I. Am. Tired.

I know I promised to keep this blog up better and I really intended to do just that. But then life got in the way. We were in Nashville for 4 days for a hockey tournament and we had just somewhat gotten back into a routine (as much as you can when it's Spring Break and rainy everyday), when Noah decided it was his turn for an ER visit.
Yesterday while roller blading out front, he bit it HARD and broke his finger. He has road rash from head to knee on his left side and did quite the number on his pinky finger. Thank you Jesus that he rememebered to wear his helmet or things could've been much, much worse. He's all splinted up right now and we have an appointment with an orthopedic doc on Monday for a cast. There's a chance he may need surgery to have a pin put in, but I'm praying hard that's not going to be necessary.
And wouldn't you know it, the hubby is leaving for yet another TDY this weekend so he won't get to be there for the fun of casting and, if needed, the surgery.
God bless whoever invented colored dry erase markers...there's no way in this great wide world that I'd be able to keep all of our upcoming doctor visits straight if it weren't for color-coding each family member!
We are barely 1/4 of the way through 2012 and I'm already spent! I really hope that I have the stamina to get through this deployment when it rolls around in a couple months!

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:

I'm a slacker.

According to the hubby, I am severely slacking when it comes to the blog.
He's right.
Life is busy but it's not exciting. Just the normal, day-to-day stuff.
I have been raking in the Etsy orders so that keeps me busy daily. There's always housework to be done. And kids to shuttle to and from school and baseball practice.
Did I mention that all three kids are playing ball this spring and that all three kids are on different teams? Starting next week we will be at the ball fields 4 nights a week. Our only non-baseball weeknight is filled with the hubby coaching a once-a-week hockey camp for the next month.
I'm also planning Miss Sophia's 4th birthday bash...we're going to have a circus in our backyard!
And then in just over a month, we will head out for our summer vacation...kids to the grandparents house in Florida and the hubby & I on our much-anticipated cruise. Then we'll be heading to South Carolina for a week to see friends back there.
So I promise I'm not slacking...life's just been pretty busy and routine lately. I promise though, as soon as games start and the party day arrives I'll be posting more pics. Pinky swear.

She's not a baby anymore.

I've been busy planning my little monkey's 4th birthday party, which is just around the corner. I know that she's growing up- she's been potty trained for nearly 2 years, can spell, write and type her name, and talks with vocabulary well beyond her almost-4-years. But today was different.

Why?

Because I spent my morning enrolling her in Pre-K.

When you're standing in line with a birth certificate, proof of residence and shot records, waiting to sign your youngest sweet munchkin up for her first year of school, it hits you. Hard.

She's not a baby anymore.

I don't know if I'm ready for that.

I can't wait for June so the hubby & I can take our cruise, but I hope that August takes awhile to get here. Please let me savor the last few months of having a toddler.

Morning Must-Haves

Okay, for any of you male readers out there this is a girly post about makeup and such. (So basically, to my hubby -who I'm sure is the only guy who reads this blog-you'll get bored today. I won't be mad at you if you skip. )

I thought I'd do a post on my daily beauty routine...which really isn't much. I don't have a huge to-do list every morning for a couple of reasons:

1) I don't like to get up 5 hours before I need to just so I can do my hair/makeup

2) I don't really go anywhere very exciting...SAHM life can be pretty boring

3) I have never really learned how to mix & match makeups and apply them without looking clown-esque.

But I do have a couple of "I can't live without you" items and here they are.

First is my shampoo: Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff shampoo. Unfortunately, I was blessed (if you want to call it that) with my dad's prone-to-greasiness hair and dry scalp. I was okay with occasionally using a cheapy dandruff shampoo maybe once a week or so, but when the military sent us over to England for three years, the HORRIBLE water out there made my scalp so awful that I have had to use dandruff shampoo on a daily basis ever since. I'm talking 5 years folks. So I was so excited when Garnier came out with their dandruff shampoo...now I could keep my head itch-free AND have my hair smell good. SCORE! Because of the greasiness of my hair, I have to use a seperate conditioner despite the shampoo being a 2-in-1. I've switched around all my life, but I always go back to Herbal Essences. I either get a moisturizing conditioner like this:or I get the volumizing version...because my hair is F-L-A-T flat.

For my face I use this stuff from Neutrogena:It's great! My skin never realized that I'm no longer a teenager (I'm going to be 30 next year- you'd think my complexion would be getting better!) and I still have to use the teeny bopper face wash. Oh well...it smells good and does the trick.

Next on the list is my body wash. This is my splurge product from GudonyaToo over on Etsy. I stumbled on her site a couple years ago and have been a loyal customer ever since. Their Whipped Clean Body Wash is so heavenly. I have pretty dry skin during the winter months and when I use this stuff I don't have to put on lotion after my shower. My skin stays moisturized All. Day. My favorite scents are Tahitian Vanilla and Island Coconut. YUM!And recently I gave in and bought some of the shaving cream from them too...Oh. My. Goodness. I am in love. When I use this I don't even have to use the body wash after. The cream is so rich and lathery...it's really awesome for shaving. And my legs feel smooth for DAYS. Next up is my makeup. It's pretty sparse.

I use Almay SmartShade foundation in medium for my face. I was initially really hesitant to use Almay because I always associated it with older women. But I sucked it up and tried it a couple of years ago and I was sold. It really helps even out my skin tone it's basically skin matching for dummies. LOVE.Last is my mascara. My good friend Nat (who I'm secretly jealous of because she's drop dead gorgeous ALL. THE. TIME...so not fair!) told me about this stuff last year and since I was in need of another tube I decided to try it. This stuff is uh-may-zing. I've always had crap for eyelashes and this stuff is supposed to make your lashes look fuller and longer. It's right. I bought some and haven't gone another route since. It really holds up in water....I wore it boating & tubing with friends and no raccoon face! And I've shed my fair share of tears with this stuff on and other than my red, watery eyes, you'd never have known! Falsies by Maybelline is my new favorite makeup item EVER. Period.

And if you're curious about them lengthening my lashes here's a story that will sell you on it for sure. When Jonah-man broke his arm in October the nurses at the urgent care were commenting on his gorgeously long, dark lashes. I told them that all three of the kiddos were blessed with them, and that they definitely didn't get it from my side of the family because mine were short and cruddy. They looked at me and said that my lashes were beautiful too and so long! I grinned and told them that it was all thanks to a great mascara. I'm pretty sure they went out after work that day and got some too. (Hey Maybelline...how 'bout a free tube for the free advertising? Nudge-nudge, wink-wink!)

So there you have it. My daily ritual if you will. (Well, I don't shave every day but you get the idea). As boring and simple as it is.

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!)

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Today you turned seven. My little man, trouble maker and youngest son. You are a bundle of energy and I don't think I've ever seen you sit still. Even in your sleep you go nonstop. I'm pretty sure that "walk" is not in your vocabulary. You are in fast forward from the time you wake up until the time you crash at the end of the day. You are so passionate about everything...sports, fun, even in your temper you are full of fire. You make me want to pull my hair out and laugh all at the same time. You push me to my limits, yet your heart is limitless. Most of the time I have no words for you...everyone who knows you understands why. You are just one of those people who can make an entire room errupt in laughter with a single sentence.

I love you to pieces and I'm so happy to have you as my little man.

Hope your snow-day, 7th birthday was the best day of your life!

You've got a little bit of something on your nose...

My little sous-chef and I made some cookies today. I think she enjoyed being the taste-tester more than anything.

To sum it all up...

Holy Moses it's been a crazy week. I have been insanely busy and it's not going to let up anytime soon I'm sure.

Here's a recap of how my life has been recently:
* While my Etsy sales are down compared to this time last month, I still am working on something Etsy related every day. The Post Office staff know me by name.
* The kids had a 5 day weekend and the hubby came home from training over the holiday for a 4 day weekend. We also had a couple of guys from his training class come up for Thanksgiving since they weren't going to be going home to their families.
* I spent Wednesday night and all day Thursday cooking.
* Thursday was spent watching football (darn Lions lost again!) and eating.
* Friday was spent recovering from Thursday. We did some shopping but nothing exciting for Black Friday. 'Cuz this momma is D-O-N-E done shopping for her babies!
* Saturday we did more errand running and then went to our dear friends' home for some super tasty food and more football. I love me a Southern oyster roast and college football rivalries!
* Sunday we once again recovered from the food consumed on Saturday.

So far this week I have busted my hump working on Etsy orders that I didn't even look at over the weekend. And today I need to run a couple errands (Post Office, I will see you soon!), finish a blanket, and clean my house. Because tomorrow morning before the buttcrack of early, I will pile my sister and kids in the car and drive 2.5 hours to see my man graduate FLETC. Then his parents & niece will be making the trip up to our house to spend some time with us before we move. The remainder of my week will be spent sewing and entertaining, and hopefully getting some answers on when we can start scheduling movers to come. We hit the long road to Oklahoma City in just three weeks!

So I will do my darndest to keep up with this here blog, but I apologize in advance if I cannot! My life is just a big 'ol barrel of busyness right now.

Time flies...

I cannot believe that next week is Thanksgiving. And then just a few days after that, the hubby will be graduating from FLETC training in Georgia. The four-and-a-half months has gone so quickly! If you would've asked me back in July if I thought the time would go so fast I would've laughed in your face.

Actually, I think I did laugh at a few of you who tried to tell me that.

But I am here to admit that yes, it HAS sped by. And it just keeps getting faster and faster.

I'm thrilled to bits that we're at the end of this chapter, but I'm also dreading it. Because the hubby's graduation means that less than 45 days later we will be living in a new state, having to find a new house, send the boys to yet another new school, and we'll all have to make new friends.

I like my friends that are here in South Carolina, thanks.

I'm not saying that people in Oklahoma are bad...not at all. We actually have a few friends in the area already, so that will definitely help. But I want my South Carolina friends. And my South Carolina house. And my South Carolina beaches. And South Carolina. I'm just not ready to leave.

I know that you're all thinking "Well, you're a military wife...you should know that this was coming." Yes, I did know. But I feel at home here and just because I knew we'd be moving away at some point doesn't mean I'm ready for it. We're having a bit of trouble finding a house we like/is in a safe neighborhood/we can afford out in OKC so that doesn't help my "moving mood".

And we are moving over Christmas, so that doesn't make it any easier. I love decorating my house for the holidays. My hubby loves hanging Christmas lights. My kids love putting ornaments on the tree. All of this will be nixed this year. I will, however decorate my fireplace mantle because I'm finally in a house that has one, and gosh dangit I'm hanging stockings from it. Even if it is only going to be for a couple of weeks. They're getting hung.

This has been an emotional few weeks for me, and is only going to get harder the closer it gets to us leaving. I fight back tears on a daily basis when I think of having to leave all my wonderful friends here. Some of them I consider family. Shoot...I've spent more holidays with them than I have with my own extended family the last couple of years. I wish I could pack them up and take them with me.

Even my 3 year old begs me weekly to "please please please pack my best friend Gracie in our car??"

My heart hurts.

We are doing our best to make the holiday special for the kids...we plan on bringing our Christmas gifts along in the car with us and wherever we are on Christmas we will open gifts and make the day happy for them. We have a small Christmas tree that the hubby brings with him when he's deployed over the holidays, so we will set that up in our hotel room for Christmas morning. We're taking our time driving out and have a few stops already planned out. We're going to spend a day/night in Memphis and see the city all decorated. We told the kids that since we can't put up our big tree this year, we'll go see as many huge Christmas trees as we can in all the places we stop on the way.

We just have to deal and adapt. It's things like this that I never thought of when I married a military man. But here they are.

So remember military families this year when you're celebrating with your loved ones. Because even if they're not serving overseas, they're are so many who still have to be apart from the ones they love.

Five weeks is an eternity to a 6 year old.

Here's the little man sportin' his super cool Camo cast. The nurse technician and the doc both commented on the fact that it was a pretty bad break. The doc is concerned that he's had so many fractures/breaks for his age and said that when he measured the bones on the xray, Jonah's bones weren't measuring where they should be for his age. Not sure the next course of action, but we'll wait and see what they say in 5 weeks when we have the cast removed.

For now, he's been cleared to play sports with his brother and his friends, and is free to play at recess and PE. But I'm still holding off on allowing skating/skateboarding/bike riding. Call me overprotective, but I prefer not to tempt fate.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Part 2.

We were FINALLY going to be home free with Jonah having broken fingers. Yesterday was his last set of x-rays and we were scheduled to see the doc today for the results.

But apparently, 2 broken fingers since June wasn't enough. And the memory of his sister splitting her head open and having 4 staples b/c she fell jumping on the bed wasn't enough to make him refrain from the very same act. The boy fell off the bed and broke his arm yesterday evening.

I was downstairs when I heard a thump. Honestly, when you have the children I do, you hear thumps all the time. The boys are BOYS and play knee hockey in their room almost daily. So the thump wasn't anything out of the ordinary and I continued on with whatever I was doing. Until I heard the wailing, and then the shouts from my sister that Jonah broke his arm.

My whole body sagged. Didn't we just get back from x-rays where the technician cautiously informed me that this was his fourth trip to the Base Radiology department since July? Didn't we just get something out of a splint??

I headed to the stairs and they were already down...and I saw it. Jonah's arm had a dip in it between the wrist and elbow. We raced nextdoor to our EMT neighbor's house (thank Heaven she wasn't on shift last night!) and she informed me that it was indeed a Silver Fork Break and that I needed to take him to Urgent Care. (She referred to is as a silver fork b/c his arm looked like what a fork looks like when lying upside down. Aren't you glad I gave you that mental picture??)

She helped me get him into the car while I called the after-hours nurse on the base to let them know I was headed to the urgent care facility and that they needed to call in a referral. I also called the hubby (who is, of course, still in Georgia) and filled him in. We got seen, had x-rays, and were informed that he broke both the ulna and the radius and the he was being splinted and given a sling. We then had to follow up on the base and have them refer us to an Orthopedic doc for the cast.

We kept our appointment for this morning and the nurse took one look and said "Hey wait...he's more broken than the last time he was in! He's supposed to be better by now!". The doc put in our referral, so now we just wait for the notification of where we're being sent. I'm praying it's quick....I can't keep this boy immobile for long and having just a splint on is really making me wary. The boy needs an iron cast...not an ace bandaged splint.

The little man was brave yesterday and didn't hardly cry at all, but he was definitely scared. And today the pain is quite a bit worse (as expected) and Tylenol every 4 hours isn't helping. I hate when I can't make one of my babies feel better. That's my job as a mom...to take care of their hurts. And I can't do it.

Mommy Musings

Here's a few things for all of you mommas out there to ponder.

Isn't it funny how you long for just 5 minutes of quiet in your house, but when it actually is quiet you go in search of the kids because you know they're doing something they shouldn't be?

Why is it that I can't for the life of me get my kids to wake up for school, but on the weekends they're up before the sun??

Sometimes I wonder who the heck these kids are...and I'm convinced that they must've been switched at birth. Then I look at them and see traits of myself and my hubby and it hits me that all those stories our parents told about us really are true, no matter how much we tell them "You must have me confused with my sister/brother! Surely I couldn't have done that!"

Yes, I'm lame.

Okay last week was a sparse posting week, this I know. I do have a recipe to share, and I do have a Friday Finds to share. But I was busy. Friday my oldest baby turned NINE! So all day long I was shopping and baking and cooking and decorating. But all my hard work paid off and the Halloween Costume Birthday Party was a HUGE hit. I am currently loading pics from the shin-dig and will be showing you all very soon. Like, later today soon. Promise.

And I will do a double Friday Finds post this week too so don't forget to check back!

Jonah-isms Part 7

It's been a long time since I've posted a Jonah-ism. These last couple of weeks have produced two great ones, so I thought I'd share.

According to the little man, the 16th President of our fine nation was none other than Mr. Abra Lincoln-ham.

Today when I had him try on his shark costume, he decided to run after his little sister yelling "Rawwwwwrrr!" I informed him that sharks don't roar and without skipping a beat he said "But I'm a tiger shark." Touche.

And the Mom of the Year Award goes to...

Someone other than me.

Jonah woke up this morning and called for me to "come here a sec". I walked into the room and he held up his bright blue splinted finger and said, "Hey momma, didn't I fracture my other finger?" I looked, and sure enough, last night after his bath I had re-wrapped the WRONG DANG FINGER.

*bangs head against computer desk*





(In my defense, however, he DID in fact break the finger that was wrapped...that was just a few months ago, and had long since healed.)

Changes.

So I know you were all anxiously awaiting my Friday Finds on Etsy post, but once again, life got in the way. I had one of those crazy weeks. Let me sum it all up for you.

Tuesday: Took Jonah to the doc because he hurt his finger over the weekend (on the other hand this time). And, you guessed it, he broke it. That makes 2 broken fingers in three months. Poor active kid. There was a few tense hours while we waited for the doc to call us back that afternoon because the xrays showed that the fracture was right along his growth plate. He wanted to have the head radiologist take a look to see if the plate was affected. If it was we would've had to go to the Orthopedic clinic on base and see what the course of action would be. Thankfully, the questionable area in the growth plate was from normal shifting for his age, and the fracture did not extend.

Thursday: I got a phone call from the hubby (he's still at school down in Georgia) and he informed me that the new assignments were doled out. We are being sent to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City. It is NOT the assignment we were expecting or hoping for. Quite the opposite, actually. We were figuring we'd head back overseas and we were really pulling for that...the hubby wanted Germany or Alaska (somewhere cold & snowy) and I was praying for Hawaii, Japan, Guam or another equally wonderful beach locale. We were both disappointed. So my Thursday evening was pretty much a wash at that point. I didn't even cook dinner...just piled the kids in the car and headed to Chik-fil-a.

Friday: Just before I was about to head out to do my routine payday errands running, I recieved a text from the hubby saying that we had to be in Oklahoma no later than mid-January. Knowing the date was so final for me. I mentally calculated how LITTLE time I have left here in South Carolina...a place that I DO. NOT. WANT. TO. LEAVE. I fielded calls/texts all day from friends saying they didn't want us to leave. Trust me, I don't want to go either. But what can you do? Then I tried to be positive and proactive and deal. But that night when the hubby got home for the weekend, I had a meltdown and cried like a baby.

Saturday & Sunday: The hubby & I spent quite a bit of time figuring out the logistics. The BAH rates are not close to what we're making here, and from the rental rates we saw of the size homes we would need it's going to be impossible for us NOT to live on base. Luckily we have friends stationed at Tinker (although they will be PCSing themselves just a month after we arrive) and she has been so helpful already with sending me phone numbers and giving me info. We also decided that we will be moving our family in December, while the boys are on break from school. It will make their transition so much easier. And while it's the last thing I want to do...spend Christmas on the road or in a hotel...I have to think of what's best and easiest for my sweet babies.

So my friends, my life is in a state of upheaval. Add all this stress to the normal October-through-December chaos (birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), my continuing Etsy orders (thank the Lord!), the hubby still at FLETC until December 1st, and trying to figure out how my live-in sister will get back to Florida and you have a borderline basket case. So I apologize now for any big delays in posting like I had this week. It's just crazy right now.

Waiting.

They helped an ailing neighbor with some housework and got paid $5 each ($2 for the little one).
They waited and waited, money in hand, for the ice cream truck.

ALL. AFTERNOON.

They came to the dinner table with downcast faces.
Then came the text from the nextdoor neighbor, who was aware of their plight..."I hear the ice cream truck".
Once again, the smiles reappeared.