We spent our favorite summer holiday with our very dear friends. The kids had so much fun, and Logan, too. It was a such a welcome break in our day to day. Some geocaching, food, drinks, fireworks, and a parade were had by all. We are for sure going to miss these guys when we move to Europe next April!
I’m not quite sure exactly what it is, but I’m gettin it back! Deployment can be rough on the stuff that makes you, you. It’s hard to keep the routine we had before the man of the house left. Hard to keep up with the things that I used to have time to do before the new world of ‘single’ motherhood took over. Mojo. I’m takin it by the horns!
History. We learn from it, we mourn it, we rejoice in it.
Last night, it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed by Americans. This is what we have wanted for almost 10 years. This is what we have fought for, died for for just as long. So, why does my heart feel so heavy? I wonder if it’s because my husband is in the midst of it all, or if it is just the unknown and confusion of what this means and what it may bring. Already worried about retaliation, this can’t be the end. I never thought I would have any personal weight in this war. I never thought 10 years ago sitting in my seventh grade classroom, that I would someday endure a huge sacrifice for this ‘war on terrorism’. Now, while everyone around the world seems to be rejoicing, I can’t help but be terror-stricken myself. What will happen to my husband? I don’t feel very patriotic, and I don’t feel cut out for the military life. I don’t want to sacrifice my family or my husband for this cause. Whether that makes me good,bad, selfish, I don’t know.
Yesterday was such an awesome day, we had beautiful weather, a good run, positive attitudes all around.
Today…was a different tale…and here’s the proof.
My coffee mug says it all…”BLAH”.
So, for D’s birthday coming up soon, as in the end of this month, I have been working on a little magic to help him celebrate. The first being…this blog. He’s always been the one telling me to start one. So I will be promptly presenting this to him most likely in email form so that he can click on the link and enjoy all the goodness that should ensue. The other thing I did today was bake him a “cake in a jar” to send, along with some frosting and a whoopie cushion. Yes, I’m sending him a whoopie cushion for his birthday. I don’t know, it sounded good. To be honest, he wants an iPad 2. Buuuut, Dave Ramsey suggests otherwise. If you know what I mean. So, I settled on some goodies and a cake in a jar. Oh and a rockin’ birthday card. I always make my own, and they’re always interesting to say the least but it’s made full of love. You know when your in the cool kids club when you get one of those! So here’s a little sneak peak at some magic in the making:
That was my attempt at a ‘man’ card! Ha!
I figured a box cake would be best since it already has a million preservatives that if I messed up the seal on the jar, it will still be preserved until it reaches destination??? Let’s hope! I can’t wait to dress those bad boys up and send ’em off! D will love it! I’m obviously including frosting, a fork, and candles!
Note: If it’s not obvious enough…my only camera right now is my iPhone. Our Nikon’s bit the dust. Dave won’t let me buy a new one. I did buy an app for a ‘better’ camera on the iPhone, but I’m afraid I wasted ninety-nine cents.
So, we were practicing for the Easter dash. Gotta get ’em started young!
Okay, not really. J just likes to put his chalk in his bucket and carry it around with him everywhere.
Today was beautiful! Full of fun in the sun…kind of. The sun sort of blipped in and out all day, but it was welcomed with open arms and smiles around here. We’ve been cooped up far too long! Today I thought a lot about how blessed I really am. I tend to complain, kind of a lot. Never really out loud, (although, I’m sure D could argue that!) but inside I say things to myself like, “wouldn’t you know it?!” or “figures!” every time something frustrating happens. Like the other morning when I spilled my morning cereal all over the carpet, or a couple weeks ago when Logan decided to throw up randomly on the living room floor, or like today, when I forgot to use my coupons at the grocery store, and realized as I was walking OUT of the store. No way was I going back in there! In all reality, I am so beyond blessed to have a husband who loves me and lets me stay home with my other blessing, Jude, a beautiful home, a yard to play in, a garden to grow, friends who care, family who care even more, money to buy groceries with every month, a brand new car, and more than I probably ever deserve! I really needed to step back today and realize, it could be so much worse! The whole budget fiasco/government shut-down in combination with Obama being a not-so-hot President, and worrying about the future has really gotten me into a huge fit the last couple of weeks. I realized today how much that was taking away from the beauty of life and truly enjoying the here and now. I need to stop worrying and complaining and plain being mad at everything out there that I can’t control because they are not going to be things I want to remember ten years from now. I want to remember the fun Jude and I had outside today. I want to remember our first-ever veggie garden that we are starting. I want to remember the book I read on the porch this morning. And I want to remember the middle of the night phone call I get from my husband, while he is away. So, here’s to a much more positive outlook than I’ve had the past few weeks! :)
D called at about 1:30 in the morning, and although I was groggy and weirdly giggling the whole time, it was great! :D Love you babe!
Okay, now to get through these holidays that I oh-so-lazily did not post about so I can get caught up on more recent events. My favorite holiday! CHRISTMAS! It was so, so perfect. This year, for a number of reasons, we decided to stay home. Just the three of us. Not that I need to list them but here are those reasons:
1. This is the last Christmas D will be with us for a couple years (the big D (eployment) yuck).
2. We traveled and spent waaaay too much for Thanksgiving (but it was worth it! :))
3. All of my family was pretty much staying in their own homes for Christmas this year anyway, so it was a perfect time for us to do so, also!
This was the first year I, personally, had ever experienced such a small Christmas (only three people present!) and I was nervous that it would be…boring. Yes, I know that sounds horrible, but it’s true. However, much to my very pleasant surprise, it was one of the best and most memorable Christmases ever. I don’t think I’ll forget it any time soon. We didn’t take very many pictures, but that was part of the beauty of it, I wasn’t even worried about that or even bugging D to take pictures over and over again like I usually do. Although, I was cooking pretty much non-stop on Christmas Eve and the morning of Christmas (after opening presents). That was worth it too. We ate like Kings (well, King, Queen, and little Prince, more like it). Christmas Eve we I forgot all about my lunatic healthy, organic fare and we all indulged in roasted lil’ smokies covered in bbq in the mini crock, homemade caramel corn that D and I made together and Eggnog in wine glasses. The wine glasses were my christmas eve gift :)
And for Christmas dinner I prepared (a.k.a. made from scratch! and yes, very proud, thank you) the following: Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lemon-thyme bruschetta, deviled eggs, shrimp & cocktail sauce, pigs in a blanket all for the hor dourves and then chicken pot pie as the main entree (minus the chicken, so really veggie pot pie), which was probably the best dish of the day, sweet potato casserole, garlic mushroom roast, herbed dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, and of course we also had eggnog and champagne. Recipes were mostly from my favorite food blogs: Joy The Baker and Smitten Kitchen. Thanks girlies! After we opened presents, we pretty much just ate and hung out and watched christmas movies all day long. It was so beyond perfect. I can’t say that enough. And I think one of the best things was that we were in our own home where J could take a nap when he needed, destroy when he needed and play when he wanted without me having to even worry a single bit. heaven.
This year we got lucky! The tail end of November we had a snowstorm and on the third day of non-stop-huge-snowflake snowing, we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot in our backyard. Things didn’t go quite as planned, even though, ‘plan’, we did. I got Jude snuggled up in multiple layers while simultaneously dressing and make-up-ing while D ran outside and set up the tripod and camera, perfecting the angle and focus and such. We got outside and all set up when exactly two minutes later, J decides that he had had enough. And displayed his disdain for the whole idea quite well..er…loudly. So, we decided to run back inside warm up for about ten minutes and then try again. The second time wasn’t any more successful. Can you blame the boy though? I mean his parents are forcing a photo shoot in single degree weather. Cold! No, actually, freezing. We got about two good pictures. Not very successful, but then D and I went back outside when the little snowball went to sleep for his afternoon nap and had our own fun little photo shoot together. Here are the precious outtakes, our “real” Christmas picture to come in a near-future post.
By this time we were just starting to turn crazy from the extreme weather
Although our impromptu planning didn’t actually go quite as ‘planned’ I know we’ll cherish these imperfect moments for years to come (oh, and don’t even worry, we totally photoshopped that darn ugly fence out of our “real” Christmas picture).
We flew to my Grandpa Ron’s in Tennessee for Thanksgiving this year. I always love visiting them, it’s always lots of laughs, good, healthy food and relaxation. We had tons of fun. My parents and all my brothers and sisters were there as well, which always means a crowd and unending help with Jude, which is a vacation in and of itself. We had the usual good food (from my grandma Angelita’s garden, of course) pies, turkey, sparkling cider, potatoes, stuffing, and ate without abandon. Ahhhh, Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving Dinner (minus my main man as he was taking the picture)
a little sweet potatoe pie
the "littles" sam, sara, wyatt
these two are great pals!
A Thanksgiving to remember!
Hey Jude 