Daddy presents came yesterday!

Jack got Sarge from the Cars movie and Madilyn got a pink velour nightie with a little girl that looks like her on it!




Up close of the little girl on her nightie.

Gee Gee's visit!

I'll say it again...visits always fly by and this one was no different. Thanks so much for coming to help, mom. We sure had fun, didn't we?

Jack's Cars Sleeping bag


Madilyn's Princess Slumber Mat


Story time



Gee Gee and Jack


Lunch at School with Madilyn


A very (bored) and tired Jack...apparently (in Jack's view) we have a "boring" house.



Saying Good-bye in our "Troy" colors. Red and White are the colors in High School Musical and Madilyn had us all dressed in Troy colors!


And one of Drew to prove he was there, too!

Madilyn's 6th Birthday!

Saturday morning started with breakfast and some presents from Texas!


Then, we headed to Kids Gone Wild for some fun!

Jack jumping while Madi and a friend sit back and relax.


A gaggle of girls sliding down the giant slide together! Can't you just "hear" the girly shrieks?


Madi sliding!


The party goers!


The party room.


Happy Birthday sweet Madi!


Drew and Jack in matching shirts...post party.

Nana's Visit

It went too fast...visits alway do. Thank you Martha for coming to help! Here are some pics from the visit.

Waiting to pick up Madilyn up from school.


Drew standing...he's perched precariously...he doesn't really pull up and stand on his own yet.


A new dress!


Rocking on the Rocky Dog and loving it!


A castle built by the kids complete with a fleet of cars and a throne/bed for the Princess...demolished by Drew when no one was looking.

Blue Hat, Green Hat, Pant Hat...Oops!

Jack looking like he stepped out of the Sandra Boynton book Blue Hat, Green Hat!

My Hero is Daddy

A little something Madi wrote for school.

The AF Ball

Wow! What a fun night! Everything was perfect...except that Andy wasn't there to enjoy it. He did recieve recognition from the Commander aloud to the entire Ball for his efforts over the past year. YEAH! I heard lots of compliments. Everyone seemed to enjoy the night. Here are some pictures.


Me up close!


My shoes!! They were so pretty.


Me and Madi and good view of my gown.


Me and the kiddos. Jack put me in the car and shut my door for me. What a little gentleman.


The cake!


The hangar tented with parachutes.


View of side wall with huge American flag.


My sweet friend Michele and me.


My tablemates!


Mr. Jay Leno during his 50 minute "bit"!


Static display in one of the corners.


The table settings!

Say Argghh!!

The oldest of the pirate kids!


The youngest pirate in the Cole Clan!

We went to a super fun Pirate Birthday Party on Sunday and the kids were given pirate scarfs to wear. Too cute not to share.

We all got something today!

Jack got Chick from the Cars Movie (from Andy)


Madilyn got a "My Little Pony" Sticker book (from Andy)


Drew mastered crawling!


Missy got a traffic ticket courtesy of the County police!

Video of Drew cracking up at Jack

Jack can always make Drew laugh. They have a sweet bond.

My Emergency Survival Kit!

Look what my sweet friend, Julie, sent me! Thank you Julie!!!

Update...

I've had the chance to talk to Andy a few times. He is doing fine. It is VERY hot over there and he said you just have to get used to being sweaty and grimy, both of which he dislikes. He's busy getting settled and we're trying to get into a routine for calls...so neither one of us is sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. We are more fortunate than most, though. It is a real blessing that we have the opportunity to talk most days...and without him waiting in long lines to do so. We don't ever forget how lucky we are during this hardship! Most troops over there don't have it as comfortable as he does and most families back home don't have the luxury of communication with their spouse. Here's a pic of him in Baghdad sitting in Saddam's throne, at the Al Faw (Perfume) Palace. Apparently, where the Harem was kept.




Madilyn has been struggling alot. She is sad, but it is coming out as anger and she is taking it out on the easiest of targets...me and Jack. So, that has been keeping me busy and in the quiet moments I find myself exhausted from it. She has always had a temper, so I expected this to some degree. We're working through it. She came home from school today and said it was the best day ever! Apparently, Tyler chased her on the playground and Jason sat with her on the carpet and then proposed marriage. She told him they were way too young to get married.

Jack is loving school. He says, "You go to school and play and THEN you do projects." He's made so much progress with his articulation that I suspect he'll be exited out of the program before the middle of the year. If so, I plan on enrolling him in a preschool. I think he'd be devastated to have to stop school.

Today, I saw Drew crawl about 3 feet and he looked coordinated doing it. I guess I can say he is a crawler now. Pretty awesome!!! No teeth yet, though!

I have some great video of him crawling and another of him laughing, but haven't been successful at uploading them onto the blog. I'll figure it out, though. Then, I will post them.

In other news...Dan (my brother) and his wife Rosanna had thier little boy yesterday. His name is David and he is adorable!!! He's a really big guy...8 lbs 2 oz.

Andy is there!

I got an early morning call from Andy. It was great to hear his voice!!! He is there and finished traveling for the forseeable future.

Jack as Batman!

News from Andy...

Andy has called and left several messages. I am so upset that I missed all three calls. I mean, what are the odds??!!! Anyway, he called last night (twice) and again this morning. He said he has had comfortable seats on the flight...paramount when you are 6'5"! He is doing well and I am anxious for that next call. We really miss him. Madilyn brought her toy cell phone in the car today and made several calls to him. Tonight she had a total meltdown which I believe had more to do with him not being here than the fact that she wasn't getting ice cream for dessert. Bless her heart.

What did we do today? We got Madilyn's party invitations and goodie bag loot. She kept saying, "That was fun, Mommy!" Music to my ears. We also got Jack and Drew's Halloween costumes. Jack is going to be Batman and Drew is going to be Superman. (There weren't any little guy size Robin costumes...so we opted for plan B). Madi wants to be an angel and we will order that costume in the next few days. I bet I could sew something, but since I'm not sure...I am opting for the less stressful route! We also went to the library and checked out about 40 books. The kids were thrilled and went to bed tonight with a stack of books each.

Oh, and the BIG NEWS is that Drew actually crawled a teeny tiny bit today. One or two knee scoots at a time. And, he is showing interest in getting up on his knees to reach up for things. He was really happy with himself! He just giggled and giggled!! This is such great progress!!!