38 Years of Aggression Unleashed

Eerily Quiet on the Homefront

It's been eerily quiet here on the home front, now that everyone has left. Now we have the daunting task of returning to normal. Normal night time routine, normal play times and play places, normal TV schedule (afternoon only) normal dinner, etc. So far the only one giving resistance is Cooper, but he'll work it out. We also have to get the toys out of the living room and into the playroom. Since moving here, we've had a relatively toy free living room; how we wanted it, and opposite life in California. For Christmas, we allowed free reign on the house, but now it's time to corral the toys once again.

Return to the RawsonFour

Well, our family left tonight back to suburban Philadelphia. It was great having all of them here for the week, I love having family around, the kids love having their grandparents visit, Christy is a great auntie, and Chad was a huge help in the kitchen. Alex was a new source of fun for his two cousins. It's good for the cousins to spend time together and get to know each other, like my sister and I did when we were kids with our cousins.

Playtime

After several days inside (it's rained a few times, and the kids have had PLENTY of toys to play with), Christy and I decided to take the kids to the playground today, while Joey was at work and the guys napped before their ride home. It was great, they all got some fresh air, exercise, and play time.

Local J'ville Haunts

Today we went to the local Jacksonville haunts; Super Walmart and Golden Corral for dinner! We went on an "auto tour" of J'ville first, because we had intented on going to Mike's Farm for dinner, but it appeared everyone else had the same idea; a 2 hour wait changed our minds.

Mom and Jim

Mom and Jim had to leave tonight, as Jim has obligations on another day, but we were so glad they could make it down, see our new house, and spend time with us and the kids. The kids loved their Bumble Bee Transformer (it's going to take us an eternity every time he wants it "transformed" but that's OK!) and Cabbage Patch and Stroller (Ava is going to to wear a patch on the circle from the kitchen around the living room, through the dining room, and back to the kitchen!).
Cooper giving Papa a shoulder ride.

Christmas Morning

As usual, our children received what they wanted from Santa, and their grandparents spoiled them. After the mass chaos, when we have time to reflect, we feel both lucky for all they receive, and also humble. You want to provide for you children, and want them to have nice things, but at the same time there are those who don't have a fraction.

Next week we'll going to go through their current toys like we did last year and have them "pick" they toys they want to give to babies and children that need them more.

The Chilluns on Christmas Eve

Getting Ready for Santa

Since Santa comes down the fireplace, Cooper decided to listen for him to see if he could hear him!

Christmas Eve

Tonight we had a great Turkey Soup that Chad brought down from Philly. He made it from the remains from Ari's turkey from Thanksgiving; mmmm. Then we went to the Presbyterian Chapel on base for a evening Christmas service; it was good to experience the base chapel service with both our families; and even better that the kids did mostly well (especially Cooper, he's at the age now that he can sit through a service.)

Christmas Cake (Cake #3)

Mmm, another fattening cake. Here's my creation for Christmas. I should have had some red, but I already had plenty of saved yellow and green, so in the interest of using what I had, this is what I came up with.

Christmas Eve Morning

Morning rises in the Rawson household, and with it, the children...

Taste

Mom (Lawson) gets a explanation from Joey what the job he does when deployed, including the gear he has to wear. Mom can't believe how heavy it is, so Joey has her try the vest on for size herself, vest itself is around 50 pounds!

Christmas with the Cranks (Rawson/Lawsons)

We had a houseful coming down here for our first Christmas in North Carolina. Ingrid, Jim, Pat, Joe, Christy, Chad, and Big Al came down to join us. It was a houseful and we were glad they could all join us.

Check it out

We have added audio to our site. Please enjoy the smooth sounds of the holiday season. We will be commercial free until Jan 1, 2008.

You must click the play button to hear the music. And, if you want to skip to the next song, click on the album cover to the right. It's that easy.

So let the RAWSONFOUR jukebox fill your house with holiday cheer. It's a gift, from us.

KealeyBlog

The Kealey's have joined the blog revolution:

http://www.echo-base.org/kealeyblog/

http://www.echo-base.org/wedgesblog/

Almost Christmas day

Christmas is only 5 days away, and things are getting busy. Cooking/baking has commenced, cleaning has become a primary chore, and my nails have been bitten to the quick awaiting my presents to come in the mail so I can wrap them.

But the good things overshadow all the busy work; the christmas tree lighting up the living room, the christmas tunes filling the house with cheer and smells that bring you back to your childhood home. Damn, I love this time of year.

Keep it Merry!!

Cake Decorating Over

And I was the winner! At the end of the class, final cakes are judged and the instructor gave me the award. I win a Wilton Tool Caddy. Exciting! The cake had to have 3 words on it, so I chose "Thank You Joey" because he's working hard to support us.

Visit from Ari and Karen

We had a great time with Karen and Ari this weekend. They came for a long weekend, and the kids had lots of fun. Karen got to see all the action here in Maysville, and our new house. Since Karen, Ari, and Jeff won't be here for Chirstmas, we exchanged gifts. Ari and Jeff gave them a play kitchen, which they LOVE, and Karen gave Ava a baby doll and Cooper a bucket FULL of dinosaurs, which they both also LOVED. Cooper said they were "very good gift-givers."

Cooper Talks to Santa Claus

Joey's Batallion Christmas party was last week. The kids had lots of fun running around the dance floor, and it was a nice party. Also, Cooper got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas! Ava is totally into Santa until she gets close to him, and then the waterworks turn on, so she passed on the lap visit.

Cards for Sorrow, Cards for Pain

As a military family, part of our Christmas cards each year has become the annual Rawson Family newsletter. In between addressing, writing, signing and enclosing pictures, we have to try to capture our year in a page or less. Being far from most of our family, it seems the nice way to keep in touch about major milestones. This year, we moved, and we're still settling in. The newsletter had to, sadly, take a backseat this year. But the cards will go out, however late!

Rainbow Clown Cake

Second class, and I've made the Rainbow Clown Cake. It's supposed to be Rainbow cake one week, and Clown cake another, but we condensed two classes into one and came up with this!

Craft Time in the Kitchen

Painting in the kitchen; for this we had to get them semi-nude!

Santa's Boot

Tonight, we had the kids playing upstairs while Joey finished up on the outside lights and I finished up on dinner. When dinner was ready and Joey came in, we went upstairs together to get the kids from their playroom and bring them down for dinner. This is what we found. At first we thought it was cute they fell asleep on the couch together. But then we noticed Cooper's foot, and couldn't stop laughing.

Joey's my Guitar Hero

Playing his new birthday present, Guitar Hero III

Work vs. Home

So today I took the kids to Books-a-million for a playgroup. The group arranged for storytelling, craft time, and snacks, sponsored by the bookstore. Its a great time for the kids, gets them out of the house, and playing with other kids. On the way home, I asked Cooper if he wanted to go back to school, and Mommy go back to work. He said, No, I had to stay with him and Ava. I said, well, if you two go back to school, what is Mommy going to do. He thought about it, and said, go to work. I said, OK, so should you go back to school and Mommy go to work? He said, no Mommy, you are our best friend, you have to stay with us. Then his chin started to quiver and he started to cry and said he didn't want me to go to work. I told him we were just talking right now, not to get upset. Ouch!!

Cake Decorating

Heidi started a cake decorating class tonight. Very domestic! Four Mondays nights, and she'll be able to make a clown cake! At least Joey and the kids get cake every week!

Wilton Cake Decorating

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Back from Thanksgiving and we have to get the Christmas Tree up. We could procrastinate, but, well, there's no point, just do it! We got home Sunday, it's Wednesday, so the tree goes up tonight!

December is here!

Time for the countdown to Christmas! If you haven't already seen it, look to the left of the screen for the Christmas Countdown Clock. Our first Christmas back on the East Coast, and in our new home! Awesome! The year has flown by.