Can Turkeys get Bronchitis??

Life during the holiday season can become so hectic that I feel like we celebrate the day and  move on. This year is no different. We flew through Halloween, I mean I was making C's costume the morning of his schools vocabulary parade! As Thanksgiving was fast approaching I realized that the kids have no idea why we celebrate Thanksgiving day at all. So what does one do when they want to teach their 5 and 2 year old the meaning of Thanksgiving...go to Amazon, Pinterest and Target of course!

I found so many cute ideas and books that were simple enough lil C would take something away from it and yet interesting enough to catch big C's attention. This is a huge problem with several things right now.

I found this book when searching on Amazon. Michelle Medlock Adams writes a whole series of board books that explain holidays to little ones with from a biblical perspective. Lil C loves it and we have read it every night since she opened it.

                                           

Big C is reading now so I wanted a "chapter book". I struggled to find a level one reader but I think this one will last us a few years! He has read most of it a little at a time each night this week. And I was so impressed at how much he already knew as we read. Apparently he is learning at school :)

 

 

I found this really cute worksheet on Pinterest.

 

 

I have been working on colors pretty hard core with lil C lately so she really had fun with this...and I'm sure she ate a few along the way!

 

I'm really not sure who had more fun with this Little People set, me or the kids. I may have played with it more than they did! I also got a great deal on it so that's a bonus.

                                         

                                                        

Clayton's class invited parents to school to see the cutest play ever!! My little man played the pilgrim minister in search of freedom. After the play we helped the class make a special snack of cute little turkeys.

          

                                           

                                           

Thanksgiving dinner would not be complete without handprint placemats!

And unfortunately that's where our Thanksgiving celebration week ended. The kids and I went down to South Georgia to celebrate with my in laws but the Friday before Thanksgiving Clayton started feeling bad. By the time Thanksgiving came around the whole family, North and South Georgia, were horribly sick with some type of respiratory infection. Fever, chills, coughing, nausea etc. I took one bite of Turkey and went back to bed :( Hopefully December holds much better health!   

I am Thankful for

J went back to Kuwait on October 30th leaving us roughly 4 months until he is home for the "good". My kids respond very well to knowing what is going on and how long until the next step. Clayton is obsessed with calendars...I have no idea who that came from. I love countdowns too and wanted a fun way to help the months pass but also be engaged in the time and not counting our days away.

For November doing a Thankful themed count down was a given. I made 30 leaves with my Cricut and each night we write what we are Thankful for and tape it to the cabinet. I'm going to add each day and update this post as we go along.

 

 

 

        

Which goal is our's again?

This "deployment" is going by at a snails pace and I am dragging right along with it. I am so used to being the busy commanders wife and on every board I could get myself on, that small town/civilian life was killing me...so I filled up the calendar!

 

The Y is like our second home and I love the staff and families there so I was super excited that Clayton wanted to play soccer there. He played on a really cute little team and had a blast! He loved the coach and made fast friends with his teammates.

Coach Mike and team Thunder

 

End of game high fives-all just friends in the end

 

The Y really pushes that at this age it is all about having fun and learning the skills of the sport along with listening and team building skills. There wasn't a goalie and they didn't keep score and while I don't always like that mentality in life it was ok for this league.

 

I will be the first to say I'm not planning college applications based on a soccer scholarship! Clayton "played" more than he played soccer but he enjoyed the team and learning and can't wait to move on to a new sport.

Sissy was at every game cheering on the "kids" with her Thunder shirt.

 

End of the year party- Getting his first trophy ever!!

Having pizza with his "girl" friend Ava. They go to school together too and are super cute together :)

 

Next up is basketball season. While Clayton may be in the 5th percentile in height he is going to rock that court...maybe

Lil C goes to the movies and mommy goes to a meeting

It is no secret that I LOVE Chick-Fil-A. The reasons are far to many to list but I really love the Winder CFA. They host free events almost weekly...and yes I buy food so the event is not completely free but I would eat there once a week anyway :)

 

Thursday (6/13/13) the events team hosted a mommy and me morning. The kids made some crafts for Father's Day.

 

 They really do love each other...

 Charlotte loves the cow! Here she is saying..."Hi cow, hi cow, hi cow"

 

 

After the crafts, Kelsey and I thought it would be super fun to take 5 kids 5 and under to the movies! But seriously our local movie theater has a summer kids series and I thought it would be a great test run for Charlotte at a movie. She actually fell asleep! So it was pretty easy :) 

 

 

Later Thursday night I attended a business opportunity meeting in Monroe with my AdvoCare team. I was surprise asked to share how I am building my 4G business and starting to grow a full time business. I hate surprises like that but with AdvoCare there is no need to rehearse my "story", it comes natural and freely because it true and real life. I don't feel like I need to add fluff because the product results and business results tell themselves.

Park fail, winning mail-NO EXCUSES

Yesterday I mentioned I was going to try out a park side bible study. We went and I tried to listen but Lil C is in the stage where she wants to play at the park but she still needs my help and she was not about to let me listen and then play. So I would take her to the swings and then listen and repeat for the 2 hours. Unfortunately I think I will have to stick to bible studies that provide childcare until she can play independently in that type of setting.

I was kind of discouraged but then I checked the mail! It was a great mail day!!

For our anniversary J bought me a Birch Box subscription. I love it!! I'm not sure which I love more the cool samples or getting a box monthly giving me something to look forward. My favorite sample this month was the nail polish (which I have become obsessed with lately). This picture doesn't give the nail polish color any justice. It's a neon peach...excited to try it out soon :)

I also got the books I ordered YESTERDAY!! I love amazon prime!!

Lil C has some developmental delays. She caught up mostly in gross motor but is still catching up in the speech and communication department. She is super super smart and always figures out a way to get what she wants or needs but that will not always carry her. She needs to learn to adjust to the world around so she can become more independent. I bought Raising A Sensory Smart Child to help me help her figure out this sensory overloaded world. After reading the first chapter I would recommend this book to anyone. We do live in a very fast world and it can become overwhelming to anyone but imagine that you are unable to communicate your feelings and needs? The world has moved on before you can get your thoughts out? How scary and frustrating that must be!

 

I also got my new bible study, Bad Girls of the Bible. So excited to get that started in the morning!

 

Before I go to bed I am catching up with my Advocare team and catching up on some excellent videos created by some of the greats and leaders in Advocare. The common theme tonight throughout the call and throughout the videos...NO EXCUSES. If you want something there is no excuse that should be able to stop you!! As I go to sleep I will be praying on this and thinking on this...what excuses are stopping me and what are those excuses stopping me from gaining and changing in my life?

Blogging woes, magicians and raw bars

My approach at blogging is not working! New approach- blog daily. What's on my mind that day, in that moment. Random maybe but it can't be any worse than how I blog now! I want to record our days for J and family to see and I want a record to look back on. I remember writing in a diary and how freeing that is, so why not treat my blog that way?

I've been feeling so bogged down with worry and a feeling of always waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. The answer to overcoming that has always been right there but I wasn't ready to see it yet. Almost like holding on to the aching feeling was easier than facing why I was feeling that way. I wasn't ready to face that if I spent my life in the moment and not in constant planning of the next moment I could still have fun while not in complete control. So if I'm not in control who is? God. It is that simple. Pray, turn over the worry, give the Lord my fears, read the Word, wait for the moments. When the moments are scary and worrisome-pray for the strength. When the moments are amazing and blessed-praise Him.  "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt. 6:33) I am setting my alarm to try and wake before the kids to seek Him first before the Spark, before the laundry, before my mind has a chance to slip into the type A place it often resides in. I'm certain things will change and I can become a better wife and mom.

 

 Today I started reading Faith Deployed and researching bible studies. I've decided to try Bad Girls of the Bible to add to the bible study J and I do together. While researching I was invited to a bible study in the park with other ladies and kids. Obviously a God thing! It starts tomorrow and I am so excited to see how it goes. When we were on post I was involved in PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and loved learning from other women in my place in life.

 

 

In other news- the local library is doing a Dig into Reading summer reading program. The kids are loving the special guest and the prizes for reading. Today's guest was a magician that read/danced/sang. The Cs loved him and Lil C actually paid attention the whole hour!  

 

 

 I grabbed a book for myself while we were there.  Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Stay tuned to see what I thought of it:) It was compared to the Paris Wife which I loved so hopefully this book will not disappoint!

Another random piece of info...I have to eat before I work out...is that weird? Maybe it helps me get through or maybe I like to think I must work off those calories I just ate. Who knows but I do eat before I workout so I love to find the healthiest option. In February, AdvoCare introduced the Raw Bar and I read somewhere on group or page to add a smear of peanut butter to the top. What a clean protein full snack to fuel me for my workout! Which was fabulous today. I did ballet boot camp and man will I feel that in the morning!  

This picture makes it seem like there is a ton of pb- while I love my pb I promise there was not that much ;)

 

 

Day 1 of 365

There is really no words to explain what it feels like on day 1 of a deployment.

There is a part of me that wanted the deployment to start so that we could get it over with, but then the other part was breaking knowing what was ahead.

When we moved to GA I knew J was leaving but there were so many changes and I let a tiny bit of hope slip in that something would work out where he would be able to stay. Obviously that didn't happen but we feel like this separation was at as good a time as this type of things can ever happen and we had prepped the kids (Clayton) for it, we were ready.

J left March 2 from the airport in Atlanta. It was so different from last time. There was no rally point, no weapons draw, no bus and no group of families feeling the same way I was. Instead it felt like he was going on trip, he left with a few bags and no weapon, he was the only one and I had my family and J's family there to support me.

If you have ever gone through a deployment or something like this you know the few hours before is the worst! I didn't want to feel to much to soon. I wanted to act as normal as possible and show J and the kids I totally had it together.

 

While I didn't plan on the word "change" to be behind us in these pictures I think it was very fitting.

 

Today we are right at 300 days left and while that still is a really hard number to swallow I try to focus on the fact that everyday we get through is one day closer to this being over.