Leave begins...

Andy's two weeks of leave has begun - and he's already had a dozen phone calls and had to go into work for a few hours. Let's hope that he doesn't have anything else he has to deal with during leave! He's been working on putting trim in our living room and hall this afternoon. It's amazing how much better it looks. He'll be repairing the deck this week - and I'll be painting it along with the trim to our house. We are also putting a new door on our greenhouse, fertilizing and mowing the lawn, cleaning out the garage, and getting everything ready for the start of the girls homeschool year - oh and we're going to try to find some time to relax :)

Here is a picture of the side of our deck. Andy is going to be replacing boards, and putting a new railing on. Right now, the kids could fall right off the deck with the open space.

Squadron BBQ

We spent all day yesterday at the Squadron BBQ. We woke the kids up at 5:30 to do the run (okay so I walked with the double stroller and the kids). Then I played on the volleyball team all day (and moved muscles that I forgot I had). The kids got to go on a rock-climbing wall, got their faces painted, jumped in the bouncy house, got to see the Stryker and other equipment and Lexie won a huge cake at the cakewalk. Andy got a pie in his face for the Squadron fundraiser and we were beat by the end of the day. I am SO sore this morning and we'll be taking it slow today :)

Meet Buster

Here is Buster, our new family member. He is a 3 yr old yellow lab we saved from the animal shelter. He's pretty skinny, but he's such a great dog and is SO good with the kids.

Zucchini

I didn't get much of a chance to plan out or plant much in my greenhouse this year. We were too busy unpacking and getting settled. I did however buy some seeds and just threw them in to see if anything would grow :) We have tomato plants, morning glories, petunias, and watermelon coming up. The zucchini is doing the best by far though - it is growing by the minute!
I just had to share the cutest moment today. Kate was outside in the backyard. It was over 80 degrees out today. We were filling up a kiddie pool and she asked me to get a swimsuit out for her - "you know the zucchini one" She of course meant "bikini" - how cute is that!

Nick reading already :)

Here is Nick, paging through a book already. He still doesn't have much hair. He had his first haircut though last month - he had little hairs growing down over his ears and we can't have that!!

Summer in Alaska

The summer solstice is near (the 21st) and the days are LONG! I think we have close to 22 hours of daylight right now. The sun sets close to 1 a.m. and is back up a littl after 3. I've actually gotten used to it though - getting used to the darkness in the winter will be another story :)
This week the weather has been beautiful. It's been in the high 70s -and I think we're supposed to hit 80 tomorrow. I think I'm going to run to the store and get a pool for the kids....

Our New Pet

We've been wanting to get a dog - preferably a Golden Retriever or a Yellow Lab. We haven't had any luck in finding a puppy yet - and I didn't realize how much they cost!! I can't imagine spending $600 on a dog!! Anyway, in place of this dog that we are all wanting, Nick has come up with his own pet.

Andy has been pretty good about putting child locks on the cabinets - but he has missed a few (hint, hint honey!) and EVERY day (about 100 times a day) Nick pulls out his pet popcorn popper and takes it for a walk around the house. He even feeds it things occasionally and sometimes puts it back in its house when he's done :)