Monday, October 30, 2006

Does it show?

I just realized that I haven't officially announced (to those reading my blog, near and far away friends and family and maybe even people I don't know) that Max and I are expecting our third in April. I think I am showing now in pictures (at 16 weeks), so I thought I should clarify that. I waited a while in announcing the news even to people around me because of an early miscarriage back in June. We are very thankful for this new life. You will be hearing (if we are able to find out) what the sex of the baby is probably next month sometime.

So here it is: I'm pregers. This is both a scary and exciting prospect, but a very welcome one. The idea of three little ones can be an overwhelming thought, but I know that if I rely on God, He will give me the strength. Other moms have done it, right?... and are still alive today to talk about it and tell there funny stories (maybe not-so-funny at the time).

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Mongo Pumpkin Picture

Corn Maze

A picture of us in front of the tall corn of a corn maze right outside of Wichita.

Max and JB peering through the corn.

Gloria and Tamsey (Below) in the corn maze. It took us about an hour to get through the whole thing. We must've walked about 3 miles. Gloria wanted to be held almost the whole way too and JB about half way. JB liked looking for "clues" and the boxes at the check points where he could hole punch a piece of paper. Overall, it was a fun time...and my exercise for the day!

Gifts from Max

Gloria was proud of the flowers her Daddy gave her during the ceremony. JB got a mini-patch from Max's squadron. Michele and I got flowers and Duncan got a coin from Max's squadron.

The Oath

This is where Max and Nancy (an officer who pinned-on Lt Col) took the oath of office and pledged to uphold and defend the Consititution, etc. The officer conducting the ceremony is Lt Col Knight, who we also knew in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and is Max's commander in the 384th Air Refueling Squadron. The Knights are fellow believers in Christ and good friends and good to have as commander and commander's wife.

Changing out rank

The kids and I were given the honored task of slipping off the old captain's shoulder rank on his blues shirt and replacing it with the new major's shoulder rank. JB was rather shy during this part, so I did the changing of the ranks and Gloria was able to pull off the other one.

The kids tend to take turns being shy. JB was shy here (whereas sometimes he is bold) and Gloria was the bold one who even gave her Daddy a kiss on the cheek in public.

Pinning on Major rank

Duncan and Michele are pinning Max's major rank onto his shoulder boards of his service dress. This is a public display of change of rank from Captain to Major.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

After the Pinning-on Ceremony


Grandude Decorated

JB put stickers all over Grandude's face in the back of our new Honda Odyssey minivan. It was so nice having it while the Colorado grandparents were visiting! This is on the way to Max's pinning on from Captain to Major in the Air Force.

Fall at the Bremer House



I decided to decorate a bit on the outside for fall. God decorated the trees in our backyard. The colors around here during the fall are more brilliant than I thought they would be. Not as nice as New England or Virginia, but not as "drab" (yellow and brown) as North Dakota. Here they do have red, orange and yellows. This is the first time I've planted mums in any of our yards.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Killer Frost

Well, I should be thankful that I had tomoatoes and peppers still coming until late October! Last night was our first real frost that killed the veggie plants and the morning glories. Some other plants look a little droopy too. I'm hoping that the mums I just planted in the front yard will be revived by the sun and moderate warmth of the next few days.

Max's parents will be here this week (coming Wed) and staying just a couple of days for Max's pinning on ceremony for Major. He'll be "Major Max." We'll be seeing them probably a couple more times in the next couple of months, for hunting-in-Colorado and holiday reasons.

I miss you Mom and Dad in Boston, and hope I can see you soon too!

BTW, does anyone have any insight as to whether I can pick green tomatoes and have them ripen off the vine? Are they any good after that? Is it worth trying? I had about 30 big tomatoes still growing on my plants, but I picked about half of them off after the frost last night.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Couch Potatoes?

Yes, JB does have underwear on.

Yes, Gloria is cute.

Yes, we do have strange kids.

Yes, we still love them.

Friday, October 20, 2006

In Honor of 33 Years!

Thirty-three Things I Love about my Husband:

1. He prays with me in the morning and kisses me goodbye before he leaves (at about 6:15am for work, 4:45am for hunting) unless I'm "just sleeping too peacefully."
2. He's always eager to teach me new things (starting with ballroom and country dance even before we were dating- he was the guy with the flannel shirt and cowboy boots at our Boston church).
3. He's always eager to learn new things.
4. He hardly ever has body odor.
5. He's very patient with me when I mess up.
6. He loves trying new things whether it's a new adventure or a new food...he's even gotten me to like olives, liver (the way he cooks it), and other strange-tasting things.
7. He eats very nutritiously and exercises, which encourages the kids and me in healthy eating and exercising (the kids "exercise" in the jogging stroller).
8. He thinks of other people's needs and how we can help and has been a good example for me to think of others.
9. He sees children as a blessing and wants more eventhough he knows it means more work (and more blessing!).
10. He's a good steward of money, but does not hold onto it too tightly because he knows it's God's money.
11. He's very manly (don't think too deeply about this one)
12. He enjoys long road trips (as do I)...which has led to good traveling kids.
13. He loves and honors his mom and dad.
14. He's from Colorado (a plus because it means we get to visit there a lot!)
15. He married me despite being from a big, liberal city and being a pastor's daughter (both negatives on his list of things he wanted...and didn't want, in a wife. Dad, your children are not like PKs that Max knew in his youth because you did not get too caught up in work to spend time with your family. Thanks for gently shepherding us toward the Lord!)
16. He strives to love me unconditionally as Jesus loves the Church (the whole body of believers).
17. He works hard and "brings home the bacon."
18. He likes that I stay home with the kids and is always encouraging me to be a more organized mom without pressing me or making me feel overwhelmed.
19. Instead of making me feel older, he says I make him feel younger (being a whole 5-6 years younger than him).
20. He's handsome.
21. He's a handyman and is able to work on both house and car issues.
22. He's taught me to be more informed about what is going on in the world and to think about it rather than just accept what the news dishes out. This also includes discerning what is Biblical and what is not.
23. He loves the outdoors and getting fresh air and sunshine.
24. He loves my family.
25. He has a wonderful family.
26. He's working with me to riase non-spoiled, God-honoring children (by first learning to honor and obey their parents, by learning about God and Jesus, and by "loving our neighbors as ourselves").
27. He usually likes my cooking and is able to cook meat well.
28. He brings me things from different countries he visits as an AF officer.
29. He's a pilot, which is kind of sexy (but don't tell him I said that).
30. He tolerates a certain level of mess in the house (usually about the same amount I can tolerate).
31. He's very organized.
32. He enjoys taking pictures of adventures, special occasions, nature, and family.
33. He's the one that God had set aside for me! Thank you God!

Max's Birthday

On the weekend before Max's birthday (his birthday was this past Monday), we had carrot cake with mint creamcheese frosting. I only had about 10-12 candles so he lit them twice and blew them out twice with JB. He got a couple of gifts and the kids and I sang "happy birthday"!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Breakfast


Since I don't seem to have anything too exciting going one lately of which to take pictures, I figured I'd take pictures of the kids eating breakfast. Gloria loves to say "cheese" for pictures (although she was eating cheerios).

Kansas can't decide whether it is fall or not. This week we had both an 80 degree day and a 40 degree day. Today was average for fall here at 60 degrees...a beautiful day. I will have some more exciting pictures once we make it to a pumpkin patch!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Finally, morning glories!

I planted morning glory seeds right under and on the side of our back deck in about May or June and they finally started to bloom end of Sept/beg of Oct. They are now blooming on both "bushes", but they are not as brilliant as in the picture now because it has been cooler here lately. Also, the sun's behind clouds today so they're not wide-spread in their flowering.

Along with tulips and daisies, morning glories are some of my favorite flowers. I still have to get around to planting tulip bulbs for next spring.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Don't Let the Pajama Bugs Bite!

Aren't they cute little bugs? I got these pajamas and matching slippers for them from a catalog. Gloria seems to like ladybugs (she calls every bug a "lady bug") so I got her pajamas with ladybugs on it and lady bug slippers. JB likes frogs and turtles and things of that sort, so he got the froggy pajamas and slippers. JB and Gloria are pretty good at smiling for the camera these days...and Gloria finally keeps hairbands and clips in her hair!