It's A Mil Spouse Blog Hop!

HELLO HELLO!!!





Today I am participating in the Mil Spouse Blog Hop




Sponsored by Wife On The Roller Coaster

A little bit about me:

My name is Jessica. I am a thirty-something (oh my goodness, when did that happen??? ha) I am married to Jason. We are high school sweethearts who have been together 16 years and married for almost 9 of those. Jason has been in the Army Reserves since 2002. We have 2 children. Jack is 5 and Madi is 3. I have a degree in psychology but after having Jack decided to be a SAHM...and I love it (most of the time) (=
So far we have survived 2 deployments and are currently preparing for Jason to begin #3 (another 400 day deployment) in the VERY near future. I look forward to "meeting" other mil spouses!

I Think I Broke My Arm

A conversation I had with this little princess:



Madeline: with a serious look on her face, but no tears "Um, mommy, I think I broke my arm"

Me: "Oh really, what happened"

Madeline: "Uh, yea I think it is broken" (still serious and no tears)

Me: looking at her arm and being "concerned" "well, Madeline what did you do?"

Madeline: very serious now "well, mommy, I was just jumping on my bed and I fell off..(short pause)...I guess that means my butt is going to hurt now" (b/c she is going to get a spanking for jumping on her bed)

"Good Things"

Below is a video on "Good Things" from Piper.


Thank you God for being a Father who encourages...who has grace and mercy when dealing with me! Thank YOU even more for what YOU reveal to me in the hard times.

Time To Freshen Up

Time to freshen up...the house that is =)

I am trying so hard to keep things as normal as possible. The kids still have no idea that J is deploying again and we plan to keep it that way until closer to time (which will not be long). I wish at times that I did not know either...it is really affecting me...maybe I will share about that soon. But for now, I am just going to try to keep this post "cheery"


I spent the majority of last week doing MAJOR spring cleaning! Once everything was all clean and fresh, I decided to change up the decor (just a little) so it would be fresh too. There is just something about a clean house and new decor that makes me feel better. ;)

It is not often that I get to go shopping...alone...and have time to browse and get ideas. I was lucky enough to get to do that...and to top it all off, my mom paid for it =) (shopping alone and someone else pays for it...could it possibly get much better???)

One of my fave stores is Micheal's. We do not have one in our area, so when I visit my mom I like to stop in there. I always score some great finds and usually they have great prices. This trip was a success! I found some great decor, got some great ideas, and spent way too much time in the scrap booking aisles.

Below are some pictures of my finds:


Some of the pretty things I found at Micheal's to go along with things I already had.


Remember when I said I was looking for something to hang on the front door??? Well I came across this stuff on the clearance aisle. I paid about $6 for the bucket and the stems were 99 cents each...so less than $10 in the door decor.


I put some styrofoam in the bucket to hold the stems in place.


Used my handy dandy wire cutters to cut the stems to just the right height for the bucket and began placing them in the bucket. The stems were just randomly placed and filled in where ever I thought looked bare.


The finished door hanging. I was very happy with it...so happy with it that I made another one just like it and gave it to my mom for her front door. =)
I love the yellow stems...they just felt bright and cheery to me...what color makes you feel bright and cheery???

On to the dining room:


Table decorations...I already had most of the stuff on here...just added the tall vase and a few new stems to create a new look
I am thinking about getting some burlap to intermingle on here...it just looks like it is missing something??? whatcha think????


another view of the dining room table


Close up of the butterfly...Madi loves this =)


View of the mantle/fireplace area...nothing new just added a fern in the urn.


Close up of the fern


So, there are my new spring decorations...do any of you decorate or change things up for spring?

Want A Snack???

This week I have been "spring cleaning" the house...you know cleaning baseboards, molding, closets, walls, windows...EVERYTHING...and it took 3 days, but I am FINISHED..finally... ;)
Well, one day while cleaning I noticed that the house was unusually quiet...a quiet house with a 5 yr old and 3 yr old is not good. So I tip toe around the house sure to catch my lil angels up to no good...and I did...I found Madi sitting in the fridge eating bacos...gotta love it...her comment to me was "mommy, I just wanted a snack" ha! Instead of just asking for a snack, she helped herself.


Madi sitting in the fridge helping herself to some bacos. =)

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

J and I took the kids to the Braves vs Rockies baseball game last night. It was so much fun!!! The kids loved every thing about it...especially the fireworks! J and I watched the kids during the fireworks show and commented that the smiles on their faces was made it all worth it...it really is! Their smiles was exactly what I needed to see ;) Of course the Braves winning the game helped too! =)

Here are some pictures of our trip to the game:


J with the kids


trying to get the kids to pose


The kids and me


J and the kids


again...trying to get the kids to pose =)


Madi and me enjoying the game.


Jack and J


Madi showing off her new Braves ball cap


Jack sporting his new cap


J and the kids =)


BRAVES WIN!!!!


GAME STATS


GAME MVP


FIREWORKS!!!


Great fireworks show!!!


Below is a video of J and Jack doing "the Chop" Jack LOVED doing this!!! (ignore Madi having a fit...she can't find her "thing" aka tomahawk)

Fun Times

We are having such a FUN TIME this week on spring break! We have been at the swimming pool 3 days this week already, my mother in law (aka Granna) took the kids to the musuem one day, and we are going to take the kids to a baseball game...busy week but a great one!

Below are some pictures of the kids swimming this week:


Jack and Zachary


Madeline and Kayleigh


Madeline, Kayleigh, and Lillie


Group shot!


I am trying to keep the kiddos busy this week...ok who am I kidding...I am trying to keep myself busy...I am having an unusally hard week this week...Am I the only one out there who has these??? I mean really...where does this come from??? It just sneaks up on you...oh well...this to shall pass right??

Well, I am off to work in the flower beds (you know, keeping busy)...can not wait to show you what we have done!

Ready for...

Ready for another great day swimming in the pool and soaking up the rays!






Sorry for slacking off on the blog...we have just been busy...I am working on a couple posts though and hope to have them up soon, but first things first...I must enjoy this great time with the kiddos =) I know its a hard life, but someone has to do it ;)

Enjoying Spring Break

This week is our spring break...WHOO-HOO!!! It is the BEST week for spring break too! The weather is absolutely beautiful!!! The kids and I are riding around town with the windows down jamming out to some Jimmy Buffett...it's ok they know every word to Cheeseburger in Paradise right????

On our 1st day of spring break, we painted some stain glass pieces...lots of fun (and a little mess) As we were finishing up with painting we got a surprise phone call from some friends who happened to be in town and wanted to meet for lunch...so off we went. It was so good to let the kiddos play and get to have adult conversation =) After lunch, we headed to swim (yes, swim...in the middle of April...it was FREEZING but the kids had fun) Our first day was fun and I managed to keep everyone busy. =)

Below are some pics of painting:


Madeline...ready to paint


Jack...waiting patiently to start painting.


Jack is creating a masterpiece.


Madi is creating her masterpiece.


Jack with his finished product =)

ok...so I have a mom confession...I win the bad mommy award today...I somehow managed to not take a picture of Madeline's finished art work...oops...hopefully she will be able to forgive me one day =)

So now we are off to enjoy the day at the pool again =) I know, I know its a hard life but someone has to do it...

Zoo Field Trip

Last week, Jack's preschool went on a field trip to the zoo. We LOVE the zoo! (I often feel like I live in a zoo so we are right at home there. HA!) The zoo is a very fun and educational place...however when just about every school in the entire region is there, it is very nerve racking...but we survived...=)
Below are some pictures of our trip to the zoo:


Jack, Madeline and Chloe waiting to go in the zoo.


Joshua, Emma, Samuel, Chloe, and Jack waiting on our turn to go in the zoo.


Jack and Madi waiting to feed nectar to the larakeet.


Jack feeding the larakeet.


Madi really enjoyed feeding the larakeet...here she is with 2 of them.


Joshua, Samuel, Madi and Jack about to enter the primate exhibit.


Kids sneaking a peek in the primate exhibit.


Jack


Madi...trying to climb over the fence and see the rhino...




Waiting in line for the train ride.


Madeline wanted to ride the train with Claire and Mrs. Bradley


Jack is all smiles on the train ride.



Jack at the petting zoo.