Crazy Busy, Guilt

This week we have been crazy busy. I've been running around on errands or trying to get tasks that need to be finished done while I'm at home. These hectic days are leaving me less time for the kids than I would like, and I'm feeling super guilty about it. I hate being a mom that runs around all day doing my work and not focusing on my most important job--taking care of my kids. It's not always like this, there have just been a few things lately that needed to be addressed as they happened. Then towards the end of the week things just got really busy and out of my control. I can already tell the next 4 or 5 days could be really busy too. I'm finding it hard to balance everything when big issues keep popping up on the radar unexpectedly. I just really worry about my kids being happy and getting all the attention they need. Hopefully this weekend I'll have a bit of quiet time to spend bonding with them and enjoying their laughs and smiles.

Do you ever get so busy that you feel guilty for giving your kids less attention?

I know things will slow down in a few days, but I feel bad about splitting my attention and time away from the kids.

Secrets

Quick note before I tell you about things here:

This is the last chance to get on the mailing list for a Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog. Let me know if you want one mailed to you. There are some awesome items in there and more than just stamps. You won't want to miss the punches, papers, big shot dies, and so much more. If you are planning Christmas cards or crafts, you need to see it.

Finally after a long time of not hearing from Pat at all--no e-mail or calls, I finally got to talk to him yesterday. It was so great to hear his voice and chat, but there is a part of the conversation that just didn't fulfill me. I am a need to know type of person. I do not like secrets or surprises. Well, it isn't that I don't like them, it's just I'd rather know everything NOW! There is so much that Pat cannot tell me from over there. I don't know what he does day to day. I do not know if he's safe or not. I do not know much about what this year is like for him. With his life being a mystery to me, I feel a bit disconnected from him.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand it's the nature of the job, but I've never been as clueless as I am during this deployment. Thankfully the news reports from reporters with our unit over there have kept me in the know and the news I get as FRG leader helps fulfill my desire to understand life over there.

Things here have been going pretty well. We're staying busy every week, sometimes busier than I'd like. Sean has been kind of cranky lately; I think he may be getting ready to get his top teeth now. He's crawling all over the place. Just like Ryan did as a baby, Sean prefers the Army crawl still. He's even pulled himself up to standing recently. Ryan probably isn't liking Sean being so mobile. Ryan feels the need to protect all his toys from Sean. We're working on sharing and taking turns. Hopefully school will help Ryan with that concept.

7 weeks down. I have to say I'm glad it's almost August because then I feel like summer is winding down. I hate summer. I cannot wait for fall and most importantly winter when I'll see my hubby again.

"Harmless Habits that Age you"

Yahoo had a link to an article today, "9 'Harmless' Habits That Age You" (click for link to article). I thought it would be fun to count how many of the 9 habits I am committing. I definitely feel like I'm aging faster than I should, so here it goes:

1. Not getting enough sleep--with two children, three dogs, and all the household chores, I don't go to bed early, and I have several wake ups in the middle of the night. Add on to all that, checking my phone for e-mails from the husband every time I roll over. So basically I'm getting a very fragmented and crappy night of sleep lately.

2. A sweet spot for sweets--apparently as you age too much sugar can lead to wrinkles and sagging skin. It goes on to say that by age 45 you should limit added on sugars to the amount in one can of coke. Geez, I could drink one can of coke in about 2.2 second. Thankfully with Pat deployed I've given up coke, and hopefully I won't go back to that. However, I still have a sweet tooth. I'm not sure I'll ever be on a low sugar diet.

3. Being stressed more often than not--hmm, a deployment where my husband is almost always on a communication blackout during a period of a troop surge; yeah no stress there. Maybe after this year I'll be less stressed. Now we know why we all feel a deployment ages us so much.

4. You only exercise to lose weight--I'm even worse than that, I'm barely working out these days. I don't really want to use a gym daycare and pay for a membership. I can't get Ryan to sit in a stroller. My body is aching to be worked out though and I know it. I just don't have the motivation to do it at 9 p.m. when the house is quiet though. So I'm hoping to get in some long, quick walks with Sean while Ryan goes to preschool starting next month. I also want time to bond with Sean though so it will be a balancing act. At least I think I will be able to do better than I am right now.

5. You blast your ipod--NOPE, finally one that doesn't apply!!! Although with the communication I do get from the phones in Afghanistan, I feel like I'm deaf, and I fully understand why Ryan thought you were always supposed to say "Huh?" when you talked on the phone after Pat's last deployment.

6. You never see your girlfriends--this could be a post in itself, and maybe it will be soon. I am so tired to trying to make friends here. This one is definitely aging me if the studies are true. I have a few great friends, none of them are here. My closest one is about 2.5 hours away, which isn't bad, but is a long ride with two kids and a time change. I guess I've just resigned myself to the fact now that I may not forge great friendships here, but I do have hope for our next duty station...maybe I can stop aging when we PCS.

7. You eat veggies, but not daily--I eat veggies, but not as much as I should. This article says to eat them with every meal. I guess I have something I can work on.

8. You've shunned all fat from your diet--NOPE, yay! another one that I haven't committed. I keep fat in my diet. ;)

9. You can't recall the last time you had sex--hahah...well I can recall, but obviously it isn't any time recently and won't be for a long while. It's not something I can help or change though. They say it can make you look younger--up to 12 years! Now if that isn't a reason to get busy....

Yup, so I have about 7 of those habits. No wonder I'm looking so ragged lately. Maybe I should start making some changes. How about you? How many of these habits do you have?

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #5

1. Besides the horizontal mambo, what do you miss most when your spouse is deployed?

This one is easy, but the answer encompasses a lot. I miss spending time with him. He's my best friend. We can sit on the couch and chat for a long time or we can sit together and do our own thing, but either way there is comfort being together. We laugh over silly things--like my extremely manly burps. We eat our meals together. I just snuggle up at the end of our day and watch tv to relax. I miss having my friend close by.

2. What do you miss least?

I think I can say the amount of laundry he generates.

3. You only get three crayons to finish your picture...which three do you choose and why?

Definitely the primary colors Red, Blue, and Yellow. With those I can create the other colors, and I like that the three I chose are vibrant.

4. If you could have your own fragrance, what would it be called?

I'm going to change this question to what would it smell like instead. ;) (I get to do that on my own blog :p ) It would be soft floral with a hint of citrus and vanilla. It would not be strong, and it would not have a musky scent. It would be feminine and sophisticated. It would make me feel beautiful when wearing it.

5. If shoes make the man (or woman), what do your shoes say about you right now? Right now I'm not wearing shoes, so they wouldn't say much. But if I were wearing shoes, they'd be flip flops or running shoes. I think that means they'd say that I value comfort over style. I'm active and casual.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the past few days I've been hit by the realization that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

While Pat is deployed, I've been taking videos of the boys with my cell phone. The quality isn't very good, but it's something for him to see. The most recent one was while the boys and I were sitting at the table eating lunch. Ryan and I started hiccuping, and Sean thought it was hilarious. You can see that video HERE. It immediately brought back memories because during Pat's previous deployment I have a very similar video of Ryan laughing at the same thing. See that video HERE. After filming the video of Sean, I went back and watched the video of Ryan. I was absolutely amazed watching it because I realized that Ryan's laugh is exactly the same today as it was way back then. So now I'm trying to picture Sean's laugh that I have on video on him when he's older. I cannot picture it, but it is so cool to realize that this is the laugh he'll have even when Pat returns home.

Another instance where it dawned on me that things are still the same even with change is watching Ryan and Sean play. Ryan and Sean really enjoy playing with our big fleece blanket together. Whenever they do this, the room is filled with laughter and I cannot help but smile. Ryan's favorite thing to do with this blanket (which sometimes drives me nuts) is putting it over his head and walking around. I didn't think about it until today, but I remember that Ryan loved doing this soon after he started walking. It was right before Pat came home that Ryan would always put the blanket over his head and pace the living room. He thought it was a complete blast, and I was always afraid that he'd hurt himself. I just get such a kick out of the fact that even now 1.5 years later, he still does the same silly thing and thinks it's a ton of fun.

This realization that things are the same has been very comforting to me recently because as I've been watching the boys grow and play, I get really sad that Pat cannot experience it. He's missing so much. Now that I see that things are the same even after Ryan has grown so much, I feel like maybe Pat will get to see these same things I'm seeing today but in a slightly different way when he comes home. I am also happy to know that the little baby Ryan from way back when is still inside my big boy Ryan. It makes me look at Sean in a slightly different way to know that the little baby I hold today will be the same personality and character only bigger in the future.

So while my kids are growing and changing so fast, I am put at ease to know that even as they grow up they'll always be my little babies.

Putting It Away

Much to your dismay, I've decided to make an honest effort at putting the computer away during the day. I find myself drawn to the computer far too often, especially during deployments. I have my cell phone to notify me of e-mails, so it isn't like I'll miss an important one from my hubby. There is no reason for me to check facebook or read blogs during the day when I could be 100% with my children or being productive around the house. I think the computer has started to rule me, and I need to break that.

Now don't worry. I'll still be blogging; I'll just do it in the evening like I do most of the time. I'll still be replying to e-mails because after all, I'll have to do FRG e-mails during the day sometimes. And there is always dealing with my stamping business that could cause me to get on the computer too. But I am truly going to try to cut back on my computer time when I should be doing more productive things instead. Do you spend a lot of time on the computer? Has it become a bad habit for you or do you have it under control?

Speaking of my business though, remember if you want a Holiday Mini catalog mailed to you, contact me before the end of this month so I can get you on my mailing list. There are some great new products in there and awesome stamps that I plan on using on my Christmas cards.

Smooth

Things have been going rather smoothly here. Sean is now going to bed really well in his crib (knock on wood). In fact the other night he only woke up once! Last night he was back to two wake ups, but I am so proud of him. And I should add that Ryan has been doing wonderfully at being quiet when Sean is in bed, and that is quite a feat for Ryan since he's normally kind of loud.

The boys and I are keeping busy and having lots of fun. That's definitely helping to pass our days. Tomorrow marks 6 weeks since Pat left. Six weeks feels like an accomplishment to me, but I also feel like it's been longer than that since I saw Pat last. I miss him, but I know that taking it one day at a time the days will pass, and then we'll be together again. As I've said before the days seem to fly, but cumulatively it is not going as fast as I would like.

I wanted to take a minute to share an article with you that touches very close to my heart (if you know what I mean). Please take a minute to read it while it is still posted. Many people do not realize the difficulties our Soldiers are facing in Afghanistan or what their lives are like over there. I wanted to give a little glimpse into Pat's deployment.

ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Updates From My Home

There are so many updates that I've been meaning to post so here are a few of the recent happenings around here.

The dogs seem to be getting along better after the fight. We've had to make a new routine to keep them all safe, but it seems to be working well. I just have to hope that they do not have any more trouble.

Sean is sleeping in his crib. We've moved past the so upset about being put in the crib phase. We did make a brief stop right back to where we were before co-sleeping, which was waking up every 2 hours. Thankfully, last night he only got up 3 times in the 11 hours that he slept. That is a huge improvement for him. So maybe we are getting somewhere. I think this is a good move for both of us.

Ryan has been absolutely AWESOME lately. He's been a huge helper and is really starting to listen to me (most of the time). Even more impressive is that he's actually being quiet at night when Sean goes to bed. I am so thankful for him being a good boy lately. We've been having a lot of fun together.

I am totally missing my husband these days. They've had a very long period of communication blackouts lately. Sadly, we've lost a Soldier from our battalion and had a few severe injuries. I pray for the comfort of the family dealing with the loss, for the injured Soldiers to heal, and for the safety of all our Soldiers serving. This is by far the scariest deployment Pat has done yet. The mission they have is a very dangerous one, and I worry about the unit constantly. I haven't been able to talk to Pat in what feels like a long time. In addition to not talking, he has not been able to e-mail either. Without communication with him I feel so alone, and there is so much that I want to talk to him about. Every night I go to bed hoping I'll wake up to an e-mail from him, and maybe tomorrow morning I will.

With any free time I have I've either been reading or crafting. I'd done several cards with my new supplies. Here area few photos:

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #4

I know that I skipped Fill-In #3, and it was either that I was too busy or the questions were too hard. I won't tell which one.

1.) What food reminds you of your spouse?

We love food around here so there are quite a few foods that remind me of Pat. Pat loves Coke, Double Stuffed Oreos, Corned Beef, and a dish I make that we call Mexican Chicken. Zaxby's also reminds me of him because he has a love affair with their chicken tenders.

2.) Who would you rather sit next to in a cross-country plane ride: an irritating non-stop talker or a quiet stare-er?

Definitely a stare-er. I'm not much for talking to people I do not know. Most people would realize that I'm uncomfortable though if they did keep talking to me. I am just not one of those talkative people that strangers like to talk to. I'm shy and quiet. I could just ignore the stare-er.

3.) What are your best tips on how to save money?

I budget and clip coupons. I have a bunch of big ticket items I am saving for over this deployment. I'll tell you about them later. We'll see if I'm able to save enough over this year.

4.) What is your favorite summer memory?

This one is too hard. I can't really think of a great summer memory right now. Have I ever mentioned that I hate the summer anyway? It is my least favorite season of the year.

5.) Do you believe in ghosts?

Well, this is a very complex question for me. I believe that our spirits/souls live on after death. I believe that our loved ones are watching over us after they die. I believe in angels. I don't think I believe in ghosts haunting though, but I always have an open mind to things.

Friendship in Books

I finally finished my first book toward my deployment goal of reading at least 6 books while Pat is gone. I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I never read it before and had only seen bits and pieces of the movie when I was little. I have to say that I really enjoyed it. At first I had a hard time keeping the girls apart, but it only took a chapter or two for me to understand who the girls were.

There were so many touching scenes and ideas within the book. One of my favorite quotes from the book was "...for love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride." I think the book definitely lifted my spirit by reading about a simpler time and a family so filled with faith.

The only bad thing I find about reading a good book is coming to the end. I feel like the end of a good book is like the end of a friendship--one where the friends just drift apart. I really enjoyed turning to my book and reading about Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Now I have to find new "friends" to spend my evenings with. After I finish a book, I will often think about the characters for weeks wishing there were more to read about them. I guess now would be a good time to start another book, although I think this next one may be a nonfiction book.

I'll update more after my next book is complete.

Birds

Last year some birds built a nest on the motion detector attached to the light by our front door. These birds had their babies in the nest. Every time anyone approached the door the parent birds would fly away and the babies would hide. I enjoyed watching them there.

This year they are back and have had more babies up there. I find something comforting about them coming back to the same home at my front door. I feel like they are friendly little neighbors.

Pat was always so embarrassed by what the birds left behind on our front stoop.

And they are doing that again this year. This is a picture from a few days ago. The babies are growing up so fast, and the mess on the stoop quadruples each day. I cannot keep up with cleaning it. And while I agree with Pat that it isn't exactly the first impression I'd like to make, I don't mind so much because I take all the mess as a sign of a thriving little bird family.

Here is a picture of a baby bird peeking it's head out waiting for the parents to come back and feed it. (It could have been a better photo if I weren't too lay to get my better camera lens out.)
While I was getting a box in today, I noticed that the babies look significantly larger than in the picture above that was taken a few days ago. Soon they'll leave the nest, and maybe I'll have less poop on my stoop :)

Another bird that I can show you is the cute card that I made with my new stamping supplies. I am absolutely in love with all the stuff I bought from the new catalog. The colors are gorgeous, the new stamps are helping my creative flow, and the punches are tons of fun. The Holiday Mini Catalog will be coming out soon, if you would like me to mail you a free copy, just let me know.

9 Month Well Baby and the End of Sleep

Sean had his 9 month well baby visit yesterday. He is 22lbs and 29.75" long. That makes him slightly heavier than Ryan at that same age and over an inch longer. I got confirmation at the appointment of what a shy momma's boy Sean is. He did not like being held by anyone but me, and hated when he wasn't in my arms.

I had been waiting for this appointment to talk to the doctor about getting Sean back into his own crib. I had mentioned in a previous post about how we've ended up co-sleeping lately. I told you that we never intended to do it (in fact we NEVER did with Ryan), but the fact is that Sean was just not sleeping in his crib almost at all, and I needed sleep. I know that co-sleeping is a debatable topic, you can save any criticisms you may have on it since I do not care to hear them. I had to do what was going to be best for me and Sean, and at that time the answer was sleep. So the doctor kind of treated me like I'm an idiot for doing it. He tried to say that I was doing it because I didn't want my baby to grow up or because I missed my husband. I explained that it started well before my husband left, and I planned on having more children so I wasn't trying to hold on to the baby phase. The doctor didn't listen so well. I will gladly admit that there was something so sweet about the tender moments of watching my baby sleep or cuddling up next to him. I never had those moments with Ryan. While they were enjoyable, I did not want to continue them. Sean being in my bed was a matter of necessity and not preference.

So last night was the start of putting Sean in his crib. It was traumatic to say the least. Once he was down though he did pretty well. He only woke up a few times. The initial bedtime was the worst, but close to it is how Sean SCREAMS every time I place him down. So all those middle of the night wake ups and nursing sessions end in a terribly sad and angry screaming fit. That screaming breaks my heart because there is nothing he will let me do to comfort him without picking him up. I am so thankful though that he does not cry long after those wake ups. In less than 2 minutes he goes back to sleep. I think last night may have been progress. It was hard, but worth it. Sean even slept until 7 a.m. today, but I know that the poor kid was so tired from the traumatic beginning to his night.

While I missed my cuddle buddy, I was very content to have the bed to myself and a decent night of sleep. I am hoping tonight is easier than last night.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

So lately it has been a series of unfortunate events. I feel like I'm in a bad day that rather than ending with bedtime, it continues the next day and the one after that. I don't like to relive my bad days because I often find myself ashamed of my shortcomings during and just after such events.

But since there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, to summarize my recent days I can say it has been filled with:

a violent dog fight, dog pee on my stuff, dog poo in my child's hands, waking up at 5:30 to children who wake up cranky, no naps for my oldest, my potty trained son who sometimes forgets to "hold it down" and leaves pee all across the bathroom floor, and the glass light falling to the ground shattering everywhere and leaving my fingers with tiny bloody cuts.

I'm sure I'm forgetting more, but I just feel worn down. I think I need a morale boost. I do look at the good side that hopefully all my bad luck or whatever it is is going to be over soon, at least I hope.

One Month Down

I know I haven't been very good about keeping my blog updated. I'm just so busy that in the little time I have after the kids go to bed, I'm either trying to get stuff done or sitting in a coma like state on the couch. I'm going to try to update more because I have a lot to share.

Today marks one month that my husband has been gone. Since we are keeping so busy, the individual days fly by, however, collectively they pass a bit slower. I'm proud of being one month down, and in some ways it did seem to pass quickly, but in others it seems like it's been more than a month.

Pat is at his final living place over there. He doesn't have adequate access to e-mail, but the phone reception the other day seemed good. There are frequent communication black outs, which means we cannot talk often. As long as he is safe, I will make it through. I've sent him a hand crank washer for his clothes, and he does have a cot to sleep on so he has the bare necessities. My mother pointed out to me yesterday that a couple days ago Pat's Division was featured on Nightline. It was actually his BDE. For me it was nice to see what they are really doing over there, but also a bit worrisome. Thankfully because of Pat's current job he should be safe for the next few months until his job changes.

The kids are doing well. I'm currently having a tiny pity party for myself over the fact that I will probably never sleep later than 6:15 a.m. this entire year. It seems that one of the children consistently wakes up before 6:00 a.m. every single day. They take turns on which one will get up, and it is getting to be so tiring and frustrating.

Sean is 9 months old now. He is army crawling and rolling everywhere. He is always up on his hands and knees, but hasn't seemed to figure out the coordination needed to crawl properly. As I said in a previous post he now has 2 teeth. He seems to be working on some more, but I'm not sure. He loves to feed himself finger foods. He goes to the doctor on Monday for his well baby visit. I'm hoping to get some advice from our doctor then because I really would like to get him back into his own crib, but that is a post in itself.

Ryan has been a very good boy lately. He LOVES to play with kids and is much less shy than in the past. I'm so proud to see him blossoming and having confidence. When I bring him to the splash park or playground now he goes off to play immediately and often makes a friend or two. I think he's going to love going to his preschool starting next month. I am so happy that I decided to let him go, I think he needs more activities with children his own age.

Deployment Goals Updates

Reading: I'm 50% done with Little Women. I'm really enjoying it, but only get the chance to read right before bed. Being so tired, I end up fall asleep shortly after I begin to read. I am glad that I shortened my goal to 6 books, but I hope that I do more than that. I'll give you my complete thoughts on Little Women when I finish it.

Get Fit: I've lost 5 lbs since Pat left, so that is good. That brings my goal down to 5-15 lbs left. I've mostly dropped the weight by eating healthier and portion control. I know that I really need to get more active, but that is hard between the HOT weather and the two children that are always with me. I'm hoping that as Ryan starts school I can walk more often with Sean in the stroller.

Cards and Business: The new 2010-2011 catalog was released July 1. It has some great stamps and accessories in it. I am getting my shipment of new stuff on Monday, so hopefully after that I will be able to share some new samples with you. I'm also planning on making our Christmas cards this year, so hopefully in Aug/Sept I can show a sample of that too.

FRG: After a couple of days where I wanted to rip my hair out for volunteering, I think things are settling down. We had our first FRG meeting, and I think it was a big success. There was a much better turn out than I had hoped for. Our next meeting is already planned and should be a really fun one. I'll probably talk about that next month though. I've also collected some great ideas for future events. I think this goal is really coming along.

So that has been our first month in a nutshell. I hope the next 11 are as successful and fast as this first one.

Changing So Fast

I don't have time to write a long post this morning, but I wanted to write about a few changes that have happened so fast. I feel that if I don't post about them now, I may not remember. Since I use this blog as a record keeper for the developments of my children I need to share.

Sean has cut not one but TWO teeth. He had worked on them for so long it was hard to tell when they would finally cut. I think I've seen a pattern though that the night or so right before they cut with him are absolute torture where he is so upset he cannot sleep. After that one night and the next day, he's back to his happy baby self.

Sean is also army crawling. He does not do it as fast or as far as Ryan did it, but he gets where he wants to go. While he doesn't seem to have the same determination to get places that Ryan had, he definitely suffers a lot from frustration at it not being easier to get places. He also frequently gets up on hands and knees and rocks. Ryan never really did this, and I think it is one of the cutest things. Sean also gets into a push up position on his fingers and toes holding his body up. While he is exploring all these new movements, I think his preferred method is rolling still.

So it is unfortunate that Pat again missed seeing his child's first tooth and seeing him crawl. In fact Pat will probably miss Sean's first steps too. But while it is sad for Pat to miss so much, we look forward to all the future events that he will be here for. Until we are a family again, I will enjoy these milestones and try to share them with Pat the best I can.

Sign

I've been having issues with solicitors lately. It seems like whenever the weather gets warm my neighborhood gets flooded with sales people. It really bothers me because frequently they are overbearing and pushy, wake up my children, or are just plain rude. I had enough of them. I decided recently that I needed a sign and couldn't procrastinate any longer. Ideally I wanted to make one, but I knew taking Ryan to any craft store would be a bad idea; there are just too many things for him to touch. So I ordered one online. It was hard to find what I was looking for. I wanted something that looked homemade and had some character to it. I found one place online that allowed you to customize your colors. So I ordered it and had an idea of how I would add character to it once it arrived.

I am sure the original creator would cringe at what I did to her pretty sign, but I like it this way. I feel like even with it's imperfections, it is perfect for MY home.

I planned on sharing the website and information about where I got the sign, but the website for the company is either down or has disappeared. If it is back up in a few days I'll post more about it.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

1. Tell us about your dream job… one that you could do regardless of pay.

Here's another one where my dream job changes. Right now I have the best job I could imagine. I get to stay home and devote myself to raising my family. Some people have two jobs--raising their family and a regular job. That works best for them. I'm not saying I do more, but I probably get more time to do things with the kids during the days. For that extra time I am thankful. However, this may sound stupid, but I've had a desire for a long time to bring some money in by doing something crafty. One day I hope that maybe my card making, stamping, and crafting could provide me with a little money to add to our income. (Obviously not much, but to make some would be a dream for me.)

And I should add that I have yet to figure out what I want to do when the kids grow up.

2. What is your most prized material possession (kids and pets don’t count!)?

I think I would say the drawing that my parents had done from a picture of me and Pat on the day we got engaged. It hangs over our mantle and reminds me of where we came from and how far we've come over the years.
3. What has been your favorite duty station and why?

In the 6 years Pat's been in the Army, we've only been to two duty stations. So crazy as it may sound, Ft. Sill was my favorite. When comparing the two we've experienced, Ft. Sill was much more family friendly, had a community feel, and I felt like the people were nicer there. We'd love to go back there if Pat could get an instructor position there in the future.
4. What is your least favorite household chore?

Doing the dishes without a doubt.
5. If you could give one piece of advice to a teenager today (not specifically a MilTeen), what would it be?

It would be to work hard in school and try their best. I know that for me, I put in enough effort to get good grades, but stopped there. What would it have been if I had given my all? How much further would I have gone? I always look back and wish I had applied myself even more than I did. Kids don't realize it at the time but doors will open as a result of your hard work. And don't pass up great opportunities to learn.

Catching Up--MilSpouse Friday Fill-In 1

I'm a week late to start this, but this link up looks like a lot of fun. You can check it out at Wife of a Sailor's Blog.

1. How did you and your spouse/significant other meet?

Pat and I met in college. We had some mutual friends, so I knew who he was. We actually started talking for the first time in a bar. My roommate could not hold her liquor and thought it was a funny game to start throwing beer bottles (just for reference, this was a hole in the wall college bar). Pat stopped my roommate from being stupid, and I went over to thank him. In the end, I wasn't friends with that roommate much longer, but instead I found the love of my life. For that I am forever grateful.
2. What is the best thing about being a MilSpouse?

For me, it forces me to be independent when my husband isn't around. Without being a MilSpouse I think I might lose that side of my identity because I easily fall back into being dependent on Pat when he is around.
3. What is the hardest thing about being a MilSpouse?

The hardest part for me would be raising my family as a single mom for a year at a time over and over again. I worry if I am enough for my children. Also missing my other half for long periods of time is pretty hard too.
4. What is your favorite dish?

Hmm...this probably changes daily. I really like stuffed shells or lasagna. I feel accomplished when I make them and to me they are comfort food.

5. If you could change one thing in this world, what would it be?

Well, there are a lot of things in this world that I'd like to change. One of those things would be the way people threat animals. I feel that animals (like children) do not have a voice to protect themselves and advocate for what is best. I wish people would stop the cruelty, neglect, and stupidity towards animals.

Brothers

Ryan and Sean are not only brothers, but they really are becoming good friends. Tonight while I was trying to quickly throw together dinner, which ended up being delicious by the way, the boys were playing together on the living room floor. They were rolling around and laughing up a storm. I cannot tell you how amazing it sounded, and I just had to stop to watch them having fun together. Sean looks up to Ryan so much already. And Ryan has proved time and again that he is a good big brother. I don't think Ryan realizes that Sean is a baby still, but I know it won't be long before they are both running around having a good time.

New Catalog Is Here!

I know I haven't posted any card pictures recently. I've been mailing out cards to friends and my husband before I can take a picture of them. Below are two of my latest cards using hydrangea from the Because I Care hostess set. I just love this set.

Did you see that the new Stampin' Up! catalog was released today. There are tons of new stamps, ribbons, embellishments, and of course new ink colors to see. Go check it out for yourself. I bet you'll find a stamp set you love.