Trystan 1st day of 3rd Grade Zion Christian Academy Okinawa

So, Trystan and I had movie night last night cuddled up on the couch.  Diary of a Whimpy Kid is a funny movie.  Douglas had duty all day and night so I let Trystan sleep in my bed.  We were chatting about today and he said he was a little nervous.  He said it is the school work that he is to learn that makes him nervous.  My child is a perfectionist when it comes to his penmenship.  I had to start taking the erasers off his pencils so he would not erase so much.  This year, pens at school!! He quickly got over his nerves morning when we got to school.  I know I was ALWAYS nervous starting each school year.  We are so blessed to be able to afford to send Trystan to a Christian School again this year as we have done in the past.  It is much more expensive out here more than double what we paid in NC.  YAY for an exciting school year!!

Madalyn (9 months) and Trystan

Oh my how fast children grow and learn so much within their 1st year.  Madalyn is now 9 months 2 weeks and Trystan is 8 going into the 3rd grade come Monday!  WOW!!  Madalyn is talking so much and is into EVERYTHING!!  Thank goodness for baby gates!  In these pictures, I took the kids to Araha Beach at sunset, just down the road.  It was beautiful! 

Sweet!

Nana-nana-Boo-boo!!!

I like to make faces!!

It's OK Brother...

Trystan and Madalyn

It's been a little bit of a lazy summer.  Not having a van for over a month left us hitching rides with friends and sitting around the house most of the time.  Madalyn is 8 months and 3rd week!  She is crawling and into everything!  She is brave trying to take steps and letting go when she stands. She LOVES junk food!  Just like her Jannie, one of the ladies in the family she is named after, Ramona- her late Great Grandmother.  She has a Maditude!  We adore her as well as Trystan.  Trystan is the best big brother!  He is growing so much.  8 years sure did fly by!  He has had so much fun with all of his friends out here.  One good thing about living in the towers is your friends are almost always nearby!  Trystan is getting ready for the 3rd grade!  He is excited.  We have been doing schoolwork this summer to keep him fresh.  Douglas finally has some time off.  First time since paternity leave, and ladies you feel my pain bc paternity leave means they are running around getting our babies enrolled in DEERS, Tricare, Admin, SSN and Birth certificate.  That in and of itself takes up all the days.  I have lots to say so I'll break it all up! 

Been busy!

Well, it's been a busy month.  My van broke down on me in heavy downhill traffic.  I lost all control of the vehicle and thankfully my prayers worked because all of the lights were green and people turned out of my way.  Going uphill finally made it come to a stop.  I had to wait 3 hours in the Okinawa heat for a tow. Cost too much to try to fix so we recycled it and got an old but new Odyssey.  I like it much better.  NO, I am still not a van mom but out here I have no other choice.  If I had it my way, my Explorer would be here with! 

Earthquake

So if you know me at all or not I absolutely hate earthquakes.  We feel them quite often out here in Okinawa.  I felt my first ever earthquake in San Diego 9 years ago.  That was scary and it was located in Palm Springs.  Was a jolt, fast and very loud.  I was pregnant with Trystan and I thought I was going to go into labor I was so scared.  I mean really, the earth moving and shaking like that is strange!  I felt a few more in the months after.  Since we have been here, almost a year now, I have lost count of how many I have felt.  My first one was in January, when Douglas was deployed.  It was a 5.3 located about 59 miles offshore from here.  The second was HUGE!!  7.5 and was only a few days after the Haiti quake.  there was not much damage because I tell you the Japanese know how to construct!  We live in a tower on the top floor, 9th.  It was very scary!  We have nowhere to go but try to protect ourselves.  That's it!  This trigerred anxiety for me.  Yes, my husband was still deployed.  There have been many smaller ones since and one of which we just had about an hour ago.  It was a 4.9 located about 50 miles north off shore from us.  My kids and I were in the elevator about 5 flights up.  I pushed the button for the next floor and pounded on the open door button.  was a tid bit scary.  Needless to say, our Awesome Lord is watching over us!  We have had too many teases with natural disaster.  if you have never been in one, it's not fun and seriously its one of the few disasters that can not be predicted. 

Madalyn is on the GO!!

Madalyn is on the go! Mom and I were talking via Skype and no sooner than I mentioned that she needed to start crawling because Trystan was crawling at an earlier stage than she is, Madalyn just took off really fast crawling across the floor! Mom and I were so excited! I was so glad mom got to experience seeing her youngest grandchild meet yet another milestone! Especially with us being 14 hours ahead and half way around the world. Thank you SKYPE!!!! This video also shows that she knows the meaning of 'NO". For you parents out there, it can be learned from the get go. Baby proofing will be limited to baby gates, cord tacking, cleaning my floors constantly and of course outlet covers.

4th of July continued

Trystan and Madalyn had a blast playing with the windsocks we made, sword fighting with each other and of course watching fireworks!

The 4th of July was much fun. We started our day at the pool, which was Madalyn's first time and first time in her float. She LOVED it. Trystan had a blast jumping in and of course throwing peace signs!