Picnics in the yard-

We are loving being on Summer break. Everyday we jump on the tramp, play in the pool, and Mommy even let's us eat our lunch outside sometimes.

Hunter caught in the act of trying to dip his hotdog in the pool water. Yuck!

I love that my kids have been really getting along well lately. They love playing together and we look forward to doing more fun stuff together this summer. I love you little guys!

I thought this was cute. I had asked Carter where they wanted to eat and he immediately set up the picnic blanket on the lawn. They had a great time eating hot dogs, watermelon, carrots, and chips. What a fun little activity!

We also went to library and got a ton of books to read together. They have a fun summer reading program and Carter is so excited to be able to earn prizes for reading fun stories.

He was a skater boy...

One of the favorite pastimes lately in this house is skating. They go around and around the circle. They fall a lot still, but are getting so good at it. It makes me smile to look up and see different kids with the skates on. They all love to take their turn skating around the kitchen.

Here are a couple pictures of Taylor skating. I didn't pull out the camera when Carter and the babies took their turns. It was me just being too lazy. :(

What a cute little stinker I have!

YIKES...

So we had this large tropical storm a couple days ago and this ugly guy decided to move in with us-

I was doing the laundry and saw the babies chasing something excitedly. I look over right as Hunter reached down to grab this spider. I of course, like any good Mother, jumped on top of the washer and started screaming my lungs out for Rhett. The babies continued to try and grab him so they could play with him. He finally scurried under the dishwasher to escape the little ones.

I went to do the dishes the next day and he had the nerve to come out and run right at me. I screamed and almost wet myself- While Rhett is laughing and telling me to stomp the bloody spider. You have got to be kidding me. I had bare feet.

So, anyway... I didn't do the dishes for two days straight, but finally ran out of clean dishes and anything paper. I asked Rhett to pick up some paper plates on his way home and he told me firmly to face my fear and do the freakin' dishes.

Rhett came home to me doing the dishes in my tall winter boots. I was ready for stomping if it came to that. Rhett asssured me that it had probably already made it's way up to my bedroom. EWWW!!! Thanks a lot Rhett! I hate NOT knowing where it is in my house.

Other little crawlies that came in during the storm are-

3 furry or hairy caterpillars. Yes, I'm pretty sure they are poisonous.

2 grasshoppers. The babies were thrilled about these.

2 worms. They were just a flipping and flapping away on my kitchen floor.

3-4 little spiders and 1 BIG FAT UGLY DADDY ONE!

NOT COOL!

Oh and while we are on subject of the tropical storm--

It was really rainy and pretty windy. I told Rhett that we should go outside and flip the brand new trampoline over so it wouldn't go anywhere. Rhett ran out and checked on it. He assured me that it wasn't going anywhere. We continually checked on it up until we went to bed that night. It was still firmly where we had placed it. I again asked Rhett if we should just run out and sand bag it. His reply again, that it wasn't going anywhere.

Well, the next morning we woke up and Rhett looked at me a little bit panicked and said, "Oh crap... the trampoline is gone." I looked outside and sure enough it was nowhere in eyesight.

We ran outside together and saw it down at the bottom of the hill. In my panic I didn't really think about my attire. I was wearing a white tank top and a pair of pajama bottoms. You'll see why this is so important soon enough-

We trudged down the hill and grabbed the tramp together. It was still pouring sheets of rain and it was so hard to pull it up the hill. I lost my footing and slid down the hill on my back while Rhett was cracking up on the other side. For the record, he did ask if I was okay before he started laughing. I got up covered in mud and grabbed my side of the trampoline and we finally got it up. He flipped it over and pulled the sand bags over the top of it. That's when Rhett started laughing again. I looked down and sure enough you could see EVERYTHING through my tank top. I mean everything... it looked like I had entered a wet t-shirt contest. I quickly covered up and ran to the patio hoping and praying none of the neighbors saw the show!

Oops.

The trampoline is just fine and Rhett learned that it is always better to listen to me than risk me saying, "I told you so!" :)

Anyway, this has been a crazy little adventure living over here. The bugs are HUGE. Oh, and for the record because I sound like such a baby...

I am only scared to death of SPIDERS. I go out grasshopper hunting and hermit crab hunting all the time with the little boys. I find spiders terrifying and thought our year in Hawaii would have cured me because of all the cain spiders, but it has just made my fear even greater.

Hunter and Ryker LOVE insects. They bring me everything from beetles to grasshoppers. Hunter even brought a little spider to me the other day. I believe his words were, "Look at this cutie spider. It's so liddle." Sorry buddy, but no spider is cute!

Our on-base house

I feel like it has been a couple months. I should post a couple pictures of the new place. We are so excited. We miss our view, BUT there are way more pros to this place. We love the yard for the little boys to run their energy out in and we also love all the extra space that off-base didn't offer. We also love that Rhett is home in 7 minutes now versus the 45 it took before. We see him so much more now! :) Overall, we are very pleased with being on-base.

The backyard. We bought a new trampoline since this picture was taken and haven't put the enclosure on it yet due to typhoon season, but the kids love jumping and play on it several hours a day! We also have a glider and two chairs out on this patio.

Half of the living room-

The other half- I realize that right now it looks a lot like a furniture store, but I couldn't throw out the old loveseat. It was still good. We will get rid of it when we leave and just take the new couches we purchased. It is AWESOME for movie night though. Plenty of seating. :)

Dining room- Isn't that painting killer?!?

The other side of the dining room-

Our bedroom-

Carter's room-

The little boys room. Taylor sleeps on the top and the babies sleep together on the bottom. They sleep better when they can snuggle each other.

Anyway, we also have 2 1/2 bathrooms and plenty of closets not pictures.

Sorry this is kind of a boring post with really nothing cool at all-- I would have liked to see what the difference in size from the states though before we moved over here.

A nice break from the naughtiness-

Well, Summer is here in full force. It is HOT outside. HOT and HUMID!!! We had taken to filling up this pool and cooling off daily now. They play between this and the trampoline while I make lunch. We then have a fun picnic outside and play a little while longer until the babies head down for a nap.

It is so fun and relaxing. I usually just lay on the glider and read my kindle while they play around me. We also use a lot of bubbles. They are Ryker's very FAVORITE thing right now. He loves loves loves to blow bubbles. It is a nice break to head outdoors and still be able to cool off. The babies run little buckets of water over and drench my feet every few minutes so it's fun for everyone.

Carter loves to dump water on the babies and they actually seem to enjoy it for the most part. We have been doing quite a bit outside lately. I'll have to get caught up on the blog. We love heading to the beach, zoo, and pool.

I had my last volleyball game last night and it was bitter sweet. It was such a nice break that I wish it was year round, but my house and kids need a little more attention so I'm sort of glad that it's over. I'll have to try to do a couple pick up games here and there. It really was a lot of fun.

Here's a couple updated pictures of the kids playing in the water!

That's right- this kid is so RAD that he wears his sunglasses in the pool. I'm pretty sure he thinks they are goggles. lol. Those must be some pretty leaky goggles. :)

This is why...

...my kids get dry cereal in a cup for breakfast every morning! Enough said-

It has been one of those hard weeks again. I was really sick last week and got behind on the laundry, dishes, housework..... yada yada yada. Anyway, I feel like I can't quite get caught back up. If I put on a movie for the kids they just destroy one room while I clean another. It is really hard.

Oh and we are potty training-It is

messy, yucky, dirty, gross, disgusting, impossible, never ending

Hunter is really starting to pick it up though. Ryker loves to pee behind the couch still.

Oh, and Taylor decided to poop in a bubble container up in his room yesterday. That was the grossest mess ever. I scrubbed that container of bubbles so much and it still smells like poop. lol. Just kidding. I threw it right away. Who needs poop bubbles anyway?

Carter- I love you the most. Don't tell your brothers, but you are the best little helper. You are always asking me if I need help. Thank you for grabbing an extra magic eraser and scrubbing marker off all the walls with me today. You ROCK my world! If I could trade your brothers in for three more Carter's I totally would. You also took out the trash and set the table without even being asked.

Hunter- today you found a marker and went to town on the walls. Ryker- you pooped on the floor twice and stepped in it leaving poo foot prints all over. Taylor- you dumped out an entire box of cereal on the floor looking for the bloody prize. You three can all go to hell! Me and Carter are going to have a special date tomorrow. I hope you have fun with your Daddy!

Happy Father's Day to THREE fantastic Dad's!

I will start by wishing my baby a wonderful Father's Day. I am so proud of how far you have come. You have ALWAYS been such a great Dad, and it has been so fun to see how you interact with each of the children. You are a total snuggle bug and have always kissed the faces off of them. :)

All of the kids love and adore you, as do I. You are such a great part of my life. You are such a fun Daddy. The kids love popcorn/movie parties with you and late nights when Mommy goes and plays volleyball. They know that you always let them stay up late and are always up for snuggling partners. I love you Rhett. You are a great Dad and I am so glad that you are the Father of my kids.

You proved again today what a great Daddy you are. He spent three hours out in the hot sun to put together the trampoline so when the kids got back from church it was all set up. Their expressions were priceless. Taylor almost peed his pants he was screaming and jumping up and down so hard. We love you. Thanks for all you do. For all the hours you have put into school and that you put into work so that we can have what we need. Thank you for taking the time to be a good Daddy. Thank you for always taking the boys to the golfing range. They love spending time with you.

Happy Father's Day sweetheart.

We also want to express our love for this great Dad- Ken Olsen

This one is a little hard as we lost you this year. I miss you so much. You were such a funny guy and were always making me smile. I loved all the competitive games of Thumper. I loved spending time with you when you came through California and Las Vegas and all the little phone calls to Melanie to rub it in that you were with us. :)

The holidays were always so much fun with you around. You had the best one liners and it will be weird to not hear you and Melanie fighting over who the actor was in the movie. For the record... she was usually right. I miss your laugh and voice. I know you are still checking up on us and I want you to know that we still love you and miss you very much. Thanks for all the extra eyes on these kids and thank you for being a great example for Rhett on what a Dad is willing to do for his kids. We find hope in knowing we will see you again. Happy Father's Day. You're the best! :)

Dad, I have missed you so much this year. Thank you so much for being such an awesome example for me all these years. It's truly a tragedy that Carter, Taylor, Hunter, and Ryker will have to grow up without you being here. We all miss you so much and can't wait to see you again someday. Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you and miss you so much!

Rhett

Oh, Dad... where to even start. I am so grateful for you. You have always been there for me and I love and appreciate you so much. I know as a teenager we didn't always get along, but I take full responsibility for that. :) I always had to have the last word.

I love that you were always there to support me in everything that I did. You were always to my games and track meets and I loved looking out into the stands and by the door knowing you were there watching me. You made high school lots of fun. Thanks for letting me sneak your treats everyday from your office. Thank you for teaching me to love sports. You have always been such a great example for staying fit from your biking, running, and swimming. Good luck in your triathlon. I am so proud of you! I love that you are my Dad and know that you are always there for me.

I LOVE that you are a lot like me. We are both yellows and love to have fun. Thank you for always showing us that life is meant to be fun. For all the vacation trips that I have crashed and for all the boating trips when we were younger. You always made life such a blast.

I remember as a young child when asked what I wanted to be when I grow up the answer was always, "A principal like my Dad." That must have been before my hate for high school kids developed. :)

Thank you for all that you have done for me Dad. You mean the world to me!

Happy Father's Day! I sure love you and am glad that I'm in your family. I couldn't have asked for a greater Dad than the one I have. Even if he does look like Robin Williams. ;)

Happy Father's Day Larry. You must have been a pretty great Dad to have produced such a wonderful daughter. Thanks for all you do. Thanks for all your help with the Armada and the bike. Sorry they were a pain. :) Rhett

Okuma stay Cut Short-

We went to Okuma about a month ago. We had such a great time getting off the base for a night. I went early on Thursday with the kids and we played at the beach until the room opened up for us. It was a little overcast, but a beautiful day. The water was perfect and we had a great time getting sandy and playing in the water.

Rhett came up with some friends of ours that night after work. We had initially got two nights, but due to Typhoon Songda we only got to stay one night. We had a BBQ when they got up there and the steaks were amazing. Then we put the kids to bed and talked for hours.

The next morning Rhett and Carter headed to the golf course with James and Andrew while me and the little headed to the beach again. We hunted for hermit crabs and played in the water. It was a beautiful day. We headed in and took a quick shower and headed over to eat breakfast with the boys.

We then, did go carts, played on the playground, and even rented a boat for an hour. Unfortunately as I was skiing they made me get back in the boat and they closed down the beach for Typhoon Songda. We drove home and made it back just in time to secure our trampoline for it to be tossed around and destroyed later that evening. :(

It was still such a fun trip and we are going back in July to stay in the cabins for two nights. Wish us luck for good weather.

The babies loved to play in the sand. Ryker was a little nervous about the water at first, but LOVED making castles. He warmed up to the water after watching Hunter plunge through it laughing. It was a blast. The beach is the best.

The first day we got there we went out on an adventure hike and found 83 hermit crabs. It was super crazy. Most of them were pretty small, but we did find a couple BIG ones. All the boys loved it. Taylor and Ryker and me were the "picker uppers" because Carter and Hunter didn't dare. I thought it was weird because Hunter always brings me spiders and says, "Mommy look at this little cutie one." No such thing as a cutie spider. Sorry bud! The crabs tickled his hands though so he didn't like to hold them. He sure found a lot though.

Here were the ones we found the second day. It was such a hit we had to do it twice. :)

This was our favorite thing to do.

Hit the beach and play in the waves together. What a blast of a place to live.

The babies had fun running through the waves together. Taylor just floated and swam the entire time. He even cried after I made him come and get dressed.

One thing about the trip that sucked was that we got eaten up by mosquitoes. I had 38 on my right leg and poor Carter had about 50 on his back. Next time, bug spray is a MUST!!!

Just waiting for the golfers to come back so we can go to breakfast.

Frisbee Golf- Mini Style

We finally started doing family night together as a family! Better late than never, right?

Anyway, last night Rhett gave a small lesson on faith. It was cute to see him interacting with the kids. Afterwards, we headed outdoors to play a mean game of frisbee golf together. It was hilarious to see everyone. We all had such a great time. I would say that Rhett and Carter are right up there at the top and me and Ryker are right down near the bottom on winning. :)

It's harder than it sounds. These frisbees are tiny. It's hard for me to even throw a regular sized frisbee let alone a mini one. :)

We came in and had some cookies for dessert, sang a song, and closed it with a prayer. It was a total HIT! All the kids had such a great time and are already throwing ideas for the next "Family Night." I love spending time with the family and am excited to start this new tradition for the family.

Sorry no pictures due to SUCKY internet!!!

Bios on the Hill

We went to Bios on the Hill with Rhett and some friends over the weekend. It was so relaxing to let the kids run around while we visited with friends. We played in the playhouse, fed the goats, and even went on the boat ride together. It was a great day. We were going to head to the beach afterwards to cool off so that is why everyone is in swimming suits. We bagged it though because it started to rain right as we were leaving. We are still getting used to this crazy unpredictable weather. :)

Ryker showing Daddy how to feed the goats and Daddy in turn showing him how he does it. :)

Poor Taylor wasn't feeling very well. His belly was hurting so he did a lot of resting and being carried around by me and Rhett. Poor Baby!

This is a picture of Carter playing the Shamisen. It's a three stringed Japanese instrument. They also had fun playing with drums.

Hunter stopping to get a stamp for his hand. A lot of places we go they have cute little stamps for you to get. My boys love to give each other stamps all over their bodies. It's a fun mess.

Me and Rhett tried out the stilts. We should have had a race. I would have kicked his butt. He had a hard time keeping his balance. :) We had a good time walking on trails and enjoying watching the kids have a blast. They love to go outside and it's fun to have so many beautiful places for them to play. I love this little island that we live on. It truly is amazing.

The babies took a little break to swing together. It was cute to see them holding hands and being best buddies. Notice even though we live in Japan now we still try to represent the good old USA sometimes. :)

Quiet Nights-

Rhett got a new game system. He got an XBox 360. He is LOVING it and he has sort of turned into a little child with a new toy. He gets online and plays with his buddies all the time. I have a love/hate relationship with this new toy of his. I love that he is having such a great time. I love that the kids are entertained by it as well, but I hate how Rhett wants to play it ALL THE TIME! Sometimes he forgets that he is watching the kids and they just run free making messes.

I love watching Carter do the Michael Jackson dancing and it's fun to watch the kids have a blast playing. I guess it's not all bad! It's just funny that when he turns it on he goes from being a Doctor to a 13 year old boy in a matter of seconds. :)

I thought this was cute. Taylor had cuddled up to Rhett and fallen asleep while watching him play

Potty Training...or NOT?!?

It's hard to know when the right time for potty training is. I think a lot depends on personality, but we are going to give it a try. We went to the store and they picked out their potties and their big boy pants. They were so excited. They love the little froggy toilet. Don't get me wrong. They don't actually love it as a toilet yet, but they do love to use it for other uses.

Ex. Hunter loves to sit and watch movies on it. It is one awesome chair.

Ex. Ryker on the other hand loves to use his as a snack bowl. His gold fish and fruit loops are always in there with him just snacking away. It sounds gross, but no one has actually used the bathroom in these yet. :)

They also love the attention of sitting on these toilets. We cheer and clap as they sit there, but nothing ever comes out. They do love to take off their diapers now though. So I think that's a good start. I will really start to push it right after their birthday.

But for now, we just love these new stools, snack bowl, and chairs. :)

Ryker is reaching in to grab his toy that he placed in there.

Volleyball

Rhett signed me up for the 18th medical groups volleyball team. I was really nervous and scared at first. I played volleyball in high school and LOVED it, but I haven't played in like 10 years. I was pleasantly surprised that it is similar to riding a bike and it has really come right back to me. We had several practices and I learned that the team I am on it a "play for fun" kind of team. :) I tend to be pretty competitive so this has been a little challenging for me, but I have really enjoyed myself. It has been so fun to play again although I am slower and can't jump as high. lol

These sweet little muffins love having Daddy nights where he pops popcorn and watches movies with them. This is the first year that Rhett has really had time to see his kids and they are loving every second of it. :)

Rhett decided to surprise me and he brought all the kids with him to watch me as we played our first game. It was fun to see my little cheerleading group. They were so adorable. Between games Ryker even snuck out to give me a kiss. The judge just laughed and Rhett took them home shortly after.

We have played three games and have lost two of them. lol. Our coach still is very much for letting "EVERYONE" play whether they know how or not. I'm okay with it and am learning to roll with the punches. I was made the captain of the team and Dad I have only yelled at the Ref twice. :) Once he even switched the call because I made the other guy admit to touching it. Old habits die hard. Anyway, it has been a blast to get back on the court. Hopefully it will even help me shed a few of these unwanted pounds that have been creeping on with age. I miss being able to eat whatever I wanted and as late as night as I did. I am definitely starting to feel my age.

My adorable cheerleading squad!

Thanks Rhett for encouraging me to do something for me and for watching the kids twice a week while I go play! I love you!