Some days

Some days I wonder why God lead us on the path we've been on

Other days, I'm a tiny bit thankful for those days

Our first deployment, I call it "OUR" because we were in it together

Not literally but when a spouse is deployed, the other is left to keep putting the puzzle of life together

This deployment made me independent

I learned to do things on my own with a 1 year old in tow

Our second deployment made me even more independent

Almost to the point of shutting everyone out of our lives

I had the boys and that was all I needed

They kept me going on days when I saw darkness

They were my rock

They still are!

The boys were out of school yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr Day

I didn't realize they had the day off  3 weeks ago when I was scheduling appointments

Then the hubby came home Friday and said he would be over the road on Monday night

I don't even panic any more, I just know that things will work out

The boys were AMAZING yesterday!

I did hair for 6 hours and turned around and taught classes for 2 and a half hours

I felt so guilty for having to work and tagging them along

but they understand what must be done

This morning we woke up to more snow

Thank goodness for my independence, the snow has been moved,

the boys have been dropped off at school with only one trip back home for a forgotten book

and the day is just beginning

I haven't seen the hubby in 24 hours but ya know what, we've got this

These guys are my world

These boys have no idea how much they have changed my life

We've been through a lot together and it's only made us stronger

I'm NOT ready for this!

I woke up Sunday morning and checked my email and facebook

I had a friend request and a inbox message

I clicked on the friend request and saw that it was a mom from school

{Not just any mom - The mom of Parker's crush}

Parker has been dreamy eyed about this little girl since kindergarten

When you mention her name he grins ear to ear

This little girl got a cell phone for Christmas

Parker had been texting her on his kindle on Saturday

Well.....

Not only did the mom want to be my facebook friend,

she sent me a personal message to let me know what our kids had been texting

Here it is-

so... apparently Jaime and Parker have a "thing" now haha Jaime got a phone for Christmas (yes shes spoiled) and she and Parker are messaging back and forth ! i heard her phone go off last night and when i picked it up she had a meltdown because she didnt want me to see her messages, well i did read them and finally got out of her that it was Parker she was messaging. Im just giving you the heads up that i told her that the words Love, Hugs and Kisses is not appropriate haha ahh to be young again. Im sure they are both completly harmless, but she has to know to use her words wisely OMG im so in trouble !! It is cute the way they talk lol oh and for some reason, "they" are a secret LOL

Dear Lord, HELP ME!

3rd grade

This is just one reason why 3rd graders do not need cell phones

Spencer got a cell phone for Christmas too and we had already covered some rules

This gave us a reason to cover some more ground rules with both of them

One of our rules is-

Mom and Dad can take the phone/kindle and read texts at any time

So while Parker was in the shower, I grabbed the kindle and read the texts

Thankfully, my son was not the one initiating most of the conversations

He did tell her she was hot 

 {I told him girls prefer to be told they are pretty}

Here are some things that she texted-

She's had a crush on him since kindergarten
She dreams of him every night

She is a princess and he is her boyfriend

She asked if he got her hugs and kisses

Love you honey
Don't tell anyone our secret


I am NOT ready for this!

A post all over the place... {Maybe too much cold medicine}

We started the New Year off with a bang
Literally
On Thursday (Jan. 2nd) morning we were hit from behind pulling out of the Wal-Mart parking lot

The guy that hit us was an absolute jerk

He didn't want me to call the police or turn it into insurance because his insurance would go up

At one point, the boys thought the guy was going to hit me

An accident report was filed and I left

Since then I've been on the phone way too many times to count
 Trying to get a claim # {I got 2 different claim #'s from 2 different people}
An estimate appointment {$600 Yikes but could have been worse}
 A rental car {I sure hope they give me something good}

Thankfully we're all okay and the van will be fixed at the end of the month

The weather here has been COLD!
I think it was something like -30 with the wind chill on Monday
The kids got lucky and got an extra day off {Tuesday} due to the freezing temps
Today the kiddos headed back to class and I breathed a sigh of relief
We all function SO MUCH BETTER in a routine


I've come down with a nasty cold
I don't get sick often but when I do it hits like a mack truck
They sure took all the good stuff out of cold medicine
Nothing seems to work


This blog post is kind of all over the place but I guess I'm just here to document
It's not how things are written, it's the stories that are told

Here are a couple of things I wanted to jot down for the memories

I've posted before about how much my kids adore my parents
My Mom is an amazing seamstress
Every year since the boys were itty bitty, she has made them flannel pajama pants
She usually picks a flannel print that has something on it that the boys like {soccer, baseball, skateboards}
For Christmas, each of the kids got a new pair of "comfy pants"
Spencer opened the package, held them up to his nose and said- they smell like Grandma's house
Later that day, I asked what he thought Grandma's house smelled like
His response: HAPPINESS
My Mom cried when I told her what he said
She's heard Spencer say that things smell like her house and she's asked him what it smells like
he's never had an answer until that day, he just kept saying it smelled like Grandma's house
We're guessing it's my mom's perfume but how sweet

The boys have spent just about every day of their Christmas break in their "comfy pants"
This morning when we were getting ready for school,
we found out that Parker may have ate too many Christmas cookies
None of his pants will button
Thank goodness for older brothers and hand me down pants
He won't be wearing "comfy pants to school


It's the little things in life that make us laugh

New Year... Old Resolutions

It's a New Year and I have the same old resolutions with a few extras added

Here was my resolution for 2013

I pledged to Stress Less, Enjoy More, Eat Less, Savor More, 

Spend Less, Give More, Slow Down, Ease Up and Embrace the joy in each moment

I failed miserably!

I'm heading in this direction again

Stress Less: I'm a worrier {I'm not sure this can be changed}

Enjoy More: This goes back to the worrier in me {If I could just worry less and enjoy life more}

Eat Less: I have fallen so far off the wagon {I sure hope it comes back to get me} 

Savor More: Food and Life

Spend Less: This is the plan {We're hoping to save for a vacation in 2015}

Give More: We're still working on this {I wish we had more to give}

Slow Down: I'm not sure this is possible with 3 jobs and 2 active boys

Ease Up: Relax? What's that mean?

Embrace the joy in each moment

So.... These are all things I'm going to try to work on

I also found this on Pinterest and I'm going to try these 

A bad habit I'm going to break:

Worry less

A new skill I'd like to learn:

Crochet or knit

A person I hope to be more like:

My Mom - She's the most selfless person I know

A good deed I'm going to do:

I can't answer this one yet

A place I'd like to visit:

Pella Tulip Festival

A book I'd like to read:

Hurry Less, Worry Less

or

Life Passion Project

A letter I'm going to write:

A letter to Barb and Gene {clients} that moved away

A new food/restaurant I'd like to try:

HuHot

I'm going to do better about:

Not being such a people pleaser 

So... There it is

In all honesty, I just hope we continue to be blessed

Happy New Year!

What Christmas looked like this year {2013}

I didn't take many pictures this Christmas and I'm regretting it

Our boys are growing up so fast 

Spencer opening his cell phone

Parker opening bb's

I LOVE the facial expressions

I was worried the boys had been snooping and knew what they were getting for Christmas

{I know that I snooped as a kids and totally regret it today}

After seeing them open gifts, I know they were surprised

This girl LOVED all the Christmas action

I'm pretty sure every child got a rubberband loom this year

 Our Christmas goodies

My Dad opened a gift from my niece Metadel

 I think we have an artist in the family

She made a canvas picture of my dad's Mustang convertible

All of our Christmas cards

Every year I buy the boys an ornament 

I give it to them the day we go pick out our tree

 This year Parker got a hamburger and Spencer got a hot dog

Mental note for next year: Charge the camera and take lots of pictures

Christmas 2013

Our Christmas 2013 schedule

Monday the 21st: Supper with my mom's side of the family
{delayed from Saturday the 19th due to bad whether}

Wednesday the 25th: Lunch at mom and dad's

Thursday the 26th: Appetizers with my mother in-law

Sunday the 29th: Celebrating all day at my mom and dad's with the whole family

I don't even know where to begin other than to say - we are BLESSED

We have everything we could possibly need

A WARM HOME, BEAUTIFUL FAMILY and JOBS

I saw this quote that I absolutely love on Pinterest last week:

I think as you grow older, your Christmas list becomes shorter

because the things you want can't be bought

On Christmas day, my best friend from high school lost her mom

Sara was at her mom's house and was trying to persuade her mom to go to the ER

Minutes later, she and her brother were performing CPR and she slipped away

My heart aches for her and her family
Christmas will never be the same for them

Making a Christmas list has become a struggle 

My lists over the years get more practical

{Crock pot, a rug for my very cold laundry room, sheets}

I would be content getting nothing, I have EVERYTHING I need

But I LOVE giving and watching people open gifts

The boys LOVED what they got and know they are truly blessed

Here's a list of just a few of the gifts they received:

Spencer :

                cell phone and camo case

     rubber band loom

fuzzy pj pants

             Under Armour clothes

    i-tunes gift card

                      Xploderz gun {from Santa}

Parker:

wii games

fuzzy pj pants

Under Armour clothes

i-tunes gift card

Xploderz gun {Santa}


We also gave them a certificate for Snow Star Ski Resort
{We're hoping to go next week}
and
a family pass for the Aquatic Center for the summer of 2014
{Chip and I are thrilled that we won't be setting up a  pool this summer}


We had a great Christmas and enjoyed spending time with family


We're Blessed!

Ba Humbug

I've been a bit ba humbug lately

I just can't seem to get in the Christmas spirit and I'm not sure why

Christmas is usually my favorite time of year but this year, I could take it or leave it

I'm trying to come up with reasons for my ba humbug mood:

We missed out on the Festival of Trees Parade

Spencer was at a youth conference, Parker had been sick and with temps in the teens we didn't brave it

We didn't go to the Holiday Stroll down town
 Iowa's bitter temps kept us home

Our Christmas tree experience was a flop

My Aunt's funeral was the day we go and Chip signed up for a bowling tournament that evening

We flew to Morning Sun and ended up with a tree that had already been cut

The kids were beyond mad that we didn't get to hunt for the perfect tree and cut down ourselves

And $57.00 for a tree- Yikes!

The boys Christmas programs were a bit ridiculous this year

Old ladies singing blue grass music in between the different grades

and 

why does the middle school insist on having the orchestra and choir concert together?

This made for some long drawn out concerts

I've let some family members get to me this holiday season

$700 car repairs the week before Christmas stink

 Christmas with my Mom's side of the family was postponed until Monday
due to the snow and freezing rain
It's still going to be before Christmas but I was ready to get together

This morning we woke up to 4-5 inches of snow
Church has been cancelled which means no Christmas program
I know our pastor/chief of police just wants everyone safe but it won't be the same after Christmas


I have 3 days to get myself in the mood
Here's to hoping some holiday tunes and baking will do the trick