The Results are in!

Today we received our RFO (request for orders) from Human Resources Command and we are going back to Fort Wainwright, AK. What a whirlwind this is going to be. A few days ago, we got a heads-up that this was going to happen and today it became official. Back to the artic desert, we go. I am excited to be going to a place where there isn't too many unknowns, but as I put mittens, hats, and boots on all of the kids today... I thought a bit more about it. When we lived there before I had two kids to suit-up for the cold. This time, I am going to need an assembly line for the four of them to go outside. We are all excited and looking forward to a almost 9,000 mile move. Moose, mosquitos, and snow... oh my!

We will leave Germany in early February and plan to arrive in Fairbanks on March 1st. This will be our 9th PCS move in 9 years so as experienced as we are, everything should go as smooth as possible.

You know you live in Alaska when....

I thought this was funny way to post about all things Alaskan!!! Some I forgot about and some are a great reminder of what we are going back to. ENJOY!


You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.



It takes only a 15-minute drive to "get away from it all".



The town you live in is "away from it all".



Anything above freezing is T-shirt weather.



You've ever had to put on long johns, sorrels, snow pants, T-shirt, button-up flannel, light jacket, heavy coat, scarf, face mask, thick hat, and thick gloves just to walk a few blocks to the store.



It has been -20°F for two weeks, warms up to 0°F and you call it a warm spell.



You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.



If you know all 4 seasons as: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction.



You think $4 for a loaf of bread is cheap.



Your bedroom windows are covered in aluminum foil or black blankets.



You see people wearing Carharts at social events.



Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a motor home on the highway.



You go to school, work, or both in the dark and come out in the dark.



When you go to the lower 48 you wonder where everybody's block heater cable.



The municipality buys a zamboni before a bus.



Shoveling the driveway constitutes great upper body workout.



Everyone has hundreds of recipes for moose meat.

'TIS the SEASON

December is here and the first week has flown by. St. Nikolaus visited and brought the kids some treats. I am busy planning 2 Christmas parties (YIKES!!) for Charlie's work. One is this Friday and the other is next Saturday. I know it's a bit crazy, but he has spent the last 17 months in command of two Army detachments with two seperate sets of people, so we are having two parties. Stressful to plan? Yes. Fun to spend time with everyone? Yes. Preparing our house for them? No. Don't get me wrong, I love decorating for Christmas and such, but having to clean every corner of the house before a party that will only be left a mess when it is all over, makes me a bit crazy.



Homeschooling in December has proven to be a challenge. We are staying on schedule because I know when our move comes that life is going to be too crazy to even try. Next year, I will take a good 3 weeks off around the holidays so that I can spend more time focusing on baking and crafts with the kids. We have managed a couple of fun activities though. Before St. Nik came, we decoupaged the wooden clogs for the kids to leave out for him. The two in the picture are of Brady's and Beckett's. His is plain and unfinished because the arts and crafts center on post said that you have to be three to use their facility to decorate one. So, I bought him an unfinished one with the good intentions of doing it myself before St. Nik came and it never happened. I will have to take more pictures of Jordan and Ava's (I thought I already had some).



Santa is done shopping but hasn't even thought about wrapping. Christmas cards? I am ashamed to say that this is our 3rd year of not sending them out. The first 2 years of the 3, we were moving or had just moved and it was not at the top of my priority list. This year... still not at the top of my priority list and I would have had to mail them out my now. Maybe next year folks. This year, I am saving a tree by not sending them out to the 200 people that fill our address book. I promise to take a bazillion goofy pictures of our kids until I can get ONE where they are all looking forwards ( I can't guarantee that they will actually be looking at the camera) and post it on here before Christmas.



'TIS the SEASON!!!!





The shoes, filled with the goodies. And this picture makes me want to share a tradition with everyone... we put all of the Christmas related books we own under the tree until Christmas Eve and that way I am sure that we have read each one before Christmas and none are left out.

Brady decorating the tree.

Ava wore her Santa hat to bed every night for the first week. She cried one night at 3 am because it fell off her head and she couldn't find it. Mom to the rescue... it was under the covers.

Rudolph puppets they made yesterday.

Brady's accomplishments

I am so proud of Brady. When we returned from Normandy we made him stop wearing pull-ups to bed. When he potty trained at 2 and 1/2 we didn't force him into bedtime potty-training like we did with Jordan and Ava. So he continued to wear pull-ups to bed. Probably not the best of excuses, but I let it slide until he turned 4 because so much other stuff was going on (Beckett's salmonella, Beckett's ears, moving, etc.). When he turned 4, I said we were D-O-N-E. Partially because he is just too big for wearing them and partially because I know that the older he gets the harder it is going to be to train his sleeping brain to get out of bed and go to the bathroom. Did I mention that I am tired of buying them?

So after a few weeks of us waking him up in the middle of the night to go potty, his brain has finally realized that peeing in his pants is not a proper sensation while he is sleeping. All of the sheet changing the first few nights and lack of sleep for us has really paid off. A proud sibling moment, too... Jordan was waking him up first thing in the morning and helping him make it to the bathroom. It took us a few mornings to figure out that his big brother was helping out!

On other Brady notes... we have started to enroll Brady in speech therapy. The screening process is long, but he does qualify for free help from the school districts. Once we finish all of the paperwork he will start his therapy. He has had to meet with multiple individuals because they test for all cognitive disabilities, although they don't feel he needs anything more than speech thereapy. He can't blend consonants and some he just puts his tongue right in front of his teeth and can't get the sound out. When we slow him down, he can make out the sounds but he gets frustrated with Mom and Dad so therapy seems like the right answer.

We are very proud of him for taking all of his "tests" and when we finally move, he will probably go to preschool so that they can work on it in another setting that is outside of our home.

ARE YOU READY?

for S-A-N-T-A?????
... because I know seven little angels that are!!!!!!!!

their jammies read, "Dear Santa, I can Explain"

Quick Turkey Day Re-cap

We fried this 22 lb turkey.... the skin was delicious, the meat was moist, and it did not taste FRIED.


The guys worked their magic on the porch. Actually, John had things under control and Charlie watched from the sidelines (taking notes for next year). I think Mike knew how to fry a turkey already. The best part about a fried turkey is that the oven is open and available for other yummy things. I've have lots of recipes to steal from my friend, Jen. Her Nan has some fantastic recipes that we made and everything was delicious.


And our new table served it's first holiday meal and all fourteen of us fit at one table.

Chateau Monfreville

Our Normandy cottage was fantastic. So fantastic that I think I want to move to France. By far the best and most relaxing vacation that we have ever had. Our hosts at the Chateau, the McKinley's were amazing. Their children kept our kids company, the farm animals kept them entertained, and life was relaxing for one whole week. We took in all of the D-Day sights and visited Mont St. Michel. I will blog about that in a future post.


This is the Chateau that the owners live in. They will cook for you as well. We ate dinner with them one evening after we fed all of our kids and their kids. I loved this picture with the fall leaves on the apple trees lining the driveway.


The side of the Chateau. The pond is a naturally filtered swimming pool. Brady is the only one that tested it out. He accidently stepped into the reeds without realizing that it was not grass and very DEEP.

Bert the donkey was a highlight for the kids. Every morning we could hear Bert calling for his breakfast. Our kids spoiled him.

This is where we actually stayed. 20 years ago it was a rickety old barn. Now it is two cottages. Ours was huge and cozy.

Thankful

I am thankful for all of the men like these two......

and all of the fallen soldiers from the past.....

for ensuring that this little guy is raised in a free country!

Meet Cam Neely.....

He had a rough day on Tuesday. After a few nights of no sleep, extreme pain, and a swollen face.... we discovered that Beckett's tooth had an infected abcess. The same tooth that he chipped in Italy (back in July) and was fixed with a pin was now completely infected and the root had a fracture in it. We were told by a pediatrician that it was an ear infection. But by Monday evening, he had a big blister above his tooth and within an hour of it forming it became so large that it was hanging down over his teeth. Luckily, it popped and relieved the pressure.

Tuesday morning we showed up at the dentist's office (un-announced) and although it was a whirlwind for a couple of hours... they were able to put him under general anesthesia AGAIN and remove the tooth and they repaired his other front tooth that he had chipped again.

By this morning, most of his swelling has disappeared and he is feeling much better. Charlie says that we should have named him Cam Neely instead of Beckett. If this continues, we might have to change his name.

After the tooth extraction. He took a 4 HOUR nap. Totally wiped from all of the nights of no sleep.

Tuesday morning before it was removed. His swelling had gone down quite a bit from the antibiotics. But, it was still there.

And his new look. He was giving me an "AARGHHH MATEY" for this picture. My poor baby!

BRADY is FOUR today!!!!

We celebrated Brady's FOURTH Birthday today! Lots of silly smiles and chocolate cake to share with friends.

All of the big kids lined up for a picture and cake!

Brady insisted that he have Austin help him blow out his candles. During the singing of "Happy Birthday" he was hiding under the table.

One eye smiles for the camera. Again, he insisted that he would only take a picture with me if I could smile with one eye shut. Notice he smiled like this in the first picture posted! I love him!

My New Do

I went and chopped my hair off today. It felt great and I am very happy with my new hair stylist, Petra. It's been 5 years since my last big chop, so I decided it was that time again. Here it is.... my photo shoot, courtesy of Ava and her Daddy.

The Tiger's and the White Lightning

Jordan, Ava, and Brady are all playing soccer this fall. Jordan is on the Tiger's and Ava and Brady are both on the White Lightning! Although I don't have a "Soccer Mom" sticker on the back of my van, I sure can play the part on Saturdays when all of them are playing in games. Here are a few pictures from our games yesterday.


Jordan on a break away, heading to the goal.

Ava on her break away.

Brady deciding that he was not going to play in the game. He is a bit shy about the actual games, but he is on fire at practices.

Ava trying to rally her brother to get up and play.

The fans!!!!

My budding artists

There are a couple of budding artists in the Bailey home. Brady had a little help with his giraffe head, but the rest is an original. For a small fee (a hug and a kiss) he has a agreed to make reproductions in his art studio.

Ava loves to draw and color. Every morning she makes her way downstairs and pulls the art supplies off the window sill and starts creating well before any others in the house are awake. My personal favorite is the dragon below and I couldn't get over how cute his face is. I took a close up of the dragon for better viewing.

ENJOY!!!!

Brady's giraffe and his name, slightly backwards but ever so cute!

Stuttgart Area Home Schoolers

We have been blessed to live in a community with a large number of home schooling families. I joined the group last Spring when I first decided that we would give home schooling a shot. I don't know all of the families because there is over 100 families in the group, but I have had the chance to personally get to know many of them. Last spring, many of the families invited us into their homes to peak inside their teaching styles and ask questions. What a blessing!

Each family has a unique reason for home schooling and a unique approach. Each month a Monthly Mom's Meeting is held in a member's home and there have been so many Mom's that have been such an inspiration to me in one way or another. It has been comforting to know that these ladies don't hold super-human powers that I don't possess.

The group has a fantastic website for members and they hold all different sorts of events. Monthly Birthday Bowling, Spelling Bees, Science Fairs, Concerts, Field Trips, and teaching co-ops... all run by volunteers in the group.

Last weekend we attended the SAHS Fall Kick-Off Party. I volunteered to organized ice cream sundaes for all of the people in attendance (see photo above). Each family volunteered to bring something and then everyone got in a line and made sundaes. Our kids had a blast playing on the playground with all of the children and I had fun meeting more families. While we were there, we discovered that there are a total of 5 families that home school in our village. One lady took it upon herself to organize everyone into Stuttgart regions and handed out name tags with our residence listed on the tag. Next week all 5 families in Waldenbuch are meeting for a play date and coffee (for the Mom's ).

Pumpkin Festival

One of the local palaces, Schloss Ludwigsburg has an annual Pumpkin Festival on the palace grounds. I took my Mom there on her last full day with us. In New Hampshire we have a local Pumpkin Fest in Keene, NH that holds the World Record for the most lit Jack O' Laterns in one place. The Ludwigsburg Festival is very different. No Jack O' Laterns in sight, but lots of pumpkins and gourds depicting Fairytales. This is the same place that I blogged about recenty... the Fairytale Gardens.

Jordan, Ava, and Brady picked out their pumpkins for Halloween and hopefully they last that long!

So Much to Say!!!

I have so much to say and share with everyone, that I am not sure where to start. We (me and Charlie) had a wonderful time in Austria over the weekend. THANKS MOM!!! I kept my promise to Charlie that I would bring nothing with me except for clothes and toiletries. None of the extra luggage that I usually bring when we travel with our kids. No snacks, drinks, raincoats, baby wipes.... Although he did complain when he requested a baby wipe for his hands after eating a pastry and I didn't have one. See packing for 6 does have some advantages!!!!

We spent 2 nights in Vienna and had a lovely time. We spent lots of time strolling the streets and enjoying un-rushed meals. We did manage to tour the Hapsburg Palace and we were able to snag some standing-room only tickets to the Opera. Admittedly, we are not Opera music fanatics, so we watched them perform (in German) for an hour and then left. Since Vienna is practically the capital of Opera, we figured we should at least try to get tickets.

We then drove from Vienna to Salzburg, Austria. On the way, we stopped at Mauthausen Concentration Camp. It was emotional, moving, and I have some vivid pictures in my mind that I will never forget. I am glad that we toured it and watched the 45 minute film that was created for visitors. A few of the surviving prisoners spoke on their experiences and of course, there was an immense amount of black and white footage from American soldiers (taken when they arrived at the camp to release the prisoners). We had never heard of Mauthausen until I started planning our trip. It rivals Dachau, was open from 1938 to 1945, and was the last camp to be shut-down.

We made it home Sunday at about noon and everyone was happy and excited to see us. Grammy was alive and still energized enough to head out to our village Fall Fest (pictures to follow at a later date). My Mom took the kids to the bakery, long walks to feed our local horses, bike rides, playgrounds, and she somehow managed to get the local grocery store to order them some corn on the cob for pick-up the following day. I was completely impressed!!!!

Cake for 18 Months!

I missed out on cake for my 12 month birthday because I had too many other issues, so here I am eating it for my 18 Month Birthday! I have another ear infection, but I still LOVE me some chocolate cake!!!!

Love,
Beckett

Stuttgart Wine Festival

Grandma is in town for a couple of weeks. The kids are having fun and enjoying their time with her. Jordan is especially grateful that he is not spending his days in school and missing out on all of the fun. (We worked all summer so that we could take vacations like this!!!) On Saturday we went to Stuttgart's Wine Festival. We spent the day downtown, sipped some wine, did a little bit of shopping, and of course... we ate lots of delicious wine fest food.

Our kids were excited to take Grammy on her first German bus/ train ride. Brady was so excited that he fell asleep before we got out of Waldenbuch.


At one of the Wine Fest tents.

Testing out my waitressing skills with a toddler on my back and lollipop in my hair!

Weinstube, Lowen

Jordan and Brady checking out the horses from one of the local breweries.