John Deer Tractors and a Country Drive

Last Saturday we went out as a family on a long country drive. We got a pizza and ate it at the park (in the shade of course!). It was so hot...our car's thermometer read 99 degrees and Im sure the heat index was much hotter! Nolan and Lauren enjoyed seeing all the farm animals and going fast on the windy country roads. Just as we were finally headed home we passed a John Deer store. Joe turned the car around and let the kids sit in a few of the tractors. They loved it. Me being the party pooper didn't want him to stop, but it ended up being fun for us all! Joe is a good daddy!

The Air Show

Joe had to work the air show a few weeks ago, but we still found a way to enjoy it together. Lauren and I packed a lunch filled with sandwiches, chips, grapes, celery, and capri suns. Joe was able to use his lunch break to take us out on the flight line to show us some of the planes he works with. Afterwards we provided shade for him with our hatchback! We must have stayed there 4-5 hours, but it was worth it to be together for the day!

Lauren is our photographer

Nolan had lots to point at there! That little finger never went down the entire time!

In a C-17, one of the planes Joe loads

The kids loved seeing "daddy's planes!"

Mowing with Papaw

Papaw teaching Nolan how to mow

This reminds me of when I was little

Zach (cousin) and Lauren riding with Papaw

Lauren is also a graduate!

Lauren also graduated from preschool. Okay so not really, but for the year she attended. Unfortunately for her, she has two more full years of preschool. Her birthday, along with the rest of our kids falls right after the cutoff date for kindergarten. She loves school, so Im hoping she doesn't get bored before kindergarten starts. For her graduation the kids sang songs, repeated the pledge of allegience to the flag, bible, and christian flag. I was so impressed how well she memorized them all! Also they walked out individually with their caps and tassles to receive their diplomas. Very cute!

A Surprise Visit from Grandpa!

A few weeks ago Grandpa surprised us all with a last minute visit. He called around 8pm on a Friday night and asked if we had plans for the weekend. Before we returned his phone call, Joe and I were just joking around saying, "wouldn't it be cool if he were calling to say that he was here!" Well, we got our wish! My mom was out of town, so he had some extra time on his hands. He drove all night and stayed all day Saturday. The kids love their Grandpa. He did various Grandpa activities with them such as playing playdough, going to the park and taking walks. His visit was short, but very enjoyable!

ALS graduation

Joe recently graduated from Airman Leadership School (ALS). ALS is a 5-6 week course that each airman must go through to rank up to Staff Sgt. He did very well in the course and is so relieved to be done! The course was very intense filled with early mornings and long days, tests, marching in formation, push-ups on the hour every hour, and weekend service projects. We missed him during that time, but are glad to have a stress free daddy back! He will sew on Staff July 1st! Yay! We had two goals when we first moved here at Whiteman. Our first goal was to have all of our children at the same hospital (Western Missouri Medical Center). Our second was for Joe to make Staff before we got orders. Looks like both our goals will be met with no problem. I am so proud of Joe and his hard work to make the best of his career in the Air Force. We are hoping for new orders very soon! Fingers crossed!

A funny moment with Lauren

This morning as we were leaving for an appointment Lauren said, " mommy those birds were fighting back there!" I replied, "Lauren I dont think they were fighting, I think they were mating." She questioned what mating was. I replied, "mating is what they do to make babies." Her response to that was, "No, them not laying down!" We tried to get her to explain why the birds would need to lay down to make babies, to see what she would say, but she never did explain! We just thought that was so funny for her to say. Not quite sure what all she knows, but little kids are like sponges as we're learning! We must be very careful!

Our little sponge of joy!

Trip to Branson

This happened awhile back, but I never got to post about it. Joe's little brother, Ben came out to Branson for a school trip. Their show choir was in a competition down there and since we live so close, we got to go watch! We enjoyed watching and also the extra time the teacher allowed us to have with him between and after competition. Here are just a few pictures we took while we were together.

Ben stetching and then doing a little showing off afterwards!

Ben in action!

Joe and Ben

This burger was so huge and if I remember right, he ate it all!