What have I been doing????

Where have I been? EVERYWHERE!! Things have been a little crazy and fun, so be ready for a picture overload. First, let me tell you that the main reason for my non-blogging issue is that my dear baby boy that we refer to as "dirty and mean" found my laptop on the floor one day and pulled off a bunch of letters. It is a good thing I went to Bridgerland Technology School for "almost" a year in Office Technology and learned where all the letters are. Otherwise, this whole typing thing could be an issue...he he he. The letter "A" takes about 4 hits on it to actually get the "A" to type. There are a lot of "A's" in the English dictionary!! This blog entry will probably take 6 days to type! Anyway, enjoy a picture detailed account of our last month.....

I, yes Rikki, cross stitched my families handprints. How fun is this? I can't wait to hang it on the wall.

My Blaze got a big boy bed. No more cribs in this house. SO
WEIRD but nice.

A little bit of losing our minds on our drives back and forth to Idaho

The kids saved their money to buy chickens to keep at Grandpa Stewart's house. They are so proud of them.

Ayns and Blaze FINALLY got over their fear of dogs. WOOT!

Jax learned to DRIVE. He thinks he is so big now. It won't be very long before this is for real.

Ayns got a "real" haircut

I tried on my wedding dress after 10 years and it still fits!!! The best day ever.

I went to California with my mom and sister to see my other awesome sister

And to the beach

And have made and eaten LOTS AND LOTS of very un-healthy treats.

So, as you can see, we have had a great summer so far and are waiting for school to start in 3 weeks. Hopefully I will post before then, but you never know when we are partying like we do.

Another Move

Another move has been made by the Stewart family. We are now living in Warrensburg Missouri. We are trying to adjust from living is the south for so long. There are hills to see and the humidity is not nearly as bad, you can actually go outside in the middle of the day!! We are still trying to sell our home in Mississippi, so we found a great rental here. It is almost 3 times the size of our other home and the kids are LOVING that. There is room to run! So the story goes:
First off, the packers and the movers decided that they were going to do a "really good job" and finish everything "real quick" for us, so they shoved everything we own in some boxes and finished a day early. We thought that was great at the time, but soon came to find out as we were unpacking that their "real good job" was code for "I am going to throw your crap into a box because I don't care about you or this job". First military move that we are having to claim items, and I am not very happy about it. Some things broken are not replaceable.
Anyway, my best friend in the whole world Angela came to help us paint our house and did an amazing job, so after some tearful goodbyes, we left comforted knowing our house was ok when we left. We were going to do the drive in 2 days but decided as we were driving we needed to just get here so we drove about 12 hrs here and made it to Missouri. We got into our house and it was A MESS! The people just left the house without cleaning it. I was SO SO mad, I wouldn't even let the kids take their shoes off. I worked for 2 full days and cleaned the house and then just waited for our stuff. What we thought would be Monday turned into Wednesday when the truck came with our "carefully loaded" boxes. I have worked my booty off trying to get the house in order and I think I only have about 5 boxes left.! woot woot!!! We really are enjoying Missouri and are very happy to be here. We know we are here for a reason and are excited to see what is in store for us. We love and miss all of our friends in Mississippi though, I am homesick for y'all!!!

The morning we left. Blaze is showing my feelings of leaving. Hence the reason I am not in the picture.

Loaded up and ready to go.

Our new home. We really are loving it.

The backyard. Sorry for the bad picture, it was humid.
There is also an above ground pool that the kids think is so cool!! We (Zach and Rikki)
are quickly finding out that it is not so cool. I had no idea how much you have to do to take care of it. It is fun to jump into on a hot day though. Zach has also found out that it takes a really long time to mow 3 acres so to his delight a tractor or something new will be purchased soon.


We have an open invitation to all our friends and family. Please come stay with us. We are only 1-2 hours from all the church sites and would LOVE to have you stay. We have an extra room this time and we are even looking for a bed!!! ;)

Zachs Fini Flight

Part of my birthday celebration was Zachs Fini Flight. A fini flight is your last flight in the airplane at that base. Friday was his last flight at Columbus as an instructor pilot. He has done such an awesome job for the last 4 years. So many great memories and people that we will never forget.
We went to the base and waited and watched for Zach to land, and the boys were SO excited for his landing. As soon as Zach got out of the plane, the boys had water guns and squirted him down. His squadron was there with water as well, so lets just say it was a good thing we brought a new flight suit for him to wear. After the change of clothing, we had a party at the squadron with pizza and drinks and they gave a little farewell to Zach and awarded him with the Meritorious Service Medal. It looks pretty good on him. I am going to brag a little. Zach is an amazing pilot and an amazing instructor. He has honestly cared for each student that he has taught and worries about each one. He has taught a lot of students and it is kind of cool to think that he has helped to build the United States Air Force with Pilots that are working to keep us free. I am a VERY proud wife. I am sure you can all tell. Zach works so hard and there are many people who look up to him for all he has done here in Columbus. We have loved every minute of it, and the people have made it some of the best years of our married life. We will never forget Columbus and now have fini flight pictures to remember the fun ending as well.

Family picture in front of the T-38

The best day of Shades life

Jax got a little carried away and just couldn't stop. Zach was a good sport.

Taxiing his plane into position

Blaze had his gun, but just couldn't figure out how to do it. So frustrating.

The big 30!

Because this is my birthday post I thought I would start off with a pictures of my babies. That is what makes me happy on a day like that! I can't believe I am 30! I have been struggling with this birthday for a while. I was 19 when I got married, and never thought this day would come! I always thought 30 was so old. Well, here I am 30, and I do not feel that old. I finally decided that it really isn't that bad, and ended up having a great day. It was a very busy day, I will post about that later. After the craziness of the day Zach took me out for a nice relaxing dinner and great conversation. That right there was the best part. I am now looking forward to my 30's and what they will bring. If they are anything like my 20's I better get ready! Thank you to all of you for my cards and gifts. I have wonderful family and friends and was spoiled rotten. I love you all!

My loves

The Kindle Zach gave me

Ready to blow out my candle. I only have a number 1, good enough.
p.s. I made that cake, my first time with fondant.

Ayns is 4!!!

Aynslee, aka baby girl, aka baby squirrel, aka eelsnya (eels-ny-a)(her name spelled backwards, the boys made it up and it stuck) is 4!!!! I can't believe how fast these last 4 years have gone. I was just talking with her tonight telling her that it seems like yesterday she crawled over to the wall and smiled so big and pulled herself up for the first time. I still remember the stinking clothes she was wearing and the bow and IT CAN'T BE 4 YEARS LATER! She is so fun and I am so glad she is in our family. She helps to make our house a little less manly and stinky. We didn't have a huge party, just our little family, but it was great. She wanted a "Hello Kitty" cake, but I ran out of time to make one, so we bought some Hello Kitty toys and added them to the cake. She was excited about that. I love my little squirrel!!

My cute kids

I have to be honest and say that I have been just a little stressed out these last few weeks. With the possibility of a government shut-down ( no pay to military) not selling my house yet, having to keep my house perfect with 4 kids, and oh ya, moving in 8 weeks. Things have been a little crazy lately. I decided one night that we were going to go outside and have a fun night and just play, and I took some pictures of the good things in my life. These little crazies are the best people I know. When I look at these pictures I smile and all the stress goes away. I have a feeling I will be on this blog looking at this post a lot. These are true pictures to show what my kids are like. Jax the little sports player who is way to big to stop for mom to take a pictures, Shade who is a ham and would not stop making faces, Aynslee the little model who has crazy hair trying to keep up with her brothers, and Blaze who is always into something and LOVES to laugh. I love my babies. Click on the collage and you will be able to see their cute faces better.

Funny kids

I am not sure what I am going to do with little Aynslee Lyn. She has turned into quite the funny little girl. She is so witty and comes up with the most amazing conversations just on the fly. I thought I would share one conversation she had with a lady I don't even know. We have a car pool group for pre-school, and the friend driving to pre-school told me story as she was dropping Aynslee off at home. My friend had to run to base to pick up one of her friends and they all stopped to get the adults something to eat for lunch...... the conversation is between my friends friend and Aynslee. I don't remember the girls name so we will call her Mary...

Aynslee: Can we have some of those apples?

Mary: Sure, but make sure you share them with everyone.

(The kids finished eating the apples)

Aynslee: Can we have some more?

Mary: I don't think so honey, I am sure your mommy will have some lunch for you when you get home.

Aynslee: Nope, my mommy and daddy are dead, you are all I got lady.

Where does she come up with something like that?

Ok, this next one still cracks me up. I grew up with two older brothers, so I feel SO sorry for Ayns. I totally understand how she wants to be like them, and play with them so bad, and when they finally ask her to play it is like the best prize in the world. Well, this shows how awful brothers can be and what a let down it is in the end for a little girl. Still funny though.

Jax: Hey Ayns, want to play something with me?

Ayns: YES!!!!

Jax: ok, repeat after me. I Ayns

Ayns: I Ayns

Jax: am dumb

Ayns: am dumb

Jax: and stupid

Ayns: and stupid

Jax: Ha haha ha haha

Ayns: Ha ha ha, hey wait! That's mean!

Jax: HA HA HA HA!!!!

Me: he he he

I LOVE my kids!!!