the clouds, beautiful!


Last Friday, Jt had his last dentist visit and Jeff was able to take him to this one. He had 2 fillings and was put on the No Cavity List! He came home wearing this tooth sticker with a reward ribbon attached to it. He was so proud and even wanted to wear it to bed. I said no and stuck it in his baby book! Mean ole mom!
While Jeff and Jt were out that day, T and I put on our bathing suits and played in the backyard. We ate some watermelon and found a slug moving across the patio. We played in the water and enjoyed our time together. I love getting this time with him, especially when life seems so busy these days. He really seems to enjoy our quiet times together and loves to be near me more. I think he knows to soak it up when Jt is gone. Definitely love spending time with him!

Now that Jeff is home, I will have to have him sit down and tell you about his trip! He has some great photos and some cool little stories to go a long with them!
Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!