catching up

Life has been hectic since I last posted. We moved, Matt got some new responsibilities at work, we've been internet-less, I took a trip out to see my family and Matt took some leave to enjoy this beautiful state that is California. 

I'll try to get the highlights, but I'll probably stop when I get sick of uploading :)

April

Moving month, hurray! When moving with the military, you are given two choices. Movers can come and pack up all your stuff and take care of everything for you, OR you can do a DITY(why it's not just called DIY I have no idea, because it just stands for Do-It-Your-Self, and people pronounce it like a word, not like initials) where you do everything and the military pays you a percentage of what it would have cost them to pay movers. Being the thrifty people we are, we decided to do a full DITY, having done many in the past. BAD MOVE. I will never do it all myself again. Little hooligans running crazy, plus inconvenient scale hours(since you have to weigh everything to get paid) made for an awful few days. Luckily, both my mom and my mother-in-law came to help, so we did survive. Then the girls and I headed out to Utah for a couple weeks, leaving Matt super bored and lonely since this was the start of our internet delay. This is the 9th address we've lived at in our marriage, and I think my good friend put it best when she described her family 'I guess we were gypsies even before we joined the Air Force'. Mmm, gypsies. I like that word when it's not used on TLC in conjunction with 'wedding'.

Literally all I will miss about the other house is the backyard. It felt so open and 'lived in' and oh the lovely shade.

Our new place, which I love wholeheartedly. Carpet, fence, garage, in-ceiling lighting, what more could a girl ask for?

Ahh yes, just before we moved, Matt pinned on 1st Lt in the World's Greatest Air Force! (and of course, the best branch of this Country's fine military). Two years in and we are still as excited about Matt's AF career as we were the day he got the call saying he'd been accepted to OTS.

Just my cute girls, ready for the park.

Then it was off to Utah for the female Carters. Natalie had a blast bossing my family around, and getting the royal treatment that I think comes with the territory in being the first grandbaby/neice. 

She even gets just what she wants from my brother Jeff, including sitting his rather large stature in a chair that is getting too small for even Natalie.

In case you were wondering if she still thinks she's a puppy.

 
Kate is getting so big and turning into the fastest crawler in the west!
 
My mom wanted to help my poor hair-challenged Natalie with a little hairpiece. I kind of hated how grown-up having hair made her look. As long as her hair is short and thin, she looks like a perma-baby. Here, she is trying to call the neighbors dog to come play with her. The little stinker wouldn't let me get a good picture of her face before she ripped that ponytail right off her head.
 
My baby sister Vanessa, all grown up and going to Prom. And below the usual Easter festivities, matching dresses and an egg hunt.

FINALLY got to go through the temple with one of my siblings! It was awesome. Can't wait until the whole family is together to go!
 
I'll post the next few pictures in the hope that others also find solace in knowing their kids aren't the only ones doin' hoodrat stuff. 
 
Trying to re-invent mascara as the only form of makeup you'll ever need, and introducing 'teeth tinting'
 
just chillin in the chicken coop, you know, contracting the bird flu.
 
trying to follow the kitties through the gate... and getting her big old Carter noggin stuck.
 
'Katie waked up!' is becoming my least favorite phrase, as it is often being said to wake Kate up. On this day Natalie decided Kate needed an after-nap chapstick mask.

I like to call this next set of pictures 'if I had a dollar for every time someone made fun of Kate's tongue sticking out I would have many dollars'. Also, I'm going to take a picture of it and post it for all the world to see.



And we'll do May later, because both the girls are in my craft room with me and I sense impending doom.