Back in the summer we started the process of refurbishing a 150 gallon aquarium set-up. After many hours of work, research, picking out fish and corals, designing the rock layout...here is what our aquarium looks like now. Everything is thriving and we still have a few more corals to add. I've shown a couple of early stage pictures to give you a reference of how much has been added.
I don't know what it is about New Year's Eve and home projects. Last year we built benches for our bar and this year we made loft beds and book shelves for the kids rooms. Jason managed to get a new table saw for cutting all the wood and I got a few new paint brushes. After a lot of sanding and a few coats of paint I think the finished product turned out nice. Ethan and Rachel's bedrooms are small and this gave them a lot more room and a nice reading/play area under their beds.
Santa brought Ethan his first remote control airplane. The plane is tiny but he's just learning and it's perfect for flying indoors. Rachel got an EZ Bake Oven, look out Betty Crocker and Sarah Lee, she's getting good at making cakes and frosting them too. As for me and Jason, underneath that red blanket Santa brought us the best and most expensive gift ever, an Allura Tempur-pedic mattress. 
I'm sorry I have not mailed Christmas cards yet; the blog will have to do for now. My week in Montana (see older post below) didn't help my Christmas to do list. We hope you all have a safe and wonderful MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The kids were so excited about their Christmas program. They told me they practiced their songs really hard at school and I thought tonight couldn't get here fast enough. Rachel's class sang about the Virgin Mary and Ethan's class sang Go Tell It on the Mountain. This program brought back memories for me of being in grade school, the message is so simple yet the story never gets old. We are a very blessed family and I can't believe my babies are in kindergarten and first grade. The dress Rachel is wearing is mine from when I was 5 years old. I was hesitant to let her wear it but she refused to wear anything else. When I find the picture of me in this dress I'll post both of them together. We are definitely twins just 26 years apart :-)
Jesus is the reason for the Season!
I missed our squadron Christmas party again, last year I was at my brother's wedding and this year Jason sent me out of town. The theme was NERDY. While Jason was taking me to the airport and I knew he would be going solo to the party, I told him he should go as the BULLY. I think the pictures speak for themselves but he nailed the bully look complete with tattoos, piercings, and even a Mohawk. I knew as soon as the kids saw him dressed like this I would be getting a phone call. Rachel called to tell on her daddy for piercing his ear and wearing tattoos. Jason explained to them that he was going to a "joke party" and then they thought it was funny.
Are you ready for a story? This might be my longest blog post yet. Jason pulled off the biggest surprise to date for my birthday this year. The day before my birthday he sent me out to lunch and to a spa for rest and relaxation with a good friend. Perfect present and little did I know that was just to throw me off for what I would be in store for the next morning. My birthday morning started off with all I could ever want; Jason, Ethan and Rachel waking me up with their cards and presents in hand for me to open. My day was complete until Jason told me to turn my card over and read the back, I quickly learned that I was leaving on a jet plane and had to be at the airport in about 2 hours. Following are all the thoughts that ran through my head in about 10 seconds: All eyes were on me for my reaction, I wanted to cry but didn't because I didn't want Ethan and Rachel to think I was upset. I wanted to jump on the bed and scream but again, Ethan and Rachel are watching me and jumping on the bed gets you in big trouble at our house. Then shock set in and all the things I had to do in the coming week started running through my head. Oh, I still have to pack and the kids have to be at school in an hour, I need to get breakfast ready, how did Jason keep such a surprise from me, Becky knows and kept it secret too, sooo sneaky. I gave everybody a hug and jumped out of bed only to stand there and literally ask myself out loud, where do I start? Yes, suitcase would be a good place to start. All the while Jason is enjoying every moment of watching me freak out because I am by no means a spontaneous person and unless it's on my calendar or to do list, it doesn't exist. We got the kids ready and Jason took them to school while I continued freaking out and throwing clothes in my suitcase. Did I mention we had one of the busiest weekends ever and my house is wrecked and laundry is 3 loads away from being done? Oh well, as Jason put it to me that morning, "click the accept button and just pack your suitcase, that's all you have time to do". I could go on with more details but I made it to Montana to see my BFF and her four kids. I stayed at the Daw Bed & Breakfast complete with my own master suite, made to order meals, and endless entertainment from the kiddos. Elf was the feature movie, and Speed was the card game of the week. I experienced frozen nose hairs again and it quickly reminded me that I did NOT miss the cold weather. I'll take the heat over cold any day, even with 100% humidity. My week was great and it went by too quick. What a birthday and what a week. I am so blessed!
Santa made another special trip down from the North pole this year to deliver presents to all the kids of the 45th AS. I don't think I will ever get over how awesome this is for the kids. I even think it's pretty neat, talk about Christmas spirit!
Jason took his personal trainer with him on his jog tonight. Rachel had to wear a reflective belt, just like her daddy. She rode her bike to make sure he ran fast enough :-)
The holiday season is here! This time last year we were packing up and moving into base housing and our Christmas decorations weren't so great. This year we couldn't wait to get all the decorations up. We started as soon as we finished our Thanksgiving lunch. Jason and Rachel assembled the tree; Ethan and Rachel did the ornaments all by themselves, I was pretty impressed. As bad as I wanted to rearrange the ornaments I left them just how Ethan and Rachel put them on the tree, they were so proud that I let them do all the ornaments by themselves. They even decorated their trees from last year, we planted them in the flower bed.
Thanksgiving break has begun and we started it off by watching The Polar Express in 3-D! The kids love it, can you tell?!
What a warm beautiful day to be on a shrimp boat, even if it is the first week of November and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We did the Shrimp Boat Trip and it was great; perfect length of time and the dolphins were a bonus. This was on our list of things to do while in Biloxi, and I'm glad we did. Interesting fact from today: Did you know a special knot is tied onto the end of the nets today because dolphins were smart enough to learn how to untie the old knots? 
Even though the kids miss the snow, they were so excited that they didn't have freezing weather for Halloween this year. Rachel finally got to be Tinkerbell, she has been asking to be Tinkerbell for the past few years. We all know that little fairy wouldn't have enjoyed the ND weather very much. Ethan finally decided on what he wanted to be; first it was a policeman, then a fireman, then a doctor, and out of nowhere came a Dallas Cowboy. The weather was beautiful, we made it around 2 blocks on base and the kids were tired of walking. They had more fun passing out candy here at the house.
I thought it would be interesting to show our past Halloweens in ND, considering the drastic change of climate. The kids endured the snow for sweet treats. Costumes had to be decided by what would fit over snowsuits and snow boots.
The kids got their first report cards for the year. Rachel got an award for Perfect attendance and Ethan made the Honor roll. They both work really hard to do well in school; definitely take after their mama. Ethan's favorite subject is math, and Rachel loves reading. It's amazing to watch how much they learn, I can't get over Ethan reading a book to me instead of me reading to him. Rachel can't wait to read books to her baby dolls, instead of pretending to read to them.
*Posed pictures rarely work with Ethan, his eyes are always closed.
Our neighbors hosted a kids halloween party and they all carved pumpkins too. As you can see, Ethan went with a classic design, and Rachel went more contemporary and didn't do any carving at all. She just wanted to paint hers, she's such the artist.
