Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

We hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. One of our New Year Resolutions (after the obligatory weight loss resolution) is to do a little better job updating this blog. Here's a Christmas photo we took of the kids as well as another of a famous media star we now have in the family. Merry Christmas!!!

Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! The kids had a really good time. We started in the miltary housing district and then did a little trick 0r treating around town. Here's a pic of the kids in their costumes.

Been Forever

Wow! It's been a very long time since we last wrote anything in our blog. Everything's been so busy since getting the house. Hell, we're still unpacking boxes.

This weekend was spent with Mary's family helping us move furniture into the house and doing some patching and repairing. The house is slowly starting to look better and better, although I wish it would become more level as well LOL. Mary and I were talking about our next move and how hard it will be since we're both starting to really like the house and the area. I really love being close to the family. It's so nice just going home for a weekend whenever we feel.

The kids are starting to make friends as well. We really have to get the house cleaned up so that they can have their friends over. The neighbors are finally starting to open up to us. Sounds like the military family that lived in our house before us weren't too friendly, so everyone has been real hesitant towards us. Hopefully that'll get better. The only thing is that there aren't a lot of kids that are Phillip and Nick's ages, although with a park nearby there seems to be quite a few over there.

Anyways, I need to get back to work on the house. I'll talk to everyone later.

Anna's new blankie

Anna with Marinas bra

Nick's B-Day

Happy birthday Nick

Weeeeee!

Anna going down the slide at Leach Lake Park

Gone Fishing

Bean and Phillip at the lake

A Pirate says Argh!

Anna at the lake

First Day of School for the Kids

Today was the first day of school for the kids!! It was both an exciting day and a little bit of a sad one as well. We left at 7:19 AM, only 4 minutes later than we had planned! Mary did a great job getting the kids running and even making sure that they had a good breakfast to start the day right (except for Nicholas who insisted on having cereal, of which he only ate half).

We dropped off Marina first at the Tomah Middle School. I’d post pictures but Marina wasn’t too crazy about the idea of us following after her with a camera. I walked her to locker, after we searched in vain for her classroom. The halls were so crowded with kids that it took awhile to get through the crowds. Eventually we found a teacher to help us and he showed us Marina’s locker. I asked Marina if she was all right now and she looked up at me with that real nervous look that she every so often shows. I smiled, told her that she would be just fine and whispered that I loved her and left.

Next we took Phillip and Nicholas to LaGrange Elementary School. As we were walking into the school we passed a mom leaving with tears in her eyes. Mary and I looked at each other knowingly, it wasn’t long ago when we were taking Marina to kindergarten and now she’s in sixth grade already. We dropped Phillip off in the gym where he joined his class with Mrs. Wolf. Afterwards we took Nicholas to Mrs. Mee’s kindergarten class where we received an extra set of hugs from Nick. On the way out, we checked on Phillip one more time. He was lining up with his class and we got the chance to say goodbye to him on his way to his class. I left feeling a little sad that my kids were growing so quickly.

When I got to work today I found out that the unit I supported, the 132nd FSB, was deploying personnel to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief. I think my weekend just went away, but I’m reminding myself that it’s for a really good cause. We were going to go to Park Rapids with Mary’s dad, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen anymore. We’ll find out more later.

Greetings from Fort McCoy

Hello from Fort McCoy. Actually we’ve been here for over 2 weeks already and have finally just now had a chance to sit down and post a regular update instead of just pictures from our camera phone. So here’s the short version of what’s going on.

We’re number four on the housing waiting list. They number 1 person won’t get a house until November so at best we won’t get a on-post house until the beginning of next year. That’s very very disappointing. We are current living in the guest lodge. They have 2 and 3 bedroom trailers for their guest lodging and I can honestly say that this is the best temporary accommodations that we have ever lived in. We can stay here until the middle of October so that takes a lot of the house hunting stress off of us since we can now do it at our leisure. Nevertheless we all miss our household goods and would like a little more space to live in as well.

The people in the area are extremely friendly. All the people at Fort McCoy and in the town of Tomah have been very helpful. We even had good service in the Wal-Mart!!! Phillip noticed that right away. The boys are both enrolled in the same elementary school and Marina is enrolled in the middle school. Here the middle school is a lot like high school. Mariana has her own locker and a class schedule like a high school student where she goes to different classes that have different teachers.

I’ve also finally started my new job. The unit is very different from my last one. The stress level is a lot lower and most people there seem to be in a transitional stage in their careers. I wonder what transition I’m going through?

Ahoy!

The boys at Long John's Silver

Anna in the Mankato Mall

Anna at Mankato mall Merry-Go-Round

Our New Nephews/Godchildren

Mary with Connor and Noah

Trailer Park Park

Playground at housing area

The new Commissary

Fort McCoy's Commissary is actually much bigger inside than the picture makes it appear. Kinda like the TARDIS from Doctor Who!

Trailer Kitchen

Trailer kitchen

The Kids' bedroom

Kids trailer bedroom

Fort McCoy PX

Fort McCoy PX celebrating their one-year grand opening anniversary. The crowds were unbearable.

Our Temporary Home..... plus my thumb

Our new 2 bedroom trailerhome that will house us for the next couple of weeks.

Eugene, Father of three

Proud Papa trying to figure out how to use the specimen cup

Name Change

All right, first of all you may have noticed the change of title for our blog. (or you may have not if you aren't the real observant type, or if you're new to this blog,.....or if you just really don't give a damn, but anyways) We thought that "The Misadventures.." didn't quite work. I asked Mary for a name, but the last time I let her pick out a name for our website it became "The Cuties." So until Mary comes up with a better name that our blog will be known as "The Lion, the Witch, and the Pavek's." Currently I'm reading the book to the kids anyways, so I can say that it has some current relevancy.

This will be our last night that we stay in Minnesota. The trip over here went as well as can be expected, although we, or mainly I, was very disappointed that the Comfort Inn in ND with the water park was closed. My car's mileage was around 35-37mpg, so I was very pleased with that as well. However, while we were in ND both of our windshields were cracked while we were driving through 40 miles of road construction!!!! Curse you North Dakota!!! Interesting fact that I shared with my daughter......North Dakota's population is 1/3 of the city of Taegu, South Korea where I was stationed.

The kids are camping with Mary's family and will be staying in MN for the first week while Mary and I get things settled in WI. We are still number 4 on the housing list and I am expecting a wait of about 60-90 days for housing. We have guest lodging in a 2-bedroom trailer home for sixty days scheduled, but I am not sure what we would do if our stay had to be extended to 90 days. I am worried about the effect being in transit for so long will have on the kids. We will have to buy new school supplies, which the kids won't mind, and make some assumptions on where we will be living in order to enroll the kids into school.

Enough of stressful thoughts. On a happier note, my sister had her twins!! Noah and Connor were born a month early but are doing well and are off oxygen. I will post pics, once I get out of a Sprint Roaming area. It's very exciting and now our kids have six cousins. Christmas will be interesting. Well, have to go finish packing. We have too much stuff!

Namco Arcade in Burnsville

We found a game with unlimited credits. The bonus was that the boys actually got a workout doing it too!

On the way to see our new nephews!

Anna at Pizza Hut in Shakopee while we were driving to see my sister's new babies!

Nick's Fishing Trip

Nick's first fish that he caught in a boat

Phillip's Fishing Trip

Phillip caught the largest fish of the day, not bad for his first time in a boat.

Goodbye Washington

Anna on the last day in the house, in a strange way we really miss the house.

The Red Lion Inn in Spokane

First night stay at Red Lion hotel in Spokane

Korean Food

Well we just got back from the Korean restaurant! YUM!!! I thought about you Laura, the whole time I was there. I almost called you to tell you to meet me there! Mike says I have problems! I guess I agree with him! Of course you can be a fan too Jennifer!

A Picture Share!

Nick and Anna

DeDutch

Here's Nicholas at a Dutch Restaurant in Vancouver

DeDutch In Canada

Here's Phillip, myself, and Nick at DeDutch, a Dutch Restaurant in Canada. The food was delicious, although the kids were hungry afterwards.

First Blog Entry from Mary

Hi everyone! This is Mary and I've entered the Blogging world!!!! I only have a few fans right now (or just one, right Laura!) but soon I will have many many many. That's all for now, once I get a little more Blog smart I'll write more.

Finally, Written Words!

OK, so I haven't done the best with actually writing in Blog. Frankly, I think that writing is overrated. Who really needs writing when I can send pics from my phone cam? Or better yet, when I can send audio from my phone?

So a lot's happened since I started this blog. The first big event was the change of command. I have to admit, it's been really nice and quiet since I finished. If it weren't for me trying to turn in these damn temporary barracks, I would have just been chillin' the entire time. When I'm around the company, some of the soldiers tell me how things are going. It's always hard when there is big change, and I don't think I've ever been in an unit where there wasn't at least a little grumbling when a new commander comes in. Nevertheless, I do miss command. Not so much for being the commander, but for the soldiers that I got to work with.

We also went to Vancouver!!! Mary talked me into that one. Actually Mary wanted to go to the islands, but it was just too expensive. One of my goals, before I left the WA area was to go to Canada. Why? Is it because Canada is so much cooler than the US? No, not really. Is it because I want my kids to start learning how to drive in KM/HR? No, although that's a bonus. I guess, I don't know why I wanted to go, I just did.

Here's some pics.....


Mary and the kids on the Suspension Bridge


This is us Pavek men at the Capiliano Suspension Bridge, right before we conducted Nick's Exorcism.














Mary and myself at the Treetop Adventures.

















Anna and me at the water park. I'm bravely shielding my daughter from the cold water with my own body!

It was a lot of fun, although going out to eat as a family of 6 for several days is really expensive.
From now on, we, as the Pavek's, are going to implement a new going out to eat policy.......... The Pavek children, all FOUR of them, will rotate so every child only eats every other meal. This will reduce our fiscal obligations by 25% and also reduce the amount of wasted consumable food from each meal, particularly from Nicholas. Now I just have to get the wife to buy off on that plan.

The movers are coming tomorrow and we're still getting ready for them. I hate moving. I despise the whole process. Packing, unpacking, finding a place to live, etc etc. I enjoy living in new locations, but if I could just get it so we don't have to do a single bit of packing that would be just fine. Maybe I need to buy a mobile home.


Lastly, I was watching Mad TV last night. Something I don't do too often. Bobby Lee is hilarious. Any man who can dance in his underwear with a toy robot is funny in my book.

Vancouver, BC

Hello from the American Heritage Campgrounds

The kids at the campground

Phillip's first blog

First Audio Blog

The Kids

Here's my kids at the local Babies R Us.

The Boys

My two boys.

My Baby Daughter

Here is my baby girl.

The Concert

Here is my wife and myself at the Kenny Chesney Concert last night!

Greetings!

I'm switching from Xanga to this blog site to see how it is. I'm 31 years old, married with kids. I actually have four kids, that are 11, 7, 5, and 1.

I'm in the Army and we are getting ready to move from Tacoma, Washington to Wisconsin. Last year I returned from a tour in Iraq and am hoping to get at least a short chance to catch my breath. I am coming out of company command, where I have been responsible for a unit of over 200 soldiers. My next assignment will have me in charge of five!Last night my wife and I went to the Kenny Chesney concert. It was great! Earlier this year we had taken our daughter to the Jingle Bell Bash concert, which had bands like Simple Plan and Avril. It was a really a different crowd than the Chesney concert. I've never seen so many scantily clad senior citizens! Shudder

Well, that's enough for now. I'll start to write more later. I'm off to go eat Korean food with some friends.