quick business :)

Alicia (US-Dallas), :) please send me your e-mail address again. I've been thinking about you and wanting to e-mail, but I can't find your address anywhere! I'd love to catch up sometime. Thanks, Leigh

crazy days

ok, just a quick blog to update you all on the craziness going on around here (which is mostly in our minds) :) So, most of you know, we're moving in 2 weeks! ahhh, crazy! We just got finished throwing a massive 2 year Ben Birthday/Going away party. 27 people in the house, crazy! :) It went really really well though and my prayers all week were answered: the rain held off until the last guest drove away, then it started, crazy! (well, not considering who I was praying to). So the kids were able to go outside for a bit.

I got creative (or anal, depending on your perspective) and made signs for the different rooms and places in our house where things would be happening so people would know where to go and what they could do. Signs included, "food" area, "crafts/toys" room, "smaller ones/nursing" room, "coats, shoes, purses" room, "bouncer" area, and last but not least "W.C./potty". :) We had kind friends who let us borrow a huge bouncer that actually fit in our basement and the kids loooved it, plus it really helped with kid/crowd control. I also borrowed a big, plastic, round, kids table that seated about 6 kids and put craft stuff on it for the kids who wanted to 'make things'. It was so cute to see them all sitting there with the little foam stickers, colored pencils, glue sticks and kid scissors. Plus, all the toys were in that room so the mess was contained to one location, yay! :) I still have to clean it up though :) I'm actually looking forward to it though, ugh, I know, it's weird. Then, just when I thought I was being overly detail-oriented (yeah, you know), it turned out that the nursing room (which is the boys small bedroom, complete with changing table), was used a number of times for nursing purposes and for sleeping babies!

I knew with that number of people, there had to be activities, but for the age group (0-5), and amount of space, organized activities were probably not a good idea. So they were able to spread out around the house doing different things, including outside and the flow went really well. The moms were able to relax and eat fruit and veggie and deli trays (yes, I'm in pre-move keep it easy and simple mode), while the dads ran the bouncer and kept watch outside and chatted as well. I thought it worked out well for all. (of course, I hope the people who read this blog and also attended agree) hi! :)

Of course, things got a little chaotic around cake time, but fortunately, come genius thought up a cupcake cake, where cupcakes are put close together and iced as if they were one big cake. This made it sooo easy to hand out cake quickly and easily to the anxious little kids below. It was a Thomas the Tank Engine party, so Ben got a bunch of Thomas stuff including a backpack and sleeping bag we plan on using for the move.

I asked everyone to bring a picture of their family for our memory books for the boys so we could look back and remember all our friends from RI. Of course, half of them are Navy so we won't see them here again, but maybe on the road somewhere else. It was so great to see all of our friends (after a looong winter of practical hibernation inside) and let the boys say hi again to all their babysitters, who were also invited. I made special gift bags for them to say thank you. I also had fun using foam stamps to stamp the kids gift bags. I got the little white bags from Michael's and the boys' bags had a frog on them and the girls' bags had a butterfly.

Well anyway, it was such a blessing that so many people could come out and celebrate with us and I hope they enjoyed it too. It seemed like everyone had a great time, especially with the diversity of the crowed, i.e. church friends, Navy friends, neighborhood friends etc. It's always interesting to me when not everyone knows each other. I love watching people dynamics and wondering who will enjoy talking to whom.

ok well, I'd better go to bed. Will and I worked on a new set of 'to dos' tonight and now that the party is over, I'm officially in move-mode. Tomorrow begins the preparation with the vehicles, cleaning, oil/fluid changes, tire balancing and rotation etc. Then, since next week is Spring Break, I plan on getting some babysitters to help with the kids so I can complete some last minute projects and stuff that's difficult to do with the boys around. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. I'm mostly praying that Will and I will be able to keep things low-stress and calm for the boys. They really pick up on big changes etc. and their attitudes show it and although I have a very positive attitude about moves in general, the fact is we have a lot to get done and moving is in general, a stressful thing, sooo, please pray that we handle it well and balance things well so they don't feel left out in the meantime and are still at ease by the time we get there. I know they have no concept of the fact that we won't be coming back here, but I'm hoping they'll be ok with that, especially once we re-introduce them to old friends and fun places and the warmer weather! :)

Good night, God Bless!


ps. will post pics soon (i hope)

missing YOU!

This morning, I'm missing my home state of Texas ... Blue Bell ice cream, bluebonnets, warm weather, humidity, (not mosquitos) :), flowers in bloom in my Mom's backyard, the smell of all the flowers in bloom in my Mom's backyard, shorts, tank tops and sandals, neighborhood swimming pools, my Houston peeps (ok, well Texans in general), the awesome Houston Museum of Natural Science, and the wonderful Houston Rockets who just made the playoffs! :) I don't know when I'll be able to make it down there soon, but at least I know that our nearby Norfolk friends are anxiously waiting and praying for us. It's so nice to feel wanted and I can't wait to see them again and how big all their kids have grown in the 2.5 years since we left (well, 1.5 years since we visited)! :)

safe home

just a note . . . Will made it safely home last Thursday from Norfolk and working on our house, that is now for sale instead of for rent. He brought back with him some friends of ours, Amy and her two daughters Anna and Sabrina ("Izzy") and their dog, Bo. Her husband is on an IA (Independent Augmentation) for a year in Iraq right now and she's staying up here with us for a week or two. We've had a good first week and gotten into a good groove with all the kids and schedules etc. It's fun to have a full house for awhile and the kids are really enjoying each other, not to mention, Amy and I are enjoying the company and conversation. Ben loves Izzy and does a little dance every time he sees her in the morning and after naps. It's so cute. We call it the "Izzy dance". Charley is enjoying being the "big boy" in the house and has turned into quite the helper, as well as providing constant entertainment for everyone. We're all having a blast, staying busy and very worn out each day! :)

10 years ago . . .

It was strange and wonderful being back in my hometown of Houston for my 10 year high school reunion this past weekend. 10 years ago I graduated and moved away (probably for good). It's a fun town, more so than it probably gets press for and it was so great to see so many people I had gone to elementary, middle and high school with. My family never moved in my 18 years at home so I was always in the same school district with some of the same friends, some of whose parents also haven't moved. : ) It was great to see how successful so many of them were and also how much so many of them had overcome. It made me feel blessed in my own right, but also special to be a part of such a great group of people. It was also fun to find out how many of them are living in this area so I really want to get together an Alief/New-England reunion sometime before we move. New Years anyone?!

One of the very different and great things about Alief is that it is so equally diverse. There is no real majority of race and a couple of nights ago I was standing next to my Chinese, Hispanic, Black, Arab and Indian friends almost in amazement that we were all so close and actually all in the same room. I seriously think the last time I was in a room that diverse was probably when I had my driver's license picture taken a few years ago and I was in Houston then too! I feel fortunate to have been able to attend a high school like that because I got the chance to learn so much about so many different people, races, religions, cultures, etc. It was more of an education than I bargained for and I will always be grateful that when a lot of our friends were moving farther out into the suburbs, we stayed in the shadow of Houston (just outside the city limits) in what became a more diverse area every year.

One comment that was fun to hear from the people who had moved away from the state and come back to visit, was how friendly Texas was and how they missed it. I was surprised to keep hearing it from different people in different conversations throughout the two night reunion. I wasn't able to attend the final family get-together on Sunday because I had to catch an early flight home, but I'm so grateful that my husband supported me going. I had a wonderful time and had a blast catching up with some very old friends.

People we saw in Norfolk

We really enjoyed our time last week in Norfolk. We tried to remember to get pics of everyone, but I know we missed a few so apologies to those folks. Here are a bunch of pics of people and kids we saw. We can't wait to see you all again.

Navy friends Tommy & Amy w/ daughter Anna

Amy & new baby girl, Sabrina "Izzy" (born the day before Ben). Thanks so much Tommy & Amy for letting us call you up at a moments notice to come crash and eat or hang out at your house. You were life savers. Thanks for being so flexible with your time and open with your home.

Charley (2 yrs old) & Lydia (3 yrs old) watching Veggie Tales. Thanks so much, Barry & Jenn, for letting us stay with you while we were there. I hope everything goes well for you in the move to D.C and with the birth of baby #3 "Baby Boy" in December. They also have another daughter, Katie, who is 16 mo. old. Our prayers are with you Jenn and Barry and your handful of arrows :)


My younger cousin, Alicia (13 yrs old) and me and my Aunt Teressa holding Ben and Will in front. Most of the inspiration for coming to Norfolk in the first place was to watch Alicia pole vault in the Junior Olympics. She did a great job and it was amazing to watch her jump. The heat index that day was well over 100, I think it was maybe 115 or so (no joke). They got to go hang out at the beach while they were in town and we really enjoyed spending time with them since we don't see them often in Rockwall, TX (near Dallas) where they live.



I got to catch up with my old high school friend, Daniel, while we were there. He's a SeeBee in the Navy now and is stationed at Oceana in Virginia Beach. He's doing great since he moved back to the states from Japan. Of course, he and Will talked Navy the whole time, but that was fine because you can only talk about people from high school for so long. : ) He enjoyed holding Ben and did a great job, probably from all the experience he's had from visitin Dana & Dave and holding their brood :) Thanks Dana for the current e-mail address. It was so good to see him.



Here we all are at Outback Steakhouse with Art & Anna . Anna is due with their first baby in January! Yay! Thanks guys for letting us stay with you our last night, and swim in your pool and watch your big screen . . . :)

On a side note, (for those of you who don't know) Anna was present (in the delivery room) for Charley's birth, since we didn't expect him 2 weeks early and my mom couldn't be there. She just came to visit us this past April just 2 weeks before Ben was born so we thought she might be there for him too, but he was 5 days late. This is the friend I always talk about meeting at the dog park just before I got pregnant with Charley. She's become a great friend since then and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding last July. I can't wait to see their beautiful little baby. We're not sure if it's a boy or girl yet. I'll keep ya posted!



We visited with some good friends from our Sunday School class at Tab Church in Norfolk, where we used to go. From L to R is Evelyn (17 mo.), Christianne, me, and Christy holding Ben (3 mo.). We were also all in a small group together. We had a lot of fun hanging out and watching our husbands play X-box :) By the way Christy, I have to say you have a gift . . . Ben looks nice and comfy.

And here are our husbands . . . playing X-box. From L to R are Will (my hubby), Will, and Dave.

This is Dave holding Owen. I couldn't leave out Christy & Will's new baby, Owen (9 mo.). He's probably saying, "Hey, you're not my daddy." He's super cute and it was the first time we had the chance to see him since we moved away from Norfolk before he was born.

One more just for fun . . . the two redheads wrestling and turning . . . redder :)

WHAT A FUN & BLESSED TIME!!