Last Friday night, it all became official.

For those familiar with the story, allow me a brief summary of the last two years. When we decided to attend Optometry School, we also decided to pursue fulfilling that course through the military. Our initial decision was to go Navy...that was a never ending roller coaster...Brandon received notice in the spring of 2009 that he was first on the list to receive a Naval Scholarship and then found out in the fall of '09 that the Navy would still have enough Optometrists in 2012 (his graduating year) and would not be offering ANY scholarships to students in his class. So, we RUSHED to fill out the Air Force application...I should mention that the Air Force only gives out a total of 7 two year scholarships of this kind nation wide a year...by the time we decided to give it a shot, there were only 4 of these scholarships left. Just a little pressure there. But we got all our stuff in before Christmas and come early February, Brandon received a phone call that he had received one of these scholarships. AHHHHH!!!! And to make it even better, our good friends (and next door neighbors, I might add) Shawn & Kristina had applied for and ALSO received the scholarship.

Both Brandon and Shawn were sworn in as Air Force Officers last Friday night. It was a very simple ceremony...they were able to have Dr. Smith, one of their current professors and a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force do the honors in one of the rooms right there at Pacific University.

This commitment means that Brandon will serve in the Air Force Reserve for the last two years of Optometry school while they pay for all of his educational expenses and our family living expenses. When Brandon graduates, he will attend Officer training, we will be stationed at an Air Force Base, and Brandon will enter "Active Duty" status where he'll serve as an Optometrist for three years (or longer if we really like it...:)

"I, Brandon Michael Reed, having been appointed a Second Lieutenant, United States Air Force do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."

Brandon and Dr. Smith in the process of saluting each other after the official swearing in.

Brandon and Shawn.


Dr. Smith, Brandon and I.

We went with the Skinners to dinner afterward (with no kiddos in tow) to celebrate the AwEsOmEnEsS of our husbands. (I can now OFFICIALLY say, I love Thai food. :)

We might be a little nervous about this commitment and what it means for our family, but overall, we are really excited to be a part of the United States Air Force and the services they provide for the country we love.

Easter Festivities

I always look forward to dying Easter eggs...I just think it is so much fun!!!

So, me and the kids picked up what I thought was an egg dying kit...turns out it was just special glitter paints for eggs...so, not wanting to go back to the store, I just looked up online how to make your own dye. Why had I not always done that! I am telling you, the eggs come out SOOO much brighter! So next year, I'm gonna bag buying an egg dying kit...just for the record. :)

Here are some pics of the kids coloring eggs. They LOVED it, and begged to do more. I couldn't justify more than 18 eggs...especially since no one in our family is especially fond of boiled eggs.

I'm pretty sure most of the eggs Carter dyed ended up cracked...he didn't quite get the concept of being "gentle" when placing the eggs in the cups of dye.

Since we had the "special glitter paints" we went ahead and used them once all the eggs were colored. Those turned out to be a pretty big hit, but EXTREMELY messy, so we only did a handful of those (besides, I think most of the ones that didn't get painted were cracked anyway!)

Are you surprised that the one Brandon painted has glasses? :)

The Easter Bunny visited our home Saturday morning and left more eggs filled with candy than we needed. :) Jemma was really into actually finding the eggs, while Carter merely wanted to eat the contents within each egg. Everytime he found an egg, he would just open it up and declare, "I wanna eat it!"

Both of these kiddos made out big in the treats department...needless to say, neither of them ate much for breakfast. They were so full on candy! :)

Jemma and Carter in their Easter attire; I had SOOO much fun making Jemma's dress, and since it had so many different fabrics, I could let her help choose the fabrics. I have also been having fun making little ties for Carter. These little ties are legit too; they really tie. No clip or elastic on them. Now he really is just like his Daddy when he wears a tie. :)

Twenty-Seven!!!

Yup, I turned 27 yesterday...YiKeS! But don't worry, I'm not writing this post to lament how eerily close I am to being 30...I mostly just wanted to say "Thank You"!

Thanks for all the phone calls, text messages, cards, emails, flowers, treats, and even an honorary post on your blog, Mel! I felt so loved!!!

From start to finish, it was a WONDERFUL day!

I was serenaded several times with a couple different renditions of "Happy Birthday".

Jemma and Carter got along wonderfully all. day., which is saying a lot :)

Brandon and the kids made me a cake...which is a story in and of itself...no, the one in the pic is not the one they made...(if you're gonna put the whole cake batter in a pan, it's gotta be a 9x13 or it'll overflow...) but Brandon was quick to save the day with a run to the local grocery store. :)

My good friend and neighbor Kristina insisted on watching Jemma and Carter so Brandon and I could go out to eat...of course I chose Olive Garden!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making me feel so special! I am one lucky girl.

Spring Break

Brandon's Spring Break was this last week. It was so nice, despite the necessity for him to do a fair amount of school work, to see more of him this last week. I'm pretty sure we are all a little spoiled from the extra time with him and we'll really miss him this next week when he heads back to the grind.

We did some fun things this last week; a couple of trips to the coast, golf (for Brandon...he had this trip planned for almost a year, and had a WONDERFUL time), Easter crafts (me and the kids) movie watching, and a nature walk up in Portland. Other than a super windy, cold and wet 1st day at the coast, we had GrEaT weather this last week and are very much ready for SpRiNg!

Jemma with her "rock castle" at Oceanside.



Carter, who is quite the tease, was chasing me here with a couple of fists full of sand.

Here, the little man was chasing Daddy with rocks!

Three of my favorite people, just enjoying the coast.

We did a little hike down to a light house out at Mearl Bay. We bought the movie "Pete's Dragon" (I grew up watching that movie) and ever since Jemma and Carter saw it, they talk about it all the time and Jemma asks to watch it daily. Jemma gave out cast assignments for our little excursion; Carter was Pete, Brandon was Lampy, I was Nora and Jemma was Elliot. The pic above is of them checkin' out a pic of the Killer Whales...apparently there are groups of these in this area at certain times of the year.

Jemma and me on our hike.

Brandon and the kiddos. :)

Jemma, Brandon and Carter in front of the adorable lighthouse. Jemma and Carter loved it and really wanted to go inside. Sadly it isn't open for tours for another couple of weeks.

We wanted to get ice cream from the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way back to the Grove, but it was INSANELY crowded...it was hot fudge sundays and ice cream cones at the McDonalds drive through instead. :)

Jemma sportin' a jellybean necklace...one of our Easter crafts.

Carter on our nature walk up in Portland.

the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

This morning, Jemma got me out of bed at 6:45.

She got dressed without me asking. at. all.

She made MY bed. (I have to remind her MaNy times every morning to make her own!)
She set the table and got cereal and milk out. (She sets the table when asked...but has NEVER put breakfast on the table.)

She absolutely could not wait for our trip to see "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs" performed by the Oregon Children's Theatre.

We went with some other friends and had so much fun!

Thank you Molly for holding a Drama Class for our kids for the last few months and for planning this FABULOUS fieldtrip as their final activity. We had SUCH a WONDERFUL time.

Me and Jemma in front of a picture of the Big Bad Wolf/Alexander T. Wolf.

Most of the crew that went with us. (There were 14 of us total...PARTY!!) Kids (L to R): Apollo, Jacob, Brigham, Elle, Hope, Jemma and Miles. Moms (L to R): Molly and Kristina.

Me and Jemma just waiting for the show to start.

Of course, there was no photography allowed once the production started...I wish I had been able to snap a shot of the stage; the set was SOOOO cute and the actors and actresses had such clever, cute costuming! I was thoroughly impressed by the whole thing and am pretty sure the kids enjoyed it as well. Witty and humorous with fun music from start to finish...we even got to participate in the production as the jury! The fate of Alexander T. Wolf was entirely in our hands...can you guess what the verdict was??? NoT GuIlTy!

Thanks again Molly! We have sure enjoyed being part of Molly's Theatre Troupe!

Bunkin' Out

With a 3rd baby on the way and just 3 bedrooms in our current apartment, Brandon officially lost his study...we had to make way for the BUNKBEDS! Jemma has been SOOO excited for these to come.

They arrived the middle of last week and Brandon and I put them up over the course of a couple of nights. The overall transition has been really fun! I love decorating, and this new bedroom was gonna be FUN!

Here are just a few shots of Carter and Jemma under the bunkbeds the morning they had helped me move all their stuff out of their Old bedroom and into the New bedroom...

Jemma got to choose her bedspread...are you surprised she chose hot pink? It's reversible and is purple on the other side. Carter, on the other hand, got a blue one - it too is reversible - lime green (Mom, I know you're smiling:) on the other side.

Jemma's artwork is above the Craigs List find dresser...I only had to paint the drawers and we chose to replace the knobs. They were just wood before and kinda banged up. Thank you Fred Meyer for the lamp on ClEaRaNcE and Target for the Piggy Banks!!! (Jemma was keeping her money in a cup before...no big deal, but when I saw the pigs...they immediately went into the shopping cart:)

Jemma and Carter on the top bunk.

I have to showcase their pillow shams because other than the curtains, they were the only things I sewed in the room...and with good reason! These babies were TIME CONSUMING! Thank you Alison for the "Raw Edge Circle Quilt" idea. (You should check out her blog!!! Super cool stuff!) There were so many different fabrics in these that I could let Jemma pick out some of the fabric all by herself!!! (She thought that was pretty cool.)

Jemma's Sham...this morning, Brandon threw the other one on Jemma's bed to which she responded, "No Dad! That one's not mine! That's Carter's! Mine has PINK in it."

Carter's Sham...see, no pink. Deffinitly more BOY.

The kiddos loadin' up their piggy banks with all the loose change from our change bottle.

Jemma and Carter spent their first night in their new room last night (that was also Carter's first time in a Big Boy Bed!!!) and they did GrEaT! Love It!

It feels like Spring!

Yesterday, Brandon was on his way out the door to take some garbage to the dumpster, when Carter (who was JUST stripped of his pj's in order to get him into Sunday attire) showed up at the door with nothing but a diaper and boots on. (I might add that he put his boots on, not me.) He had every intention of accompanying Daddy to the dumpster, especially if it meant getting out in the sunshine. :) Gotta love this 60 degree weather!!