Bead Bracelets

This was a good craft for the pre teen. The teenager could not pull himself away from the xbox to join us. Not so much for the little big boy. He required alot of help from mom. I threaded and he picked the beads.

We bought different color beads at wal-mart and elastic cord. Measured each wrist, picked the beads and got to work.

We've seen alot of kids wearing these. Thought it would keep them busy while they made their own.

Garage Door

I have a bad habit of leaving my garage open. When the HMIC is here he always makes sure it's closed. If my mind wasn't all over the place maybe I'd remember. Half of the things I forget or remember when it's to late.



This happened the last time he was deployed. Most Caco calls come in at night. Thanks to the time difference. So I knew if anything happened I would be notified at night. One night around 4 in the morning I was awaken to my doorbell and knock. During their deployment you don't want any knock at your door during the night hours especially. At that moment I had hundreds of feelings coming through me. Do I answer it? What if? I just wanted to stay in bed and not get up. I didn't want to deal with it. Of course everything that I had envisioned as the worst case scenario was happening. Then I heard the PRE TEEN (who wasn't a pre teen at the time) get up. So I knew I had to beat him to the door. How could I let him answer the door. This wasn't the way I had planned it in my head. The kids wouldn't be around. I would tell them myself and later. Knowing that he was headed towards the door I jumped out of bed and ran to the door. Where I stood for a few seconds which felt like eternity. I was getting sick to my stomach. I knew I had to be pulled together and not lose it. The pre teen was now watching me. How was I going to do this? The way I had planned was a little different. In my plan I had a little time to lose it, then pull myself together. Alot of the time you as the mom have to be the one that knows everything. We set the tone for the kids. Losing it in front of the kids was not an option. As my doorbell rang again I knew the time had come for me to answer it. I couldn't begin to tell you the way I was feeling at that moment. When I opened the door and saw who it was finally able to breathe. The only thing I could say was "Oh it's just you". I'm sure that's not something he hears alot. It was a police officer. Then I followed with my husband is deployed and your not what I was expecting. He was nice enough to stop while on patrol to tell me to close my garage. Which at this time I would of rather he hadn't. He said your husband has alot of expensive stuff in there wouldn't want it to get stolen. And then he was gone. I had never been so happy to see a cop in my life. Now I didn't have to play out the scene in my head for the world to see. Yet those feelings that were brought out were still there. The reality of where he was and what could happen were all to real. So needless to say I didn't sleep the rest of the night. Once again I'm reminded of where he is just like that. Telling myself he's working and that's his job. Not trying to focus on anything else if I did I wouldn't be able to be a MOM.

My mom told me they were interviewing a widow of a soldier. He did not die at war but when he returned in an accident. She said the lady was very put together, not the composure she was expecting. I told her it's because in our(military wives) heads we have already acted out the worst case scenario. We already had those feeling. We already put ourselves in that situation. Sure it didn't happen while he was deployed, but she had already been waiting for the other shoe to fall off. Before they leave we always have the talk. What do you want to happen if you don't return? How do you want your service to be? What do you want to happen to you stuff? I'm sure alot of people haven't had this talk. And some if you have probably not that detailed. This is just another part of this military life, part of his job. You have to deal with the possibility of doing it alone. You have to deal with alot of emotions that you probably don't want to. You always sleep with one eye open. In return you never have a good nights sleep. Till the day they return you finally sleep.

This is just what came up and I thought about when I noticed I had slept with the garage open. I didn't think "oh I left the garage door open", I remembered that night. Then thought I didn't want a repeat performance so try harder not to leave the door open again. At least not while he's gone.

Chalkboard

BEFORE

This mirror is a leftover from a dresser I no longer have. It was on my mantel in Texas till this came along.

That was a SURPRISE Christmas gift for the HMIC from me. Guess who was more surprised?? I was when I saw some guys carrying a big box into our house. Now this is always up and center for the world to see.

Back to the mirror. Since then I've had this mirror in the closet. I've always wanted a chalkboard wall. But like I've said before I don't really feel like painting the wall just to have to primer back. Maybe if I knew I would be here longer. Then along came the mirror calling out to me. Didn't know if it was going to work. Then I thought "what's the worse thing that can happen it not work". Of to work I got priming it, putting a few coats of chalkboard paint, and painting the mirror. And there you have it a chalkboard!! Now where to put it.

AFTER

Summer Summer Go Away

AAGGGGHHHH!! The only things I like about this summer is no homework(last minute projects) and sleeping in an extra two hours. Other than that I hate this summer!!

• I love it when the boys are in school.
• I love the quite.
• I love the peace.
• I love my time to myself.
• I love to have time for the little ones.
• I love having a few hours of a clean house.

My summer is filled with fighting, arguing, whining, crying, yelling, backtalk, questions(what's for breakfast, lunch, dinner), taxi service and it just keeps going and going with no interruptions. My favorite part of my day(s) is bedtime. Knowing that I will get a few hours of peace to try to recoup for the next day.

Don't know if this would of been the same summer with the HMIC here. Or maybe the boys are pushing everything to the limits. Or they are taking there feelings out on one another and me. By now I am feeling the stress of this summer. The only thing playing in my head is " I'm about to lose my mind up in here up in here" and it plays over and over.

It doesn't help having a child that takes you having a little extra patience. You know that one special child of yours that knows how to push them buttons. That can have you seeing red in an instance. The one that makes you take deep breathes so you can try to stay calm.

There is still a month till school starts and that day can come soon enough. I wish I could close my eyes and open them to the first day of school. Summer please hurry and be over. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. I'm sure there are some grandparents out there missing their grandchildren. Aren't there??

New Handyman

My regular go to handyman has been replaced for now. Doesn't have as much experience as my previous handyman but gets the job done. This new handyman doesn't ask for anything in return(can you bring me a glass of water or can you find the stuff). He just wants the experience all he needs is a little supervision.

Bedroom

Here's the final look! I hung the shutters up and put the letters on them.

Guess who's side is which?

They add color to the beige walls. Trying really hard not to paint here. Now a days they let you paint in military housing but when you leave you have to primer everything back. When it wasn't allowed I was painting everything. Now it's allowed and I'm not(you go figure).

Tried to take a picture with both sides but this was the best I could do. Now I have to work on the other side of our room.

*If your wondering why the lamps are at the end of the nightstands let me show you.

The HMIC will need the space for his little machine when he gets home. Don't know what to do with all that sexyness?

Wordless Wednesday!!!

7 months today and the Little Diva got shots. The teenager cried for her.

Shutters

These shutters have been with me for a few years now. Bought them for $12 each at some craft store in Texas. I had painted them this minty color for the Little Diva's room. I hung them up and tied the diaper bag to one. It looked pretty cute. Since she no longer has a room since the move. I thought I would use them again. So I set them up on my nightstands for a while. Just trying to figure out if I was or wasn't gonna use them. Finally I got an idea and set out for some paint. I had a color in mind but when I got to the store it looked alot different. So I bought two sample colors. Still didn't know which color I wanted to use. So I painted some of each color on each shutter. After a day I decided just to go with the original color I had gone for. Why not? If it didn't work I could just paint over it.

BEFORE

AFTER

The color looks a little light in the picture. That's probably because of my camerae and it's nighttime when I took the picture. The paint color and technique are from here.

*Am loving the color!!

Freezer Paper

Finally tried out the freezer paper. Followed this tutorial except I used some fabric paint. Next time I will try it with spray paint seems so much easier. My first thought was to put our initials on them but since I found the letters had to come up with something else. The little diva has a nice print on her boppy that I thought would work.

So I traced it and followed the tutorial.

Woollaahh this is what I ended up with.
I have one more project to show you. Then I will show you where I put the letters and the shades.

Yet Another Night from Hell!!

I have decided to put the pre-teen on a bigger and on the ground bed. He currently sleeps on a loft bed. Yet lately I have seen him sleep anywhere but his bed. So we cleaned up his room, took pictures and listed his furniture for sale. Then I saw a good deal on a dresser. On my way to pick up the dresser I realized I had to feed my kids first. Then I had company and I'm wishing they would hurry up so I could leave. Finally I'm leaving with the little big boy whaling cause he wants to go but can't go because I don't have the car seat in the HMIC's truck and I'm not about to move it. Realized the truck really needed gas only a few miles till empty. It took three gas stations to find diesel. By now my getting upset since it's already 8:30. Some guy tells me I really need air in my tire. So I try to put air. That takes me about an hour. Yes I said an hour or more. I've never had to put air in the tires that's what I have the HMIC for. So there I am trying to put air and no air is going in. I buy an air pressure thingy and it's still not showing that I put anything in. Finally I give up and put gas. Luckily some guy in a big truck puts gas next to me. So I asked him if it still looked like it needed air. He said," yes lots". So I go back to put more air. He came over to give me a hand and told me the hose wasn't going to work with my truck. So it would be impossible to get any air in. No wonder I never got any air in the tire. Didn't anyone of the 50 guys I saw thought to come and see if I needed help. Of course not, then the teenager says "if you were skinnier and dressed differently I bet someone would've helped you out". Really I didn't see him trying to help either. So the tired, no having time to get dressed let alone fix your hair, fluffy mom gets no sympathy from anyone. Then I leave for yet another gas station to put air. During this time I had the teenager email the HMIC to call me. Knowing he would be at work by then. Of course he calls and asks whats going on. Then I let him have it, I hate your truck, why did you leave it with a messed up tire and so on and so on. So I try to put air again while he's on the phone telling me "why do I hear air coming out". I'm yelling "I have no idea". Then he's yelling at me telling me he can't believe I don't know how to put air in the tire. By now I'm really pissed off, I'm sweating, I still haven't gone for the dresser and the teenager is just sitting in the truck. He finally gets off and the HMIC says "have him do it". The teenager says is it like putting air in my bike the HMIC says yes. Guess what happens next? You guessed it the teenager puts air in the tires. I asked him why didn't he ever get out to try to help while I was yelling. His response was it was funnier watching you from inside the truck. Then the HMIC says I have to get back to work and hangs up. I started laughing wondering what everyone there was thinking about when he was calling home because his wife can't put air in the tire. Later I received an email saying" How does the wife of a bad a** mechanic not know how to put air in a tire?". To which I replied "that's why she doesn't know how". Finally I arrived to my destination. The dresser was upstairs and heavy. The staircase was as tight as, well I'll just leave it at that it was tight. We managed to get it to the truck and bring it home. Where it still waits 2 days later in the truck. Hopefully I can get to it this week. All of this for this dresser and now I'm thinking of just swapping the boys rooms around.

Letters

Found these at Ross for $10 each. Saw the A and thought they won't have the M. Sure enough they had the M, I knew it was meant to be. So they came home with me. For a while they just sat on our nightstands. Did know exactly what I wanted to do with them. Finally I came up with something. First I knew the color wouldn't work. A little spray paint later and now they are perfect.


Before

After

I will show you later this week where they ended up.

Just A Conversation

Just a conversation between The Little Big Boy and I.


Me: You need to take a bath
Him: nope
Me: Yes you need to take a bath
Him: Nope no thanks
Me: So we can go somewhere
Him: oh I need to take a bath. I need goldfish and pretzels.
Me: okay let's go
Him: I need to play a game first


And just like that he was gone!!

Slacker

Time to start making myself accountable for myself and my actions. Enough slacking off just because its summer and the HMIC isn't home.

NO MORE slacking on the rules (what rules)
NO MORE slacking on the housework (clean?)
NO MORE slacking on my weight (gained 5lbs)
NO MORE slacking on exercising (start)
NO MORE slacking on projects (20+)
NO MORE slacking on parenting (letting things slide)
NO MORE slacking on our schedule (we have one?)
NO MORE slacking on when bedtime is (lately 12-2)
NO MORE slacking on sleeping in (lately 10-12)
NO MORE slacking on allowing more than one lazy day per week (not a week)
NO MORE slacking in the looks department (oh I have to get out of my pj's and shower)

So as of today I will stop all these things that I have slacked on and get my crap together. No wonder nothing ever goes as planned I've been a huge slacker in every department. Time for things to get back to semi-normal.

Today I am making it MY mission to get showered and dressed! I will take myself to one of my favorite stores. Buy some stuff to knock out some projects and start working on them.

Wish me luck!!! (because I need it)

Gloom

Dear Mr. Gloom,



I writing you this letter to see if you received the memo. You no longer have to work overtime! If you haven't noticed we are well into July. You no longer have to put in all those long hours that were required in June. This month you are expect to come in only in the mornings and late late afternoon. So go ahead start taking it easy and don't work to hard. You wouldn't want to do all that work and not get appreciated. Do us all a favor and start slacking off. You can put in longer hours after the summer months. For know take it easy and enjoy the sun while you can.



Sincerely,

Mrs. I Need Some Sun

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Deployment Blues!!!

This deployment is starting to wear on The Little Big Boy. He had a melt down because I didn't take him with me. He has to know where I'm at 24/7. I don't think I can fart without him being there to smell it. I know that's a little to much but that's how I feel. The Little Big Boy yelled at me to not leave without him anymore while he was crying hysterically. He said he thought I wasn't coming home. My thought was really not come home(not that I haven't wanted to runaway at times). Trying not to let it wear me down as well, is having it's moments. Then I saw as picture of the HMIC on their facebook page. Thought it would be nice for the Little Big Boy to see him and where he's working at. He said it wasn't his dad. Don't know if he didn't think it looked like him or he's not remembering. So later we tried to skype but of course it didn't work. Although the HMIC could see and hear us for a whole 28 seconds. They are trying to set Internet up for them but everyone wants to plug in as well so it's slow and always cutting out. It can get frustrating but something is better than nothing.
Don't get me wrong I have had some moments myself. I like to be in control of everything. That's just me. I like to plan everything, I don't like surprises, or not knowing whats next or a messy house(that's all my house has been lately). So when my day doesn't go like I planned and one thing after another goes wrong I start getting very anxious like I can't breathe. And I had one of those days last week. I hate being in a hurry or pressured to be somewhere. But last week was my week to be taxi. Hopefully the other parent remembers it's their week this week. The teenager has football practice just about the whole summer break. I guess that's how they are number one you always practice. But back to my story! I had one thing after another go wrong. I even had a half way cooked dinner on the stove that never got finished. The icing on the cake came when I almost tripped and my nail came up. By then I thought I was going to lose it!! And I did the HMIC called I told him about my day and nail he said it would be okay to just put a band aid on it. Then I started crying, for one little second I wanted someone to take care of me!! Just for one second. When he started to change the subject I yelled at him "Don't you hear me I'm crying". Of course he didn't say anything and after a few seconds I felt better. I just wanted to be heard. Then I just pulled myself together and back to business. If only the kids would act normal things wouldn't be as bad. But in there own words "If dad was here we wouldn't be acting this way". REALLY why does DAD have to be here for them to listen? HELLO don't they hear the hundred times I tell them to settle down or stop fighting!!! Has anyone figured out why my remote doesn't work? I'm telling you the fast forward and pause buttons don't work. There I go again wandering off! Back to the story. I finally just got the nerve and pulled the nail off. And the day after that was not any better!! I really give credit to them single moms who have kids, work and do it all.

Korker Bows

I've been making these korker bows for the Little Diva. My first try at them was a big mess. My sister said to bake them at 375 for 25 minutes. Well she thought that's what it was but it's not. I had brown crispy burnt ribbon, dowels, and cloth pins. Let's also add that I forgot about them and that didn't help either.
So I turned to U TUBE for instructions. It's 25 minutes with your oven set at 275.

You just need dowels and clothes pins. I bought my dowels at Wal-Mart. There's a package with different sizes. I like mine with all different variety of sizes in the bow. You can just buy a long dowel and cut it up. Wrap the ribbon up on the dowel secure both sided with a cloth pin and bake. I bought one of these silver things to bake mine in. That way it's always clean and I keep my dowels and pins in it.

When they have cooled I cut the ribbon in 3 inch pieces and seal the ends.

I use a lighter for this.

Take some a needle and thread and thread the pieces together.
Depending how big you want it. I like her bows to be really full so I use 20-30 pieces. Since she pulls her bows off I thread it a few times and then I loop it around a few time. You can then get fancy and glue ribbon around your clip. But like I said she pulls on them so I glue and sew the clip on.
WALLAH you have a korker bow.

Hope you were able to follow I'm lousey at directions. I've heard you can put starch on the ribbon when you bake to help keep it stiff. I haven't tried this since my Little Diva puts it in her mouth.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Hope everyone is having a great day of Bar-B-Q's and relaxing!!




As for the HMIC I hope you enjoyed your 1/2 a day off!! Thanks for being there so your kids can enjoy themselves here!!

Front Porch Facelift

It all started with this red dresser.

Here on base they have something similar to craigslist. It's known as bookoo. On there is where I found this little beauty. When I saw it I had to have it. Didn't know where it was going just knew I had to have it. So off I went to pick it up. Not knowing where it was going, I left it outside till I figured it out.Well the longer it stayed there the more I liked it there. So it found it's new home on the porch.

The kids put toys and there helmets in it. It looks cute and has a purpose. Where it was placed at first was not doing it justice. It need to be center stage. The front porch has a new look, things have been moved around.

Life is better on the porch. Especially when your sitting there having a margarita. Here is it's new look.

The pics probably would of looked better if it was sunny outside. Here in Cali were in June gloom so I didn't want to wait for a sunny period.