Four Years With a Stud!

The birthday season has truly commenced! June brings all kinds of birthday happenings, starting with our Teagie and following with our Saigie Baby. I cannot even fathom the speed in which these kids are growing up. I feel like I was JUST planning their birthdays last year in Oki...seriously, this whole time warp thing needs to calm down.

But I guess it is safe to say that the lil stud has officially moved away from all things "free for 3 and under" and ventured into the "overpriced 4 and up" group. Truth be told, Teage could totally pass for 7 or 8 based on his wit and charm (I just beam about the awesome traits I pass onto my kids, lol). We decided to keep this year's affair a family only event (besides, this isn't my first rodeo and I just wasn't mentally sound to gather up a bunch of wild ass toddlers and unleash them into cake and pinata candy). So being that the other Isla Fam is here and they come equipped with two toddlers :o) , why not keep it that simple? So we did. Teage chose the bowling center as his venue and I used the extra $$ not going to strangers in his class to splurge on a giant Batman cake! It was fun and low-key and HOT (ummm, did I ever mention how ' hot it is here in the summer...and there isn't an AC unit within 600 kilometers of the KMC...it's just not right)!

Another added detail was I decided to make all my kids matching t-shirts to wear in honor of the birthday boy. They came out so great, but also led me to another side addiction. Iron-ons do everybody right! Once we got past the toddler out of turn-taking, a few tumbles on the lanes, random balloon poppings, a little fist pumping, and the 50 lb cake....we headed back to the casa to continue the party. Waiting there was Teagie's indoor/outdoor 2-sided kitchen. The chil'ren proceeded to have loads of fun and and proceeded to pour the wine. All in all it was a fabulous day and I thank everyone who wished him a Happy Birthday and sent cards/gifts. He loved every minute of it.

It's amazing how much can squeeze into a year. Teagie has gone through loss, confronting challenges, milestones, personal growth, and adventure. We are so lucky to have this little guy in our lives. Here's a montage to showcase his fabulous 4th year...ENJOY!!

A Dozen for JD!

Well, the middle one has officially entered "pre-teen" status. My not so little JD is 12 and on his way...

I love celebrating his birthday because he always gets super excited and he's so genuine with his reactions (that's all the days actually). Anyway, this year (as most) it was pretty low-key. While the big kids were at school, Teage and I quickly got working on his cake. What a big helper...

After they got home, we enhanced the celebrating by going to the FRG Christmas Party. It was nice and they all had a great time decorating cookies and such.

They even had a Holiday photo spot...which I couldn't resist.

After we snuck out of the party early, we headed to Chili's for dinner (his choice)...but by then all he wanted to do was get home and open presents. Of course, we had to do the cake first.


I love how in this picture he is basically telling Teage to back off the cake.


But, as all good parents know and do...we relit the fire and let Teage get a turn. I'm screaming "Back up, you're going to burn your face off!"


First gift...open it up brother!


It's a...pair of shoes?! Ahh...the fake smile, which let's me know my plan worked!


He said, "OH...shoes, thank you". Open the shoes, JD. "What? Another present?" (Teage could hardly contain himself)


And the struggle begins...


He wanted the Lego Indy Jones Games 2 on the Wii, BAAAD! He was so happy...

OK, on to the next one. Now, let me just give you the comparison. Here he is getting his Visa Gift Card...

What is up with that? His reaction is like he almost is disgusted with it. He could care less about this cold hard cash right in front of him (ahh, the innocence). Hilarious.

Finally, the next gift...from Teage and Saige! (Again, Teage was about to burst!!)

I guess Shorts is a boy type movie. All I hear is about the Booger Monster...mmmmm!

I think he enjoyed his day. I can't wait to celebrate again when we get to PHX...Dave and Buster's is gonna rock.

Birthdays make me so nostalgic. I think about how fast time zinged by and how much growing up has taken place. How did it go from here to now, SO FAST?


HAPPY BIRTHDAY my J-dle Deedle...

Father of 14

I'm so excited to report that the wait on the party for Saige was well worth it because this has been the sunniest weekend we have had in over a month. The day started early as all get out...with a flea market sell. With all the rain we have had, the humidity is off the charts! I was sweating from every orifice by 6:30 am and it was all wrong! By 11:00, I was at the Japanese Bakery buying Saige's Strawberry Roll Cakes...the bakeries here are incredible. The precision they use is amazing! Look how beautiful...

Anyway, we headed to the beach first, I don't have any pictures of that because with the amount of stuff we had to carry, I opted to leave the 10 lb camera at home this time (plus, I didn't want it to get all sandy). Good thing, because the big kids didn't even step foot in the water. They were too cool I guess. There were 5 girls and two boys (one of them being Justice, the EX). They still act like a couple and when I asked her what was up with that...she said, I forgave him, but I'm not going back out with him because we're moving. Smart girl! He did give her a really nice gift...a silver chunk chain with a charm that says 'Saige & Justice' in Kanji.



I told her, "oh that's nice and it's in a different language so no one will ever know what it means and you can wear it long after you two are apart" LOL. She didn't care for that! It's really hard to adjust to the whole BOY thing. I'm trying though. Sometimes I feel like it would be much easier if it was like this...

...ahh the memories of when they were littles!


After the beach, we went back to the house and commenced with karaoke and World Tour. It was fun! Check them out in action....



Once the performances were over, the boys left and the girls got their goofy on! The icing on the cake was they decided to record their antics. And now, mama has a montage...YES!! These girls are a riot and Saige is always right in the middle of it all...

*THIS IS WHERE THE VIDEO WILL BE AFTER I FINISH BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THIS COMPUTER* (stay tuned...)

Ahhh...Success, they finally wore themselves out!!



I know she had a great time and I'm so glad the kids enjoyed hanging out with our Family!

Today is Father's Day so I want to give a "Thumbs Up, High Five, Smack on the A$, Warm Fuzzy, Tight Squeeze Huggy, Slobbering Kiss" to my husband! Happy Padre Day to the man who makes all things possible for us...Love you George!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the other child rearing men in my life as well...

Love Ya!!

Fam Bam Brief

I have been avoiding the blog ever since my Internet went out, because now I have a pile of things to catch everyone up on. Sooo...get comfy, grab a lemonade, and let the adventure begin LOL!

Well, as I said said, the Internet people BLOW and left us without the ability to reach out and touch someone. Now while in some aspects it was nice, being out of the loop and expanding my time for other important things, I felt like a prisoner not being able to connect with my peeps. Anyway, it wasn't that dramatic...just annoying!

During all of that, Army week on Okinawa was taking place. It's basically a week of competitions (dodgeball, chariot race, relay races, military drills, basketball, etc). It kicks off with a BBQ at the beach and so we all went and the kids finally got out their swimsuits and had some waterplay.

Teage was too cold at first to get wet....until we got to the actual beach and then he was ready to go diving in. Most of the people who know me know that I do not like play guns...any kind. Water guns are flirting with the line with me even and so this is the look he gave me when I told him to give me the gun...what a riot. (I let him keep playing with it since we were actually in the water)...


Capping off the week, George and I went to the 234th annual Army Ball and it was.....umm OK. It doesn't even come close to comparing to last year's, all my girls have left since so it was me and the dance floor when the electric slide came on. I mean there are some ladies here I like, but in all reality, not the same! Our battery on the camera died about 45 minutes in and so we had one picture of us that someone across the table took and he obviously doesn't know how to focus a camera :o). But, I heard there was someone near us that was snapping pics and I am in the process of harassing her to give em up :o) So some of those might show up in a later blog. Here is what we had..

Out in the lobby of the Ball they had giant posters on stands of various Army happenings and right there by the entrance to the bathroom (which gets tons of traffic HA HA), was my hubby in the chariot race that week. He helped win 3 events...go BOY!!

Also, we ended the school year and it was pretty emotional. My big kids are getting bigger and I'm not sure if I can handle this growing up thing. JD had his little graduation ceremony and it was awesome.


He had a grin from ear to ear the whole time. He was excited to show off his progress into middle school. I, however, was the blubbering mom in the front. He has come such a LONG way with school and we were so proud of him. They sang "World's Greatest" as a class (insert tears) and then JD was one of the chosen to announce and give a bio on a guest speaker. He did absolutely perfect. Everyone after was saying how he was the most clear with his speech and pronunciation. The funniest was that he was too short for us to really see him over the podium. It was so cute. He didn't care though and worked it!!

He received the Presidential Award for Academic Achievement...the only one in his class. He was astounded when he saw that it came with a letter from Barack Obama. He said "Mom, I got a letter from Barack Obama!!". You should have seen his face....

JD and his Teacher...Mrs Shobe!

Well, since it was a crying morning, why not make it a boo hoo night. That same night, LTC Elle had his farewell roast/dinner. We are gonna miss him greatly, but I know we will always keep in touch. He really changed the morale of the Battalion and made everyone feel like a Family. Our hat's off to him and all he has accomplished being here...I presented him with a photo book of his reign in Command and said a few words. And yes, I cried some more...

George went up and his shop presented him with a Taiko Drum. He told the story of the "nice haircut"...FUNNY!

Next thing on the agenda was Saige's birthday. The weather's been crappy here and not ideal when you want to do a get together with friends at the beach. So we decided to put the party off til later this week. Instead, we went to Round One (like a Dave and Buster's I think). One entrance fee and you can do everything. Outdoor stuff, arcades, roller skate, climbing thingys, karaoke...) It was a blast and I think she enjoyed it. Plus, her ex-boyfriend was there (he still wants to go out with her, but she had to 'let him go' because he didn't believe something she said...she has such a stronger personality than I ever did at that age and I LOVE it). She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let go of a boy at the same time. Crucial I tell ya...what a fabulous young lady she is growing up to be. I am really proud of her. 9th grade just might kill me, but I know she is ready to handle it and can. God Love Her...


So here's fun times...


Oh, so all the rave in Japan are the sticky pictures booths. Saige goes at least once a week with her friends. They take 6 different poses of you and you can decorate, write on them, and flair them all up. Once you have done that, they print off a sheet of the pics as stickers to put on your locker, or phone, or binders, or in your room...I'm telling you they are the next best thing since sliced bread Saige says. So we decided to jump into one and do a Family sheet. (It's really strange that it is all in Japanese and Saige knows what every button means...)


We couldn't forget the cake and presents though...she loved the gifts from everyone. Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Popo, U Alex and A Rhea for the presents from afar. We hooked her up with money for her savings acct this year. She is too hard to shop for, and besides she has so much already...

The cake request was simple...her favorite: butter yellow with milk chocolate icing

Teage thought it was his birthday again and wanted to blow out the candles. Saige wasn't having it :o)
HAPPY 14th Saigie Baby!!!

Isla Fam Bam OUT....