Forgetful on Friday

Wow, it's Friday? It's Friday! Ok, so I missed Thankful on Thursday and maybe forgot about a few of other things this week. (I just finished a book about early onset Alzheimer's and now I'm convinced I have it.) So, what have we been up to this week? Um, let me go find my calendar so I can tell you... Ok! Here it is! So, it says this week the older girls had another VBS, and this time it was in the mornings which was awesome! The Cams-ster and I had some time together doing...um...well, I didn't write it down so I have no idea what we did. We probably just ran errands and cleaned the house. Sounds about right.

Wednesday night I went to the airport and had my first training on how to be a USO airport lounge volunteer. There are like 3 different trainings, people! I'm excited about helping out all the soldiers and their families as they travel. BWI gets all the soldiers going downrange somewhere so usually they end up at the USO both leaving and coming home. There's also an organization called "Operation Welcome Home Maryland" that meets every single flight of soldiers coming home. If you are in the area, please google them and sign up for a flight. Let me know and I'll come with you!

Thursday, which was yesterday for all my fellow Alzheimer's sufferers, Cams and I, along with our most favorite neighbor, made a trip to Ikea! Oh, behold the awesomeness that is that statement! Ikea is one of those places that make me want to redo my entire house. I actually walked away without spending a dime! Yay me! However, I do have a couple of projects I would love to do, like replacing the fan over our kitchen table. I can't stand fans over a kitchen/dining room table. They have a very nice chandelier for pretty cheap and I can add individual shades to the "arms" and also change them out for different colors as I want. I can't remember what else there was (Alzheimer's), but they were all awesome ideas I tell you! After the Ikea trip we hung out at our most supremely awesome neighbor's house and had pizza while Mr. Neighbor played his heart out with the girls. Mrs. Neighbor and I stayed on the couch either looking online at new project ideas or laughing at the girls and how comfortable they are with them. BTW- Happy Birthday Mrs. Neighbor!

Today was the girls' last day at VBS for the summer. The church the put it on this week was HUGE! there were 436 kids there and today they put on a show for the parents. I took a very shaky video and may attempt to upload it later. Now, it's nap time and I have so many things I need to be doing like paying bills, watering the houseplants, eating lunch finally, taking measurements for the new project in the kitchen (hee hee hee) , getting/wrapping/sending birthday presents for my sister, her husband AND my niece (couldn't you have spread all that out more?), washing clothes, preparing dinner (yeah, right!), cleaning the house, edging the flower beds out front (I swear the grass is attempting to take over this summer), and in general keeping my sanity. I have to add, before I go, that I am extremely thankful today for my baby daddy, The Soldier. Did you read his post? If not, please check it out below. He promises me that he's writing more for you.

As always- please become a "follower" of the ole blog here. Maybe one day I can get someone to let me do a giveaway, but they won't do that until I have some more peeps.

Guest Blogger- The Hubs

If you've been under a rock or if you haven't been here before, my hubs is in the Army and is currently deployed to Afghanistan. Today, he is my guest blogger. Please read and stayed tuned for more from him soon. And, Support our Troops!

Everyone always asks…"What's it like? What is it like to deploy?" I know some of you will never deploy so I have prepared a little checklist for you. Ensure you follow these exact steps so you can get the full experience.

1. Sleep on a cot in the garage.

2. Replace the garage door with a curtain.

3. Six hours after you go to sleep, have your wife or girlfriend whip open the curtain, shine a flashlight in your eyes and mumble, "Sorry, wrong cot."

4. Renovate your bathroom. Hang a green plastic sheet down from the middle of your bathtub and move the shower head down to chest level. Keep four inches of soapy cold water on the floor. Stop cleaning the toilet and pee everywhere but in the toilet itself. Leave two to three sheets of toilet paper. Or for best effect, remove it altogether. For a more realistic deployed bathroom experience, stop using your bathroom and use a neighbor's. Choose a neighbor who lives at least a quarter mile away.

5. When you take showers, wear flip-flops and keep the lights off.

6. Every time there is a thunderstorm, go sit in a wobbly rocking chair and dump dirt on your head.

7. Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it on "HIGH" for that tactical generator smell.

8. Don't watch TV except for movies in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch and then show a different one.

9. Leave a lawnmower running in your living room 24 hours a day for proper noise level.

10. Have the paperboy give you a haircut.

11. Once a week, blow compressed air up through your chimney making sure the wind carries the soot across and on to your neighbor's house. Laugh at him when he curses you.

12. Buy a trash compactor and only use it once a week. Store up garbage in the other side of your bathtub.

13. Wake up every night at midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a saltine cracker.

14. Make up your family menu a week ahead of time without looking in your food cabinets or refrigerator. Then serve some kind of meat in an unidentifiable sauce poured over noodles. Do this for every meal.

15. Set your alarm clock to go off at random times during the night. When it goes off, jump out of bed and get to the shower as fast as you can. Simulate there is no hot water by running out into your yard and breaking out the garden hose.

16. Once a month, take every major appliance completely apart and put it back together again.

17. Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for five or six hours before drinking.

18. Invite at least 185 people you don't really like because of their strange hygiene habits to come and visit for a couple of months. Exchange clothes with them.

19. Have a fluorescent lamp installed on the bottom of your coffee table and lie under it to read books.

20. Raise the thresholds and lower the top sills of your front and back doors so that you either trip over the threshold or hit your head on the sill every time you pass through one of them.

21. Keep a roll of toilet paper on your night stand and bring it to the bathroom with you. And bring your gun and a flashlight.

22. Go to the bathroom when you just have to pass gas, "just in case." Every time.

23. Announce to your family that they have mail, have them report to you as you stand outside your open garage door after supper and then say, "Sorry, it's for the other Smith."

24. Wash only 15 items of laundry per week. Roll up the semi-wet clean clothes in a ball. Place them in a cloth sack in the corner of the garage where the cat pees. After a week, unroll them and without ironing or removing the mildew, proudly wear them to professional meetings and family gatherings. Pretend you don't know what you look or smell like. Enthusiastically repeat the process for another week.

25. Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find, go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a tent in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them.

26. Eat a single M&M every Sunday and convince yourself it's for Malaria.

27. Demand each family member be limited to 10 minutes per week for a morale phone call. Enforce this with your teenage daughter.

28. Shoot a few bullet holes in the walls of your home for proper ambiance.

29. Sandbag the floor of your car to protect from mine blasts and fragmentation.

30. While traveling down roads in your car, stop at each overpass and culvert and inspect them for remotely detonated explosives before proceeding.

31. Fire off 50 cherry bombs simultaneously in your driveway at 3:00 a.m. When startled neighbors appear, tell them all is well, you are just registering mortars. Tell them plastic will make an acceptable substitute for their shattered windows.

32. Drink your milk and sodas warm.

33. Spread gravel throughout your house and yard. Gravel must be 10 inches deep at a minimum. It can't be all the same size either. It must be different sizes so your ankles get the proper conditioning.

34. Make your children clear their Super Soakers in a clearing barrel you placed outside the front door before they come in.

35. Make your family dig a survivability position with overhead cover in the backyard. Complain that the 4x4s are not 8 inches on center and make them rebuild it.

36. Continuously ask your spouse to allow you to go buy an M-Gator.

37. When your 5-year-old asks for a stick of gum, have him find the exact stick and flavor he wants on the Internet and print out the web page. Type up a Form 9 and staple the web page to the back. Submit the paperwork to your spouse for processing. After two weeks, give your son the gum.

38. Announce to your family that the dog is a vector for disease and shoot it. Throw the dog in a burn pit you dug in your neighbor's back yard.

39. Wait for the coldest/ hottest day of the year and announce to your family that there will be no heat/air conditioning that day so you can perform much needed maintenance on the heater/ air conditioner. Tell them you are doing this so they won't get cold/ hot.

40. Just when you think you're ready to resume a normal life, order yourself to repeat this process for another six months to simulate the next deployment you've been ordered to support.

And just think....some people actually pay money to do this.

I Love You!

Right after breakfast this morning I showed the girls the "I Love You" sign. The hubs and I have just about always used this for each other when we either can't hear each other or whatever. I'm thinking it might be used a lot later in life when we both are deaf from our adorable, but LOUD children. We might want to start learning the other signs better, now that I think of it.

This is for everyone, but especially for you Daddy.

Stayed tuned for a special blog post from my international reporter...

Silly Girls

While having dinner tonight (mac and cheese and hot dogs- don't judge) we thought we should make a video for daddy. It wasn't anything formal, just what he would be seeing if he were here with us. Please excuse E's "doodie", I think that's her new favorite word- awesome.


And if you could make out what A was trying to say- you win! I think she just wanted to be silly and kiss the camera again. My little actress is blooming.

We love you babe!

Maybe this should be my Vlog?

Another video? Well, yes. I want to stay true to why I'm writing this blog- to keep Soldier-Man and family updated on the girls. I would love to have a top blog and have giveaways and have my own sponsors and followers who do nothing else but hang on my every word, but that's not what I'm doing right now. I'm blogging for the hubs while he's away. I'm blogging for my girls so their daddy can keep up with them and see them do new things so when he gets back it'll just be like picking up where we left off. I don't want him to miss a thing. And I realized that videos are something better than still pics. He can SEE them move and hear them say "I love you Daddy".

So, I give you another video today. Our friends came over and we took them to the pool. Right before leaving, A decides to swim UNDER WATER! This is a big deal folks. We're talking about a kid who previously would scream and cry and run the other way when presented with this very idea. Even in swim lessons when other kids were doing this, she would refuse. I had resigned to have a kid that would never learn how to swim properly. Something must've clicked today because she ran up to me and was hollering about something and when I tuned into what she was saying, it was something about putting her face underwater. So, I watched her and was completely floored! UNDER WATER!!!! WOW! I'm so proud of her! Watch:

Amazing, right? I'm such a proud mama!

Beware- May Contain Screaming!

In Fact, yes, it does contain screaming. If it's got anything to do with the girls, of course there will be lots of it. Happy screaming, fighting screaming, fit throwing screaming and I'm-hurt screaming. We went to a bounce house place today and the girls had a blast. After just and hour and a half of solid jumping (and screaming) they were ready to go home.

Here's another of A and E. Please note- there were no injuries.

Now the girls are ALL napping soundly, yay! Bonus- I found a 2 for 1 coupon for the place. Go me! May all your screams be happy screams.

A's message to Daddy

A read a WHOLE book tonight! Yes! My little girl can read! I'm so proud of her! She's definitely proud too. She wanted me to take a video of her reading for Daddy. When that didn't work, we settled for a message for him. She did two takes like any good actress does. Here's the first one-

She got sillier as we went along. Here's the second one-

Love you Daddy! Come home soon so you can see this in person!

Ten Questions on Tuesday

I am on orders to do a post everyday. While I might not be interesting enough to actually do this, I'm trying to find something to write. After today's blog makeover (you like?) I came up with Ten Questions on Tuesday, okay it ended up being 16, but who's counting? It's something fun and maybe you can leave me a comment and answer your own 10/16 questions, or you can continue it on your own blog. Spread the love.

Weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Um, the crabs come to mind...

What is your favorite activity to do on vacation? nothing

Who is the worst actor in Hollywood? I don't know, maybe that's why he/she is the worst.

Do you have any hidden talents? I can hear screaming from another room and can immediately identify which child is crying and why (but that's every mom).

Name two things you consider yourself to be good at. Multi-tasking and baking

Name two things you consider yourslef to be bad at. Remembering anything...what was the question?

What countries have you traveled to? Canada and Mexico- I know, I know, I'm so wild. Jealous?

Name one thing you miss about being on vacation as a kid. Being carefree.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Ballerina, then lawyer, then teacher, then Camp Director. *sigh*

What are you passionate about? My husband and children.

What outdoor activities do you like to do? Gardening, laying by the pool and reading a book in the sun.

Which is your most favorite place on earth? Wherever the hubs is.

If your house were on fire which three things would you grab before leaving? My children (being 1 item), my folder of important papers and Belle, our doggie.

Do you have any phobias? Snorkeling and bad body odor

What do you think the secret to life is? being happy

What crazy activity do you want to try someday? going on a vacay with the hubs without the kids


Don't forget to "Follow" the blog. Your picture could be right over there----> see those nice people?

New Design

I wasn't too happy about my blog design after looking at some really pretty ones out there, so I've been thinking about redesigning it for awhile now. There are blog designers out there, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend some dough on the ole blogger. So, while I had nothing better to do (no mountain of laundry to wash, dry, fold, put away, or no bathrooms to clean, or no children to play with) I decided to play around with it. I ended up with this. Still a little busy for my taste. I like clean lines with an edge to it, but the zebra background was WAY too busy- I'll spare you that one. So, what do you think? And if you are a blog designer- want to donate your talents? I offer you free advertising!

Leave me your comments people!

It's a crab eat crab world...

When we move some place we try and figure out what that place is famous for and go and experience it. With San Juan, Puerto Rico it was all the culture and food. Check. San Antonio, Texas is known for the Alamo and the Riverwalk- check. Fairbanks, Alaska is known for the frozen cold subarctic tundra with it's 6 months of sun and 6 months of darkness and all the native people, check. With northern Virginia we experienced the high cost of living, congested roads and the historic battlefields along with all the DC monuments, etc. Now that we're in Maryland we're still close to the DC stuff, but what is MD known for? Bad roads you say? Well, maybe, but I say crabs. Growing up in Florida I was never big on seafood. Crazy, I know. I was in the prime spot for it. Not like I was in a land locked state. But The Soldier-man and his family love seafood. So, I'm coming around. I just so happen to have the best neighbors in the world. What? You thought you did? Sorry to tell you this, but you're wrong cause I DO! (Unless I am your neighbor, then you do :)) My neighbor happens to be a waterman's daughter. Pretty cool, I say. Now, I don't know about you but I've always had my crabs in a crab cake or crab salad. Today she brought over some crabs they just steamed. She graciously schooled me on how to properly eat a crab the Marylander's way.



They were looking at me... the one on the left was Jose.

No silly claw-crackers or tools required, just my lethal hands (and a butter knife).

Christy, are you sure?

I mean, can you see this stuff oozing out?!?!

All in all, I have to give it two thumbs up. Now I just have to teach The Hubs my mad crab skillz, or maybe I should leave it up to the expert again. Crab party at our house!

Thankful on Thursday

Oh, yes I AM so thankful! I am thankful for:

1. Friends who drive their small army of a family an hour or more to come and swim with us at the pool. Our two families should combine and take over the world!

2. The opportunity to volunteer for the USO at the BWI lounge. I applied for a position and have a training in a couple of weeks! I'm so excited! If you happen to not know what the USO is- just think Bob Hope and his shows for the troops. Today, the USO supports the troops in many ways, from celebrity tours overseas and around the US, to programs and events for military families, and they also operate airport lounges for military and their families. Some are very fancy with bedrooms and big screens and kid play rooms and food and drinks, while others are not that involved but still provide a place to come rest while you're traveling. And the best part is- they do this all for free. I LOVE these lounges. We've used them quite a bit when we were traveling to/from/around Alaska. I was excited to see that there are openings for new volunteers as there is often a waitlist to volunteer. Yay!

3. I'm thankful for my healthy children.

4. For E, my angel. *Quick story*- It was nap time today and E just refused to lay down. After quite a bit of coaxing, bribing, threatening and finally yelling, she was still not having it. I was mad. She was mad. We were mad together. I had to lay down, the other two girls were asleep and dang it, I was exhausted. Next thing I know, Miss Sneaky McSneakerson crawls into bed with me and starts rubbing my face gently. We laid in bed staring at each other. I couldn't help but thinking what a perfect angel she is. She has the most beautiful skin with two perfect freckles on each chubby cheek. Her big brown eyes are filled with such genuine sweetness. And when I look at her I see The Hubs. Besides the color of her eyes, she is the spitting image of him. Then, as quick as it started, it stopped. "I'm hungry, I want yucky-charms." LOL, who could refuse that?

5. My time off tomorrow! The girls are going to the CDC on post and we all couldn't be happier. What shall I do? Probably think of the girls and count down the time till I can pick them up.

What are you thankful for? I challenge you to write a note to someone to tell them you're thankful for them and send it to them snail mail. How awesome would it be to get a nice note in the mail instead of junk mail and bills?

I'm a Slacker Baby...

Yeah, I said it. I'm a slacker. Well, have been on posting a new entry here. The weather's been so gray and rainy that it really affects my mood. YUCK. We haven't been doing much, after our PJ day on Saturday we went to church and the pool on Sunday. Monday saw the start of a new week at a new VBS for A AND E, her first time (YAY!). Both girls really love it and I really love it because it gives me and C a chance to get caught up. "Hey Cams, what's up?" "I want Dora!" *sigh* "OK." A had her yearly physical on Monday to get ready for soccer. She's perfect in every way, but we knew that. She thought her gown was funny and immediately wanted to take a picture and send it to daddy. (I would post the picture, but currently having technical difficulties.) Anyway, we're all getting excited for her to start soccer. The Hubs was real big on soccer in school and some afterwards in some intra-mural teams on post in Alaska. We even found some cleats and chin guards that are pink. How perfect is that? I don't know what her team color is, but it'll have to go with pink. E on the other hand really wants to play soccer too, but with it being just me, she might have to wait till spring season to play when The Hubs will be back. Or, if anyone knows of a cloning machine so I can be at 2 games at the same time. That would be awesome. E has told me that she wants to do karate though. So, we get to go preview a class before signing up to make sure she likes it. We'll see how all this goes. Will A fall on the field and burst into tears? Will E use her new karate skills to pound on her sisters? Stay tuned...

Lazy Day

It was raining when we got up this morning which is the time of day when I make decisions about what we'll do that day if we don't have an appointments. So, I decided we needed a day at home in our PJs. This pic just about sums it up.



I got all the girls a portable lap desk and I personalized each one with their name and a design on it (so there wouldn't be fighting later, you knew that). They love to sit in the living room and color with their desks. Other than that, I did a few loads of laundry with my homemade detergent. So far so good! Cleans great and smells good too! Two thumbs up! Nice, relaxing day! Hope you had a good one!

You Made What?

I've been thinking about doing this project for about a month now and have been waiting on using up what I already had before I made some. I'm talking about laundry detergent. Yep. You might be thinking- "Um, you know you can buy the stuff at the store, right?" Yeah, well, you can but I think the stuff is way over priced. I did a quick search for homemade laundry detergent and found more than enough recipes. Most were the same though. There are dry detergents and there are the liquids. I usually use liquid, bc Mr. Soldier-Man is sensitive and the powder irritates his baby skin, so I chose to make the liquid. (Love you babe!) Almost every review of the stuff said that it cleans WAY better than store bought and it's WAY cheaper too! For everything it comes out to about $2 per 10 gallons. Yes, 10 GALLONS! You can even make it smell however you want by adding your choice of essential oils. I was sold!

Want to try too? Here's what you need:

1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda- not baking soda
1/2 cup Borax
1 Fells-Naptha soap bar
hot tap water
5 gallon bucket with lid

(I bought all of these in my grocery store except for the Fells-Naptha bar which I regretfully ordered online, I probably could have found it at a store here somewhere, but I can't run around town dragging the girls in everywhere. Yes, I should've called around, but I ordered it, ok?)



Directions:
Grate bar of soap, add to saucepan with 4 cups of hot tap water over med-high heat until soap dissolves and is melted. Fill 5 gallon bucket half way with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, Cover and let sit over night to thicken.
Stir and fill used, clean laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then rest of the way with water. Shake before each use.
Optional- you can add 10-15 drops essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled.
Liquid soap will yield 10 gallons.
Use 5/8 cup per load.

(A stirs the soap bar after I got carpal-tunnel from grating it- OUCH!)

(filling the bucket with hot water)

My soap is covered and cooling down now. I guess I'll check on it tomorrow and see what it looks like. I'll let you know how it cleans. Tide ain't got nothing on me!

If you want the dry formula- it's 1 cup Super washing soda, 1 cup Borax, 1 Fells-Naptha bar finely grated. Mix together well. Use 2 tablespoons per load.

I was also going to make Fabric Softener, but I'll wait till I run out of my current bottle first, but if you want to, it sounds super easy. I container of your favorite brand fabric softener. 4 sponges cut in half.
Pour container of softener into 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty container with water twice (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to mixture. When ready- squeeze sponge and add to dryer. Easy, right? Let me know if you do this, I would love to hear how it compares.

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to my second Thankful Thursday! After a busy morning of waking up late, getting everyone fed and dressed and out the door in 30 minutes (I'm THAT good!), going to the last swim lesson and then back home to clean up the house and make lunch, I was sitting, um, laying down and my mind wouldn't shut off. Don't you hate that? My body is so tired, but my mind won't shut up! It keeps telling me I have things to do. Then, finally, it quiets to a dull roar and allows some free thought. *sigh* Then, I remember it's Thankful Thurday and I need to get up and write a post. So, my mind starts racing again and I finally give in and get up. Here I am. So, without further ado, I give you my list of what I'm thankful for today.

1. Patient swim teachers. There were a total of 10 kids in this swim class, ages ranging from 3-5 including A and E. Both the girls are terrified of the "deep pool" and refuse to get in, they are also afraid to get their faces wet and "dunk". I know some of the other kids have their issues too. Can you imagine trying to actually impart some swim skill to this group through the whining and crying and "I have to pee"'s? Those are some very patient ladies, thank you.

2. Old friends getting back in touch. Yay! I had this great girl friend in Alaska. When our husbands deployed to Iraq we got very close. We even traveled a bit together bringing along our girls (I had just A at the time and she had a 4-5 year old). When I got pregnant again on The Hubs's R&R, he had to (obviously) go back to Iraq, and she was my partner. She saw me through the pregnancy and even satyed with me through my labor and delivery. She saw me in ways The Hubs never will- VERY good friend. She even got to cut E's cord. A few months later, everyone's time in Alaska was up and we ended moving to northern VA and they moved to Germany. We talked a couple of times, then it was emails, then just pictures. Three years have gone by and they just moved back to the states. (Woo Hoo!) Then, out of the blue, the phone rings and it's her! I've thought about her so many times and our fun times together. We had a great friendship and I was sad that we lost touch. Now, I hope to keep in touch better that we're in the same country again, and maybe even a visit soon. Good to have you back, C! I missed you!

3. Real food. Cereal, PBJs, hot dogs, and pizzas. I think we've settled into a very bad habit in this house lately. I feel as though I can't cook a real meal now that The Hubs is gone, so I eat what the girls eat- junk. Don't worry too much, there are lots of bananas and apples in there too. Oh- and salads! E and C and I love our salads! The last real meal I had was last week at our neighbor's house, and tonight they've invited us back! OMG, it's such a treat y'all! Thank you!

4. The internet. It obviously keeps us all connected via email, pictures, videos, blogs... Without it it would be so much harder to keep in touch. Thanks Al Gore. ;)

So, that's all for this week. What are you thankful for today?

Don't forget to be a "Follower". Click on Follow over there on the right side... Please and thank you!

Little Baby Hezekiah

Today I feel like a million things are going through my head. Right now, it's the stinky smell coming from the dog laying right next to me. Thanks, Belle. Ugh. That aside, I've been thinking about a lot of things including how it seems that at least 12 of my friends are pregnant now or have had a baby in the last year. Wow, maybe it was the cold weather that has everyone with a baby bump? Shoot, I know how that one goes. I did that three times in Alaska before I figured how that happens. Maybe it's the age group? I mean, it almost certainly is. I am genuinely happy for each and every one who has a life changing event happening for them. I really am, but after being married for 8 years and having three kids, I'm a little over it. Sorry if that seems harsh. Been there, done that, got the stretch marks. I will answer your questions about weird pregnancy issues, round ligament pain, mucus plugs, the placenta (I love that stuff) and I will even gladly hold your baby [let's call him Hezekiah], and change his diaper, but I will most certainly give little Hez back. I do not ever want to go down the baby road again. C is now 2 and a half and I am seeing the light of physical freedom (maybe not mental). I no longer have to feed, hold, rock, shush and wake up every 2 hours round the clock. It didn't really help that E was only 6 months old when I found out I was pregnant again, and A was just 2 and a half. It was like having triplets. I've talked to a mom of triplets and she gave me my props and told me it's probably harder than triplets having them so close in age. I'm pickin up what you're puttin down sister. I don't say any of this to throw a pity party for myself, I created my situation, good or bad, it is what it is, etc. I wouldn't change my life for the world. But, I say this to make a point of that I'm tired, exhausted really, and don't have time or energy to go back to having babies. I will be ecstatic for you though, I promise. Just let me play with your little Hezekiah and I'll give him back. Wow, do I sound like a grandma or what!

Flip flops and Lip Gloss

So, today was another pool day thanks to the 100+ heat index and sunny skies. We spent 3 hours at the pool today so it was super long! We packed a picnic and made silly faces for the camera.

Hope you are staying cool wherever you are!

BTW- I'm not one to do something halfway. Do a girl a favor and click on the brown square over there on the left side and vote for my blog. Please and Thank you!

Step 4 continued-



Step 5- push brads through the ribbons where the come together to put that finishing touch on. You can kinda see them sparkle in the pic below. The brads where hard to push through for me so, my DIY extraordinaire neighbor came over and helped me punch holes then push the brads through. Perfect!

Step 6- Hang on wall. I used the velcro picture hangers by 3M. They looked very cool, and looked pretty sturdy, but with a five year old messing with them, we'll see. I made two to go above her desk and we love them!

If you try this too, let me know!

Getting Crafty!

So, I've had this project in mind for about 2 or 3 months. This morning I decided today would be the day to get it done. Ever see those french memo boards? Some of them can be pretty darn expensive! I saw a really cute one in Pottery Barn Kids for $99! Yes! My DIY neighbor showed me one she made and I thought "I can do that!" And I did! Here's what you need: Foam board or cork board cut to whatever size you want (the best part- you get to do it however YOU want!), quilt batting, fabric of your choice, staple gun, ribbon, and if you want- some brads . I chose some pretty sparkly brads as this was a project for A's room.

Step 1- gather materials. This took all morning for us, but I had three kids in tow that wanted to look down each aisle in every store we went to. *sigh* FYI- the fabric we chose was actually a sheet set. I cut up the top sheet and now we can use the fitted sheet and pillow case for the bed or maybe some pillows.


Step 2- Cut the batting to fit the face of the cork board. You don't want it to wrap around, just on the front. I used the staple gun to staple the top and bottom so it would be easier to adjust the fabric on it later. Some people use spray adhesive. Whatev.

Step 3- Face the fabric good side down on a flat surface. Position the board on top batting down. Cut around board leaving a few inches all the way around. Better to have more that you can trim later than not enough. After cutting, you will start wrapping around and stapling on the back. I always start at the corners and then wrap the sides. It makes for a much prettier corner. That's a tip from Nana, by the way.

Step 4- Position and cut lengths of ribbon diagonally across the board. Depending on size you may need more than I have here. I just went with what looked good. Too close and it won't be pretty, too far apart and it won't hold things. Then staple on the back pulling the ribbon pretty tight. Repeat going across the other way so you end up with a diamond pattern.

Happy America's Birthday!

Happy Independence Day! Or as A says, "Happy America's Birthday!" She was very disappointed that at our church picnic today, we did not sing Happy Birthday to America or eat cupcakes. Ah, the life of a five year old.

Anyway, after church they had a hot dog picnic complete with watermelon, yum. After begging someone to take a picture of me and the girls, it was time to go home. Then, tonight we found a place to watch the fireworks. A park here does a huge display and we ended up about a mile away and sitting in the grass of a business park in the parking lot with about 300 other people. We got there just in time for them to start. The girls loved the pretty fireworks and were quick to point out, to just about everyone around, which color was their favorite. "Sssshhhh!!!!"

I always get so choked up watching fireworks and this year was no different. Today was pretty hard. I was missing The Hubs a lot today and thinking of him every second. Watching the fireworks gave me a visual reminder of what our country has gone through and is still going through. "War is an ugly thing." (The Hubs can fill you in on the rest of that quote) I am so proud to be a Army spouse and an American. I hope you had a great day filled with loved ones and I hope you stopped and took the time to remember what today is truly about.

Thankful Thursday

So, a couple of other blogs I read do Wordless Wednesday where they post pictures or some do Thankful Thursday where they say, you guessed it- what they're thankful for. Who saw that one coming? Good for you. Anyway, I was trying to think of what to blog today and I think I'll post what I'm thankful for. It goes along great with this weekends festivities, so here we go:

1. Air conditioning. Our house has two stories and the second floor is always at least 10 degrees hotter than downstairs (in the summer). Poor Cams' room is stuck up here with a huge fan in it to help circulate the hot air around. I feel so bad as she always wakes up sweaty. All that said, I'm sure she's a FAN of it too. Ha ha- get it? Fan? OK, I suck. So, we stay either downstairs or in my room where we have a ghetto-fabulous window AC that blows beautiful, cold air.

2. Vacation Bible School. A has been going every night to bible school since she's gotten out of school. We made sure she has some friends going too, to make sure she has a great time. We ALL have a great time, if you know what I mean. Two kids are so much easier than three. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my children, but even she gets sick of us and it's nice to do something apart for a couple of hours. I think we all appreciate each other better after our time apart.

3. Daddy Doll. Oh, the Daddy doll, he goes everywhere with us now. My mantra when we leave the house goes something like this: "Everybody have shoes on? Everybody go potty? Who has Daddy?" Shoes, potty, Daddy- the essentials.

4. Family and friends. See prior post. I do have to amend the post though by saying that I did not include everyone by name or by circumstance that help us. I was just providing examples. Thank you to EVERYONE who has helped us. It means more than I can say. I hope I can help each of you in return.

5. Our soldiers, past and present. Before marrying my soldier I lived in a military detached world. Yes, my mom has served (before I was born) and my sister served for her 5 years, but we never lived the military life like I do now. Now, not only are we a military family, but my Father-in-Law and many of The Hubs's Uncles have served, and just about all of The Hubs's [and now my] friends are soldiers. Never have I been more proud and more patriotic than I am now. I love my soldier dearly for the heartfelt duty he feels to serve our country. I admire his courage, honor, integrity and strength. He makes me strive to be a better person every day. Love you babe. I send out a Thank you to all our soldiers past and present for serving our country. I am thankful for you.

Try out Thankful Thursday with me. What are you thankful for today?

Pool Day!

The Cams and I wait with Daddy as the other girls have swim lessons.



Daddy and I watch the girls play in the pool.