She can laugh

Alot of you may already know this but I have recently started a website for military spouses. It's a weekly (as long as everyone is healthy) devotional aimed towards our job as military wives. Please feel free to pass this along to any military spouse that you know. Click here to be directed to the site. Happy reading.

Apple yarn favors

I recently found this apple yarn craft & couldn't wait to try it out with the kids. Emma chose the red for apples & Nathan chose the orange for little pumpkins. I had to do quite a bitof the wrapping as it was a bit complicated the first time around. I'm hoping to break this out again before Thanksgiving to let the kids make some cute centerpiece decor. The directions can be found on this great website.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maggie

On October 12th we celebrated Maggie's 2nd birthday. I'm not sure where the time has gone to. We now have this incredibly bright, spunky, active, talking in paragraphs child. She adores her brother & sister, loves Dora, isn't calmed quickly without her red Christmas dolly, can't get enough of animals especially dogs, isn't afraid of anything & is a chow hound. She is quite the character & we are so thankful for her.

The girls had a joint birthday party a couple of weeks later. I'll post those pictures soon.

Happy Early Birthday

The day before we returned home Uncle Jim & Aunt Dotty had a cookout at the park to celebrate the girls birthday a little early.

Who doesn't love a good cupcake?

After we returned home & bathed the girls opened their birthday presents.

They were thrilled with their new Christmas dresses for their American Girl Bitty Babies.

Busch Gardens

No trip to central Florida is complete without a stop at Busch Gardens. Thanks to the Salute a Hero program each year we get 3 tickets, allow our fun to thankfully be free! We arrived minutes after the park opened & stayed until they closed in the late afternoon. The weather was beautiful & we all had a wonderful time.

The kids loved the animals.

Unfortunately, the girls didn't want any part of this picture.

The train ride.


Maggie wanted to be like the big kids & ride with them. I was hesitant but she loved this ride. I on the other hand was nervous for her.

Our little pilot.

Emma's screams were real, she did not find this amusing at all.

It was a great day & we look forward to doing it again next year.

Sand Angels

We had a wonderful time visiting some dear friends living at St. Pete beach. We had such a great time that I forgot to get my camera out for most of the trip! I did however capture these shots of my sand angels after an evening trek down to the bird sanctuary & beach.

Great-Grandma & Grandpa

We had a wonderful time visiting with my grandparents whom we do not get to see nearly enough. They've been kid free for a long time, so at the risk of overwhelming them with my crew, we did multiple afternoons of shorter visits. We had a great time & can't wait to see them again.

Puddle Park

Inverness has recently added a puddle park to the town park. It was a great way to beat the sweltering heat & give the kids a little local fun.

Down Town Disney

In late September Charlie's company picked up a new class of recruits. While this is far better than a deployment, pick-up week, which seems to last longer than a week, is an incredibly busy time with Charlie home very little during that time. So the kids & I loaded up the van & hit the road for 10 days of fun in Florida. One of our first stops: Down Town Disney.

We had planned on eating at a cafe filled with animated dinosaurs, just knowing that the kids would love it. Only to find that when we took a tour upon our arrival they did not love the incredibly loud, moving creatures. They were more than ready to leave, begin their DTD fun & be far from the dinosaurs.

Next stop, Lego Land.

The kids got to build & race cars, which they loved.

No trip is complete without a kiss for the Buzz statue outside of the toy store.

We ended up having a wonderful lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, where the animals, while still animated were much quieter. We had a perfect view of the elephants & the kids enjoyed the "thunderstorms" that would occasionally occur. Unfortunately the ambience of the restaurant included lighting that didn't photograph very well so the elephants turned out a little dark.

Dear Mya

Since our move in May both Emma & Nathan have expressed how much they miss their dear friend Mya. One afternoon as Maggie & Nathan napped, Emma & I took the time to write a letter to Mya. It was hard not to tear up at her precious letter that she dictated all on her own. She was so proud of her masterpiece & at how much she thought Mya would enjoy it. Now I just look forward to the day when schedules will allow us to bring all of these sweet children together again.

Charleston Fun

My Uncle, Aunt & their children live down the road in Charleston. This is the first time in a very long time that we've lived so close to family & I'm thrilled. While we haven't had the opportunity to get together often, I look forward seeing them any chance we can get. Since Charlie works every Saturdays the kids & I loaded up & made the 1 1/2 hr trip to meet Aunt Trina & Jessica at a beautiful park. Throw in a fountain to cool off from the scorching heat & a picnic & you have a perfect day!