The last month in a nutshell.

Wow it's been awhile since I posted.  In the month that has passed I have driven myself, 3 children and one dog from Oklahoma City to Charlotte, NC; Charlotte to Daytona Beach; Daytona Beach to West Palm Beach; West Palm Beach to Goose Creek, SC; Goose Creek back to Charlotte; and Charlotte back to Oklahoma City.  I attended not one but two family weddings, met some new family members, saw old friends, and made new ones.  It was a long trip, but I am very glad we made it.  My sister made a beautiful bride and I couldn't be happier for her, my niece and my new brother.
During my first stay in Charlotte I recieved a phone call from my deployed hubby informing me that when he gets back from the desert, we will be moving to the West Coast for 6 months and then from there we will be going to Germany for a few years.  We are so excited! 
We're almost two months into this deployment.  It seems like he's been gone so much longer.  I'm hoping time starts going quicker once the kiddos go back to school.
Today though I got a big surprise from my hubby.  A HUGE bouquet of flowers.  Little things like this make me smile and really help me get through the days without him.

Mixed emotions.

Alot has happened again.  We moved into a newer house on base (which is AMAZING.)  I still hate Oklahoma but at least I love my house.  Noah's finger is completely healed and will not need surgery.  Hallelujah!   The kids are out of school for the summer.  I hope I can keep them busy over the next 3 months!!

Today is the day that we've been dreading since late last year.  My hubby left for deployment.  We were able to get family gate passes so that we could wait with him there until he boarded.  It was very emotional.  He flew in civilian clothes so when we started hugging and crying we got alot of side glances and I even saw a few people roll their eyes.  It made it that much harder for me.  I don't wear my emotions on my sleeve and for people to just assume I'm overreacting to a business trip really made me upset. 

The kids had a hard time with it...especially Noah and Sophia.  Noah's old enough to understand it more than the other two.  And Sophia is so in love with her daddy that she didn't want to let go.  It was rough.

My heart is so full of love and pride for my husband, yet it is empty because he is not here.  I am fighting within myself to stay strong for my kids who need me now more than ever, but all I want to do is go to bed and not get up until these six months are over. 

Now we try to dry our eyes and hike up our boot straps and move on. Not every day will be this hard and we'll get into a routine. Soon our lives will look normal on the outside but to us each day will be anything but.  Life must go on and I pray it does so quickly!

Get back on track.

Wow.
I can't believe it's been a full month since I last posted. SO MUCH has happened since I last updated. I will go more in-depth throughout the week but here's a quick recap:

Hubby came home from TDY number one. The next day we celebrated Jonah's 8th birthday with a great party at the hockey rink. Day after that we headed down to Dallas for our only family vacation this year- a tour of Cowboys Stadium and an overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge. Expensive, but so much fun! Pictures to follow soon!

Hubby left again about a week later and was gone for 5 days. In that time we realized that Jonah's minor twitches that he'd been having were getting much more severe. I ended up taking him into the ER fearing he was having a seizure. We were given a preliminary diagnosis of Tourette's Syndrome and have an appointment in April with a pediatric neurologist.

Hubby got back about a week and a half ago from TDY number 2 and things have slowed down some. We're getting back into somewhat of a normal routine (which will fly out the window come 25 March when he leaves, yet again, for another two weeks).

Oh, and we also found out last week that four days after hubby gets back from his third TDY, we are being moved into another home on base so that our current home can get remodeled. Pain in the hiney: yes. But a very welcome one! Our current house is around 60 years old and I honestly don't know how it's survived the winds we have here in Oklahoma. We have had nothing but headaches and problems since we moved in last year. Our new house was built in '09 and has a TON more square footage than our current place. Noah is thrilled because our backyard in the new house will back up to the yard of his best friend. And we also realized that one of Sophia's buddies from school lives on the same street so she'll have a friend right away too. (I also really like his momma so I'm relieved as well, since I'm not a huge fan of most of the neighbors we have now).

So that's where we're at right now. Lots to take in and deal with, but we're doing it. I promise to come back and add recipes on Mondays (I've got a load of goodies tried out from Pinterest!), upload pics from Dallas and our upcoming trip to Nashville, and keep you up-to-date with Jonah's diagnosis once we've seen the Neuro.

Almost Done with One

We are finally close to the end of the hubby's first training. One week from today and he'll be back home. For about a week. Then we'll have to say goodbye again for training numero dos.
Of course my emotions are all over the place. I'm excited and have butterflies in my stomach because we haven't seen him since 8 January...which by next Friday will be two days shy of 6 weeks. I'm so happy that my kids get their daddy back and that I get my hubby back (wink wink). But knowing that we only have him home for eight days before he has to leave again sucks. And I also have the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind that every TDY that passes is bringing us that much closer to the big goodbye in May- his deployment. God only knows how much we're dreading that one.
This will be his first deployment in 6 years. Yep...you read that right. We are so SO blessed and I don't let that fact escape me. We've been able to have Daddy home for all the big events for six years now and we got very used to that. And that fact makes this deployment that much harder. Last time hubby was deployed, Noah was 4, Jonah was almost 2 and Sophia wasn't even a glimmer in our eye. Now we have a 10 year old, an 8 year old, and a 4 year old Daddy's girl. The boys are older and more aware of what's going on in the world and that their dad's job is a dangerous one. And while Sophia doesn't understand it like the boys do, she's still having a hard time wrapping her head around it. Daddy will be deployed over her 5th birthday and to Daddy's little princess, that is the end of the world. We're planning to have a late birthday party for Jonah (who just celebrated his birthday last week, but Dad was away) and an early birthday party for Sophia in May before hubby deploys. Unfortunately he'll also miss Noah's birthday in October. We're still working out something super special for him.
The hubby and I are trying to come up with ways to make the deployment easier for them. I found an Etsy seller (Carly's Homefront) that makes photo pillows for military families. All we have to do is purchase the pillow ($10 each) and email her a picture of hubby in his uniform and she will make a Daddy pillow. This is going to be a HUGE help for the kids. Every night they'll be able to hug "Daddy" and see his face. Talk about reassurance for little minds. We also decided to get the kids each their own Survival Bracelet. These are all over the place now and I've seen many a military member wearing them since I've became a military wife almost 11 years ago. They're a simple strand of paracord woven into a bracelet, but with one strategic pull they come apart and the paracord is available for use. Now of course I don't intend to have my kids in any type of situation that will warrant the pulling apart of the bracelet, but we thought it would be a good tool to help them "survive" the deployment. Any time they look at the cord on their wrist they'll remember that they're just as strong as their daddy and they'll get through this too. And earlier this week I recieved an email from MyAirForceLife.com and it had this link to a new website developed for kids whose parents are deployed. It's called Military Kids Connect. There are all kinds of resources for kids (ages 6-17) and parents too. I signed the boys up for it and will definitely make it a regular computer-time stop for them.
And then there's trying to help us stay connected with each other. We'll write letters and emails and I'll mail him care packages. We'll have some chances to Skype and email and talk on the phone, but they will most likely be few and far between due to the nature of the hubby's job. I cannot go into detail but basically he won't have access to computers/phones/etc much of his deployment. While he's been away at training we have decided to "challenge" each other. We're doing a monthly challenge up until he deploys, where we each set a health/fitness goal for ourselves, and if we meet the goals, we reward ourselves at the end of the month with something we've been wanting to do, but haven't justified spending money on. Then, when he gets deployed we are going to set a long-term goal for ourselves, and keep each other accountable with emails/phone calls as often as possible throughout the 6-9 mos he's away. If we can achieve the "Big Goal", we will have a bigger, joint reward upon his return. We haven't nailed it down yet but we're thinking that a weekend away just the two of us will be just what we'll be needing after almost a year apart.
It's not going to be a piece of cake, and I'm sure I'm going to complain and be pissed at the military at least once while he's gone, but I will do the very best I can to be a supportive wife and a good mom (and dad) to our children back here at home. Because really, the best thing I can do for him is to keep the homefires burning and assure him that we will be okay.

New Year, New Goals

I've never been one to set New Year's Resolutions...even as a teenager I thought they were kind of lame. I've seen so many people set them and fail, and it just never appealed to me.

But this year is different. This year the hubby will be TDY/Deployed for most of the year. I have found in previous deployments that the best way to get through every day is to have a routine. So I'm challenging myself to keep on top of things. And I think that by setting these few goals for myself, it will make me a better mother, wife, and person.

This is my plan for the year and I'm going to use this blog to keep myself accountable.
*Be more positive. I'm a huge pessimist. Always have been, just ask my mom. But as I said on facebook the other day, this year I am forcing myself to think of at least one positive thing every day, and write it down so that I don't forget what I'm blessed with. It's going to be a long hard road for us this year and I think that keeping a gratitude journal will help me stay upbeat despite hard times.
*Be more organized. I found a printable blog planner online, my notebook for keeping track of Etsy orders and of course I have my planner that I cannot live without. I intend to spend a few minutes at the beginning of every week planning my blog posts, days that I need to run errands (so that I'm not going to the same stores every.single.day like I do now), and I'm hoping it will keep me better on top of my Etsy orders so that my turnaround time is faster.
*Keep my house in guest-condition always. I have made dry-erase chore charts for the kids, and I am also going to make a weekly chart for myself. It will have one or two major tasks a day so that I'm not spending an entire day just cleaning the house.
* Complete one project each week. Whether it be for the kids, my house, or a gift...I want to have something to keep me busy and creative aside from my Etsy shop.
*List 1-3 new items every week in my Etsy shop. I would love to be able to list something new every day, but lets be honest...I just don't see that being feasible when I have orders coming in. And I know that some weeks will be busier than others, so at least one new listing may be the only thing I can do once and awhile. But I think that giving myself a reasonable goal will be much better for my shop!

You are all given permission to get on my case if I start slacking. I plan to post pics of completed projects each Saturday, and I will have a What's New series with links to new items in my shop. So if you see that I go a week or more without updating, feel free to nudge me back into reality!

It's a New Year.

Happy New Year to you all! (If there's any of you left out there after my lackluster blogging performance as of late.)

I am really going to try to be better with my blogging this year. I got a new cookbook for Christmas and I fully intend to try every. single. recipe. in the book so I should have lots of new recipes to blog about. And Pinterest has a wealth of recipes I want to try my hand at too.

I can't promise that I will always be positive...but I promise to do my best. I have to admit that I am already looking forward to 2013...by then we will be debt free (aside from car payments), my hubby will be back from his deployment, and we will *hopefully* be getting ready to PCS away from Oklahoma. But I am really going to work at being more upbeat. I need to be strong for my kids and I don't want them to see me crack.

I pray that the year is full of blessings for us all, and that we come out on the other end stronger than ever.

Life's about to get crazy.

Well, the time has come.
The hubby is getting deployed next year.
We knew it was coming, so we were pretty prepared for it. We've been so blessed that this will only be his third deployment (in 11 years) and that he hasn't had to be deployed since 05/06. So. Blessed.
What I wasn't prepared for, however, was all the pre-deployment training he'd have to do beforehand (thanks to the new job) and the moving-up of the deployment date. We say our first goodbyes in about a week and a half.
He will miss so much of 2012...the entirety of Noah's school volleyball season and most likely all of baseball season for the three kids as well. He'll miss all three kids birthdays, Valentine's Day, my birthday, Memorial Day, 4th of July, my sister's wedding in July (which all three of my kids and myself with be in), Noah's first day of middle school, Jonah's first day of 3rd grade, Sophia's first day of Kindergarten, Halloween, and possibly Thanksgiving and Christmas. We do know he'll be home for Easter and his birthday, but aside from that we're not guaranteed.
It's going to be tough, I'm sure, and it'll definitely be hard on the kids because the boys don't really remember hubby's last deployment, and he's never been gone for more than a couple of weeks since Sophia was born. And she is definitely a Daddy's Girl. I'm keeping my head up and pressing on.
Because honestly, what else can you do when you're a military wife?
I REFUSE to be a pouty, crybaby wife. Yes, I'm frusterated about the timing because now I have to get myself, the dog and the kids to Florida this summer alone, and I'm not quite sure how that will work out. And I'm frusterated for the kids that he'll miss so many things that are big for them. But I have to remember that we've been a damn fortunate military family and I need to be thankful for that.

But if you want to send up a prayer or two for us over the next year, that would be good too. Because I'm sure we'll need it.

Update time.

So it's been awhile!
Our last few weeks have been pretty busy. We planned a surprise trip to Charlotte, NC for Thanksgiving to be with family. My parents and one of my sisters recently moved up there from Florida, and my other sister, my neice and my sister's boyfriend were making the drive up from West Palm Beach, so we wanted to go to and have the whole family together. We had a good time and left with memories, early Christmas gifts, and a new family member...my sister's boyfriend proposed to her on Thanksgiving night!
Since we've been back we've been staying busy with Noah's school basketball (two games a night every Tuesday and Thursday) and the hubby's hockey team. We also found out that the hubby will be going to training for 6 weeks starting in January, so we're trying to re-plan our first few months of 2012. He'll miss Jonah's 8th birthday so we're trying to figure out a way to make it extra special when the hubby comes back into town.
We're trying to slow down and enjoy the holidays because we probably won't be a full family next year (hubby's due to deploy sometime in the summer/fall), but it's so hard with the hustle and bustle. There's presents to be bought, food and goodies to prepare and pass out to friends and coworkers, and all those Christmas cards to mail.
But most importantly we're trying to keep the TRUE Christmas spirit alive.

Wish Lists.

The other day I asked the kids to make out their Christmas lists. Normally I'm just about done shopping by this point in the year but not this time around. Life has been, well, life.
Anyway, the boys spent alot of time on their lists and when Sophia was done in the bath she got to work dictating her list to daddy.
Jonah kept asking me how to spell things and I would tell him and I wasn't really paying all that much attention. He asked me how to spell "screen" and I told him, and then thought to myself What is he wanting that has "screen" in it's name? I let it go thinking maybe it was a game I'd never heard of.
And when they were done they handed me their lists and I figured out why my crazy 7 year old asked how to spell "screen".
First thing on his list? Big Screen T.V.
Nice try, bucko!

Thankfully the kids know that they won't be getting EVERYTHING on their lists and that it's a guide we go by, so he shouldn't be all that disappointed when Christmas morning rolls around and there's no TV under the tree for him.

Happy Halloween!

This year we have had SO MANY chances to wear costumes...so far we've gone to a fun trick or treating event at the Oklahoma City Zoo called Haunt the Zoo, and yesterday alone we went to TWO costume parties. Today the kids are invited to a costume birthday party, and then tomorrow, of course, is the real deal. Lots and lots of fun and candy!Getting my hubby to dress up is no small feat, let me tell you. We've been married 10 years and this is only the second time he's ever dressed up. So I wanted to make sure that he was happy with his costume. He loves golf and one of his favorite movies is Caddyshack, so he went as Carl Spackler and I was one of the preppy golfers from the country club. I loved how our costumes turned out!

And here's the little goblins all decked out in their outfits. Jonah was the best vampire I've seen in a long time, and Mr. Werewolf had furry sleeves and neck. Then there's Miss Jessie. Sophia has been OBSESSED with Jessie this year so that costume was chosen months ago. I painted an old dress shirt of Jonah's and made some quick cowprint chaps for her. Found the red cowboy hat at Walmart for $5 and we were set! She was so excited about her costume and kept saying that she was the cutest Jessie ever!

Meet Zoey!

My kids and hubby talked me into a new family member over the weekend. She's a 10 week old Catahoula-Retriever mix and she's really cute and so far very well behaved. I'm praying it stays that way and I don't come to regret this later!

Writer's block.

I know I haven't blogged in forever. I keep meaning to put up pics from the cruise but I just havent' had the energy.

Coming back to Oklahoma (I won't even try to kid myself by calling this place home...it NEVER will be) has been a downer for all of us. The kids were so great and well-behaved on our trip, and then we got back here and it was all downhill. I'm sure the heat hasn't helped either...it's been over 100* every day since we got back. Even Jonah doesn't like to be outside.

I can finally say that we have friends here though, which is a good thing. Not many that's for sure, but I've learned over the last few years that it's the quality of friends that you have, not the quantity.

I'm trying to be positive and upbeat and post on here but there's just really nothing to post about. We don't do much of anything...it's too hot to go outside anywhere and our budget doesn't allow for us to do much anyway. We have taken advantage of the Blue Star Museum program and hit up the Science Museum a few times this summer...but you can only go do the same exhibits so many times before the kids don't even want to go. (If you're military you will LOVE this program...certain museums around the country offer free admission to military and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.)

I will have a few more posts in the coming weeks about school starting. My baby starts Pre-K on the 11th so there will be pictures involved too :)

But until then just bear with me. I'm having a much harder time adjusting to Oklahoma than I ever thought I would. I just can't get out of this "I hate where I live and I don't know when I can leave here" funk.

She's 4.

Baseball 2011: Jonah

(He's catching in this last picture.)

Spring has sprung.

Everyone has their own way of welcoming spring. Some people plant flowers. Other deep clean their houses after a long winter. In our house, spring means baseball. And with all three of the munchkins playing ball this year, there's not shortage of the game for the next month.
And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Addendum to "Proof"

Because our lives aren't busy enough the next month, Jonah's coach decided to add Wednesday evening practices. Now I'm at the ball field every. single. day. Farewell, day-off-of-baseball-Wednesdays. I miss you already.

Proof

Just in case you though I was exaggerating about how busy life is here:

One bite takes me back.

Today while at the commissary on my grocery shopping trip, I ran across something I hadn't seen in years. Voortman's Windmill Cookies. I had to buy a sleeve and as soon as I got home and put the rest of the groceries away I ripped open the package. To my surprise they'd changed the design of the cookie, and I admit- I was a little disappointed. But when I bit into the snack, I was instantly transported back to my gramma's kitchen in Wyoming, Michigan. I was once again a carefree, eight-year-old little girl sitting at the 50's era kitchen table with it's plastic tablecloth, Bible and "Our Daily Bread" devotional sitting next to the napkins and salt & pepper. I was flooded with memories of my sweet grandparents and how much fun we had with them...whether it was at their house up north or down at our house in Florida where they'd spent about a month every winter. Then I thought about how I wish I'd have asked more questions and really taken in all their stories. My grandma was one of 15 kids born to farmers in Marne, Michigan. Her parents were marriedi n 1900 and both came from "the old country" of the Netherlands. My grandpa grew up in Chicago during the mobster era...I remember one story he told (very vaguely of course because my sisters & I were young and impressionable) about seeing a mob hit go down while he was walking home from school. My grandparents survived the Great Depression and World War 2. I remember them speaking Dutch around us when they didn't want us to hear what they were talking about. They taught us a couple of little rhymes and finger plays in Dutch, but unfortunately I only remember little snippets. They both passed away in 2003 and were as much in love then as they had ever been. I miss them every day, but especially when I look at my kids and think "Man- they'd sure get a kick out of them!" We were fortunate enough for them to both meet Noah when he was a baby, but they never got to meet Jonah or Sophia. Jonah was the first great-grandchild born after they both passed, and we derived Jonah's name from my grandpa, John. Isn't it amazing how one little bite of a simple ginger cookie can bring back such memories?

So have ya missed me?

Wow. I can't believe an entire month has gone by since I last updated the 'ol blog. I seriously feel like it's only been a week or so. Here's a quick recap of the last month of our lives. *Spring Break with a fun trip to the zoo with out-of-town friends. *Multiple trips to the dentist for the kids. Their mouths and our wallet need time to recouperate! *We moved out of our apartment into base housing. *We've had 2 barbecues in 2 weeks. One was a bigger one and one was small scale. But the first was mere days after moving into the house. The hubby says it was his subtle way of getting me to get the boxes unpacked. *Noah has had 3 track meets for school. Now we're getting ready for Easter and baseball...all three kids are playing this year. Oh, and the hubby was told by a neighbor about a base hockey team. I have decided I do not like this new neighbor. ;) Needless to say our busy life is about to get LOTS busier. Bring it on.

It's an adjustment.

Last night my oldest, laid back as can be son had a meltdown.

He is not really a meltdown type. He's so cool, calm & collected most of the time. He played it off like he was frusterated with his homework, but then I heard the truth in the form of a mutter: "I hate Oklahoma. I wish we never left South Carolina."

And it hit me like a ton of bricks.

The hubby & I had noticed some uncharacteristicly low grades coming home in his folders lately, and a major attitude brewing. Granted, he's 9 and I've been told that the attitude of teenagers starts early, but it was so out of the norm for him. He's such a go-with-the-flow kind of kid. These were signs of him not adjusting, and I just didn't see it. I was too busy wallowing in my own self-pity of hating the crazy, can't-make-its-mind-up weather and longing for my friends and the beach that I didn't even realize he was having an even harder time acclimating that I was. Way to be an on-the-ball mom. Nice.

I feel like it's partly my fault, too, because I'm guilty of voicing my complaints about Oklahoma in the presence of my kids. I realized last night that if I want my kids to succeed in getting used to a new place, then I need to show them how. I can't just expect them to dive in headfirst and come up smiling. I need to show them how to hold their noses and then swim to the surface. I need to give them positives instead of just pointing out the negatives. And I'm the first one to tell you I'm a pessimist, so that's going to be a major working point for me. But if it means that my kids will be better able to cope with a new environment, then I will bust my butt to get myself in the right mindset to make that happen.

It's going to be a process, I'm sure, but I know that they'll get there. We all will.

(It will definitely help if the weather can warm up and keep the snow and rain and tornado threats away though!)