A little something to brighten my day!

Being a military family we move way to much. I just wanted to talk about all the good things that have come out of it. I have met all of my BFF's because of the military. I now have friends who will always "be there" for me. It doesn't matter how far away we are or how little we talk. When we get a few minutes to catch up it feels like we have never been apart. My kids are growing up learning the true meaning of friends. Also I have gotten to live some fun places. In NC we were able to go to the beach multiple times a week. In MN the Mall of America was a regular place to visit. And hey how many people can say they went through an entire winter in -30 degree weather. And now here in MA we have so many historical things we plan on visiting. This is the birth place of our country after all. I am also beginning to realize that I am becoming a stronger person with each move. I know that when my children grow up and my husband retires I will look back on these times and miss them. a LITTLE! I am going to cherish each day because tomorrow it will only be a memory.
Here are some pictures of some fun times I like to look back on from all the places we have lived so far.

Can't forget that I got married in NC

The beach! Wow my boy was so little

The birth of my daughter

Minnesota winters

Living on an AFB

Semi Wordless Wednesday

It's amazing how fast they grow up. My little princess has now gotten to the "I want to play dress up" phase. She was wearing one of her princess dresses dancing around on her bed! I couldn't decide on just one picture so get ready for picture overload!

And of course I can't forget about my son. My little mama's boy who doesn't seem to need his mamma for anything anymore :(

Tuesday Hops!

It's monday night and I'm already staring my blog hopping for tomorrow! You may be asking yourself WHY? I just love blog hops. I have met some of the most awesome people and found great blogs to read. It's not all about who follows your blog although it is nice to see your number of followers going up :)

I'm already over 150 and plan on having another giveaway at 200!!!



My plans for this deployment

Lately my anxiety has been getting the best of me. Along with some depression. I know it will all pass but I can't just sit here and wait for this deployment to be over.  Last night my son said to me "how am I supposed to do good in school AND be the man of the house" he then went on to mention how I have been sleeping a lot and "not in a good mood" I know I am depressed and I can't believe I let it get to this point. I have decided to get off my lazy butt and do something about. These next few months will be hard there is no getting around that. But I am going to make them as enjoyable as possible. Not only for me but also for the kids. I have come up with a bunch of things I want to do while the hubby is gone. Now to be realistic I may not be able to accomplish all of it but I am going to try my best. Now I am going to share with you what I want to do and I am also open to any idea you all have.

#1 The kids and I are going to write my husband a letter everyday. Even if it's something as simple as I love you. Not only will this help me but I think the kids will have fun with it and give them something to look forward to each day.

#2 I want to get some cork board for both of the kids and put it up in their room so they can hang pictures of them and daddy. I have been busy taking pictures of them doing everything together. This is one I WILL do!

#3 STABILITY! As much as I want to travel and see my family I am going to try my best to have them come here. I think it is important for these kids to have as much stability as possible.

#4 My son and I are going to make a chart with all the things that must be done around the house. Mostly the things my hubby does so we don't forget. Things like taking the trash out to the street and filling the car with gas. Yup I know it sounds silly but my hubby always fills my car with gas. As a matter of fact I haven't done it myself in almost 4 months.

#5 My son and I plan on going camera happy! We will then take those pictures and make an awesome scrapbook for my hubby.

#6 I am thinking about opening my own etsy shop. I have been getting good at making hairbows and have even been dabbling in tutu making. This will all depend on how much time I have to put into it. So keep your eye out because who knows YOU may get the first chance for a review on my shop.

#7 I'm going to keep up with my blog. I think it will help to hear all of your advice.

Thanks for reading my rambles and please leave your comments I love hearing from my readers!

P.S.  Feel free to grab my new button on the top left side of my page!



Monday blog hops!

Welcome to my blog be sure to leave me a comment if you want me to follow back!

Sunday Blog hops!

Welcome to my blog! Leave me a comment if you decided to follow

me so I can be sure to stop by your blog too!

YAY I got stylish Blogger award!!!

How exciting is it to receive an award. I was given this award by April over at My Fitness World who happens to also be a military spouse. Thank You!  Be sure to go check out her page.

To accept this award the recipients are asked to do a few things:

                      •Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.

•Share 7 things about yourself

•Award 10-15 blogs you feel deserve the award

•Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award

1. I am a stay at home mom to the most wonderful 8 year old boy and almost 2 year old girl. I also have two step kids who are 9 and 11.

2. I am a military wife and though it is a crazy life I wouldn't trade it for anything.

3. I just started crafting a lot in the past couple of months and think it's something I am going to stick with. I have gotten good at making hair bows, and am now trying to perfect the art of the tutu!

4. My favorite animal is a horse. A lot of people don't know but when I was young I spent most of my time on a farm and miss it like crazy.

5. I am 1/2 Italian and would die without Italian food. Especially cannolis

6. I have a passion for helping people and do what I can every chance I get. People always ask me why I do so much for so many people and I always tell them that if I needed help I would hope someone would do the same. I am a huge believer in karma.

7. I would love to become a foster parent someday. It's something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager. I feel like it's one of the most rewarding things you can do.

I'm obviously supposed to give this award to 10-15 people. I have decided that

I would like to pass it on to some of my fellow milspouse bloggers. Not only because

you all deserve an award once in a while but because out of all the blogs I

keep up with these are the ones I can relate to most!

I would like to pass the award on to:

Our Crazy Bunch

Deployment (again)

Diary of a Devil Dog wife

Life with my littles

Marine wife unplugged

Marine Parents

Not just an Army wife

**Wife [widow] of a wounded Marine**

A little pink in a world of camo

The Glamorous life of an Army wife

When your feet don't touch the ground

If you choose to participate in the award "pay-it-forward", grab the award button and follow the directions in this post! 

Friday Hops

Welcome to all my new followers. Be sure to leave a comment so I can follow you back!



Kids and Deployment

As a military spouse I have always known the time would come where deployment takes over our world. And now it has :(  Don't get me wrong my husband has deployed many time but those were all before we were married. My son and I have also dealt with my sister's deployments and  good friends. I thought after going through all that my son would be able to handle this much better than he is. It seems like the closer we get the worse things get. He will still be here for the next couple months on and off so I can only imagine what it will be like when he leaves this summer. So the other day I was thinking and remembered being in school and learning about the five stages of grief. In case you don't all remember they are

• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression (sadness)
• Acceptance

I now feel like those also apply to deployment. Not only for us spouses but especially for the kids. I wish we could skip them all and get right to acceptance. I know my job is to be strong for the kiddos but sometimes it seems so hard. I feel like I am about to explode into tears at any moment. My little boy is having a hard time expressing himself. When we first told him he acted like "so what no big deal" he even made jokes. I would say that was his denial.Then he went through the "how about dad just stays for my birthday" - that would be the bargaining. Then he started acting out and eventually told me "I don't want dad to know I am sad"- There is the depression. Next he told me "I am going to be mad when dad has to leave" - The anger. So far we have gone through four out of five and I am thinking acceptance won't happen until after he is gone and we get a routine going again.

I told him it is ok to let us know how he is feeling and that we all feel that way at some point. I wanted to write this post because I know there are a lot of other families who are going through the same thing and I want you all to know it is ok. You and your kids will feel every emotion under the sun but in the long run we will all be stronger people. God never gives us more than we can handle.





And the winner is...

The winner of the $10 Starbucks gift card is

Twingle Mommy

Who commented that she is a GFC follower!

Thank you to everyone who entered.

My next Milestone is 200 followers

and at 200 I will be doing an

even bigger giveaway

Wednesday Blog hops!

Welcome to my blog I hope you take the time to look around. Also while you're here don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway it ends tonight!



Date night!

I would first like to say sorry for not posting much lately but my hubby was home for a few days and we spent that time together. Friday night we had a date night which is something that  never happens. We usually end up having at least one kid every where we go. So on Friday our amazing neighbors (and friends) watched the kids for us. We found this Italian restaurant that I read about online and decided to try it. If you are ever in MA look it up it's called Cafe Luigi's and they have great food. I wasn't a huge fan of the atmosphere. It was crowded and a little loud. Now back to the food my husband had shrimp scampi and I had chicken verdicchio. We also both had a salad and ended the meal with some freshly made cannolis. The prices were reasonable and I honestly would have been willing to pay more considering how good the food was. After dinner we went and got some Easter shopping done and just spent some quality time together. It's amazing how one date night can leave you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. So to all you parents out there please take my advice and get a sitter we all need some kid free time once in a while.

Uh oh maybe mommy needs to let baby spend more time without her :(

I have always been a firm believer that staying home with my kids was the best choice I ever made. Now don't get me wrong I still feel that way but some where along the way I forgot how these kids need time with out mommy. My husband is getting ready for his deployment so this stage couldn't have come at a worse time. My little princess has turned into a "mommy monster". If I am around she won't let anyone else do anything for her. For instance she walks over and says "hand" so she can show me something. My husband takes her hand and she starts screaming and throwing herself on the ground. At dinner she asked for help with her fork and my husband tried to help her and she said "NO mommy do". How could I possibly have let it get this bad. When I go to the bathroom she either comes in with me or stands outside the door yelling for me. In order for my husband to do anything I literally have to hide so she thinks I'm not even home. I am afraid that when the hubby leaves it could possibly be even worse when he gets back. Has anyone else gone through this? And if so got any advice?

Monday Blog hops!

Welcome to all my new followers. Make sure to enter my 100 fan giveaway

for a $10 Starbucks gift card!



100 Follower Giveaway! CLOSED

It's time for my 100 follower giveaway! First I would like to say thanks you to all my loyal followers. You have made my blogging experience so much fun. With my husband's upcoming deployment I know you will all be there to lend a shoulder.

THE GIVEAWAY:

One lucky winner will receive a $10 Starbucks gift card.

THE RULES:

This giveaway  is open to the US and Canada only

You must do the mandatory entry or all others will not count

Leave your email in your comments so that I can contact you if you win

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Follow my blog via GFC

OPTIONAL ENTRIES:

Follow me on Twitter +1

Like my fan page on Facebook +1

Blog about this giveaway +3

This giveaway will end on 3/23/2011 at 11:59 EST and the winner will be chosen using Random.org

Starbucks is in no way sponsoring this giveaway I am covering all costs out of my own pocket.

Sunday Blog Hops!

Welcome to all my new followers. Take a minute to look around. And keep your eye out

my 100 follower giveaway will be starting soon!

Giveaway winner!!!

The winner of my hair bow giveaway is comment #3 from Our Crazy Bunch! Thank you to all who entered and look out because my 100 follower giveaway will be taking place in the next day or two.

Blog hops and milestones!

Firstly I would like to say Happy friday! I am super excited to say I am at 91 followers :)

Only nine more and I plan on doing a great giveaway.  Have a great day

and keep on sending your friends this way!

Thursday Blog hops

Welcome to all my new followers. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for some

handmade hair bows. only two more days to enter!

No such thing as predictability in the military!

    First off I would like to appologize but my "30 day challenge" will have to go on hold for a while. I just found out that my hubby will be deploying. Now I obviously can't give you all any specific details.  Between his training and the deployment he will be gone for almost 10 months :( and this all starts in just a couple weeks. Now I know many of you have dealt with this before but I haven't. ok that's a lie my sister has deployed twice but that was different. This is my husband, the father of my baby. Which by the way we had been talking about having another one guess that will have to wait a while. The three years we have been together I have been lucky to only be separated for short periods. The longest was only 6 weeks. Anyone with advice please share because I feel like my mind has been over loaded and I don't know where to start. I knew this would happen eventually but wasn't expecting it so soon and with so little notice. He is going to miss our kids birthdays and Christmas. Our daughter isn't even two yet how will she feel when daddy is gone? How do I tell her? My son is eight and he understands. Not to mention we have only lived here for a couple months and I don't even know where everything is. That's it for now thanks for listening to me vent!

Weekend Blog Hops

Welcome to all my new followers! Please take your time and look

around! Also remember to enter my giveaway if you would like



My challenge day 3, 4 and 5

    Ok so it's been a few days so I am going to put all three in one. I should be back to daily postings as soon as everyone in the house is feeling better. I have two sick kids plus I was sick for two days. It looks like we have the flu and pink eye going around YUCK!

Here is is three more things you didn't know about me

My worst habit is the fact that I smoke. Yes I know you are probably all saying ewww and I wish  I  could stop. If you have any advice PLEASE do share!

I am addicted to a few t.v.  shows and never miss them.

Army Wives (new season starts Sunday)

Parenthood (a must for anyone who has or knows a kid with autism)

Biggest Loser

and there are a few more I like but these are the three I never miss

I love music and when people ask me what I listen to I say everything. Although I must say I'm not a big fan of rap except maybe a couple of song. And I know almost every country song on the planet :)

That's it for today! Make sure to check out my giveaway if you haven't yet and have a great weekend

Blog Hops for Thursday!



Thank you to all my new followers please take a look around and let me know what you think.

I am doing my first giveaway and I hope you will join in on the fun!

Wednesday blog hops

Welcome to my new followers. Take a look around and let me know what you think so far!