This is My Forties

Haleigh and Eric needed a sitter today so their parents could attend a wedding so we got to hang out. I showed them all the fun things we used to do with our big blocks... like, build a house and then have teddy bear wars (you win if you can successfully get all the bears in while the person inside throws them out)... and build a raft from "driftwood" blocks without getting off the blocks during a storm (our waves were represented by a big blue plush velour blanket). We also played a color game, Haleigh (who is three) yelled out the colors and we all had to run to the right square, only one person per square. The best part was the puppet shows. We made a theater with the big blocks and our wave blanket from earlier and everyone did a show. I of course taped them all :) They will be going onto the website eventually... they're HUGE files, though. After that it was time to wind down so we got into our pajamas, made some popcorn and watched Toy Story 2 . We had a great time!...

These shots are from yesterday. I love these pictures. I just can't get over how gorgeous my parents' backyard is right now. I can't wait to see some snow. The cold is annoying at times, but snow is beautifulous... and we have a great sled hill :) The boys had a great time throwing rocks in the creek today for about an hour. They would have kept going for 10 more if we let them. We also caught a salamander. It was a nice day, chilly but sunny. Jake was pretending to sleep for us. I've already taken soooo many pictures. Yesterday we went to Perkin's Park with my dad and got a lot of great shots. Here are my favorites.

I bought our tickets today! We'll be leaving December 10th on a NON-STOP flight to Germany and then we come back to the states on January 7th. Both are weekend days so that my peeps can actually take us to the airport. Now I gotta get some passports rushed to us! AHHHHH! I'm so excited :) Oh and I got 2 tickets for under 1,000 and that's AWESOME!

This is a great one of the entire Haake clan that was able to attend. My sister Vita and my other sister Janine, her wife and their twins weren't able to make it, but everyone else is pictured. I don't think I have to explain why I love this pic so much. Here's some of my favorites of the babies :) These are Noah's cousins Jacob and Haleigh. They are both 3.

The visit with Josh was great. The family reunion was great. I've decided to stay here until after Thanksgiving. I don't have a job I have to go to. I missed my family and 5 days just isn't enough. I will be sure to post pictures later.

Just wanted to post this picture right quick. Don't have much time, we're both packing.

Right now I'm listening to the MaMa's and the PaPa's sing "California Dreamin" while Josh and Noah are making dinner. This is happiness :)

Ironically I did watch Annie. Josh will be here tomorrow :) I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I just hope I can sleep. He said he's going to try and get on an earlier flight from Chicago so he can get here before 10pm. Sooner is better, but as long as he gets here I don't care when!

I realize I haven't posted about Noah in awhile so... here's some of my favorite Noah moments from the past week :) I thought it would be a good idea to let him try out the feeling of a big boy bed by taking one of the crib walls down. Only problem is that he IS a big boy and he tosses and turns. So, when I went in to check on him before I went to sleep this is how I found him. I set him back in and he lasted until 6am before he fell all the way out of the bed... not too bad. He needs a real bed. I am kinda putting it off since we'll be moving eventually. But, maybe I should after all. HEY! Josh and I can both go pick out a bed! :D I was making breakfast and I had Dora the Explorer on, which I'm pretty sure every kid loves. I peeked in on Noah and he was curled up in Emma's doggie bed, watching. By time I got the camera he realized I was there and started out. Emma loves this deflated filthy volleyball and Noah loves teasing her so she'll chase him. S...

Josh called me at 1am to let me know they made a final decision on his leave. Now we're down to 15 days, 12 really. So... I think what's going to happen is he'll fly out to Germany and Noah and I will fly to Ohio on the same day. Oh well. The important thing is he'll be here in 4 days :) I was an idiot for buying the tickets already. I should have known better. I really hate the Army right now.

I bought Josh's ticket today. He'll be here on the 8th and he has to leave on the 26th. We thought he was going to get 30 days of leave, but they won't allow more than 20 because they're a bunch of freakin' a-holes. At least he's coming home. After that he's back to Germany until January and then he'll be in Arizona until around June. Then WE... did you catch that? WE WE WE WE WE as in ALL 3 (or 4) OF US will go to California for however long his language classes are :) Of course none of this is set in stone, that's the Army way. I also had to buy plane tickets for the family reunion because the lack of 10 days cancelled our roadtrip. I bought 4 plane tickets today :P I love family and everything, but I hate that we have to spend all of our time visiting everyone but each other. Here's our "vacation" schedule. He arrives the 8th 4 days of just us Leave for Kansas to see his family the 12th Come back the 16th 2 days of just us...