Catch-up on the February Happenings

I bet you all thought I gave up blogging for Lent! Actually I've been really busy recently and this just seemed the natural thing to push to the bottom of the list. Mike was out of town for a couple of different TDYs and since he's gotten back we've been in deployment prep mode. As I think I've mentioned before, as soon as Mike leaves for his deployment the kids and I will be moving in with the 'rents in Texas! We are actually really excited about returning to the best state ever and all the fun we have in store while we're there! Hopefully the master packer, my Dad, can fit everything in our van that we'll need with room to spare for all the shopping I plan to do too! Here's a recap of our ups and downs since the beginning of February:

UP:

• Jackson is getting closer and closer (fingers crossed) to sleeping without a pull-up! About 1-2 times a week he is waking up with a wet pull-up, but the rest of the week he's completely dry! So proud of my big boy. Seriously hard to believe he'll be 3 in a little over a month!
• Kennedy, as I mentioned in my last post, is talking more and more everyday. She responds to questions appropriately and I think she says a new word daily! She also has the cutest voice too. She is a monkey for sure though and I haven't figured out how to keep her off the furniture. She's also gotten tall enough to reach the kitchen counters, so anything close to the edge is no longer safe including knives - thankfully Mom still has some quick reflexes!
• My fabulous husband bought me an ipad for an early birthday present! I love it and would love any suggestions you have for cool apps especially for the kiddos! A special thank you to Pat, I'm pretty sure that your new ipad convinced Mike we needed one too!
• Speaking of Pat, we finally made it down to Salt Lake City to visit his new place! We had a great time except for the lack of sleep due to crying children! He's got a great set up there and we'll definitely be back!
• Yesterday was only day one, but I'm really excited to start a new Bible study with some fellow spouses. We're reading Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. I'm hoping the book has some good insights on dealing with stubborn first born children uhh humm - Jackson!

Down:

• The day Mike left for his most recent TDY Jackson woke up with the stomach bug. Thankfully he was the only one that got sick. That's just the worst though when your child throws up or has severe diarrhea and you can't do anything, but comfort him. 
• It was confirmed officially that Mike will be deploying the full amount. There had been talk that he would come home half way through and we would move, but as usual, the AF has their own agenda. I wish I had never know about the half way scenario, but it is what it is and we just have to accept it and make the most of it. There are definite benefits monetarily, but hands down I'd much rather have more time with my hubby!
• One of my Dad's old co-workers passed away recently. He was younger than my parents and had two daughters. He was a big part of our lives with 4-H growing up and was such a great guy. Again, life is so precious and can be taken in an instant. It just fuels my desire to live each day as if it were your last despite my incessant need to plan plan plan for tomorrow!

Photo Catch Up:

Insert sound effects: pew, pew, pew!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at these delicious strawberries - perfect for dipping!

Story time at Uncle P's!

Jack Nicholson, I mean Pat Hefferly in the morning!

Gearing up for some sledding!

All bundled in her brother's old snow suit!

I need to get this girl some dress up stuff. She is using Mr. Potato Head's glasses as a necklace and trying to wear his hat too!

Favorite Thing:

While packing for our trip to Salt Lake City the idea occurred to me to look for a sound machine app rather than hauling the kids' sound machines with us. They are light sleepers though so ambient noise is a necessity! I found this app called sleep machine. It is so neat. I upgraded to the paid app to get all the sounds. Their are 91 different sounds and you can use up to three different sounds together and mix them yourself. You can also mix your itunes music or audio books with the sounds too so you could listen to a book while hearing a crackling fire in the back ground - pretty awesome. It also has a timer for the sounds, an alarm, and a nice illuminated digital clock for traveling that is big enough for this blind girl to see at night! I highly recommend it if you too are a light sleeper or even if you aren't it's pretty cool!

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2013 #5

Late again with my weekly post! I thought I might stray from the norm a bit on this post. If any of you follow me on Facebook you know that the Air Force community lost another pilot this week. Though we did not know Capt. Gruenther, we still feel the loss as if we did. Our community is so tight that it is difficult not to get your stomach in knots anytime something happens to one of our own. Mainly because you can't help but put yourself in the shoes of their family because it could've happened to you just as easily. Been praying like crazy for his wife and their unborn child that he will never get to meet. I continue to pray daily for my friend Tami who lost her husband less than a year ago and their two children. If anything it makes you reflect on all the blessing you have in life and hug your family a little tighter. So this week I thought I would list some of my blessings this week because let's face it, I'm extremely blessed!

• Jackson is so very thoughtful. He always wants to show us affection, especially Kennedy. He is constantly hugging her or kissing her cheek. He also has many terms of endearment for her like Hunny, Sweetheart, Love, Baby Girl, Sunshine, K, or Sissy. Jackson also loves getting praised from Mike and I. He'll tell us something he did and then say, " you're so proud of me" which of course we are! Mike didn't get to talk to the kids much this week because he was working days and didn't get in until the kids were already in bed. I told Jackson that I talked to Daddy and that he was so sad and missed his Jackson boy. I think Jackson has mentioned that to me everyday when he asks when Daddy will be home or in the morning when he hops in bed with me and asks why Daddy isn't there.  Such a sweet boy that loves with his whole heart!

The painting activity didn't last even 10 minutes. Jackson didn't like getting 'dirty'!

• Kennedy, likewise, loves her big brother and would do anything he asked of her. They are so cute to watch when they play together. You can also tell how much she misses her brother on the days when he's at MDO. She gets the biggest smile on her face when we go pick him up! She is talking more and more each day and has the cutest voice. Here are some of the words she knows: Momma, DaDa, Brubba (brother), Minnie (for both Minnie and Mickey), Up, Down, More, Milk, Sock, Shoe, Foot, Nose, Yes, No, Baby, MiMi, Night Night, hot and she can sings parts of the ABCs and Hot Dog Dance! I've never seen such a happy girl! She loves to talk on the phone too. Earlier this week we were talking to Mike while I was at Wal-Mart and I hung up the phone and put it in my purse and she kept looking into the purse screaming, "DaDa, DaDa!" She is definitely a Daddy's girl!

My attempt at doing something with K's hair. It is always so crazy all the time!

• Then there is my wonderful husband - Mike! He just wrote me the most amazing love letter last night when he couldn't sleep. He wanted to assure me that I was the love of his life and though sometimes he has to be away for work, I am always with him. I needed to hear that! It is so hard being apart from each other more than we are together and he knows exactly what to say to make me smile and get me through another day. He did the sweetest thing before he left on this TDY. He had requested Turkey Pot Pies for dinner, but then didn't come home until 10pm and obviously wasn't hungry. This was the day before he left and so he wouldn't be eating any of the leftovers either. He knew that I spent a long time making these pot pies and the next morning when he got up to get ready to go, he heated one up and ate it for breakfast! Now that's love! I couldn't ask for a better guy!
• I'm also extremely blessed to have fabulous parents. They always make time to talk to me on the phone or FaceTime especially when Mike is away. They are opening their home up to us when Mike deploys later this year for us to literally move in for 6-7 months. They even bought the kids a play kitchen to play with while we're there. They go above and beyond to make us feel loved and 'at home' even though we live hundreds of miles away.
• I'm also blessed to have great in-laws too. They have such wonderful insight into the things we are going through because they've been there too. Not to mention that they are willing to do anything for us on a moment's notice. Mike's siblings are fabulous too and I consider them my own and am so blessed to have such a great relationship with them even though we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. Thank goodness for Facebook, Blogs, and FaceTime!
• In the same way, I'm also very blessed to have such a wonderful AF family. These ladies would do anything for another spouse without question. They drop everything to help you out in a bind. It's truly like having a bunch of sisters living right next door. The best part is that no matter where we are stationed there are always friendly and familiar faces to make you feel welcome. 

I could seriously go on and on, but I think you get the idea. When you're feeling down in the dumps I hope you too can take a step back and count your many blessings. Please join me in praying for the Gruenther family and all those who've lost a loved one. Life is so short and so precious and should never be taken for granted!

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2012 #4

Up:

• Well we've survived one week without Daddy around. Just one-ish more to go! It feels like it's been a lot longer than a week though. Thank the Lord for FaceTime! Kennedy is so cute when she sees Daddy on the phone. She runs right up and keeps saying DaDa, DaDa! Adorable. 
• Had a fun Ladies Night Out on Saturday. We all intended to go to the movies, but ended up with an incompetent waiter at On The Border, so we missed the movie and went for shopping and cheesecake instead! Also got some great deals at Gymboree for my babes that day!

Down:

• Still in the negatives in the morning and only gets to the teens in the afternoon. I'm so over this cold weather. The kids are going stir crazy cooped up inside and so am I. My knuckles are cracking so much from the cold/dry weather to the point that the other day some fuzz from my gloves got stuck in the cracks and it felt like I was pulling out a splinter when I got it out. The forecast is supposed to get warmer this weekend (30s), but with the warm weather comes more snow. Pray for a permanent warm up soon.
• So this past week I had dental work done, three fillings redone. My dentist back in NC was apparently awful and this was the last of his work getting replaced. Anyway, each filling was on a different place so I had to be numbed in three places. Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure they forgot to put my appointment in the computer and I was there for 2.5 hours (yes, I also had to pay a sitter for that)! I left unable to even talk my mouth was so numb. Late that night when the numbness finally wore off and the soreness set in, I could hardly open my mouth wide enough to put a spoon in. Mike forgot I was getting dental work done and thought I had been punched in the face! My mouth still hurts over a week later and for the past 4 days I've had a blue bruise on the outside of my face - ugh! Hopefully no more dental work for a long time!

Short on pics this week, but this was some of the T-bolt ladies at the OG Awards Banquet in our flight suit dresses!

Jackson and Kennedy getting dressed up to go to the 'store,' Jackson uses the stroller for his shopping cart!

Favorite Thing:

I am not a liquor drinker at all; I usually prefer wine or beer. Over Christmas my brother-in-law introduced me to Crown Royal Maple. If you are a fan of sweeter stuff, especially butterscotch, you will really enjoy this. I mix it with Diet Sprite - dangerously delicious!

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2013 #3:

Up:

• Jackson is almost ready to be finished with naptime pull-ups (I think)! It's been about two weeks since he's wet his diaper during nap. So proud of him! He even went the whole night on Saturday without wetting his pull-up. He just doing so well and it makes this mommy happy!
• I'm sure you all know we've gotten a lot of snow and cold weather up here. Mike was on leave Thursday through Sunday and we had big plans to go down to Salt Lake City and spend that time with his brother Pat. The snow had other plans for us though :( The up side of this is that we did some major purging of junk in our house! We really needed to attack the garage too, but I think we'll have to wait for warmer temperatures. Hopefully when Mike has some leave in February we'll be able to make it to SLC and see Pat.

Down:

• It's been so nice spending so much time with Mike this past week, but on Wednesday he leaves for 2 1/2 weeks - boo! I'll have to conjure up some fun activities for the kids and I to keep from missing Daddy. These are some pics from Mike's birthday last week.

• As mentioned above it snowed more. I'm so ready to be able to go out of my house and stand being outside for more than 2 seconds. The temps this week don't even get above 25. In fact it's snowing as I'm writing this post.

Attempting to build a snowman, but the snow was way too dry.

Hooray for McD's play place when the weather is cold. Wish the McD's in Mountain Home had them. 

This is what happens when you play on furniture like it's a jungle gym. Jackson got pinned between his little red chair and the TV cabinet. He now has a black eye and goose egg on his forehead - poor fella!

Favorite Thing:

As I've mentioned many times before, I like to be organized. If you've never tried any of the 3M Command Hooks, they are fabulous.  They were on sale this past week for 30% off at Jo-Ann's, not sure if they're still on sale this week. Here are some of the ways I've used them.

These are on my stairway banister to hold holiday garland at Christmas time.

Perfect in the kitchen to hold various utensils.

This one I added to the kid's play kitchen to hold their aprons and hot pads.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2013 #2

Up:

• Downton Abby premiered on Sunday. I've been waiting so long for this season to premier! It was a fabulous 2 hour show. It didn't start until 9pm here, but you can bet I stayed up for every minute of it. I was perturbed that in the middle of the second half the local PBS station decided to to a 'test of the emergency broadcast system' - ugh! Luckily it wasn't in a critical part! I'm also bummed because the news reported that the actor that plays Matthew Crawley will not be in the next season, total spoiler alert, thanks guys!
• Short work weeks are the best. Last week the week was short with New Year's and this week Mike has leave Thursday through Sunday - yea!
• On Saturday Mike celebrated his 32nd birthday. So far he hasn't let the 30s slow him down at all. Hopefully this will be another great year for him! Kennedy loved celebrating Daddy's birthday too! She dug right into his cake!

Down:

• I don't think I was intended to be a snow bunny! I'm not much of a fan of all this snow we've been receiving lately. I don't mind snow here or there, but I like when the sun comes out, melts it away and we can go back out an play! That doesn't seem to be the plan for this winter in Idaho. Thankfully this should be our last winter here.
• With yucky weather comes yucky sickness. On Saturday both kids, but especially Jackson, were just awful because they didn't feel good. We've all had a cold over two weeks and counting. On Sunday took them into the Urgent Care Center. Sure enough, both kids had ear infections. They seem to be feeling much better now. Hopefully we're all on the mend.
• Sorry no pictures this week!

Favorite Thing:

If you haven't gone to see Les Miserables yet, you need to go out immediately and see it! It is so good. Mike's uncle, David Gaschen, has sung many songs on and off broadway. In the summer of 2011 while Mike was deployed, Uncle Dave sang 'Bring Him Home' dedicated to Mike at the family reunion. I had to share it with everyone - I was sobbing by the end of it. He sings it so well, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II-5ycDngTk

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - Happy New Year 2013!

Up:

• We had such a wonderful Christmas in The Woodlands with Mike's family. It was significantly warmer than Idaho too which was a nice bonus! The kids loved playing with all their cousins. The best part about was Christmas was getting to spend some much needed to with Mike. He'd been so busy with work that we hadn't spent much time with him at all, but a whole week of having Daddy around all the time was so wonderful! 
• Mike and I basically had an entire day kid free for our sixth anniversary. We went to the movies and saw Les Mis which was every bit as good as I had imagined it would be. It was special too because that is the same musical we saw on Broadway for our honeymoon. Then we ate at my favorite restaurant - Brio. After that we had an 'adult' night out with Mike's brothers and sister and some friends from college. It was very nice!

Adult night at the Goose's Acre in The Woodlands.

• The kids were so good on the flights home, but that could be because Pa (Mike's dad) was flying our first plane home and let Jackson and Kennedy see the cockpit and sit in the pilot seat! Definitely every little boys dream!

Exploring the cockpit with Pa!

• I love turning over the page and starting a new year! It's like a new beginning every 365 days to accomplish goals that you didn't quite accomplish in the previous year. I definitely have some resolutions this year, but I'm not typically one to share them. I like the silent victory of meeting my goal without the added pressure of others knowing my goals.

Down:

• Unfortunately this new year brings some sadness and anxiety with it as Mike will deploy again this year. It's nice to have time to prepare ourselves mentally for the fact that he will not be around, but it's still so hard to think about. The kids and I plan on moving in with my parents while Mike's away. We are looking forward to Texas and warmer weather, but obviously we would trade that any day to have Mike with us.
• We had to say goodbye to our wonderful neighbors - the Trimboli family yesterday. We've had so much fun with them and wish them the best of luck on their next Air Force adventure. Hopefully our paths will cross again.
• Two weeks and counting - all of us have had this nasty cold/cough stuff going on. I'm so ready to be well again and not blow my nose a billion times a day or suction the kids every 5 minutes. It just seems to be lingering and doesn't show any signs of leaving us anytime soon :(

Here are some pics from our Christmas vacation:

All ready for Christmas Mass

The kids were pretty well behaved despite such a long travel day!

All the grandkids getting ready to open presents Christmas morning.

Already practicing to be future Red Raiders!

Guess we know what Jackson wants next Christmas!

Pat got a very useful gift - a beer belt for tailgating!

Just precious!

Cuddling with Uncle P!

K decided to eat a dry erase marker - not the best idea!

All the cousins sporting the PJs Aunt Laura mad them!

Wrestle Mania!

Laura put together an evening of awesome Minute to Win It games.

Dance Off!

There strategy was way better than ours.

Wa Wa Wa - we lost!

Preparing to take the family picture.

Jackson was just horrible in every shot, but everyone else looks good!