Memorial Day

What does Memorial Day mean to you? Do you celebrate the day? Is it a day to have a cookout or just a day off of work. It has a different meaning to many people. For me it's a day to reflect on what I have and to give thanks. While in the military the HMIC has had one of the hardest jobs, it not only affected him but the whole family. We now know what it truly means to give the ultimate sacrifice. What that sacrifice means and the effect it has on the ones that knew you and loved you. We all here of the numbers that have died but each number is an actual person with a family. The first family that the HMIC notified truly touched me. At the time the similarities between their family and ours were to many. Could I have been that strong or understanding? That is a question I hope I don't ever have to answer but many have. To all those families that we have known that have lost someone you will always be in my thoughts and prays. Days like today now have true meaning to my family. For those of you that have given, given all, and continue to give THANK YOU. Thank you for your sacrifice(s). For just going and doing what you are asked weather you agree or not knowing you might not return. For missing many birthdays, anniversaries, births and years of your families lives.

Solids

Look who's in a highchair! The Little Diva is ready for some solids.

We are trying applesauce for the first time.

I think I like that. Give me some more.

It doesn't matter how hard I try to keep her from growing, it keeps happening.

Random

1st- Lost is gone and with it still some questions left unanswered. The HMIC said it wouldn't be lost if it didn't leave me lost.
2nd- My computer is down and out. It has been attacked by a virus. Don't know where it came from. Although there is a certain other person in this household whose computer was also attacked by a virus a few months ago. So till the HMIC returns our computers well sit and wait for him to get cleaned up. The new computer should arrive soon and I will be up and going again. I did learn a lesson . Make sure to back up everything. Pictures, recipes and who knows what else gone!
3rd- My back-up has left. These two weeks flew by. It was nice not to do laundry, make dinner, clean, make my bed or pick up toys. I actually got dressed and put make up on more times than in the past three months. Now it's back to reality.
4th-I have lived here for four months now and have not been down to the beach at all. Every time I leave my neighborhood I think what a beautiful view, I'm only two miles away. So yesterday I took my aunt down there before she left. Here are a few pics. Not the greatest picture I took them with my phone. Yes I remembered to take the camera but I left it in the car and didn't feel like going to get it.

Isn't that a beautiful view.


The pre-teen wasn't to sure how close he wanted to get.


Took a walk by the water.


The water is still cold. We collected some rocks and shells forgot how peaceful it can be. I think we will go down there more often especially when school is out. Just to lay there and take a nap.

There's a quick wrap up of things here I probably won't be on till next week when I get the computer going.

Goodbye Lost

Tonight is the last episode of LOST. When it started I was lost. As of tonight I'm still lost. Hopefully all the questions will be answered and it won't leave us lost. I guess I will have to wait and see.

Blanket with Love

This cute little blanket is for my little diva. She loves having a blanket or burp rag by her face. I don't know why she just does. So I thought I'd try my hand at making one. Although this weekend I went to the orange county swap meet and they had a few there. I did buy one just in case mine didn't turn out. The one I bought was $15 and if I would of waited a few aisles down was one for $10, oh well(next week I will show you what I bought there). Like always it would of been cheaper just to buy one than make one but I already bought the stuff. So I started on my project then I thought let me take pictures. I had already cut out the fabric two pieces front and back. I made mine the size of her burp cloths. Then I determined where I wanted the ribbons and pinned them.

Once they were all pinned I sewed them on.

During this process I started having trouble with my sewing machine again. Yes I wanted to throw it out the door again. Since my mom is here she messed with it a bit and got it going. So I continued on my sewing little way. I put both pieces together and sewed them together.

Don't forget to leave an opening to turn it inside out.

Stitch up the opening. I then sewed them together right side out.

Now my blanket is done. Not perfectly straight but made with lots and lots of love.

The little diva feeling the love.

Happy Father's Day

My dad came into my life when I was 10. Yes, I already had a father but not a dad. When he married my mother he inherited two daughters. I am very thankful that my mother met him and he raised us. He has taught me many things. He taught me that you can disagree with your spouse and not involve the children. Till this day I have never seen my parents argue. I have seen them disagree but they have never argued in front of us.

One very important thing he has taught me is that love is a choice. He chose to love us as his daughters. Their has never been any difference between us and my brother. I have never felt any difference in his love for us all. He has never said these are my step daughters to him we are just his daughters. He has chosen to love his grandchildren and they see no difference in the love.

Sometimes people ask me what I think in a stepparent situation and I tell them I'm not the one to ask. My situation was different as the HMIC tells me. I don't understand why people treat the kids different preferring theirs. To me they are all kids and they should all be treated the same. I know not everyone feels the same but these are my feelings. He has taught me that no matter what happens in the future the HMIC and I will always be around for our kids together or not.

The greatest gift he has given me is love. That is also the greatest lesson I have learned. You can choose to love someone or not. How much you love them is up to you. Yes I know I was lucky to have found a dad and have him in my life. He is not my stepfather he is my DAD. The one that taught me what that was. The one that loves me no matter what. The one who wants the best for me. The one who doesn't judge me. I always say " Anyone can be a father but it takes a very special person to be a dad".

So to my DAD "HAPPY Father's day" you have taught me what a dad and unconditional love is all about. Thank you for choosing to be my dad! Love you much.

Potty Wars!!!

Let the battles begin!! I'm not very equipped to fight. My mom potty trained the teenager. He went down to visit for two weeks and came back trained. The pre-teen did it on his own. So now I'm fighting a war, that is new to me. I have tried stickers, m&m's, Diego undies, pull ups, two different kinds of potty's and still no luck. The little big boy just doesn't want to go to the potty. I've even tried bribing him with a coke. Yes, I'm starting to get desperate. Here he is sitting on the potty. He kept saying he was going to go potty for an m&m, two hours later still sitting there and nothing. Singing a potty song doesn't work and turning the water on doesn't work. The teenager showing him doesn't work. I'm starting to think this is a game to him and right now I don't have two hours to sit there to see if he will go. Is he trying to hold on to the last baby thing he has? Is it cause the HMIC is not here and he wants no changes? Should I wait till the HMIC gets back. I have no clue! Too bad I can't just send him to potty training classes. So I guess I will keep fighting the potty war and hope it doesn't last long. But by the ways things are looking it will be a long one.

Wordless Wednesday!!!

New Look

Finally decided to take the plug. I needed a new look and hair color to cover up lots of grays. The girl was only thinking she was going to cut off a few inches but I knew it was time for something new. So when I told her I didn't care what she did as long as I wasn't blond she got excited. So I donated it to locks of love and off it went just like that over 20 inches. She kept asking me how I felt. I told her I was fine with it. I was tired of looking like an old frumpy looking mom. The little big boy said," I looked pretty". The pre-teen said, "now if you wear make-up you will look like a mom that goes out and not one at home". Don't know if that is a good or bad thing? The teenager didn't like it at all. I guess they weren't ready for a change.

Flying By

This deployment is flying by so far. Two months down five to go. My face looks like I was in High School full of pimples. My hair has more grays than my mother's. Stress is not my friend it's not nice to me. If there weren't so many river cities(communication is cut and something has happened) I wouldn't be so stressed. But like the HMIC says someone has to be there. So as long as he's there and things are hot, my face and hair will be a mess. Good thing time is flying by.

Help and The Jumping Bean

Help has arrived! My house has been clean for two days straight, not just 15 minutes. The last time my whole house was this clean was pre-baby. Every room in the house is clean(Mom Clean) okay almost every room. The only out of control room is my closet. I think the boys are scared of Tia Chita. She told the boys to keep their room clean and guess what they have. I wonder why that doesn't work for me. It's been nice to have someone clean your house and do all your laundry. I could get use to this.

The little big boy has turned into a jumping bean. He jumps from sofa to sofa to the floor. From my bed to the floor to the chair and back. He is constantly jumping off of something or on to something. This is what I saw when I went to give the little diva her bottle.

Then while trying to jump from the chair to the changing table this happened.

I think I have another full load of laundry.

Popcorn Moco!!!

The little big boy is the one that keeps me on my toes. Last night I was getting him ready for bed and he kept poking his nose. I asked him if he had a bugger and he said yes. So I checked only it wasn't a bugger, it was a popcorn kernel. Why do little boys feel like they have to put things in their nose? I remember pulling a M&M out of a certain pre-teen's nose when he was the same age. No wonder my head is full of gray hairs!!

Pizza Anyone

Every Saturday is pizza night and we try to watch a movie every other weekend. I was just buying the Digornio pizzas which meant I had absolutely no cooking or prep to do. Then I decided we should just make them instead. So I started making the pizza dough myself using the Pioneer Woman's recipe. Her bbq pizza is very good as well. This week I tried making a spinach alfredo pizza. I made the alfredo sauce from here and what I didn't use I will use later this week. I bought a rotisserie chicken took it apart used half for the pizzas and put the other half away for later this week. On one pizza I just put chicken, spinach, mozzarella cheese and sauce. On the other I put chicken, spinach, mushrooms, red onions, mozzarella cheese and sauce. They came out pretty good. At first the kids were complaining that they just wanted a plain pepperoni pizza but after they tasted it the complaining stopped. So I made two meals at one time. The pizzas on Saturday and pasta with alfredo sauce for another day.

An Ordinary Mother's Day

When I thought about my mother's day, I knew it would end up being an ordinary day here. I would still clean up after the kids and spend my day cleaning and cooking. When I went to bed I couldn't sleep thinking how lucky I am this mother's day. I will spend my day doing what I do everyday. For that reason this makes me lucky and my day very special. My previous thoughts on this day have disappeared and I consider my day blessed. You might be wondering why my feelings changed from one moment to the next and I will tell you.

Today I talked to the HMIC. I hadn't heard from him in a while and I knew why. I guess being a military wife kind of numbs you a bit after a while. Usually when I don't hear from him in a quick email or my emails are put on hold or sent back it usually means communication has been cut off. For those of you who don't know what that means well it means a family is going to be notified that their loved one has been injured or passed away. Well this week was one of those weeks and I finally heard from him. So this mother's day their are three more mother's out there grieving for their son(s) or daughter(s) and all they were hoping for was a quick call or email telling them they were doing fine and that would of been the best gift the could of ever received. But instead they got the knock on the door that they were praying would never come. Maybe one of them was a mother or married. Now some children will learn that their parent isn't coming home. Maybe one is a mother who had to find a way to tell her children the news and knows their isn't anything she can do to take her kids pain away. I'm sure they would trade all of this for a second of ordinary. They would love to spend the day cleaning up after the kids and cooking like every other day. Moments like this put my life into perspective. So this Mother's Day I will not complain or feel like my ordinary is a chore. Instead I will enjoy every moment of my ordinary day and make sure that I take a little time with each of my kids. I hope you do the same.

Happy Mother's Day and treasure your ordinary!!

Where have I been?

I know it's been a week but it's been a chaotic one. Lately I was feeling like I was in a Funk. You know that feeling when you only want to be in bed and not get dressed. Only I didn't have the privilege of being in a full Funk. I still had to get out of bed everyday. That was hard because just like your favorite yoga pants you never want to take off well that's how my bed feels. Also I had to get dressed even if I didn't want too. I just wanted to stay in my pj's for a day or two. Was that too much to ask for? Part of my Funk is due to my hair loss. I usually lose hair after the birth of my kids but this time it's to an extreme. As you saw in the picture that is every time I wash my hair. Not to include what falls off when I style it or what gets pulled out by the little Diva. So I have a few bald spots and thinning hair. I try to go as many days as I can without washing it. That way I don't have to see all that hair falling off everyday.

The pre-teen turned 12. We didn't have a party since the HMIC isn't here. I told the pre-teen no party this year. I will bake you the cake you want then we will go out to eat. He said he wanted brownies. I baked him brownies and he decided to invite the whole neighborhood over to sing to him and to have a brownie. Just like him, he always has to make everything a big deal. So I had alot of kids in my house all ages, some I have never seen before. So we sang and had brownies with ice cream. He picked Applebee's so we went.

During the weekend I ran around. Had these dresses made for the little diva. They were ready so I got up and went to get them. All I wanted to do was sleep in but that was the only time I had a chance to go.

Then I went to the Queen Bee Market. The little Diva and I had some mother and daughter time. While we were there she told me she needed a few things. She got some cute little shoes, a messy flower and a felt flower. I also went to mall. I didn't plan on going it was fate. On my way home I thought I would go a different route. Got lost(I like to call it sight seeing) and ended up next to the mall. So I thought why not. For my birthday/ mother's day I bought me some converses two pairs. I thought about a sewing machine, a kitchenaid mixer, a coach purse(I love me some purses) but at the end the shoes won out. They look cute and make me feel less soccer mom. After all that retail therapy guess what, I'm out of my Funk. I guess that's all I need time away from the boys.

This is how out of it I am most of the time. With the boys I try to tune everything out. All the yelling and fighting. Half of the time I'm just going through the motions. On Monday I got up early again(still wishing I could sleep in) got myself and the kids ready. The little diva had her 4 month check up. We got there a little late trying to get there or anywhere on time is a joke. *Note to self do not make any morning appointments again!! Now let me explain: the kids doctor is 45 minutes away and that's only if there is no traffic. I know it's far but when we moved I refused to switch doctor's. Our insurance was putting our primary care at the Naval Hospital. There was no way I was going to let people practice on my kids. So I argued, sent letters and somehow got approved to stay where I was at. Maybe if they would of let me pick a doctor out in town then I would of reconsidered. Now let me clear something up. Some of the doctor's on base are great but hard to find. Then when you finally find them either you or they get transferred. So with that being said back to my story. When I finally arrive to the doctor's office and checked in they tell me my appointment is till tomorrow. What are you kidding me!!! They weren't and I would have to make the whole trip again the next day. So with time to kill I did some more retail therapy. Yes it make me feel better. The next day we make the trip again. Let me tell you how I'm the greatest mother. The doctor asked if I had given her any meds. I told her I had given her Tylenol since she was getting vaccines. She asked me if I had made sure it wasn't on the recall list. I must of had a big question mark on my face because she asked me if I knew Tylenol had been recalled. Since I usually don't have time to watch T.V. I had no idea. Guess what my Tylenol was recalled. Now wheres my great mom award. Later that night after her appt. her bottom lip turned purple. I knew she didn't hit herself so I wasn't sure where it came from. The next day I called her doctor to see what they thought might of caused it. And you guessed it, they told me to take her in as soon as I could get there. So I got the kids dressed again and just threw on my shoes. Yes I went in my comfy yoga pants. After she got seen they said it is probably because she sucked on her bottom lip to hard. So that made three trips in three days and no more gas. So I'm not going to use my SUV anymore, I will be using the civic.

Now my house is a mess, we are behind on laundry and I still can't get out to the grocery store. So the pre-teen has been stealing the HMIC's undies and we will be have ramen noodles for dinner tonight.

However there is an end in sight. This week I received some very very good news. It looks like re-enforcements are on there way. Hooray!! My mom and aunt will be coming for two weeks. The only thing going through my head is" I'm so excited and I just can't hide I'm about to lose control and I think I like o yeah." I have such big plans. Maybe I can sleep in(a day or two), or my laundry get washed, dried and put away or I can schedule that doctor appt that is long over due or the dentist appt or get my hair done (it's been over a year) or I can sit in my craft room and disappear for a day or go somewhere and not worry about the boys killing each other or not do all the baby feedings or not worry about dinner or my floors might get cleaned or my house might look clean for longer than 20 minutes or maybe I will be able to try sewing again or start exercising or maybe just maybe I might be able to breathe. Hey maybe the good news is what got me out of my Funk and it wasn't the retail therapy. But that felt good too.

The pre-teen is getting an award tomorrow and he just told me about today. So it looks like I will be up early again and trying to make it to the school by 7 am. Why do they have things so early? Well I hope I caught you up. As I sit here the boys are doing what they do best fighting and I'm about to finish a bag of sour patch kids all by myself. Stress makes me eat candy. Well I'm off the little diva wants a bottle.

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Should be wordless so I will fill you in tomorrow!!