I thought...

I think most people I know are loving Pinterest.  I have been on the site for quite a while.  I have lots of boards filled with great ideas and I have great motivation to attempt them...and I will one day do just that.  As a matter of fact, some friends of mine were discussing having a Pinterest party. It sounds quite fun....but more to come on that later.

This post has nothing to do with making crafts or a yummy crockpot recipe (which -side note- I did make a yum yum keeper - Buffalo chicken in the crockpot served as a sandwich. It's a keeper! and I wil share soon :) 

but anywho, back to the post at hand....I have been going thru quotes and scriptures that bring peace and comfort on the hard days....like the hard week we have faced.  And then I came across this picture:

 

 

When I read this quote I lost it....My love for J is unfailing and constantly growing even in those weeks when you feel the feet would be knocked out from under you at any moment. (we are still standing, my friends)...by the grace of God we are still standing. 

I love my man....he is our protector, provider, advisor, our jokester, and thank goodness the athletic one....BUT....I love this man whom I have been with for over 18years for more than just those quality's.  I love hy husband because I love how he loves our children.  He will stop whatever he is doing to play battleship with Jack or to give a Mani to Madi....and not just stop what he is doing but stop with joy in his heart.  He is joyful when he plays with his children.  Better believe I love him more when I see that. I love that he is teaching our children their parent will be here for them  He is teaching them a love that is authentic not purchased.  He is teaching them what relationship looks like....and that my friends will be ingrained in their minds forever.  Even through multiple 15 months deployment, he can still make sure to spend time with his kids


here are my little sweeties during family game night...yes, a football was on and a convention was on, but there something more important to do....make sure you have the least number of marbles. ;)

so my friends, take time to reflect on the great things around you...find those things even when your heart is sinking...and hold on to those smiles...hold on to the promises of Scripture, and hold on to family and friends...cause sometimes this road of life gets bumpy :(  but when we come out of the fire we will be stronger if we allowed God to use us)

Another Reminder For Today

Saw this picture on Pinterest...love this scripture...it has so many meanings to me right now and I wanted to share it with my readers in case someone, who like me, needed the reminder today

Just A Reminder...

Great Weekend

We had a super fantastic weekend! 

We knew that this would be the last weekend until December (yes, December) that we will not have something going on.  So, we wanted to make the best of it. 

We started the weekend off with a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel (yummy).  Then out of the blue my hubby asked if I would go on a motorcycle ride with him.  I was so excited because he's had his motorcycle for a year now (remember I surprised him with the motorcycle when he came home on R&R..you can see that post HERE and THIS POST  )  He finally felt comfortable enough driving it that he wanted to let me ride with him...yay!  I was so excited.  So we dropped the kids off with Meme (my mom) and my brother joined us. 

Here we are before we loaded up on the motorcycle:

We took it slow at first so J could get used to having a rider.  Then we decided to ride up to the Mountain.  It was incredible.  The weather was great.  The neatest feeling was going through pockets of air that felt so cold.  You could smell things you do not normally smell in a car. The feeling of the air is so relaxing...definitely a stress reliever (so needed that relief after this week)  Needless to say I am hooked! 

Here is a picture of the bikes parked at a look out point on the mtn.:

Here is a video I made while riding:

I had a blast!  We rode over 85 miles that day (not too bad I guess for my first time ever on a bike)  I am ready to go again!  hehe  I also told J that maybe after the next deployment I will buy myself a bike as my prize, hehe 

The weekend did not stop at riding motorcycles (though that was the highlight for me)  We cooked out at my moms and went on a night swim.  Then spent Sunday afternoon rearranging the entire basement (thank you pinterest for giving me so many ideas, lol)  I have reclaimed my office and plan to get back to my scrapbooks while the kids are at school :) 

Hope everyone had a great weekend too!

Winners

Thanks to all who participated in the Piper Reed giveaway I hosted on my blog.

The winners, chosen at random, were:

1.Joanna @ In Christ Alone

2.Brandi @ In The Know Moms

3.  Amanda Sharp


Ladies, please email me your mailing address so I can get your books sent to you :)

1st Day of School

Today is the 1st day of school for my babies!! 

I can not believe summer is already over for us....even more, I can not believe that Jack is in 2nd grade and Madeline is in Kindergarten!  My goodness they need to slow down.

The kids were so excited for the 1st day of school that I did not think they were ever going to go to sleep last night.  I was afraid they would have a hard time waking up this morning, but both of them jumped right up at 6am ready to go to school. 

They chose their breakfast...I offered cinnamon rolls, sausage biscuit, biscuit and gravy or cereal....Guess what they chose...cereal!

Here they are...dressed and ready to start their 1st day in kindergarten and 2nd grade

Walking into school....we made their teachers a little treat basket filled with "happy's" (drink mix to add to their water, snacks, candy, gum, lotion, fingernail file, headache meds, etc.)

 Jack and his teacher Mrs. Mallett...she is precious and I know he is going to have a GREAT year in her class!!!  Bonus - she is also a milspouse! 

***Notice this is the only picture of Jack in his class...he did not want us walking him to class (too cool for that) much less taking a numerous amount of photos.  It was all I could do not to give him a big hug and kiss right there in class. 

Madeline and her kindergarten teacher Mrs. Keel...we love Mrs. Keel, she was also Jack's teacher and I know we are going to have a GREAT year in her class. 

Madeline walking in her class:

 Madeline and Daddy:

 Madeline and Mommy:

Now, I am off to keep myself busy...this house it way too quiet :(

Piper Reed Forever Friend - Review and Give-A-Way

We enjoy reading at our house and because of that I am always on the lookout for good children's books for my family...especially a book that pertains to our military lifestyle. That's why I love the Piper Reed series by Kimberly Willis Holt .

I was asked to review the book “Piper Reed Forever Friend”

A little about the book:

Piper Reed is ten years old and ready to embark on her sixth family move to a new location- from Pensacola, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia. Piper is excited to move to a new state and catch up with old friends. But the move doesn’t go as smoothly as she expected…for one thing, her friends from Pensacola, Michael and Nicole, do not even go to her school. Piper has trouble feeling accepted in her new surroundings. But then she meets Arizona Smiley-Arizona is a lot different from the other kids and this intrigues Piper.  This move may turn out to be the best yet!

I recommend this book for young readers. My own children -- ages 8 and 5 -- enjoyed the stories.

How would like a chance to get the series and follow Piper and her friends as they navigate this adventurous life???

GIVEAWAY!

Great news! You can get your own Piper Reed book in this giveaway! You could win one of these three fantastic books:

*1 signed hardback copy of PIPER REED, FOREVER FRIEND

*1 signed paperback copy of PIPER REED, NAVY BRAT

*1 signed paperback copy of PIPER REED, RODEO STAR

All you need to do to win a one of these three free books is leave a comment below!  That is all...just leave me a comment between now and Monday, Aug.20.  I will contact the winners via email on Monday.

So...leave a comment for your chance to win a FREE copy of a book from the Piper Reed series

Meet 'n Greet

It's almost time for the kids to go back to school...sigh....

I have really enjoyed them being home this summer, but they are ready to go...I am not so sure if I am ready though.

This week is busy with orientations and meeting the teacher.  I have already been to Madeline's orientation for kindergarten and yesterday she was able to go to the school to meet her teacher and find her way around the school.  She was so excited to go, but when she got to school she was so shy.  I know she is looking forward to school, but it is just a little scary at first.  I can not believe she is old enough...gah...

Here are a couple pictures I snapped at her meet 'n greet

Standing by her cubby:

Putting her nap mat in her cubby:

Taking a picture with her teacher.  We love her teacher!  Jack also had her for kindergarten so we are really looking forward to this year! 

8!

Our "little" Jack turns 8 today!  8!  How can he already be 8??? 

How quickly he went from our snuggly little chinky monkey:

to our fun, hot wheels lovin' toddler:

to our precious young man:

who loves nothing more than playing baseball:

 and will play baseball year round (which now that he is on travel ball, will get the chance to do that)

I look at Jack and I think about how much he has changed physically in 8 years, but notice he is still our sweet, thoughtful and quiet little boy that he has always been.  Jack loves sports, riding his bike, playing outside and watching wrestling...which gives this girly momma a chance to get dirty and now plan a wrestling themed birthday party :)  (oh the things we will do for our children)  I admire his resilience and strength...he has endured so much in 8 years and has never let it slow him down, not even in the least little bit.  I look forward to watching him grow up (though I wish I could slow time down) and seeing him become the man that God wants him to be.  Happy Birthday Jack!  Mommy, Daddy and Sissy love you so very much

Some Videos

Found a couple videos from hubby's WOC class.


The first video is of the 2nd class song - the song they sang to remove their hat:

The second video is the class video:

Graduation Day

To say I am proud of my hubby would be an under-statement....He recently graduated from Warrant Officer School (WOCS) and we were able to be a part of this huge accomplishment in his career. 

There were several events leading up to graduation day that families were able to take part in: family day, a couple classes that I could sit through, a Commander's Reception, and of course graduation day.

The Commander's Reception was very nice and the first time I have attended something like that. We were formally introduced to the commander and TAC officers of the course.  I met several of the soldiers going through the course with J and got to listen to some funny stories.  There was a ton of yummy looking food (but I was too afraid to eat with my dress on).  We were also able to watch a brief video of the training the soldiers went through and celebrate those soldiers who were being honored with some awards.  It was a fun evening that I really enjoyed.  I only have a couple pictures from it because we did not want to lug the camera around all night.

Here are pictures from the night of the Commander's Reception:

Nothing like taking a picture of ourselves with my phone, lol

Just a picture of me before we left the hotel...Several friends were wanting to know what dress I finally decided on - I found this dress at White House/Black Market ( I love that store!) My awesome brother took me there and helped me choose my dress for this reception and for the graduation. 


The next morning was Graduation Day!  YAY!  The graduation ceremony was really good and I am so glad we were able to be a part of it.  I have A LOT of pictures from graduation day...prepare for picture overload :)

   The kids with daddy

 Jason explaining to the kids and his parents what different things on his uniform mean

 My handsome hubby and me

My brother surprised us at the graduation :)  We were so happy to see him!

I know this is not a "posed" picture, but I love how Madeline is looking up at Jason...like she's thinking "that's my daddy"

A picture of our crew waiting for the graduation to begin. Jason's grandmother, his parents, the kids, and my brother - what a great looking group!

After a couple speeches, the graduates took their oath.  Here is a picture of J taking his oath


After saying the oath, soldiers were called up in groups of 6 to have their rank pinned on. Jason had asked for the kids (with my assistance) to pin him. We were so very excited about that.

                                           J holding out his rank waiting on his to pin him

And here we are pinning J.  Jack got the rank almost on his side.  Madeline was very shy when we got to the front, so I put hers on for her. 

 Our little family after we pinned daddy.

Our new Warrant Officer!  So proud!!

Once the pinning was complete, the graduates were to give their 1st coin to the 1st Sgt.  The 1st Sgt was then going to donate money in the same amount as the number of coins he collected to their class project- the Wounded Warrior Project

 Here is J giving his coin to the 1st Sgt.

At the completion of the graduation ceremony...guess what we did?  Take pictures of course :)

 The kids and Daddy...think they are proud?

Our little family standing in front of the sign that the class designed and made

 A picture with the whole gang in front of the sign

                                                       Madeline

Jack

    Another picture with my sweet little family

 And one last group shot


I am so very glad we were able to be with Jason for this major accomplishment in his life.  I am honored to be his wife and stand beside him not only on this day, but everyday!