Designamosiac.com

I have found this incredible site. It allows you to create a mosiac of any of your pictures that you wish & allows you to pick out your main background picture as well. I thought the prices were very reasonable for such a nice gift. It even allows you to see your product & make any changes you want before it's printed & shipped. This is the link to our mosaic: http://www.designamosaic.com/15634. Check it out& let me know what you think!

A little girls heartache

I am at an absolute loss. I have this beautiful little girl whose heart I believe is hurting. She's really struggling with Charlie's crazy schedule & it's showing. She ask each of us daily "if Daddy is coming home today" & recently asked him if he would stop flying helicopters so he could be home with her more. I've tried to be very careful & find that balance of avoiding the word "miss" when he's gone while acknowleding her feelings at the same time. She's a spunky and incredibly bright 3 1/2 year old who feels more in her heart than she has words for. Last night while Charlie & I were at the pre-deployment brief & the kids were home with the sitter she started crying unprovked & ran out the front door - TWICE! She has never done that before. She's feeling insecure & as her mother it breaks my heart. I am at an absolute loss.

A beautiful bouquet, what's the catch?

My darling husband took the time out of his very busy workday yesterday to bring me these beautiful flowers. I thanked him for the flowers & then it hit me, oh no, it's the middle of the day, what's going on? I panicked & spew out "Oh no you are deploying early aren't you?" He looks at me kind of funny, smiles and says, "No I just want to brighten your day." How blessed I am.

Story People

You may have noticed my numerous quotes from Story People recently. It's almost an addiction. If you don't know what Story People is it's this couple who creates art, but not just any art, hilarious art. Truly funny things. But you have to have "that" kind of sense of humor. Not everyone gets it. It's often times dry & sarcastic, but always hilarious. There is nothing less fun than watching someone read a Story People only to have them turn & look at you with a "I don't get it, but your laughing so I should laugh too" look on their face, while you are indeed roaring at the genious of it all.

I've subscribed to their "Story People of the Day" & am always excited to see what awaits me in my inbox. This was todays . . .

I saw Jacques Cousteau at the grocery store in L.A. once & I watched to see what he would buy, but he only got corn chips & some shoelaces & I don't know what I expected, but I would've settled for a can of chunk light tuna even.

Some of you may be scratching your heads. Some of you may be laughing right along with me. I hope it's the latter for everyone! You can check out their website at http://www.storypeople.com/ Go & enjoy a great laugh.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

I'm not even sure if you are able to check the blog while you are gone, but just in case this one is for you babe!

6 years ago last night I was sitting in the apartment with Erica, Shawn & Beth, having one last girls night before the "big day." We watched Father of the Bride, one of my all time favorite movies. I was a jumble of nerves, excitement & fear. Good fear, but fear none the less. 6 years ago today I married the man of my dreams.

Fast forward 6 years. You're gone (again!), this time to Indiana in preparation for a deployment (again!) I spent the wee hours of the morning consoling babies who are teething & little boys who "spit" (throw-up) as he calls it. After the first round of 3:30 am throwing up, sheet changing, bathing & re-dressing I spent the time reflecting on how much I love our family. I was a little to tired to reflect however at the 4:15 am repeat performance. I truly love our family. As crazy as our world is right now, there is very little I would change. I'm pretty sure you can guess what those things would be!

There's been alot to go on in our 6 years of marriage. 3 deployments, 3 babies (hmm, see a pattern here?!) purchasing our first home, moving, oh so much moving, laughing, crying, (I guess that one would be mostly me huh!?) sharing, praying & most importantly loving. You are truly an amazing man & I will probably spend our lifetime trying to find the words to convey that to you.

Thank you for a terrific 6 years we've had & thank you for the many more to come.

I love you!
p.s. Happy Fathers Day too!

Pretty in pink (& green)

The Three Muskateers

An evening at Mya's full of pizza, swimming, Veggie Tales & . . . thumb sucking.

Fun in the sun

Two plastic chairs from Geoffrey's: $10.00

Two plastic pools from Geoffrey's $12.00
A lifetime of memories: Priceless

Quiet Pride

"There has never been a day when I have not been proud of you, I said, though some days I'm louder about other stuff so it's easy to miss that. "
Storypeople

Bubblin' up

Emma & Nathan's 2 & 3 year old Sunday School class recently opened up service at church singing Bubblin' Up & Jesus Loves me. You can imagine how incredibly proud we were that our two babies were on stage.

Nathan stood in the center right up front & sucked his thumb the entire time.

Emma stood in the back & sucked her thumb the entire time as well.
At least they matched & looked adorable!

Even when he's home . . .

he's still works hard studying.

DET #2. Sigh.

Charlie is currently gone on DET #2 out of 3 DET's (detachment - a training exercise) leading up to his deployment. Sigh. He left June 2nd & will return home on the 19th. Right after Father's Day & our 6 year anniversary. If I remember correctly we've celebrated 3 out of now 6 anniversaries together. Sigh. I'm not sleeping well; I never do when he's not here. The kids are starting to ask daily if daddy will be coming home for dinner today. Emma announced yesterday that she wanted to talk to daddy on the phone so she can tell him she loves him. Nathan pretends to be going to work but always announces that he won't be home for dinner. Sigh. The kids have only been able to talk with Charlie once since he left, I'm hoping she remembers how much she wanted to tell him she loves him. We get to talk about every couple days. This is probably the most we'll get to talk between all the other training exercises & then the actual deployment. He leaves again July 8th until August 1st, comes home for 11 days of pre-deployment leave & then he leaves the last week of August. This doesn't include the nights he'll be rotating staying on the ship with the squadrons belongings to ensure nothing happens to it. The XO printed in the newsletter that the deployment was to be 6 months long, what a shock, we thought 7. Then Charlie later had to break the news, that yes, it is almost certain to be 7 months long. Sigh. 3 deployments in 3 years. This is where I stop & say "I'm done, I don't want to play anymore." Most days lately I'm fine, really preparing myself mentally for what's ahead (and there seems to be quite a bit) but today, I'm kind of down about it all. I guess tired sums it up a little better. I'm mostly tired of being apart from my best friend. Of planning what activities we are going to do without him rather than with him. Sigh. I've really been trying to work with Nathan and his desire to feel sorry for himself. So as I said to him right before bed "we will not feel sorry for ourselves & pity ourselves." I will take that same advice. It doesn't bring honor to the Lord, and as hard as it is some days, I will bring honor to the Lord by my reaction to all of this. It would be much easier to throw an adult-sized temper tantrum, but in the end everything will still be the same. He'll still be leaving & I'll still be here trying to get through another deployment. I'll figure out how to sleep without him here; The kids will learn to understand that while daddy wants to be here, he's needed more somewhere else & the Lord will be "a father to the fatherless"; I'll figure out how to make Thanksgiving, Christmas & all of the kids birthdays special without him; And how to make him feel a part of what's going on here despite the miles (& oceans) between us. Ooh-Rah!

The personal assistant

So I was entertaining the thought today of how nice it would be to win one of those contest where you win a personal assistant for a day/week/month/year. Forget Ed McMann & his oversized check, I'd like a "what can I do for you today mam?" So I begin to think of my to-do list & what this personal assistant can do for me. It goes something like this . . .

Fold & put away the three loads of laundry that have been haunting me * The dishes need to be done * A menu needs to be made for next week * Might as well do the grocery list while you are at it * Speaking of grocery list, can you please make me a master list which would contain all of my regular purchases & their quantities so grocery list making would become easier * Finish my master menu list * Might as well grocery shop too, but please take all 3 children, it's more fun when you do! * The fridge needs to be cleaned out * Some of the kitchen cabinets need to be re-organized * Finish printing & matting the pictures to go into the old windows & then hang the old windows in the formal dining room * Hang curtains in the living room * Find lamps for the living room * Touch up the paint * Re-organize childrens closets * Put away childrens winter clothing & organize clothing in bins * Sew Maggie's bumper pad * Take Emma & Nathan shoe shopping * Unclog kids toilet * Potty train Nathan * Re-do pictures in the living room * Finish wall display in the breakfast nook * Hang outdoor flag * Re-do pictures in our bedroom * Re-organize my closet * Put away my winter clothes * Re-organize bathroom cabinets * Clean the house * Return borrowed items to Tammy, Mary & Kelli * Organize a girls night out * Drop off potty training book to Christy * Clean & organize bonus room * Put away important documents in the fire safe I bought 6 months ago. Apparently it doesn't protect them unless you actually put them in the safe * Plan Father's Day & Charlie's birthday celebrations * Purchase gifts for Charlie's celbrations * Plan post-poned anniversary celebration * Research homeschooling curriculum * Pay bills & balance checkbook. I've not put an entry in the checkbook since 4/22, have fun with that one! * Drop off storage check * Return movie * Write Colleen a thank-you card * Return emails * Order a gift for Daniel & Rachel, John & Sharla & Jim & Dotty * Re-work my daily schedule * Make the kids chore chart * Plan day trips for Charlie's pre-deployment leave * Call air conditioner repair man * Call man to fix whirlpool bath tub * Water the plants * Update address book * Clean & re-orgainize my desk * Drop off items to Goodwill * Return jeans to mall * Sell items on Lejeune Yard Sales * Get rings cleaned & appraised * Clean the many spots of spit up on the carpet * Purchase a steam cleaner * Fill the kids sandbox with sand * Fill out MOPS table leader application * Call grandma * Put Mother's Day cards (long story!) & Father's Day cards in the mail * Have tires aligned on van * Have grass mowed * Purchase pantry for kitchen *

Thank you Geeves, I think that will be all.

I think I'm going to need to win the assistant for life contest.

Peacocks, Monkeys & Boots, Oh My!

How hard is it to find some nice lamps? Apparently pretty hard. I've searched all over this town (which isn't saying a whole lot though!) & can't find anything suitable. I'm currently searching Lowe's website thinking surely they will have something. I select the "rustic" category & to my surprise find lamps of, you guessed it, peacocks, monkeys & cowboy boots. Apparently at Lowes the word "rustic" is a nice way of saying "the-so-ridiculously-tacky-I can't-believe-they-make-us-sell-these-lamps-and-worse-people-actually-buy-them" category. Ebay here I come!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

The kids recently went to their friend Hannah's birthday party at the park. What a great time they had. The cupcakes were great & very green as you can see.

Apparently the dirt was pretty tasty as well!

Ms. Beff & Mr. Jonafan

After the excitment of painting, having Jim & Dotty here, strawberry picking & picnicing, the fun didn't stop there. Charlie returned home Monday night, Jim & Dotty left Tuesday morning & Wednesday I woke up with the stomach flu. Yes friends, there is nothing like topping off a weekend of hard work with continuous vomiting. Thankfully, I got better just in time to have more visitors! Beth & Jonathan, who were the Maid of Honor & Best Man in our wedding made the long trip from Tennessee to spend Memorial Day Weekend with us. And what a weekend it was! Charlie & I can not remember the last time we laughed so much! After a few minutes of shyness the kids took to Beth & Jonathan as if they had known them for years. I guess they figured anyone that can make that many noises with their mouth must be cool, huh Jonathan?! We attempted to take the kids to the beach during their visit but while I was loading the car it began raining. We could handle a drizzle no problem, however the temperature also dropped at least 10 degrees in the 20 minutes I was loading. Which again, would have been okay if it had been 100 degrees to begin with. All of a sudden we were scrambling for jeans & sweaters. We drove to Wilmington hoping to catch better weather but no luck their either. We loaded out of the car, everyone changed into real clothes (as opposed to the bathing suits we were still wearing with hopeful anticipation) & began to explore downtown Wilmington. I believe we got about .1 miles & yes, it started to rain again. I'm not very spontaneous to begin with so this is where I had my fill. We drove around & finally found a spot to picnic. We happened to be right next to some museum & so we headed in. We had drove all that way and dang-it we were going to do something. It didn' take long & we were all tired & ready for home. Beth & I were able to get in a trip into town, childless! And Charlie & Jonathan hit the shooting range for an afternoon of testosterone. We cooked out, we laughed, we ate, we laughed, we played cards, we laughed, we watched kids, we laughed. Having them here reminded us how much we truly miss home. Can you come back guys, we've not laughed nearly as much with you gone!

The closest thing we got to the beach on our trip to Wilmington!

Where is him/her? Do you want to play trucks/trains/tractors/tea party/dollhouse/etc? Beth, will you stop picking yellow?! Sorry, it's the only card I had. Jonathan, stop apologizing. Draw two. Stirring the brew. Don't worry you can make it up later. Charlie, how can you have that many cards & still win? Where are all the good lamps in this town? He hauled off how many Vienna Sausage cans? The color is yellow. Beth stop it! Ppfft. MMmmm, Diet Dr. Pepper. Wow, that's some sweet candy. What color is this Jonathan?

Beth & Jonathan, we love you guys & miss you!

Sparkler fun

The kids enjoyed watching Charlie light "sparklies" last weekend & have been begging to do them ever since.

I'm too cute

Here daddy

Do you want to suck my thumb too?

Aunt Dotty & Uncle Jim

While Aunt Dotty & Uncle Jim visited we were thankfully able to do more than just paint. After all the paint fumes we were ready for some fresh air. So off to the strawberry patch we went. Dotty, the kids & I picked strawberries to our hearts content while Jim patiently pushed Maggie in her stroller & enjoyed the shade.

Nathan took great pride in picking strawberries that were not "squishy." He'd pick up each strawberry show it to Aunt Dotty & ask "Is this one squishy?" while he squeezed it in between his fingers. So the answer was always, "yes Nathan, that one is squishy."

Emma was a terrific at picking strawberries, her favorites were the "cute baby strawberries" .

After picking strawberries we headed to McDonald's to pick up & lunch & then to the local park.

After feasting on Chicken Nuggets & chocolate milk Uncle Jim pushed them on the swings. It's their favorite park activity. They love to "grab" the trees as they fly high.

Aunt Dotty kept Maggie busy on a much gentler swing ride.

Maggie found great delight in squealing at the baby in the mirror.

Finally, a tired pack ready for air conditioning & naps.

Thank you Aunt Dotty & Uncle Jim for such a great time. Next time I won't even make you paint! :)