Wednesday, September 1, 2010

August Recap

August went by just as quickly as July did.

Aunt Bridget and Uncle Jason stopped by for a quick visit before heading to Topsail Beach. I managed to sneak away for a short 24 hour trip to the beach with the boys...and wish we could have stayed longer! The boys had a blast!!!







THANKS to Aunt Bridget and Uncle Jason for letting us crash your vacay!





This is typical Connor....soccer cone on his head, Mr Tater Head glasses on his face, and New Orleans beads around his neck. The other day he said to me while swinging at the park.."Mommy, if I fall off this swing, I will hurt my belly button, and will put a band aid on it because THAT'S HOW I ROLL" I cracked up! Yes...this picture above is "how we roll"

The boys start preschool on Tuesday!!!! I found these plain backpacks at Target for $6 a piece. I took the boys to Hobby Lobby to pick out some iron on letters. Actually, I picked the letters and they picked their own sports ball! I wanted them to be able to recognize their own bag, but didn't want their name on the bag for security reasons! Super cute and a great bargain...all for under $20!!! Notice Connor's hand..he was SO excited about his backpack!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

July is Almost GONE!

Life has been so unbelievably busy, that this blog has fallen by the wayside. Finding the time to upload pictures and updates is very difficult.

That being said, the summer has flown by! The boys have been in swim lessons regularly and are getting very brave in the water! Connor will jump in all by himself, go under the water and come back up with a look of surprise on his face. I take them to the pool as much as I can since it's the only way to get through the ridiculous heat we've been having. My glasses fog up when I walk out of the front door...that's how bad the humidity and heat have been!

Eric successfully finished his first year of residency...ONE MORE TO GO! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to him completing this and us moving on to the next step in his career. There are so many different paths we could go down, that I get anxious thinking about where we may end up next. I'm starting to get asked where we're moving next, when, for how long, etc. Please don't ask us! We will share the information as soon as we have confirmation. We know nothing as of right now, and won't know anything until after the first of next year.

August is going to be another quick month! The boys have swim camp the first week and vacation bible school. I'm very busy planning the annual membership drive for the Fort Bragg Area Officers' Spouses' Club. Being a part of the board has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well. I have bi monthly meetings, and A LOT of paperwork, phone calls, and emails to do. I love it!

Eric and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on July 19th. We went to a very nice restaurant in Southern Pines and took our annual anniversary picture. I have them all hanging on the wall!

It has been raining all day and is supposed to rain off and on all week. The boys asked if they could go play in the rain, and I figured...WHY NOT? Here they are all "soakin' wet" and ready to go inside to dry off!



They keep us laughing a lot, and also wanting to plug our ears. They NEVER stop talking!!!! Connor is constantly telling us things...we call it "Connor's Commentary" He will make a great reporter someday. He repeats his facts, some are important...most are not...and gives a play by play on EVERYTHING! Brandon is just down right hilarious most of the time. Some of his latest realizations... "Mommy, when I poop I wipe my bottom and pull up my pants and if there's still poop on my bottom, I tell myself "don't worry about it" He told me that the other day at dinner! This morning, at breakfast he told me, "When I was a baby, I farted like a ladybug" I don't know where he gets this stuff from, but it's funny and very hard not to laugh at him.

Eric and I tried to bribe them with cookies the other day to be QUIET in the car. If they could be quiet from the restaurant to the house, they would get a cookie. Connor lasted about a minute and a half. He saw the moon and said, "The earth turns, the sun goes down, and we see the moon because of the sun's reflection" While that's very smart of him to say, and very true...HE LOST! Brandon lost a few minutes after him.

Preschool is right around the corner and they are READY! They both know how to spell their own names, the entire alphabet, can recognize numbers 1-5 and most of the days of the week. Connor can write the letters, O, T, A, L, H, and C. He attempts many others, but they are pretty much just scribble! Smart little cookies in the making!

Hope everyone is having a great summer...and STAY COOL!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Eric's Promotion

Monday, May 24th was an awesome day in the Danko Household....Eric was promoted to Major in the United States Army!!!! This is a wonderful accomplishment and very much deserved.

This is his cake...chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and raspberry filling.
It was gone as soon as I cut it!!!
The whole spread
Us and his cake...YUMMY!!!
The promotion took place in front of the clinic...thankfully the rain held off.

Colonel Barber pinning him on the right side and I'm pinning the left.
Reaffirming his oath.



Danea's husband, Paul, is in the residency with Eric. She came out to the big shindig to prepare for Paul's big day in January. Thanks for coming Danea...it meant a lot!
My parents were a huge help! I'm so glad they were able to come out and share the excitement with us. Thanks again mom and dad...love you!!!!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Looking Forward

About one year from now, we will be gearing up to move. I can say that, but we all know that nothing is definite with the military until we have orders in hand. That doesn't mean I can't "look forward"

We've had a very exciting and fun filled 6 years here and we'll hit 7 years before we leave. We bought our first house, 2 deployments, 2 kids, a great job (for me), adding onto our house, and great friends. These are some things I'm looking forward to in the next year or year and a half.

BIGGER house with a pantry, indoor laundry room, 2 car garage, and hopefully a bonus room.
Hopefully closer to family whether that be in the midwest or the west.
Hopefully a location that has a good school system.
Hopefully somewhere with milder summers and more exciting winters


I'm busily planning Eric's promotion party that is on the 24th. He has worked very hard and has earned every benefit that comes with this promotion. My parents are coming in town to celebrate with us. Their help will be greatly appreciated!!! I'm also getting involved in some volunteer work with the Officer's Spouse's Club!!! This fall will be very busy with the membership drive I have to organize as well as the boys starting preschool and Eric beginning the last year of his residency. One year down, one more to go. We have survived the first year and Eric has done very well. I can only hope the second year goes just as well!!!!

I'm looking forward to all the things we have coming up! As stressful as it is to move (PCS) I'm very MUCH looking to moving to our next duty station...next summer can't come soon enough.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Beautiful May Day!

WARNING...NAKED BABY BOTTOMS BELOW!!!!

The boys call this "pee like both" meaning they go potty together.

Playdoh on the back deck on a beautiful day!
Jade and Rena have been digging the HECK out of my back yard....thanks to these little moles. This is the third one she's brought me in the last few weeks. The other 2 were deceased, but this one was still alive. I scooped it up gently with a shovel and let it gently fly over the back of the fence into the woods. Notice how many times I said gently. After he took flight, I rewarded Jade with a few treats. She treated it like her own little puppy...it was kinda cute, but also creepy!


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Smart Kids

All is well in the Danko house! Not much new to share or tell...other than the fact that Connor figured out how to unlock my ipod touch, turn the pages of apps, find a game, start it and play it. SO funny...Eric managed to get him to do it on video. Enjoy! Be sure to listen very carefully to what Connor says. He's so funny! These kids are seriously too smart for their own good...and mine!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Strawberry Pickin'

The boys and I went to pick fresh strawberries with some friends...

Connor, Brea, Reese, and Brandon
LOOK...let's start THERE!
Brandon picking some berries....
...and eating them...
...Connor eating them...
...and picking them...
Brandon was looking for the ones that weren't SQUISHY
Connor pulling off the top to pop it in his mouth!
It's a good one, MOM!
Itty bitty berry
They are SO good right off the vine...a little dirt and all!!!

Brandon wanted to carry a bucket...so he carried Tara's while Connor carried ours...

Come on guys! Time to go!
Connor carrying our bucket...
and Brandon dragging Tara's...carrying berries is HARD work!
The whole clan...Reese, Connor, Brandon, Brea and Gage!
Thank you Pilson's Strawberry Farm...we'll be back in a few weeks!!!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Swim Lesson Pictures

Here are the swim lesson pictures I tried to post the other day. I also tried to post some older photos, but the blogger is NOT cooperating with me. I'm not sure why, but I'm working on it.