Strawberry Picking

In honor of Spring Break, our MOPS group planned a few outings this week. Today was strawberry picking with the MOPS from Niceville (Nadia's group), so it worked out perfect! There's a farm the next town over from us that has strawberry picking for $1.25/lb. The kids had a special...a pint of strawberries (picked by them) and a strawberry "yogurt" (they said it was yogurt but it was actually more like ice cream, yum!). Nolan loved it! He had a hard time getting the concept because the berries were actually kind of tough to pick. So his job was to put the strawberries in the basket. And of course run rampant, which he did FANTASTICALLY! He was everywhere. There were random mom's grabbing him and bringing him back to me...how and when did he get so fast? Next time we go I think we'll bring Daddy so he's easier to contain. But we had a really nice time. I am sure that my Cheyenne friends don't want to hear this, but the weather was fantastic. Mid 70's and sunny. After that we went to a lunch and did a little downtown shopping. Then Tristan came over briefly and helped tire Nolan out before his nap. Here are some pictures of our morning:

Tristan & Nadia before we started picking:

My view of Nolan most of the day...his back as I chased him.

Hmm...so I am supposed to pick a red berry? I don't know about this...

Hmm, looks good enough to eat...dare I?

Oh yes, it is yummy!

I'm stuffing my face with this strawberry before mom can really think this through and take it away!

Okay, Mom, this grass is taller, but I have a strawberry. HERE I COME!Uh-oh, I am going soooo fast:

Whew, close call, but I caught myself:

Abby & Nolan:Nolan in a BOOSTER seat at lunch...and he stayed put!

Momma & a SMILING Nolan, holy cow!

edited to add that Miss Cheyna took this fantastic photo! She's awesome!

I must have done something right...

Nolan is my sweet little guy. He may not bring me chocolate or flowers (actually he and daddy did pick flowers for me once), but what he does bring me...is priceless because it's from him. And look at that face! I feel like the luckiest momma in the world!

What's he doing, I wonder?

Uh oh, is that what I think it is?

yep, it's bark from the tree...and a gift for me! (I was given lots of bark yesterday, poor tree).

March Madness Playdate

Earlier this week Nolan and I went to a playdate on base to a playground I didn't even know existed. I really liked it, much better than the one we normally go to, because it has some shade and the slide and other fun stuff doesn't get sooo hot that you can't even touch it. Nolan had a great time and then we went to lunch with Chey, Nadia, Abby & Tristan at Tijuana Flats....oh my GOSH! It was sooooooo good! I believe it's my new favorite place!

Just because they didn't make it to the finals, doesn't mean we're not still sporting Grampie's favorite team (okay, ours too, but I may have to say SEMO takes the cake for me).

Tristan hamming it up a bit:

Cutie pie Abby (look at her crocs!! Love them)!

Joey & Nolan swinging:

Nolan's main objective was to figure out how to go down the stairs. He figured it out (holding the rail) and then proceeded to go up and down up and down up and down!

Taking a break for s ome juice. He isn't so sure about the sand so he sat still....glorious!

Tristan & Abby at lunch :

Stop Laughing!

I cannot get it through my head that I have to control my laughter around Nolan. He'll do something that makes me laugh, then he'll do it again (and again and again...). Unfortunately, it's not usually a "good" thing he is doing. Like, he accidentally drops a half eaten yogurt covered raisin out of his mouth. It makes a funny "splat" noise and his face is so priceless, I laugh. What does he do? Proceeds to keep spitting out raisins. Argh. Let's see what else? Burping is a good example. But he can't make himself burp (yet) so he makes this funny throat-y sound which of course is IMPOSSIBLE not to laugh at. You see the vicious cycle? He fell down last week and didn't hurt himself, but the look on his face (shock) had me crying I was laughing so hard. So what does he do? He falls on purpose and laughs and laughs. Brian keeps saying, "Sam, you have to stop laughing. He LOVES making you laugh." It's so true (but he loves to make Daddy laugh, too). Well, here's a story to make all of YOU laugh. A "Nolan" story (just like Tammi has her "Tanner" stories, hee hee). Brian and I were counting to 3 at dinner the other night, then having Nolan repeat us. I am not sure why we were even doing this, it's not like we were trying to teach him to really count. Anyway, then I said, "Nolan how old are you?" So we held up one finger and told him "ONE." We did this a couple times and finally I said (again) "Nolan how old are you? One?" He held up his index finger and said "Two." He remembers that we always say 2 after one!! So now if you ask him how old he is, no matter what, he puts up his index finger (one finger) but says "TWOTHREE!" How adorable is that?

Dinner Out

Saturday we had plans to eat dinner at the Boathouse with our small church group. It was kind of sad for me since I felt I hadn't seen Nolan all day, but we dropped him off at McKenzie's, the babysitter he adores. He literally ran to the door when we got there and said, "Knock Knock." So off we went to dinner. It was very yummy and we even played a few games, one being a spinoff of the "newlywed" game. It was hilarious! The girls left the table and the guys had to answer 3 questions like they thought we would and then vice versa. Brian and I...did not win. How sad. Either way it was extremely fun and hilarious seeing what answers all the couples put down for each other. After dinner we picked Nolan up and headed home. It was truly a wonderful day.

This is Christy & Art, the couple who DID win the newlywed game:

This is Jim & Allison, the coordinator's of our group. They are expecting their 3rd baby in May!Dave & Andrea (they are Air Force as well):And your favorite couple, US!

Boys will be boys

Saturday Brian was invited to go "to the country" with some work buddies. They go out there and do super exciting things like chop wood and beat their chests. Kidding...well, they did chop wood. What sold Brian was the fact that Wess had a four wheeler. So he took Nolan on his first 4 wheel ride. Apparently Nolan LOVED it! Meanwhile I went with Neda and Tara to see Reign Over Me (with Adam Sandler & Don Cheadle). Tara's having her baby in 3 weeks and we wanted to have a girls day while we still can. The movie was really good, but sad. Adam Sandler plays a man who lost his family in the 9/11 attacks. It was the kind of movie that makes you run home and kiss and hug your own family.

Here are some pictures of the boys having fun (I sent the camera and I think told Brian 3 times...the camera's in the diaper bag, just so you know! He got the hint)!

Here they are on the 4 Wheeler:

It looks like Nolan's saying VROOM here:Nolan eating his Smucker.s crustless PB&J (these things are better than sliced bread, I have more about those in another post):

Happy Birthday BETH!

Happy Birthday Beth!! We miss you lots. I hope you have a fantastic day with your gorgeous family!

Dream Big!

Keep your dreams big...

You'll get there eventually!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a great St. Patty's! We had our "kind of annual" St. Patrick's Day bash (we try to do it every year, but some years it doesn't work out...like when Brian is TDY or when our house is on the market). We had a good crowd and there was green beer flowing! Here are some pictures:

Here is Tristan "reading" Nolan a story. Nolan ADORES Tristan and Tristan seems to love making Nolan laugh!

Here's Momma to be Jamie & Jake (She's glowing & beautiful!)

Here's Brian, Kypp, Neda & Momma to Be Tara:

Here's Jason & his beautiful wife, another Momma to be (so the green beer wasn't flowing for EVERYONE!)

Here's a pic of Brian and I, me sporting the famous UMR St. Pat's sweatshirt...you know, the St. Pat's event my dad wouldn't let me go to in college because of the wild parties & drunken guys--oops, I think I married one of those guys!! :) Luckily, he's a good catch!

Then & Now

Here is Nolan last year on St. Patrick's Day, with his stuffed Irish bear from the Dipadova's.

Here he is this year with the same bear...(not a shruken bear, but it looks that way)!

And just for the record, he doesn't sit still as much either!!!

Date Night & HUGE THANK YOU!

Friday night Brian and I took Cheyna & Andrew up on having Nolan sleep over. They are such good friends they even watched him on their 5th Anniversary!!! What great friends we have. Nolan had a fantastic time and so did Brian and I. We actually stayed in town and went to one of the...nicer restaurants (although still very casual compared to big city dining). We stopped by the AmVets place so Brian could check it out for when his parents come in town...Dennis, you'll like it! Then we went home, built a fire in the backyard and had a cozy time. We slept in Saturday morning as best we could...I couldn't really sleep, but it was nice knowing I didn't have to get up. We headed to get Nolan about 9:30. It was sooo nice to have that time and we're so grateful to Cheyna & Andrew for watching Nolan. You better be letting Abby stay over again soon! I stole a couple pics from Chey's blog of the kids having fun:

I love how Nolan actually sits still on their couch...he climbs all over us when we try to sit him on ours...I suppose practise makes perfect. I love Abby's smile here, so cute!

Bathtime!

I love this picture!

Ice Cream Date

Yesterday was gorgeous so Cheyna & I (and the kids, of course) headed to the park. We played for a while and after Nolan fell for about the 3rd time (he was an accident waiting to happen!) we fed the ducks. Then we headed to Soni.c for lunch and dessert. We plopped the kids on top of the table, in front of us and they were loving it. They chowed down on a grilled cheese and tator tots, then we all shared a Reeses PB blast. YUM! Abby was very good about sharing her ice cream with Nolan...but when he got his own spoon he wasn't so sure about the sharing thing!

Abby feeding Nolan:

Goofy faces on both of them here...hee hee!

Here they are with only one purpose...must eat ice cream!!!