Easy Valentines Breakfast Table

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Hope everyone is having an awesome day so far. My awesome husband brought me tulips this morning. 

*swoon*. 

I thought I would share what I did to brighten up our morning here. Best part? It didn't cost an arm and a leg. Like I spent only $20. SCORE! 

For a $1 each, I bought the tablecloth, cups, plates, and straws. The teddy bears, set of mugs, and banners were $3 each. I already owned the leather table runner/centerpiece. Took me all of 5 minutes to put together. Which is awesome cause I was tired after bible study last night. Those ladies are so awesome they wear me out! 

Hope you all have an awesome day and get to love or be loved on by someone today. Maybe its the co-worker who isn't getting flowers, buy her a coffee. Maybe its the single mama in your neighborhood who could use a nice meal tonight. How about the cashier who looks dead on her feet, compliment her. The widow next door who still needs the snow cleared from her front porch. That kid in your class who looks like they really need a hug. Love them. Its not just about candy hearts and flowers. Its about sharing love with those around us. 

Extra bonus: little love from the 5yo. Enjoy! 

Hello all you pretty people!

Wow. What a year 2013 has been so far. I am still trying to come to grips with the fact that we are almost at Jeremys two year Alive Day anniversary. Two years. I remember talking just a couple months after it happened and wanting so badly to get two years down the road. For things to be "normal". To put it behind us. Not realizing that it would never be possible for us to "put your behind in your past" (no Pumbaa.... its you gotta put your past behind you. Amateur.) We are forever changed. My husband is forever changed, in so many good ways. Our family is forever changed, and blessed beyond measure by those changes. I am forever changed, in unexpected ways. 

We have been back in KC for ten months. That number is almost as hard for me as his anniversary. We miss New York still, our friends, our old life. I have been trying desperately to keep moving forward, but I admit, its insanely difficult. Some days are easier than others. Like its fabulous to be home to help celebrate my nieces first birthday, and to go to Royals games, and to plant a real garden.... There is still so much that feels unfinished though. We left in such a hurry. So many things have just been figured out over the last couple of months. Some things are still being sorted out. (ie: VA dependent pay. We had to involve our congressman, its still "pending"). I am still struggling to find my niche. To find out what I am suppose to be working on. Jeremy is plugging away at school with a specific goal in mind. Its hard to not have a specific goal, just a broad one: Get involved in some organization that I can make a difference in. HELLO HUGE GOAL THAT MAKES IT FEEL IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCOMPLISH. We want to be involved with organizations that help other wounded soldiers. We want to be involved in more local ministries. Yet there seems to be no good way to start. Its hard to plug into organizations that really only look at wounded warriors as soldiers who have lost limbs or have obvious disabilities. Jeremy's disabilities are impossible to see if you don't know what to look for. Civilians still take a step back when you tell his story. Like its contagious. Like he might go into some PTSD rage at any moment. News flash! My husband doesnt have PTSD. Thank you Jesus. It was one of my biggest prayers during deployments. That not only would God guard his body, but also his mind. 

Anywho.... This is our life right now.

Mustache stickers go with everything

My lil Luke Bryan fan.

Love him.

My 30th birthday dinner. They had Cheesecake for dessert. Can you tell?!

We had some of our best friends come down recently to visit. Seeing my Jessicas & my lil sis Lakin was a blessing and a curse. I miss them so much it hurts. I miss so many people. I know they are only a phone call away. So not the same though. 

Meeting baby Grady for the first time.

In Topeka to see another Jessica!

The kids last few moments together. Horribly lighting I know. 

Took Giffins to their first Royals game

I live her. My first Jessica. 

And more recently, this happened. 

YAY!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!! 

Speaking of which. I really need to go get ready to pick her up from school. I plan on trying to keep up with the blog better in the coming weeks. See ya soon!!!!!!

~E

Halloween Frame on Kid Craft Tuesday

I love the Halloween craft the kids and I made last year

 

 

My inspiration came from this blog last year:

A Diamond in the Stuff - Googly Eye Halloween Frame

I cant begin to tell you how easy and fun these were. We added something else to ours. Thumbprint spiders! I believe I found the idea for those in a magazine last year though for the life of me I cant find the exact source! (If you know it please tell me so I can update!)

 

Since I used the above link to make mine I wont go into details on how to paint/glue on the eyes. Its pretty easy to follow. The thumbprint spiders were just as easy.

• Cut the cardstock to fit inside frame.
• Have little ones dip their thumb into desired paint color and press onto center of paper.
• Let dry!
• Using a ball point pen (or in our case a Sharpie no-bleed fine tipped pen), draw on the string and all 8 legs. I did the one on my 3yo's but I let my 6yo do his own.
•  Finally glue on the google eyes and let dry. Place in your finished google eye frame and enjoy!

FYI: The spiders in the frame are from this last week. I decided I will let the kids do new ones every year. Last years were just as cute though!

Happy Halloween crafting!

Did you miss me?

Sorry folks. Summer fun and the stress of the 1-year anniversary of Jeremy's injuries got the better of me. I really really REALLY want to make this blog work. I think it can. I have been blessed to follow some other amazing bloggers and the guilt I have felt over not posting anything has been eating away at me. I am so sorry that I have not been updating it.

This month has been especially hard. Not only did we have some added stress of things going wrong with the property we own in another state (UGH!), both children being in school 5 days a week for the first time, but we also made it to Jeremy's very first "Alive Day"!

WOOHOO!!!

By far its been the biggest hurdle. He is doing AMAZING. The difference a year makes!!! He shocks me on a regular basis with just how much he can do now that he couldn't do even 6 months ago. We are so blessed. The other news that goes along with this is that he finally got his retirement/disability ratings. It means we are leaving.

Soon...

Too soon for me. I love our life here. And I have been praying hard for strength and clarity through it all. The direction God wants us to go in still seems so foggy. I feel like most days I am still stumbling around in the darkness. That darkness is filled with an ever growing to-do list, a house that never seems to stay clean, and all the worry that comes with any Army move times like 1000. The darkness sucks. Not being able to see what the next step is sucks. Thank God I have a strong, amazing, supportive husband who puts up with all my complaining. Thank God I have wonderful, just-as-nutso-as-me friends who remind me that we WILL get everything done. And Thank God I have beautiful children who keep me going everyday.

Which brings me to our adventures today. I had a to-do list that was a mile long this morning. We should have stayed home. I would have ended the day frustrated. There would have been whining, kids fighting, yelling, and feeling guilty cause I hadn't gotten as much done as I liked and yelled too much and didn't pay enough attention to the kids......and on and on and on. It would have been like far too many days lately.

This morning was different. While we were all still in pj's (don't think this was early, it was like 10am!) I made the crazy suggestion that we go to the zoo. No, not the one 10 min from our house that we can walk through in less than 30min, the one that's an hour away that costs us double to go to thanks to gas prices. Thankfully my husband saw that I was serious. See my kids were sad because we couldn't go to the Georgia Aquarium and see the dolphins. This was thanks to the program we saw on tv about how they built it, trained the dolphins, etc. Man do we miss the aquarium something awful!! So the zoo it was instead. Checked the banks account, yep we can go! Checked the fridge, yep we can take a lunch with us! Checked the weather, yep we are outta here! I am so glad we went. The kids had a fabulous time, I go to hold hands with my fella, and I got some super cute shots of some of our favorite friends.

What are you looking at?

My little animals

Siri posing for the camera

Its a rough life just lion around.

As per tradition, we just cant go to Syracuse without headed to the mall. This time we finally got to see the new wing that was added. And the kids rode the Carousel with daddy. Who knew riding around in circles could make them so happy.

After we got home, I realized there were still dishes to do, and laundry to fold, and a child who needed a bath (well they both do but the princess was passed out). While J was in the shower I took a moment to try and catch up on my pinterest page. I came across this blog, Hands-Free Mama. I was in tears.

THAT WAS IT!
We needed today. Was there whining and crying today? Yes. My kids are 6 and 3. Someone is going to cry or whine, that's just a given. Was there grown-up stuff that could have been done today? Of course. I wouldn't trade today for anything though. I got to laugh at my daughter for being fascinated with the "poop beetles" (dung beetles), and watch my son have moments of such maturity that I forgot he is only 6. It was perfect chaos and I loved it. SO much better than a year ago. A year ago I was headed to Germany. A year ago I didn't know if my husband was going to recognise my face when he woke up. This year is different. This year is ours.

My challenge to you is to put down the phone, the remote, the to-do list and just spend a few minutes with your family. Go do something fun. Just because you CAN.

Faith Monday 1

Ok time to try out the new schedule! woohoo!!

im totally trying to wake myself up here can you tell?!

B and I spent the morning at the gym then had a lunch date with a good friend. B of course fell asleep on the way home which made me soooo sleepy too. I ended up spending an hour and a half in bed watching tv while she napped.

(of course now that I am trying to knowck out this post she is waking up!).

Im so glad I got up when I did though. I was able to see one of our neighbors take in a new foster child (at least Im 99% sure thats what was going on). At the time I was working on a devotional made especially for busy moms. I couldnt help but prayer for the girl, this new family, and her own family that she is currently seperated from. I dont know her story and probably never will. Thats ok. But it did get me thinking about just how much I want to someday foster/adpot.

Seeing a very nice family take in a child who needs a home only strengthened my desire to be able to be a part of this world. This world of kids who need to be shown unconditional love, covenant love, Godly love. I am so blessed to have a husband who supports this desire that God wrote on my heart so many years ago. We both know that getting into it is still at least a couple years away if not longer depending on the other things that God lays out for us.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after oprphans and widos in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   

  James 1:27 (NIV)

It also made me think about WHY we want to get into fostering or adopting (or both). And it has nothing to do with being religious, or looking good to others, or because we have to to be Christians. It has EVERYTHING to do with just being the right thing to do. To care for those around you that need to be cared for. Because no matter what religion you are, that is right. It is 100% what I would want for our own children if something happened to us. For them to be taken in by people who can love them. I am so thankful that God has given me this desire and I cant wait to see how he is going to move and make it happen.

What big challenge/desire has God laid on your heart?

Part 4: our little backyard garden

Our little backyard garden is growing so well! I didn't think it would take off but we have already been able to enjoy some of the lettuce and green beans from it. hopefully my carrots will be done soon so we can enjoy those too. this makes me hopeful that when we move back down to warmer climates I can have a real garden, not just a container one.

So here are some pics from last month:


Right after I got everything transplanted outside and new seeds planted.
Back row is all green beans, middle blue ones are carrots, middle red is lettuce, and front has basil and garlic. and yes that's my giant 7yo chocolate lab Bailey who just had to be in the picture!

first flowers on the beans

and more current ones:

look how much its grown! not a great pic i know and please excuse my very messy porch!!!!

3 types of romaine lettuce. i had my doubts if it was going to transplant well and apparently it just needed to be outside! they are so yummy!!!

these are the carrots i planted outside as seeds. they are as big as my ones that started inside!

can you see all the baby green beans in there too?! the next few warm days should give me enough to use in a meal!

So I don't have any fabulous advice about planting a container garden. Especially because the growing season here is so weird, and because this is the first year I have really been able to grow anything other than pumpkins! I will say that I am glad I did start indoors because its given me some plants that are at various stages of development and so I will have a slightly longer season. The kids have really enjoyed watching them grow. They always let me know when there are beans that are ready to be picked and both kids will eat their salad if I put even just 1 piece of lettuce from the garden in it! Quite honestly the plants just make me happy. I feel accomplished knowing that I can grow food for our family, even if its just this tiny amount for now. Somehow it makes me feel a litle closer to God. Like watching this creation happen before my eyes is one way He is just reminding me thats everything is going to be ok. See how he cares for even the tiny plants?

So what are you growing this year?! Any veggies? Flowers? Tell me! Got any advice to help me make the most of this tiny garden?

part 2: teacher appreciation gifts

yes i am aware that teacher appreciation was last week. my life seems to get more and more insane by the minute. the good thing is, all of these ideas could be used as end of the year gifts too. =D

each day has the teacher gift as well as the gift for the aide in his classroom.

Monday: Cup & notecards

The original idea for the cup came from pinterest and this blog:

 lisa storms: teacher appreciation week part 3

"You have all the 'write' stuff!"

"Thanks for quenching my thirst for knowledge!"

J's teacher LOVED it. She was so excited! With as many times as the original link had been pinned I figured for sure she was going to get 4 of them. NOPE!  Inside is just a piece of scrapbook paper rolled up as a filler and 4 packets of crystal light drink mix. His teacher aide got the set of notecards. I never really got to see her reaction to gifts since she was usually helping get kids off the bus when we went to his classroom.

Tuesday: Stamps & Candy

"Thanks for being an A+ teacher!"

This was just a set of 4 wooden stamps and 3 ink pads. total cost: $4!!!

his teachers aide got the small container of candy pictured in the group pic at the top. Apparently I didnt take a picture of it by itself! Whoops! =D More info on it later.

Wednesday: Candy & Notepad & Soap

3 GIFTS! Yep, Wednesday was also School Nurse appreciation day! So they got a wonderful foaming hand soap from B&BW! (I adore their 6/$20 specials!)

"to help you 'escape' all those nasty germs! thanks for all you do!"

His teacher got candy and the aide got the notepad and pencil. Total cost for these 2 projects: $5! The containers with candy came as a set of 3 for $1. So I used one for his aide and the other 2 for his teacher. 

"Thanks for being so sweet!"

"Thanks for being an A+ aide!"

Thursday: Frame & Lotion

"Thanks for helping handle the stress of our class!"

"Thanks for being so amazing!"

$3 frame from wallyworld, scarpbook paper, & a cricut = love! And a $4 bottle of lotion and a $.50 nail file make for EASY stress relief! =D

Friday: FLOWERS!

"Thanks for helping me grow"

I think I spent more time and energy on these than all the others combined. First the pots I bought for J to paint were not working at all. BUMMER! So we ended up at the PX to get new ones (and flowers!) on Thursday night before tball. He had fun painting these though. The signs took me forever to make. Thats what I get for waiting til the last minute though!!! I had all the other gifts ready to go the week before. Oh well. They loved them! Mrs. A even put hers on the table during our Mothers Day tea at school Friday afternoon!

Oh but wait there is more! On Tuesday I gave Brooklyns teachers at her pre-k (its really daycare but more structured) gifts as well! I <3 the dollar section at target.....
Each one included a slinky, a flower growing kit, drink mix, a notepad and pencil, star stickers, gum, and chocolates.

card said: "A special gift for an EXTRA special teacher! Thanks for helping to QUENCH MY THIRST for knowledge! you are a SUPER STAR teacher, with all the WRITE stuff! Its been so much FUN learning to GROW in your class! HUGS AND KISSES!"

I hope you enjoyed all the gifts and found some inspiration to show your kids teacher just what they have meant to you!

playing catch up.

I've been bad. SOOOO much has been going on in the last few weeks that I can barely begin to get my head around it all, let alone blog about it. I really do want to get better about posting on here at least 2-3 times a week. I know that I woul love to see expansion in my number of followers and who in the heck is gonna follow someone that doesnt ever post!? :) So I am very sorry readers. I am now going to attempt to play catch up. I will try to make this into several posts instead of one long one. HERE GOES NOTHING!

Part 1:

The weather here cant make up its mind. one day its like this:

daddy and B flying her barbie kite.

And the next its like this:

view from inside my car after PWOC (bible study)

I think its the one part of the North Country I will never ever get used to.

Next on the agenda is my rededication to my yoga mat. Ok dedication is a STRONG word. But I am really really really trying to get on it more. including weekly yoga class with my favorite Jessicas (yes I have SEVERAL and they are a-maz-ing) once a week at the Y. I so wish I had a picture of us trying not to laugh at our instructor Michele when she reminds us during savasana that "you are beautiful, you are good enough, and gosh darnnit people like you!". I think its our favorite part.  

And last but certainly not least on this post is part of the reason I have been so absent. I have realized in the last few weeks that I was more traumatized by my husbands injuries than I ever though possible. I have been dealing with major emotional stress and trying to just "deal" and of course thats not working. I am in the process of finding a counselor I like and working with my doctor to manage my hormones so that maybe just maybe I can stay off antidepressants/antianxiety meds. Ive gone that road before and really really dont like the way I feel on them. I never though homecoming and the end of deployment would trigger such feelings of trauma. I expected it to be the release, the end, the chance to finally really start putting everything that happened in Sept/Oct behind me. It was literally the opposite. It was so unexpected that it actually took quite a while for me to figure out what in the heck was going on. Can I just say though, I have the most amazing support system. First my husband who has stuck by my side through all my crappy moods, random crying episodes, and held me after each and every nightmare. And next to my amazing Army family. Since my own family cant be here to help us out, they are my amazing support friends. I dont know how to ever thank God enough for putting the people in my life that he has. Between my amazing friends and even more amazing husband reminding me that God has a plan for us, that it is Him that I need to put my trust and focus in, I know that I will make it through this. My family has done what they can from far away but there is only so much that they can do from there.

Its been a rough road with both my husband and I realizing that we were not doing everything we could to make things better. I know we will get through this rough patch. Thats the kind of marriage we have. Its forever. Good AND bad. Thank you Jesus for teaching me what that means.

The other things that have gotten me through are some awesome blog posts. Seriously I love these women. They are amazing writers who share their lives on their blog and make us feel welcome. I have to share some of my favs.

B in Real Life: breakthrough with miss q

Gallamore West: Mamas need sunshine too

Life in the Green House: letting it go

So there it is. The general mess that has been our life the last few weeks.

 Coming up in parts 2-4 are as follows:

2~ Teacher Appreciation gifts

3~ Battalion Ball

4~ My little backyard garden

and now for a good laugh. this is video of my darling 3yo daughter last night. I found her an awesome t-shirt at Target yesterday and couldnt resist. We have gone Avengers crazy in this house the last 2 weeks since we are planning an Avengers bday party for J next month (lots to come on that!!!). B has a fav character....... its sooo cute! enjoy!

ahhhh spring.

Tomorrow I will probably regret writing this. I will wonder why on earth I claim to love this area so much when the gray and dreary rainy days come back. But for now I am going to just enjoy the days we have had with beautiful, sunny(ish), warm days. ahhhhhh spring.

We took the kids to the New York state Zoo at Thompson Park on Saturday. We adore Thompson Park. not only is it over a century old, its still so beautiful. The kids love playing on the giant wooden playground and getting to enjoy a picnic lunch with the family is always a plus. Biggest bonus: it ALWAYS wears the kids out and they fall asleep on the way home!!!! ;-)

J with one of the snakes. He LOVES those things

can you see the crazy horn on this goat!!!!?? its INSANE!

meet the newest "catamount"!! My husbands previous unit (known as the Catamounts) sponsors this exhibit!

J in the eagles nest. seriously kid stop growing!!!

B didnt quite get the whole put your arms out thing.

Yesterday we had another awesome service at Life Church. Me and my bff were both in tears at different points of the service. I got to be reminded (again) that God is in control, He wants to help me, wants to see me bring glory to Him, and will be faithful to us no matter what. I just have to trsut Him 100%. Man is that hard. I am so thankful that I have some amazing friends here though that can help see me through my darkest days. We spent lunch out with my bff and her hubby and kids. We had a great time and got to laugh a lot. Thankfully our kids do so well together that it isnt even that stressful to have a table of 9 where the kids outnumber the adults!

 But the best part of all about yesterday was that JACKSON LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH! AT TARGET! Thankfully our Target has the most AMAZING pharmacist who was able to give me a baggie to put it in. She also gave J a lollipop for being so awesome (B got one too cause she has Miss Barbara wrapped around her little finger!) He is so excited! Tooth Fairy came and went last night and left $5!!!! LUCKY!

Today B and I are rocking out at home. I have some usual stuff like laundry and dishes to do as well as about a zillion phone calls to make! J and I are overdue for dental cleanings (and he needs x-rays), and I hate hate hate going to the dentist. Also need to make lots of March for Babies fundraising calls. We are not even close to meeting our goal yet and I am bound and determined to get there! Wanna help?! Visit www.marchforbabies.org. Ok Time to put on my big girl panties and work on the house and phone calls. Wish me luck!!!