University of Texas and Mickey Mouse...

What do you get when you take grey t shirts:



some University of Texas fabric scraps:



and an iron?



Why some unique shirts to wear to Disney World, or course.



We planned our trip to Disney World a year ago.  Since Kirk is always deployed, we knew we needed to plan it way out there. We love to go during late September/early October when it isn't hot or busy and the kids are on intersession.  Well they would have been on intersession had we not moved..ooops.  
Nothing like starting school then leaving for a weeks vacation in the first month- oh well that is how we military families roll.  We had an amazing time. 

Dog Days at the pool

One COOL thing I have to give this base credit for is Dog Days.  On the last day of the pool season they allow the patrons to bring in their dogs. 
It is Dog Days at the Pool.  I guess they figure why not?

The kids LOVED swimming with Boone.  And Boone loved being with them.

He may look tired but he would not stop playing with them. :)

All in all- Boone loved the day.  Maybe Sanford needs to do this at their pool too.  I think I might introduce it to our Quail Ridge Pool as an idea. 

Starting a new school.

Its a new house.  Its a new state and town.  And its a new school for the kiddos. 
Sophie starts 3rd grade.  She is so excited and hopes to make some new friends.  It is a bit lonely here.

Jack is going in 5th grade.   He is so shy that I hope he makes some friends.  I also hope he does well academically as he does stress.

 
Good luck my kids.  I wish you the best this year.  Go make friends.  Go conquer that school.

Sheppard AFB home tour

We've moved across country - leaving our beautiful home behind.  We've moved into military housing and it is an adjustment to say the least.



It is not a bad looking house.  It is just exactly the same as all the other approximately 200 homes.  I am a lover of homes with character and different feels.  Not getting that here :)
First we enter and see the hallway -

Plain Jane is the theme here..white walls- but not a pretty white a yellowy-undertoned white with orange peel texture.  Cheap tile with dark grout and laminated dark hardwood floors. Off the foyer to the left is the living/dining combo -  This is the living area..what that pole is for I have no clue- I am guessing structural as it is a pain to work around.



Adjacent is the dining room.



It is an open area for both.  So finding a way to delineate the two areas is a big thing for me.
 Through that area on the right is how we get to the kitchen..brace yourselves for not so cool



It is a U kitchen.  It works and has what is needed it just lacks- well good looks.  haha.  I am partial to a white kitchen so this is a hard sell.  The little bar counter you'd think would be awesome since we have kids but the intelligent contractors built them taller than standard.  Enter Ana White and her wonderful projects..we'll need to build stools.  

Off of this area opposite this bar is an area...open I assume for an eat in kitchen dining area..but we are using it as  - our Craft space -



That doorway to the far right is the master bedroom.  Now they put carpet in all the bedrooms and upstairs - I HATE carpet.  But will have to make do.   
The french doors lead to a patio out back.



There is a large window that shows the side yard.



And we have a huge master bathroom.  Ours back home is a tub, sink and toilet in about 6x10 this is much larger -

A separate sink area for me and him.  A tub and a separate shower and an enclosed toilet area.   Very plain in decor but large all the same. 

To round out the downstairs we have a laundry/mud room and a 2 car garage -

Onward upward ho....Second floor - the stairs are carpeted and are a bit peculiar.

See the ledge at the top of the stairs..what the heck do I do with that?  
Upstairs we have 3 bedrooms.  
One is Sophie's -

One is Jack's -

And the third is the game room and where the big brothers will stay when they come home to visit from college -



Now the best is last..and I'm sure most of you don't have this-

Yep our very own TORNADO shelter room with thick walls and steel door.  As you can see it is a lot of white, a lot.  And no character at all.  I mean there isn't even window molding.  And the cheapest fixtures you can imagine.  All of this is easily upgraded or changed out if it were not a military house.   It is basically a rental so changes that are allowed are small and most have to be temporary.  
Watch as we change it up and make it our own.

A New Military Base House- Texas

A sneak peak of our new to us- military base house.

Summer filled with swimming

While cooped up in the tiny apartment waiting for out military base house to become available required finding things to keep the kids entertained and thus keeping me sane.  

Enter Swim lessons.  The kids are fish as it is but their strokes needed a bit of finesse.



Learning to breathe on the side was this lesson..looks like they are doing fine.  Is it just me or is it crazy that kids NEED goggles today?  We were totally fine with having bloody red sore eyes when I was younger :)



He still wants to breathe from the front.  But it is getting better.



She's doing better.  Look at that arm- we call it the ugly arm.  It is the one that she broke the growth plate and it just looks odd all the time.



But the thing they have fallen in love with this summer is- DIVING.  They love diving from the side and would do it over and over if allowed.
Are your kids taking swim lessons this summer?
And how young do you think it is good to join a competitive swim team?  That is something we are contemplating at this time.

Apartment Living- the close quarters

Moving from a big 3200 sq ft house to a 600+ sq ft apartment has made us realize how good we had it.  :)  Kirk had to be in Texas in April.  We didn't come out till end of June once school and graduation was done.  He just wanted an apartment close to base, cheap and clean.  He got what he wanted.  I will say he thought the apartment was just for him since we thought we'd have a base house before we came..he knew this would not be my standards. :)
After 3 days on the road we drove in and I can honestly say the car went into complete silence.  We were stunned.  My 10 year old said- "Is this where we will live?  It looks like the hood."



And it did.  We moved from this house:



To this: second floor on the left.



I was disappointed, they were devastated and we were all burning up - it was 101.  I said - hey it is temporary and it might be better inside.
Enter our LR/DR/Kitchen - I did say it was a 2 bedroom and only 600+ sq feet remember?



Oh look you can see the itty bitty kitchen there in the distance - like maybe 12 feet away :)  Boone, our dog is photo bombing all over- but hey it is a small place.



Furniture is at a minimum for size and also moving wise.  Most of it is for our sons' college apartment and will be moved to Appalachian in a week.
Lovely IKEA sectional - perfect as it also turns into a full sized bed - the college freshman slept here a few days till he took off for the Grandparents house on the lake for a few weeks.  Poor him.



That is my dropleaf table being used as a place for me to blog and also an entertainment center of sorts.  It does provide a good deal of space to store boxes underneath.  I know you are asking what that lovely artwork on the wall is- well it is a printout of the T-38 cockpit.  Kirk has to practice on it..yeah that is how we roll here :)



I knew I'd need a comfy seat to just sit in and read - well since there isn't much else to do or room to do much else.   I'm contemplating trying the fabric paint by Annie Sloan on this chair when we move in.  If it doesn't work then I'm not out much as I wanted to reupholster it anyway. And yes we do use the dog food container as an end table.  Don't judge- it is called multipurpose :)



I'm sure you've seen little kitchens but have you seen a tiny, almost playhouse sized kitchen?  You have now.  The table and chairs are the boys also.  The table was built - it has a drop leaf on the back side so IF they get adventurous and cook a meal for friends it can open and add more chairs.  The chairs are from the mecca for college apartments- IKEA.



There are two bedrooms.  This is the bigger one and it has a half bath- we knew it had to go to the kids as they needed more room to play.  We have the bed and then also a mattress underneath that we pull out at night.  Boone sleeps here too.



We totally made sure we had room in the truck to move the little farm table for their computer.  We needed something to entertain them.  And we gave them Kirk's dresser to hold clothes in and an Xbox on top.  (Yep awesome parents - we are using cardboard boxes for our clothes. )



It is such a romantic bedroom - Please let me be delusional- it is how we get through this adventure.  I'm sure everyone has a printer in their room and uses your son's computer boxes as your end tables.  And yes our bed is just the mattress on the floor.  For the record it is much harder to get up all night long to use the bathroom from such a low level.



It is an  adventure.  I will say - the area is not nice looking but the residents of the apartments have been some of the nicest people we have met.  They are helpful, caring, friendly and very nice.  We learned a good lesson- things are rarely as bad as they look and that the looks do not define the person.  I think this was a good thing- now the kids and myself will truly appreciate our home when we get back to NC. 
 Its like they say-
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until it is gone.