Last Day of Soccer

plus a few other recent things...

Anna had her last soccer game this past weekend.  She really enjoyed playing soccer this year (her first time on an all-girls team) and she learned a lot.  Here she is with her team at the pizza party afterward.  Anna is front and center.

Here's Anna getting her medal.  The first thing her coach said about her was, "Anna (sigh) So much attitude!"  Yes, that's our girl.  Her coach also thought it was cool that Anna was the smallest on the team but always wanted to play goalie.  She did a good job as goalie (I thought she was a great mid-fielder too) and also played goalie the whole game for the one game they won.  It was a tough season, but they all improved and had a great time.

Good job Anna!

She's already looking forward to spring soccer.

And in other news...

The backyard is ready to be played in.  The weather is still nice (I think it got up to 79 yesterday).  I've been letting John and Emma play with the water table during the day.  They get very wet, but they love it.  It's nice to have a yard.

Another very exciting thing for me is that I got the garage cleaned out enough to pull one car in.  With all the running around we do all week its so nice for loading and unloading to have the car in the garage.  I can tell them to go get in the car and not worry about them screaming and running up and down the street, which does happen.  Plus its getting a little colder in the morning (50s).

 What a beautiful sight.

Still more stuff to tidy up in the garage, but getting there.

Election Day!  Happy (Sad) Day: The Fifth

On election day we had a little mini-celebration.

Election day didn't turn out the way I was hoping but I'm trying to come to terms with it.  :)  In any case, I'm happy (kind of) the election is over.  We had a fun little party, had cupcakes, watched You're Not Elected Charlie Brown and cast some ballots. The kids voted unanimously for more screen time during the week.  That ballot measure was struck down by mom however.

Emma's birthday was on election day, so she is already 2!  But we are waiting to celebrate this weekend since Scott was out of town that day.

The other thing I've been looking forward to at the beginning of November is the roundabout outside our complex being completed.  That was supposed to be completed November 1st.  It's been under construction since we moved in in July.  It's not done yet and hardly anyone is working on it from day to day.  The roundabout is there.  But there are barricades up preventing its use.  The lines on the street have yet to be painted as well.  I don't know what the hold up is there, but I'm getting impatient for it to be done since it will make going everywhere easier and faster and get the kids off the bus about an hour sooner each day.  Sooo, still waiting for that.  Maybe they'll get it done soon here.  We'll see.

Update:  A few hours after I wrote this they painted the lines on the road for the roundabout, and an hour or so later they removed the barricades and I was able to use it as a roundabout!!  Not sure if this will be a permanent change or if they will put the barricades back up as they continue to work on the landscaping there.  We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Halloween Aftermath

It was my own fault.  And I really should have known better.  I let John take a full sized Twix bar from his Halloween stash with him in the car when I knew there was a strong chance he would fall asleep.

This is what it looked like after our thirty minute car ride.

When we got home I took the Twix out of his hand and started cleaning him up.

He tried to get any last chocolate off his hand as he woke up.

Little chocolatey face

Then he was mad at me for taking away his Twix bar.

Luckily Twix bars come in a two pack.

He was still mad at me though.

Emma's been raiding any pumpkins that get left within striking distance.

Emma's pumpkin is the green one.  Green to match her Tinker Bell costume this year.

Emma discovered that she hates Kit Kat bars.

She took one bite of a Kit Kat and then gave it back to me saying, "NO LIKE IT!"  After that she could identify the offending candy by its wrapper and quickly handed all Kit Kats over to me.  She was puzzled though when she found an orange Kit Kat bar and gave it another try.  After a bite or two she threw this one on the floor.  The verdict:  Emma does not like any color of Kit Kats.

Grant colored this Sugar Skull coloring page from Dia de los Muertos.

I was a little surprised he was interested in doing this, but it looked great.

We've still got lots of candy so Halloween lives on.

Halloween 2016

or Happy Day: the Fourth

We had Scott's promotion ceremony on Halloween and then headed back south to our house to get ready for trick or treating.  Here we are ready to trick or treat.  Matthew is a spy, Grant and John are ninjas, Anna is a vampire, I'm Peter Pan, Emma is Tinker Bell and Scott is Captain Hook.  He needs that long curly Captain Hook wig.

Just the kids

 Anna the creepy vampire

Emma our little Tinker Bell.

John and Grant

They are such good ninjas you can't even see them.

Peter Pan vs. Captain Hook

I think we all know how this one ends.  ;)

This year I achieved my childhood dream of being Peter Pan.  Peter Pan was my hero when I was a little girl.  Some girls want to be princesses.  I wanted to be Peter Pan.  I used to tell people my name was Peter.  I can't believe I've never dressed up as Peter Pan on Halloween before this.  :)

Scott's been very busy and lately and we were glad he was able to be here for Halloween.  He had to leave super early the next morning for work.  We had a lot of fun trick or treating in our neighborhood.  There were tons of kids out walking around, lots of decorated houses, neighbors our chatting, some of them meeting each other for the first time.  It was a great atmosphere, a lot of fun and the kids got way too much candy.  We're trying to dole it out slowly.

I Wouldn't Say I'm Missing It

or Happy Day:  The Third

Well our house has one less bathroom now, but I think it actually improves our property value.  The porta-potty that has been sitting on the street directly outside our front door for the past two weeks is gone!  When we came back from our trip to the AF base and I saw it was gone I felt like dancing in the street.  The landscapers brought the porta-potty for their workers while working on our lawn.  I get why it was there.  I'm fine with that.  Other people in the neighborhood have been doing the same thing, but I'm so happy its gone.  The view out our front door has improved drastically, the air seems fresher, there's a little extra spring in my step every time I come out the door.  And I can't smell chemical toilet while sitting on my couch.  Can life get better?  I submit that it cannot.  

Scott's Promotion

or Happy Day:  The Second

While Scott has officially been a Lt. Col. for a month and a half or so, we haven't been able to have a formal promotion ceremony until now.  The kids had Halloween off school so we headed up to the base where Scott does his reserve duty, about 2 hours away, and had his promotion ceremony on Halloween.  Here are some photos.  Scott taking the oath.  He's done this a few times and knows the drill.

During the ceremony Scott's mom and I pinned on his new rank on his jacket and the kids changed the rank on his shirt.  Matthew and Anna did the bulk of the heavy lifting there.  The other's assisted. Grant helped too, but was out of the picture here.

A family photo after the ceremony.

We had to quickly wipe up Emma's face and hands before this.

She found the chocolate donut holes.

Scott's parents came down from Oregon to see the promotion ceremony so that was nice.

Aww, I love my guy!

Congratulations Scott.

Scott's cake.  The bakery at the base commissary, where we got the cake, was supposed to put the Lt. Col maple leaf on it, but they failed to do so.  Oh well.  I am happy they spelled Guptill correctly.

Emma enjoying more snacks after the ceremony.

Grant and John having fun with Aunt Alycia (Scott's sister).  She and her husband Cody were able to come up from San Francisco to the ceremony so it was fun to see them.

Congrats again Lt. Col. Guptill.

The wife of an old co-worker of Scott's (many years ago) used to always try to throw her weight around on the base by telling people her husband was an "O-5" (that means an Officer, 5th level up or Lt. Col in the Air Force).  We always thought that was funny and will randomly say to each other, "well MY husband is an O-5!"  So now I can say that and its true.  Don't think its going to get me any special treatment on base though.  ;)

Uvas Reservoir

There are a couple big reservoirs near our town, both very low on water currently.  But we've had a few rainy weekends so maybe they will fill up a little.  We went on a little Sunday drive past the reservoirs last week.  We had to stop and throw rocks in the water at this one - Uvas Reservoir.  Uvas in Spanish means grapes.  There are lots of grape vineyards near the reservoir but not sure that's why its called that.  Throwing rocks in the water is surprisingly satisfying.  There weren't many flat ones for skipping but Scott and Matthew still managed to skip some.  Here are a couple pictures of our reservoir visit.

John was resting in the car with Scott but eventually got up and came down to try his hand at rock throwing.

Totally worth it.

It's the little things.

Our Own Backyard

or Happy Day: The First

Our backyard landscaping is finally done.  It took us a long time to get a landscaper who was available and even then we had to wait until mid/late October.  The crew got started last week and finished up today - a day early.  They were rushing 'cause its supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day.  So now they are done...and it looks great!  See before pictures of the yard HERE.

Emma checking out the yard.

One side of the yard

another view

Other side of the yard

One side yard

Gravel place for a future shed or our picnic table.

Skinny side yard

Some of our plants and trees.  We have some dwarf trees in our yard: lemon, tangerine, navel orange and peach.  The citrus trees all have fruit on them already.  :)

All the kids playing in the yard

Emma running in the side yard.

The kids planning something.

I'm glad its done.  I think it looks nice.  Hooray!

They didn't take the chemical toilet away.  This is the view of it from our front door.  I think its supposed to go away tomorrow.  So another thing to look forward to.  :)