after much deliberation the past year, john reenlisted on thursday.  it was a huge decision for him, and us as a family.  this pretty much means he’ll stay career, and will be a navy family for the next 12 years.  his reenlistment is for 6 years, but that will take him to 14 …. and at that point, he might as well finish out the 20.  it also means we will be leaving colorado for sure next summer.  that is a little disappointing, but i hope we get to come back one day!  it would be a great place for john to start his second career after the navy.   the navy has been good to us, though.  the pay and benefits are decent, he’s gotten to see so many places he may never have, & there is a lot of great support.  i am excited to see where we go next, & am glad the decision is finally made.

here are some pics a friend took during the ceremony.  kayleigh got called out of school sick 10 minutes before we were getting ready to go pick her up, so she was laying on a bench at a table during this….

we’ve been visited by the sickies again.  this time it’s ethan.  he’s got a sore/swollen throat thing going on & is not too thrilled about it.  he fell alseep on the floor a couple days ago – that is how we knew something was  up.  ethan hasn’t napped regularly since he was one!

i also got a new lens yesterday.  The 60mm 2.8G Macro.  ♥♥♥♥love♥♥♥♥  unfortunately, i played with it for a while yesterday, put my sd card in the computer’s card reader, had a static shock – and the card was ruined, pics gone!  i’ve always worried about that happening, so i usually use the usb cord.  but we got a new computer, adn i hadn’t hooked it up yet.  bummer!  here are a couple from the ones i got off the card earlier …. but the others were oh so cute.  ugh!

poor nor-nor.  look how dry her face is?  that is one thing i don’t love about colorado.  how dry it is.  but it’s probably the ONLY thing.  :)

i think the lens hood freaked charlotte out a bit – ha!  she’s used to a big lens in her face all day, but i think the hood pushed her over the top!

john is reenlisting tomorrow.  for six more years.  not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing.  it is what it is, though.  the navy has been good to us, just not looking forward to sea duty and deployments again.  it’s been so nice having him home the past 18mo.

i always thought swimming would come naturally to my kids. but it didn’t, lol!  so they started swimming lessons today.   they did really well.  i was super proud of ethan.  it usually takes him a while to warm up to people, but he loved it!  :)  obviously. kayleigh did, too.  :)

she’s two.  man oh man – time sure flies.  i now have a two month old, two year old, four year old, and six year old.  man – I’M old!  :P  norah’s birthday was monday.  she had a great day after being pretty sick all weekend.

trying to do “two.”

the cake.

the birthday cake gods were smiling down on me that day.  i had waited until the day of her birthday to make her cake, and john had work.  charlotte who usually needs to be held all day, and rarely sleeps, slept for THREE HOURS! in the living room.  if she didn’t, poor norah would’ve had a much less grand cake.  :D  it is my favorite tradition in our family.  making their birthday cakes.  :)

and a goofy-flashy smile while opening presents.  happy birthday silly girl!  :)

our computer is dead.  we won’t be up & running again until at least the end of the week.  i may be able to hop on john’s laptop – but, well …. it is dying a slow death, too!  lol.  hopefully i will be back soon.  we have lots going on … norah’s turning two next week!

today was a fun day for me & norah.  while kayleigh was in school, john & ethan were at a navy function, & charlotte was catching up on sleep in the living room – we made cupcakes!  i grabbed a box of funfetti mix from target’s 90% off holiday clearance for a rainy day, lol.  she had so much fun – even if it was box mix!  .  it’s been so busy the past year i haven’t done much baking with the kids.  i think i’m going to try to add more scheduled projects into the mix.  some days it seems we’re just trying to get by, that we don’t have as much fun as we used to.

ethan on crazy day.  he had a mohawk and unmatching shoes & socks.  and look at silly kayleigh.  i found her asleep on the floor in her room the other night.  and wearing a santa hat to boot!

and sweet little charlotte.  what a difference a few weeks make – huh?  she’s lost most of her hair (WAH!), and her little pea head has grown!  is it wrong to say she had a little pea head? lol!

whatever that means, lol.  the kids are back to school this week.  that means waking up to an alarm, leaving the house while it’s super cold out, at getting four kids ready & out the door on time.  we had a great two & a half weeks making our own schedule!  :)

have you heard of “pho?”  it’s this Vietnamese soup place.  john & the kids love it.  i’ve never tried it.  apparently they’re all over the place.  everyone eats out of mixing bowls and baking dishes when we have pho in the house. i have no idea why.  it’s hilarious.  here’s a link to find a pho near you:  http://www.phofever.com/

pho thief!

i was playing around with this bokeh kit i got the other day.  i think i need more lights next time.  i tried this on my own a few times before with black construction paper, but had MUCH better success with the BMK.  i think i was just cutting out the shapes way too small.  the ones in the kit are much larger than i’d ever think would work …. but they did!  i got some lights with white wires during targets 50/75% off holiday clearance.  :)

look at those lashes!

tomorrow is “crazy day” at ethan’s school, so be on the lookout for a crazy pic tomorrow!  :)