Updates

Since I haven't been blogging much lately I've missed announcing and updating a few things. For those of you who haven't heard....

Doug was picked up to be the next Squadron Commander of the 906th Air Refueling Squadron here at Scott AFB. He will be assuming command in April or May after spending four months in Altus, OK for requal training to fly the KC-135. This means he will be gone from January through April, but we will be at Scott AFB until the spring of 2013.

Doug's mom's recovery from open heart surgery is going well. It's been four weeks since her surgery, so she has two to four more weeks until she's fully recovered. We're very happy that things have gone well and that the surgery and recovery have gone fairly smoothly.

My sister is preparing for her open heart surgery in December for an aortic aneurysm and leaky valve. She found a doctor she is very happy with and she has decided to go tissue instead of mechanical which seemed like an impossible decision for her to make until recently. It was definitely an answer to prayer since that decision was weighing heavily on her mind. Through my sister's situation, we've learned that there might be a genetic link to arotic aneurysms and leaky valves. Our uncle also has an arotic aneurysm and leaky valve that doesn't require operation yet and my father has a leaky valve. I am having a ecochardiogram at the end of the month. My older sister had one on Wednesday and they now want to do a CT Scan next week. I haven't spoken to my brother about it yet so I'm not sure where he is at in the process. The problem with an aortic aneurysm is that if it burst it would result in instant death so this is definitely not something our family is taking lightly.

Halloween

I was hoping to do the Star Wars theme with the kids, but Audrey insisted on being Strawberry Shortcake. It's not the first time she's foiled my plans. However, I couldn't be disappointed because she had such a huge smile on her face about being Strawberry Shortcake.

We started the evening off at the Jones'. Jennifer came up with an awesome dinner and dessert idea for the kids. I will definitely be using this one in the future. The finger was made out of string cheese and fruit leather, just incase you were wondering.

Picture Time!

The Baby

Jacob

 The Preschoolers

Audrey &Luke

 The Kindergarteners

 Shelby, Alex & Ethan

The Second Graders

Jacob & Drew

The kids had a blast Trick or Treating with the Jones' and Simmon's in their neighborhood. When we got back to our house we were shocked by the number of people. It was like a parade going through our neighborhood. Thankfully we live up on a hill so a lot of people don't come up to our court. Doug took the kids back out when we got home and there was someone dressed up as Darth Vader that Jacob and Ethan had a sword fight with. The kids had some great memories and a lot of candy!

Last Soccer Games of the Season

It was a great season!

The kids loved playing and we can't wait until next year since Audrey will be playing too!

Picking Pumpkins

It was a little windy, a little dusty, but they got their pumpkins in time for Halloween.

Open Heart Surgeries

Doug flew home on Thursday to be there for his mom's open heart surgery this morning. The doctor said everything went well and she should be awake tomorrow. My younger sister told me yesterday that she will be having open heart surgery on December 6th, so my family is preparing to face the same challenge Doug's family is facing right now. However, we know that God is in control of all things. He uses every trial in our lives to try and bring us closer to Him and it is only when we realize that trusting in ourselves is not enough that we are able to see God standing there waiting for us to put our trust in Him.

Columbus Day

Doug had the day off and The Magic House in St. Louis opened their doors to homeschooling families that morning. They do this once a month, but I had not been able to go to their home school days until today. We all had such a wonderful time because it wasn't overly crowded so it was easy to see everything we wanted to see. We even found a Lewis and Clark Trail on the bottom floor that was a lot of fun. At the kid's swim lessons that afternoon we realized Audrey was getting sick because she wasn't able to finish her class. By the evening her and Doug were running fevers. I don't know if Doug is going to make it into work today, but I do know that soup and bread will be on the menu for dinner tonight.

Apologia Live in Chicago

My dear friend, Jennifer, flew out from Washington to meet me in Chicago for the Apologia Live Conference in Chicago. It was a women's retreat for homeschooling moms. Our entire trip was amazing from start to finish. Even if there hadn't been a conference to go to spending time with Jennifer would have been worth it all on it's own. We had a fabulous time touring Chicago before and after the conference. The highlight of our time in the city was a walking tour of their Modern Skyscrapers. But, on Sunday we knew we couldn't go home without going to the top of Willis Tower (formally known as Sears Tower). It is the tallest building in the United States and your ears actually pop as you're going to the top because of the speed of the elevator. When we weren't sightseeing or at the conference we were talking nonstop until late into the night all three nights we were there. The conference was also incredible. I really didn't know what to expect, but I was inspired and rejuevenated throughout the conference. I realized towards the end that as homeschooling moms we aren't only impacting the hearts of our children, we're are also changing our hearts by being faithful to Christ's call on our lives. I had always looked at my role as an investment in the next generation, but now I realize that God is also changing my generation too.

Tri-County Field Trip

The Scott Home School Group set up a field trip with the Tri-County Antique Club. I found the field trip fascinating because these people taught us what it was like to grow up on the farm before there was electricity and modern conveniences. Each of the stations we went to was given by a different person who offered their own unique insight to the past. A couple of the kids' favorite things was shucking corn and riding behind the tractor. They also learned how to make butter and soap, learned the advatages of a pully, how to pump water, watched bees in a bee hive, use a witch to find water and they learned an old time kid's game I forgot the name of. We brought sack lunches, so after the field trip was over we enjoyed PB & J while hanging out with friends.

Ethan's Soccer Game

Ethan's had a slow start with soccer. He seemed to be content to not try and get the ball. However, we've seen a huge improvement during the season and it's so fun cheering him on. He's even made a goal at a few of his games.

Indoor Soccer

I admit it...we're nuts! Doug signed us up for and indoor soccer league that plays on Friday nights. I didn't think much of it, but I've been surprised at how much fun it's been since I haven't played for 20 years. During our second game I had one assist and one goal. Doug had to miss that game, but he was proud of me and it was great to hear his excitement when I told him.  

We had to take a picture of this since we are both 39 years old right now!

Eckert's Apple Picking

We went apple picking with the Scott Home School Group. The kids had a great time picking apples and it was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon with the kids.

Day 7 & 8 - Driving Home

No pictures for this post. The drive was long and we were all exhausted. We were very glad to arrive home on the 11th. There's no place like home!

Day 6 - Epcot

We could either take a boat ride or walk from our hotel to Epcot. We chose the boat ride not realizing how short of a walk it actually was. However, we really didn't mind. Any time off our feet was enjoyable.

In my mind Epcot has always been the pinnacle of Disney World. It almost seemed as if the two terms were interchangable in my mind. So, besides Magic Kingdom I figured this was going to be more than I could have possible imagined. We started off the day at the Living with the Land Pavillion. It was interesting, but Doug was surprised that it didn't seem to have changed since he was there when Epcot opened in 1982. After that we moved on to the Spaceship Earth Pavilion and on the way we got some pictures with a few Disney characters.

Spaceship Earth was interesting. I didn't know what to expect since Doug did all the research for this trip. The ride took you through the history of the earth. I found the 70's to be fun to look at and point out to my kids that that was what it was like when I was young. Also, seeing how large the first computers were compared to what we use today was a reminder of how far we've come in the last 30 years.

The real fun for us started when we went to The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion. As we waited for the  Turtle Talk with Crush show to begin, which by the way we talked about for the rest of the day, we explored some things about sharks and the characters from the movie Nemo.

Our next adventures took us to the Mission: SPACE® ride and Test Track. Audrey was to short to ride Mission: SPACE, but the boys road it twice, once with Doug and once with me. On the ride you go on a mission to Mars aboard the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle at the International Space Training Center (ISTC). It spins and tilts to simulate the illusion of speed and gravitational forces where you experience forces up to 2.4G—more than twice the force of the Earth's gravitational pull. It was no big deal for Doug and the boys, but my stomach was pretty queasy afterwards. Audrey was able to ride Test Track and car speed up to 60 mph which is one of the fastest rides at Disney World and that was a lot of fun for everyone.

For the rest of our day we toured the countries which was actually the most disappointing part of my day. The architecture was inspiring and it did feel like you were walking the streets of the country, but there was nothing historical or educational beyond shopping at their stores, eating at a restaurant or watching a movie of their country. Also, by the time we were done seeing a movie from most of the countries it started to lose its appeal. I would have loved to of learned a word or phrase from the country and what their main contributions were; seen paintings, attire, and maps of the countries to show the kids. The things in the stores were interesting to look at, but it lacked the information that a museum would provide. Although, I didn't necessarily think there would be a museum for each country, but something along those lines to provide more information would have been nice. The possibilities could be endless and as much as I enjoyed the buildings it kind of started and stopped there for me.

In China the kids got to take a picture with Mulan.

I love this building Doug is standing in front of that was taken in Japan.

Morocco wouldn't be Morocco with Jasmine and Aladdin.

In France the met Marie from Aristocats.