it's official!

eek.  Last week Kent called me with the news that our official Air Force orders were made and given.  Flights from Seattle to Japan had been booked.  He scheduled movers to come and pick up our things.  I got a little queasy and shaky when he told me.   We'd heard so many horror stories of assignment changes and base denials- that we've been more stressed about waiting for orders than we have prepping for the move! and now they are HERE. REAL. and so concrete. just 4 weeks to go.

we've been trying to figure out all of our travel logistics and it's been a little CRAZY!  we've got to drive to St. louis to drop off our car. fly to utah. then later to Seattle and then finally catch the military 'rotator' to Yokota Air Force Base in Fussa, Japan- a suburb of Tokyo.  The rotator is a commercial airplane contracted by the military that flies military and dependents straight to the base- rather than into the Tokyo Airport.  

The flight leaves the US at 8 am wednesday and lands in Japan 7 am on thursday.  We've got to somehow get the kiddos to sleep on the plane (our daytime) so that we can try to stay awake an additional 12 hours once we land!  it's going to be slightly nutso. luckily we have to spend the night in the seattle airport before our flight.  I'm sure that will guarantee a pretty lousy night's sleep and give us reason to sleep on the plane!

oh, and to add to the chaos.  we found and have arranged to buy a car once we arrive in Japan!  it belongs to a member of our church there who is moving back to the states when we arrive.  Used cars on base sell pretty cheap- and I think we struck gold!  Japanese cars are required to pass rigorous inspections to stay on the road- so cars last a very long time and most people on base drive old inexpensive cars and then pass them on to newbies when they head out!  here's the beauty we are planning to buy.  2000 odyssey. 77,000 miles. 800 dollars!

With all of the changes and planning- I've been a little forlorn thinking about leaving my wonderful life here in Ohio.  Ohio has been home to our family for seven years. Ohio is all my children know.  I have LOVED it.  every last moment here. 

So, I'm trying to replace my sadness with excitement!  I really am so excited to explore a new place!  I remember my first few months in Russia when everything was so new and shocking and foreign.  I can't wait for that experience again!!

Here are some pictures of base- and nearby!

Mt. Fuji from the airstrip.

apparently the parks are unparalleled!!  obstacle courses and all sorts of fun! our kids are going to be in HEAVEN! this park is just a few km from base.

 this is a giant roller slide down a hillside!! it's not too far from where we will live, either!

 Hitachi seaside park in the fall!

White Cloud Mountain- not too far from base!

It all seems so adventurous! and I have to remind myself often lately- THAT (along with the promise of no debt!) is the reason we joined the Air Force!  To live an adventure.

p.s. we want visitors!!

Zeb-a-deb-a-ding-dong is SEVEN!!

I feel like every year the birthday of my first child is always the most shocking and significant to me.  It's the one that ages me.  Reminds me just how long I've been at this 'mother' thing.  It proves I've been an adult for that many years now. 

So today is the day!  I have a kid who is SEVEN!  when in heaven's name did that happen!???!!

Happy Birthday Zeb-a-roo.

Here's a quick walk down memory lane.  Pictures on or within a few days of his birthday each year of his life.  

Day 1.  Life was so simple back then :)  I had literally taught the last day of school for my high school Biology students that morning. I was so glad Zeb waited until I was finished with the year!!

                                                             FIRST birthday.
Kent was away for a month and a half military training and missed Zeb's first birthday along with his first steps :)  So- we took a pic with his air force tie and american flag to send to him!

2nd birthday.

He was OBSESSED with Thomas the Train.  truly obsessed.  so I made a thomas birthday cake for him.  and he LOVED it.

3rd birthday.

Zeb had a pretty bad terrible two's streak- so his 3's brought a lot of greatness :)   and he was ADORABLE.

 4th birthday. 

Zeb is our fastest and most engaged learner.  He was already reading pretty well by this age.

 5th birthday.  

Sometime this year we got a wii. and ALL he wanted was mario cart. Gramps got it for him for his birthday and he was SO excited.

 6th birthday.  

He graduated kindergarten just a couple of days after his 6th birthday. He really grew up this year and became a 'real' person.  My kids get better and better with age! 

and TODAY. 7th birthday.

Happy birthday Zebaroo!!

All he wants for his birthday is his two front teeth!  he's lost all four front teeth and one is just starting to come in up top.  He's just entering that age when their teeth start to come in too big and crooked for the faces!!  and they start to lose that adorable 'baby' look.   He's growing up.

Zeb is a stellar kid. He's smart and kind and funny, too (have you heard his great jokes??).  He's super responsible and  I'm convinced he could keep Ike and Metta alive without the help of Kent and I until all the food ran out in our house!!   He's the absolute perfect first child.

He's been so excited for his birthday the past few weeks.  I was worried that he had some sort of grand idea of a gazillion presents or a big party- but when I asked him why he was so excited, he replied: "because I'm going to be SEVEN!!!!".

After church today we opened a few presents and he had a birthday donut.  He's as happy as a clam!

Although yesterday he did stress us out a little when he stated he was "sure he'd get at least seven presents because he was turning seven".  He also told us "it's not like I need 38 presents like Dudley Dursley".

  Ike and Kent ran to the store yesterday to make the count a perfect seven.  They picked up a pack of gum, a box of his favorite cereal, and the donuts to make it seven!

He was pleased. 

a joke book and magic kit from grandma and grandpa! and a skylander (bouncer the giant) from the family!

 metta had a pretty hard time with the fact that the presents weren't hers.

Happy Birthday big kid Zeb-a-leb!

And just to make sure and embarrass him for future years- I have to include a story of what happened with him last night!  we were out at a church conference and a babysitter had them all to bed when we returned.  Just as we were about to go to bed around 11- I heard crying from metta and the pitter patter of footsteps upstairs.  

Apparently Zeb has inherited Kent's sleepwalking.  Which also happens to be sleep-PEEING. Kent found Zeb stumbling out of metta's room where he found her crying and COVERED IN PEE.  Zeb had entered the dark room thinking he was in the bathroom and peed THROUGH HER CRIB SLATS!  ALL over her face, body, stuffed animals, blankets, etc.   Kent ruined a closet full of board games and peed in the front yard in his sleep when he was about this age!  AHHHH!  Hopefully this was Zeb's first AND last sleep peeing experience!  POOR METTA!!  

we won a contest!!

I enter so many darn facebook contests ALL of the time!  I like gazillions of statuses- share posts- and leave comments nearly every day somewhere to win something!  and last week- I totally won a contest!! at the Beavercreek Pizza Dive!  one of our favorite pizza places in Dayton.  This pizza is AMAZING. and the owners are the NICEST people around.  They have an all you can eat buffet for crazy cheap on mondays- and the pizza choices are incredible.  In fact- I've blogged about them before HERE!

 I won a family prize pack! a super big dinner and 4 tickets to Beauty and the Beast at the Schuster center!  we used it all last night and had the greatest time.

we got a TON of food.  Their breadsticks and crust are spread with some crazy addictive sugar butter garlic sauce.  It is to die for.

we got drinks and cookies, too.

 they've got all sorts of games and coloring pages at the tables to keep little kidlets busy.  Metta likes to lick markers (amongst MANY other strange things).

We dropped Metta off with friends after dinner and were off to enjoy the show!

The social media booth.  Ike refused to hold a sign.  Kent, too :)  So Zeb and I did the honors.

 
 Ike and I are kind of two peas in a pod when it comes to musicals and theater.  I'm fine until intermission- and then I wish that it would be over!  the show didn't start until 8- and was REALLY great- but a little long in my opinion :)  Ike stole my sweater and curled up to fall asleep.

 I think that Kent enjoyed the night most of all!  he was so excited to take the boys to their first 'show'.  He showed them the orchestra and told them about all of the instruments.  He talked to them about the curtain call and all sorts of other stuff.  Zeb ate it all up and was on the edge of his seat for the entire performance!!  when Gaston came out for the curtain call to take a bow, zeb proudly booed!  it was so funny.

 our seats were up on the FOURth balcony!  it was quite the view and the boys were pretty impressed.  The evening was perfect (minus the woman in front of us who tried to 'sshhhhush' the entire theater- there were lots of kids- at least ten times) and was only made even better because it was all FREE!!  hooray for the Beavercreek Pizza Dive!! thank you! thank you!!

out of the house...

I've been trying to stay OUT of the house lately for several reasons! 

 A:  looking around at everything we have to do is making me anxious! 

B: kent is on nights and sleeps all day so we have to be quiet or get out!

C: the weather has been wonderfully NOT hot!

But- since evenings are lonely and boring without Kent- I should get to blogging :)

Last week Zeb had 'dress like your favorite book character' day at school.  He went as Harry Potter. and he is as adorable as ever.  These pictures kill me. So grown up- yet so little.

Kent is reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to the boys right now.   He'll read a chapter or two each night before he heads to work! and they LOVE it.  Zeb can't stand waiting and always reads ahead a chapter or two after Kent leaves for the night (which means he gets each chapter twice!).

  A few nights ago Ike asked him what he was doing.  When Zeb replied that the was: "reading ahead"- Ike got angry and snapped at him: "I don't see a 'head'.  You aren't reading a 'head'.  You are reading Harry Potter!!".  And then Zeb and I both laughed and he got even more upset!!  

The boys run around having wizard's duels and wand fights. Zeb has read up on all of the spells from the books and teaches them to Ike!  I love that these boys are such fabulous friends. And I love that Zeb studies spells in his free time! 

Saturday was our last soccer game of the season! HOORAY!!!  Kent made it to ONE game.  it has been a crazy busy spring season and I'm happy it has come to an end!  we made it 1 quarter into our game on saturday before the rain/hail/sleet came down HARD.  we were SO COLD and SO WET!  so we went straight to tim horton's for timbits and hot chocolate!

Saturday evening I took the kids to dayton's 'World Affair'.  Booths are set up from countries all around the world with food, and information, and pictures.  We went to search out Japan and learn something new!  we learned that their desserts are not very tasty!!

We got some ice cream balls that I thought would be pretty tame.  They were covered in a big sticky rice stretchy gelatinous material and were nasto.  The kids ripped off the covering and ate the ice cream inside, though :)

ice cream faced metta at the Scottish boot!

I sent this picture to Kent from a friend's farewell bbq that we attended this weekend- and he said the exact same thing I as thinking when I sent the text.  "Zeb is growing up!"  suddenly this kid doesn't want a hot dog anymore.  He wants a full blown hamburger.  I'm not sure why this is such a momentous and noteworthy event for Kent and me- but I feel like it's a sign that our Zebby is growing up.  

Ike is growing up, too.  He has preschool graduation this week!  he helped me make his scrapbook pages for the school scrap book and he was pretty proud of himself.  

 Here's metta pretending to be a dog.  She roams the house in animal form often.   Her hair is getting so long and I've got to come up with some new hairdos!  I'm not sure if I'll ever be a successful hair doer.  Where does one get ideas or skills on hair doing for baby girls?!

Lastly- but not least.

My best friend on these long and lonely nights is great tv.  and right now I'm watching "Call the Midwife".  I love it.  The characters are so charming and real. British tv is so refreshing (this show anyway!).  I need another good show once I finish the last couple episodes of this one!  any suggestions??

I think my kiddos love me...

I love to celebrate for any reason and will never turn down a holiday or gifts! Therefore I love Mother's Day.  I work hard at being a mom and I don't think it's overrated to celebrate those efforts with a day of appreciation!  Just like I work hard at being me- and think I deserve a birthday celebration each year.

Kent is on nights- so we only got to see him for about an hour on Mother's Day- but he did as much as humanly possible for me in that hour :)  He started dinner when he came home that morning- and finished it all when he woke up that afternoon!  we had a fabulous late lunch- and I got some pretty awesome shoes.  Look at them.  they are insane.  and I LOVE them.

Kent is worried about me.  worried that our move to Japan will be tough.  and he's right. he knows me well.  I am so excited to go- this has been our plan all along! to travel the world.  to live a grand adventure.  But- there will be tears.  tears when I drive away from Dayton. tears when we get to Japan.  tears about losing my friends.  about being so far away from family.  it's going to be a big transition with some rocky spots! but now I have some fab new shoes to help me hit the ground running.

  Zeb made me a card at school and had to write a reason I am special.  He'd quizzed me at home about this question several times because he was having a hard time coming up with an answer.  I asked him why he'd rather have me as a mom and not somebody else.  His reply was  pretty simple:  "well, if you were dead I would just get somebody else."  Thanks, Zeb :)     His final answer was that I make the best cookies. hmmm.  the only problem is that I don't make cookies.  Kent is the cookie maker in this family.  I think that one was a suggestion from his teacher!  I did love this part of the card-

especially his little "˄ sometimes" part on the last line!

Ike had a 'muffins with mom'  day at preschool.  He told me about it and then asked if Kent could go with him instead!   Luckily Kent had to work- so I told him I was his only option!  he finally conceded to allowing me to come.  And I think when the day was over he was happy to have had me. We won both rounds of 'musical chairs' and he was excited.  I had to get pretty competitive to win the game AND win him over - but I was successful.

I also got to facetime my sister from brazil as she skyped my mom at home in Utah.  Technology

is amazing.  She is happier than ever and loving being a missionary!

Being a mother certainly doesn't define me entirely- but I am so grateful and happy that it is one of my many  titles.  

I'm grateful for the amazing mothers I have (now and in the past) in my life. 

Especially:

My  mum- Annie- is the reason I am who I am!  she taught me how to be healthy, happy, and successful in life!  what else do you need?!

and

My Mother-in-Law, Pat, for giving me the best present I've ever had!- KENT! 

snaggletooth.

we've had an afternoon of laughs and tears from this kid today. Zeb's mouth is full of snaggleteeth and holes.  and today we've got an especially crazy tooth.

this tooth is dangling by the teeny tiniest pulp of gummy tissue.  You can see a clear margin ABOVE the tooth for pete's sake!

 seriously.  look at him.  it looks absolutely ridiculous.

 when he walks and talks, it wiggles and jiggles. He can twist it 360 degrees!!

 we have all been laughing pretty hard about it.

 Kent is BEGGING to yank it.  and that makes Zeb cry.  I told Zeb we would wait for it to fall out on its own.  I can't stand ripping bandaids off- let alone the thought of yanking out out a TOOTH!! yuck.

I'm betting the tooth fairy shows up tonight :)

park adventures.

I haven't taken pictures with my camera in AGES!  This week Ike had a fieldtrip to Cloud park- one of our favorites in the area- so I went along and finally took out my camera!  

Metta is pretty independent- and I'm not much of a helicopter parent- so it took me awhile to realize she was no longer on the playground a short time after we arrived.  Her pal- Cora- was missing, too.  I ran back into the woods behind the slides- and found her off roading with Cora. They were definitely not on any trail- which probably helped slow them down and didn't let them get too far! but they were thick into the woods :) and when they saw us- they took off RUNNING!  such little wild turkeys.

 She's such a fun child.  Even if she does run away into the woods!

 She was really nervous to cross the creaky bridge- so Ike offered to help her cross every time she needed it.  Ike really loves Metta.  He begs to wake her up from naps, he loves to help her, and he always wants to share things with her!  It's really cute. especially because usually he's so stingy with his love and affection!

 Ike's pal Ava would NOT smile for the camera- but I caught her with a real smile playing tag!

Cora with her stick.  Kent and I decided Metta is going to have the hardest time with our move.  She's so in love with her life and her routine. The gym, church, meijer, her pals, Cora!  She's going to have major withdrawals.  It makes me a little sad to think about!

 Ike, Paxton, and Ronan.   I can't believe how amazingly beautiful the weather was Wednesday morning.  Today is already too hot for me - and too sunny!  but yesterday at the park was PERFECT!!

 I'm making a goal to take a gazillion more pictures the last 7.5 weeks we live here in Ohio!