It's Give-A-Way Time!

Who likes to win? (hand raised me, me, me)

Who likes to win REALLY awesome stuff??? (both hands raised me, me, I do!)

Are you a military family reading this post and are going through a deployment, training, school, etc???

How many times have you been separated because of  schools, trainings, deployments etc. did you ever wish you could just hear your loved ones voice?  (If I had to answer that question it would be DAILY...all day...everyday, right?)

Well, I have been contacted by Super Tintin to give away something INCREDIBLE!

Super Tintin has partnered with Skype and they are offering....drumrolll please...
Skype Recording Licenses to 100 very deserving military families! 

Are you asking if I am serious?  Yes, the answer is YES I am serious!  Skype Recording Licenses to 100 very deserving military families! 

And Super Tintin is allowing me to give-a-way 7 of those licenses to my readers!

Here is some information from Kate at Super Tintin:
Here are a few of the features of SuperTintin for recording Skype calls:

Both Audio and Video: Record all audio and video streams including Skype voice mail and screen sharing video.


Easiest to Use: Very easy to record and playback.


Highest Quality: Supertintin records by capturing original media data while making sure there is no data loss. Because it is not a screen-capture recorder, video quality is not affected at all if you open, close and/or resize messenger windows while recording.


Picture-in-Picture: Record video in Picture-in-Picture, Side-by-Side, Remote-Only, or Local-Only mode! And you can also record local and remote video as two separate files.


Saving. Supertintin lets you easily save your conversations to your computer's hard drive or a portable USB drive, allowing you to re-watch your conversations as easily as watching your favorite DVD.

So...for the DETAILS:
This give-a-way will remain open until Feb. 12, 2012 11:59 CST.  On Feb. 13., I will choose (randomly) the 7 winners and contact them via email.   I will then forward the winners email info to Kate at Super Tintin who will then follow up with the winners-giving them the license info just in time to use for Valentines Day. 

One thing to note: SuperTintin is not compatible with Macs, at least not yet.



To ENTER:
there are 3 ways to enter -

1.  The ONLY mandatory way to enter - leave me a comment below if your a military family with a loved one deployed, TDY, or stationed overseas.  In the comment you MUST leave your email address.

2.  Follow my blog and leave me a separate comment letting me know you did.  (counts as 1 vote)

3.  Head over to Militaryblogs.org give my blog a BOOST. Click HERE to vote. Leave me a separate comment letting me know you did. 


That's it...so let the commenting begin!!  Good luck to all you of very deserving military families!!!

Know What I Love...

Know what I love????



I love watching Jack playing with Gunner.  He loves to "teach" him new tricks...Gunner loves it too because he gets treats.

I love watching Madeline play with Gunner.  He is so much patience with her.  She thinks he is her personal baby doll...just look at the way she carries him.  Gunner lets her and he just has this look of "how much longer do I have to deal with her?" 

I love Gunner's new collar and leash.  J brought them home for Gunner...of course hunting orange right? 

I love warm afternoons in January...its seriously in the 70s here.  We are having so much fun in the backyard swinging, playing with the pup, playing basketball ....

and of course a little family game of tag football :)   I also love that J is home with us so he can do these things...gah he has missed out on so much.  We have lots of family time to catch up on.  :)

I love when Jack smiles and he is missing his 2 front teeth...of how cute is that???

I love that I am able to stay at home with the kids so that I can go on field trips with them.  Madi's school recently went to the museum...we had so much fun! 

I love my husband for so many reasons...I love that he understands how important it is to me to lead a bible study so he volunteers to not only keep our children, but also children of other ladies in the study. 

I love riding with my windows down in this great weather we are having.

I love that I got a card in the mail today from a friend I have not heard from in a while...there is just something about hand written letters ;)

I love that we are taking the kids to Disney soon. :)

I love that my mom is moving closer to us.

I love getting a milkshake after a tough zumba class...yes I did that...yes it was good...yes I know I defeated the purpose of the workout

I love hearing the sound of the garage door open at the end of the work day. 

I love when J walks in the door he goes straight to the puppy and starts talking this baby talk stuff to him...he cracks me up. 

So what are some things you are loving right now???

I Have An Announcement

I have a special announcement I would like to share ....

It is something very exciting...

Our family is growing...








We have a new addition....





I would like to introduce you to GUNNER!!!

Gunner is our new puppy!!  How cute is he???

The kids have been asking us for a while for a puppy...I finally caved.  :)

My sweet friend, Wendy, has a precious dog that had a litter of puppies they were giving away so we decided to bring one home.  We are not sure what kind of puppy Gunner is.  We know that his mommy is an English pointer, but his daddy was a "visitor" lol 
It took the kids a little while to settle on a name.  Madeline came up with ice cream and spotty.  Jack wanted a "hunting" name...so we put it all together and named him Gunner Spotty Crow. 

So...what did you think the big announcement was going to be????

I am linking up to Kelly's Korner - Show Us Your Life Military Families.
Kelly hosts weekly link ups with varying topics.  I have participated in a few of the linky parties and I enjoy looking at new blogs :)  I love this idea of getting to discover other military wives who blog. 

So, for those who are new to this blog, I will give you a little run down of the Crow family.

We are a family of 4 - hence the name Just 4 Crow's

I am Jessica - a 30 something stay at home mommy who never stays at home (hehe)  I am passionate about my Lord and I am passionate about supporting military wives.  I love zumba, scrapbooking, and blogging.  I am trying to learn to enjoy running...I love food so I need to love running ;)  I am married to my high school sweetheart, Jason.  We celebrated 10 yrs of marriage this past summer.  Of course, thanks to the Army we celebrated apart (like we have so many other anniversaries)  Jason has been in the Army reserves for 10 years.  He has completed 3 deployments.  2 times for OIF (Iraq and Kuwait) and most recently for OEF (Afghanistan)  I am proud of my soldier and the job he does. 
Here we are:

We have 2 children - Jack and Madeline

Jack is our oldest.  He is shy and quiet until it comes to Alabama football.  He loves sports - all sports.  He is currently playing basketball and getting ready for baseball.  There is not a season that goes by that Jack is not playing a sport.  Jack is wise beyond his years and has the kindest heart of any child I know.  When Jack grows up he wants to be a soldier just like his daddy.
Here is Jack:

Madeline is our youngest.  She is a ball of energy.  She never quits.  She is our princess.  Madeline has never let anything stand in her way and has amazing determination.  Madeline enjoys helping mommy do everything.  She is a great helper.  Madeline enjoys dance and tumbling and is in her second year of classes.  Madeline says when she grows up she is going to drive the ice cream truck while wearing a pink princess dress...did I mention she is our little comedian???
Here is Madeline:

And here we all are together on the day our soldier returned home from deployment #3:

thanks so much for stopping by my blog! 

I Am So Proud

I am one proud mommy.

Today was Awards Day at Jack's school.  J and I knew Jack was going to get a certificate, but we did not know he was going to get an award!

All the children in 1st grade were presented a certificate.  After the certificates were presented, the Principal announced that some students had been selected to receive the Principal's Award.  To our surprise, Jack's name was called for the Principal's Award!  YAY!  Like I said, I am one proud mommy.  I already know my Jack is a great young man, but it sure is nice to see it recognized by his school.  :)

Here are some pictures:

Jack receiving a certificate from the principal:

Getting the Principal's Award pinned on:

So proud of this young man:

Madeline, daddy,and Jack:

Madeline, me and Jack (of course the kids are looking right at the camera and I am the one looking off, ha!)

Do you see?

Do you see someone's name in the picture below???

That would be my hero's name!  Jason Crow!

A local tv station is doing a segment the month of January were they honor soldiers returning from deployment.  The soldier's rank and name run across the bottom of the screen during the entire newscast.  My friend let me know this morning that Jason's name was on so I had to stop packing lunches and making breakfasts and getting kids ready for school to watch for Jason's name to scroll across the screen again.  I waited with iphone camera in hand ready to take the picture...and it came across again yay!  J got to see it and I snapped the picture.  He must think I am silly, but I can not help but be proud of my soldier for completing his 3rd deployment! :)

I love to see local businesses and people supporting our troops! 
Have a great day everyone!

New Year...new goals

Well...here we are...4 days into 2012. 

Over the last few days I have spent some time reflecting over 2011.  What a year it was.  Of course the biggest event for us was the end of our 3rd deployment.  There were other events that took place in 2011 as well...some good, some hard, some challenging.  Each event though, I believe, was an opportunity for me to grow and learn.  As I said, I have been thinking about each of those things and I am working on a year in review post (I will have it up soon)

As I was reflecting over 2011, I came up with my goals for 2012.  I know many people do not believe in making resolutions or goals, but for me personally I see nothing wrong with putting out there what I want to do and what better way to keep myself accountable than to put it on here.  :)

Here are my goals for 2012:

1.  Spiritual - I am starting another bible study in my home in a couple weeks.  I really enjoyed leading studies last year and plan to continue with leading studies this year.  I have enjoyed how challenging it was for me.  I have loved the relationships that I formed through the studies. I have enjoyed watching other women grow and have a closer relationship with Christ.   I have loved the "jewels" I have learned from God's precious word and look forward to digging even deeper and learning so much more.  I want to my desires to be His, I want Him to direct my path - not me...I want Him to be my leader - all the time.  Ultimately, I want to bring honor to His name in everything I do.

2.  Church - part of growing spiritually for me is to get involved in church again.  Many of you know that my family is visiting churches.  We are praying for God to lead us where He wants our family.  I am praying that we find  the church that we can all grow and serve in.  There are a lot of great churches in our area and we know that the right one is out there for us. 

3.  Exercise - I love to exercise.  I love to go to zumba.  I have decided to step up my exercising a little more this year.  So far so good..yay!  I start my mornings off with a 2 mile run/walk on the treadmill.  Then I finish it off with an hour zumba class.  I feel great.  J says I am going to start weight training with him...we will see.  He and I do not make good work out partners...he is tough!  Of course I know tough is what I need.  :)

4.  Weight loss - yuck - I lost 34 pounds in 2011!  Yay me!  BUT then Jason came home...I did not exercise like I was...we ate a lot...I gained 10 pounds...yuck!  but I know I can and I will get it off again! I got back on the health train with the new year and I know I will reach my goal this year and be done with it...done.  I look forward to getting to that point where I can say I have reached my goal.  I plan to keep the blog updated on my weight loss.  Accountability right?

5.  Blog - I did not keep it updated last year like I wanted to.  So often I wanted to share, but there was just not enough time or enough of me to keep it updated like I wanted to.  I am hoping to do a better job with the blog this year. 

6.  Take a class - I got a wonderful new camera for Christmas.  I have no idea how to use it other than point and click.  I know it can do soooo much more.  I want to learn how to.  I want to take a photography class.  My friend Shannon and I plan to do this.  No, I am not trying to become a photographer.  I just want to know how to use my camera and take great pictures of my family.  :)

7.  My mom gave me a life book, called The Story of A Lifetime, for Christmas.  Its basically a huge leather bound journal with pre-printed statements and questions at the beginning of each entry and I can fill it out. I think it is wonderful and I look forward to filling it out.  Maybe one day my children (and grandchildren) will enjoy reading it.  My goal is to start filling it in.

8.  Supporting military wives - I have a special place in my heart for military spouses.  I want to serve them and encourage them.  My time, for now, as an FRG co-leader is over because J is moving on to a new unit so I will not be able to serve in that capacity, but I look forward to meeting the spouses at his new unit.  I still plan to check in on the old unit though - how can I not, we were there for 10 years. Many of the ladies in my bible study are also military spouses so I will be able to remain connected with them in that way. 
My heart is with Wives of Faith    and I have meet so many fantastic ladies.  At Wives of Faith the passion is to connect, encourage and support the Military Wife.  That is my passion too!  That is why I love serving Wives of Faith as the MemberCare Director.  I am also looking forward to the Tour of Duty Live! event coming up in May.  This is an event you do not want to miss especially if you are in the midst of a deployment or preparing for one soon. 

Well, there are my goals for 2012.  Now, help me stay accountable :)
Do you make goals or resolutions?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!  Wishing everyone a year of happiness and health.  I can not wait to see what God has in store for us in this wonderful new year!

A picture with my hot new years date :)