Staff Sergeant Larsen

We are finally proud to officially announce that Ryan has been promoted to Staff Sergeant (E6)! He will now be in charge of his own squad (within the next few months). This is something that has been patiently in the works for awhile now. He was in line for promotion at the beginning of the year and was put on "the list". His Company was very impressed with him and has worked hard to rearrange things so that he remains a part of B Company and I know that means a lot to him.

Since I have known Ryan, he has always talked very highly of his leaders in Italy and on his deployment. He has always referred to them as an example of what he wants to be as a leader. In fact, that was one of his main disappointments in Louisiana - they saw leadership differently. I am so proud that he has held onto his morals and the true leadership qualities that were shown to him. He has never strayed from those characteristics. I am SO proud that he has people in command over him now that can appreciate and encourage those qualities.

He will always be our favorite soldier!!!

Terrific/Terrible Two's

Blake being two is probably our favorite age. He is a trip, that's for sure! Every day he challenges us and makes us laugh all at the same time. Most people call this phase the "terrible two's" and I think we can agree with that on a few levels. However, I also call this phase the "terrific two's" because he is doing so many awesome things.

"Terrible Two's"

• Blake vents his opinion...frequently!
• He whines/cries/yells if he has to do something he doesn't like
• Oh, he is stubborn!
• A favorite phrase is "NO, _________" He will fill in the blank with almost anything. :) 
• He hates to leave the park!
• We have only had to put him in time out maybe 2-3 times.
• He tests our patience as parents.

"Terrific Two's"

• He makes us laugh on a daily basis
• He is so active and encourages us to play all the time!
• Dancing can always put us in a good mood!
• He is all about putting on his own shoes 
• We had no problems getting rid of his pacifier. Whew!
• He is finally starting to get used to his new bed.
• He has a very active imagination. Probably my favorite thing about him right now.
• He loves being outside. He loves ANYTHING outside. :) 
• He is fascinated by learning new things.
• At night he has the habit of saying "Love you Mommy and Daddy" over and over again. :)
• Ryan and Blake love to "wrestle"
• He helps me cook.
• He will play independently while I get ready.
• He has discovered his favorite Disney movies...and watches them!
• He does better on trips.
• He helps around the house... toddler chores! Feeding the dog, sweeping, letting Roxie in and out, picking up toys, etc. 
• He has had no actual temper tantrums, public fits, or anything of that nature. 
• No hitting or biting.

I think Blake has FAR MORE terrific moments and these pictures prove it. We love our little man!!!

Spring Break: Pilot Mountain

Our Spring Break continues! Sadly Ryan has had a VERY long week at work (actually several long weeks), so Blake and I decided to make a quick trip to Pilot Mtn to see my grandparents. Since it's hard for them to travel now, we decided that we should probably visit them while we had the chance.

They have lot's of family land that belonged to my great-grandmother. Now it is in the hands of my grandmother and her siblings. They still keep the farm working with horses, cows, and a new sawmill. Papa was thrilled to take Blake to see it all. I think we might have a little farm boy on our hands. :)

(PS- I am terrified at the thought that this picture will actually become real one day in about 14 years. Yikes!! Hopefully I am still smiling when he is actually in the drivers seat.)

When we weren't on the farm, we were relaxing at Granny and Papa's house. Blake drew some pictures on the sidewalk with Papa and he enjoyed some porch swing time with Granny. Blake is just adored in Pilot Mtn. :)

Cute side story... Blake is starting to get the hang of saying his prayers. Normally he will fold his arms during nighttime prayers and mumble an "amen" every now and then. Well, before eating lunch at Granny and Papas he all of a sudden felt like he needed to pray. HAHA! He had us all folding our arms and he mumbled a little prayer. Then he made us do it again. Cutest thing ever. I think he was "sparked" into praying because Papa sits with his arms folded a lot. I guess Blake saw that and associated the folded arms with prayer. :) It's those simple little things that makes a parent see that they are doing some good things each day and that those little lessons are being learned. Winning!!!! :)

Spring Break Kick Off

Hello, Spring Break!!!! My Memommy always says that vacations/holidays/snowdays/etc are purposely put into our lives to slow us down and remind us to enjoy the little things. I think Spring Break is a great reminder of that for our family!

Blake and I have off all week, but Ryan only had a long weekend, so we wanted to make sure to enjoy our family day on Monday! The weather was a pretty 70 degrees and we decided to take advantage of it at Pullen Park. Blake loves that place mostly for the train, but also for the boats! He used to really enjoy the carousel, but he kind of freaked out on it this year. Who knows....

Now that Blake is two (going on 20) we find it easier to take him places. It is also a lot more fun because he really can enjoy and play on his own without us having to help him out everywhere. However... we, as parents, are noticing that taking him places can also be very difficult. For example, he DID NOT want to leave the park. We just have to pick him up and make a run for it as he cries and says "no go!" I will give it to the kid, he LOVES being outside and he LOVES playing. He will play his little heart out and go, go, go! Sadly, we just have to draw straws to see who gets to tell him it's time to go home. :)

We have more exciting plans for our Spring Break! This afternoon we have a play date with some other teacher friends and their toddlers. Tomorrow Blake will enjoy a day with his besties at Ms. Dawn's house. Then, Thursday and Friday Blake and I will be making a trip to Pilot Mtn. to see my grandparents! More posts to come soon!

Military Ball

Ryan and I got to attend his National Guard Military Ball in Winston Salem! For those who are "civilians", as the Army calls them, the Military Ball is a ceremonial event that recognizes and celebrates the service men and women of that area. There are speeches by the top officers, great food, giveaways, music, and dancing.

Ryan and I have attended one other ball together, but that was back in 2011 when I visited him in Italy. We were invited to one while we were in Louisiana, but it was right after I had Blake. Let's face it... who wants to leave their newborn with swamp people while she stuffs her recovering baby body into a ball gown?! Not me! So, we skipped out on that one.

Military Balls are always a great event to dress up. Ryan wears his dress uniform (this was his first time wearing the Blues). It is actually really neat seeing all of the guys in their uniforms. They are very symbolic. Each thing (ribbon, rope, medal, stripe, slash, etc) stands for something that they have accomplished in the military. Pretty neat. Also, let me go ahead and say that I am SO proud of everything that Ryan has done while in the military. He is truly a hero to us! He actually has future plans of framing one of his old dress uniforms, which would be awesome to see.

Now, my dress was not symbolic in any way, but it sure was fabulous!!! :) I loved my dress because of the lace. I also really lucked out in getting it. I simply found it online, ordered it, and it somehow fit perfectly. That doesn't happen very often... just for the record. To begin with, I was very self conscience. I am just not the girl who dresses up a lot (I prefer jeans and a tshirt). By the end of the night I was being complimented like crazy by the other ladies. In  fact, one group of girls pointed in my direction and said "Look, there is the girl with the best dress!" I quickly turned to the girl next to me like "wow, great job!" HAHA! They corrected me and told me that in fact they were talking about me. Seriously!?!!? Thanks!!! (also slightly embarrassing.haha).

Overall we had a great time! We laughed, ate great food, bonded with new friends, and also got some much needed husband and wife dating time. We spent the night in Winston Salem and then made our way home the next day. Blake stayed with Granny and Papa. He had a blast and I think he would've been just fine if we stayed gone another day or two. :)

Winter Hibernation Survival

We have almost successfully survived another Winter!!! :) That is, in our eyes, a very big achievement when you have a toddler in the household. And here is how we did it (meet our newest addictions)...

Blake:
Cars - Disney Pixar Cars and Cars2 to be specific. He now has both movies on DVR and all of the little cars that go along with the movies. Oh yeah, and Cars PJ's, books, sunglasses, table, plate, and more!!! And thankfully Disney just announced that Cars 3 is in the making, so I guess this obsession can stick around a little longer.
Toy Story - Probably a second close in movies. We he has a huge Buzz Lightyear toy.

Sarah:
Frozen - Mommy has to have a Disney obsession too, right?!?! :)
Divergent Series - Reading the third book now.
Selection Series - waiting for the third book to be released in May. Waiting very impatiently might I add.

Ryan:
Video Games - when he gets the free time, which sadly isn't as often as he would like.
COPS Reruns - a good guilty pleasure
Divergent Movie - Yes, Ryan took me to see the Divergent movie premier and I think he liked it!!

All of these favorites have kept us very busy over the past few months, but we ready to set them aside for a little sunshine! Spring is officially here and we are ready to some outside adventures!! :)

Greenway Trail

This weekend was absolutely beautiful. It is amazing how the sunshine changes your attitude. We had one of those most productive Saturdays! We blew the leaves in our yard (a constant battle when one lives in the woods!), we washed off all of our outside toys for Blake, and we even cleaned off the bikes! After Blake's nap we went to the Greenway Trail to ride around for a bit. We discovered this treasure last year and we really enjoy riding there. Not only does it have a brand new paved path that lasts for miles, but it also has little spots to stop and play too.

Blake LOVES riding the bike! He got a little impatient on the last part of our ride this time, but I think it was because he wanted to get out and run. Plus his helmet from last year was a little tight. He had a great time for the major part of it though!

 

Our favorite spot to stop on the trail is at this little beach area. There are picnic tables, a cute little bridge, and a sandy beach right beside the Neuse River. Very pretty. Blake loves it because he can pretty much run around wherever he wants to. This time we were really surprised to see that the little beach area was covered in water! I guess the ricer was really high and it had covered the banks. Sadly Blake couldn't run around as much. He did enjoy throwing things into the water though! :) 

  Overall we rode about 2 miles, thanks to Ryan's handy dandy mileage app on his phone! Ryan and I got our legs ready for our upcoming 5K and Blake was able to enjoy the sunshine.Blake loves being outside more than anything. We can't wait until it is warm outside ALL of the time so that he can play ask much as he wants. Just a few more weeks!