Wordless Wednesday-Why?

Why can't they stay like this forever???



Give V a camera and she can snap some pretty darn good pictures!

This post has been linked to Wordless Wednesday.

Now isn't this what you normally think of for Spring Break??? Well not this family!! So far this week has been spent cleaning, cleaning, Dr's appointments, and oh more cleaning!! My parents are coming into town tomorrow and I started cleaning things out last week and of course made a huge mess so now I get to clean it all up. I am grateful that my sister was here to help me do tons of it last week or there is no way I would have been able to do the cleaning/rearranging plus chauffeuring the kiddos around to all their activities!

Does anyone else feel the need to completely sterilize their house before the parentals come to visit? Normally I do but this time I am going for a neat(er), picked up look! After 4 kiddos, gone are the days where I have a completely dusted, every toy in its place, all the laundry done house! Its lived in, loved in, played in, and destroyed it!!! At least I don't have food or poop filled diapers around so that's good right??? My house is clean but definitely lived in. It may not be spotless all the time but its picked up as much as it can be with my tornado toddlers!

I hope everyone has or had a wonderful Spring Break!!!!

Mamarazzi Monday-Soccer

Here are a few pictures from V's soccer game on Saturday. It was so much colder than the rest of the week had been but the girls kept on playing like they didn't even notice. Me on the other hand? I was definitely ready to go home!!!


Off she goes. I swear if I had half of their energy my house would be spotless 100% of the time.


She scores!! Everytime she or one of her teammates scores she does this little arm thrust thingie and a dance. Its hilarious but that's definitely team spirit!


This post has been linked to Household6Diva's Mamarazzi Monday

Wanna go swimming???

It has literally been raining for 12 hours straight now. Wanna see proof??? Well here you go..my very own pond/swamp/pool?


Whatever you want to call it it has to stop so my kids can play outside again! Their swingset is missing them.

Five Question Friday

Another round of Five Question Friday by MamaM!!!

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?
  HMM Nope can't say I have :(  Though being from Alabama I would really expect to.  Now that I live in TN I thought maybe one day I would see someone but that day has yet to come. 

2. What temperature do you keep your house?
  Around 70-72 during the day and 68 at night.  I love snuggling up under the covers and getting warm!

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?
I do but only if its really, really bad! 

4. What's the worst job you ever had?
I can't think of a job that was the worst so I will just share the best job!  I was working in a book store in the mall and that is where I met Daddy!!  What better job could you ask for??

5. What is your most sentimental possession?
I think it would be a tie between my earrings Daddy got me during his first deployment (I never take them off) and my Mamaw's amethyst ring that I adored when I was young and received many years after she passed away.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

A game of "fighting" with your sister.....


Usually leads to someone crying like this!

Can binders help me??

I have struggled with trying to be somewhat organized for years but have to admit I am not. We have far too much stuff so the whole "everything in its place" just will not work around here for now. I am spending the next year cleaning out my entire house and getting rid of tons of stuff. I would love to be able to cut down by 50% but with the kids I dont see that happening so my goal is to cut at least my stuff down by 50%.

How in the world am I going to do this you ask? Well..hmm..nope haven't figured that out yet!! I do plan on making lists of what exactly needs to be done and hopefully following those pretty strictly. I am hoping to have a yard sale in May so that is one of my number one goals. Man its going to take forever to get through all this stuff and price it but I know it will be worth it!!!

One of the blogs I follow is Clean Mama. I have been following her Spring Zone Cleaning. It's amazing what you can do in a little bit of time each day. I don't feel as overwhelmed when it comes to doing things like dusting baseboards or blinds. You know stuff you normally dread doing every season change. Hopefully by the end of the month I will have a spring cleaned house. Wanna join in? Head on over here and just follow along!

Anyway back to the binders. Clean Mama has started her very own Etsy store with all sorts of printable forms for you to put in your very own binder! If you are like me though you hate paying for something just to help you organize your house, life, kids, etc but if they will help me then I am willing to do it.

So what do you think? Can binders help me attain my goals this year?

Wordless Wednesday-Spring Fun

This post has been linked to: 5 Minutes for Mom
Wordless Wednesday

Deployment Pros and Cons

Everyone that knows me knows that as much as I may not like deployments I know that they are a part of our life and deal with them just like any other day. These days are no different. Daddy left again and it stinks! Will I make it through just fine? Yeah no problem. Will I miss him? Most definitely! Will I hate seeing the kids ask where Daddy went? More than anything in the world. You may ask the point of this title and well I thought I would do a list of the pros and cons from my perspective!

***Pros (in no particular order):***
* Extra money..always nice right? Well this deployment will help us get our house ready to put on the market when Daddy returns and also be able to afford the house we want/need!

* A sense of accomplishment. I feel much more impowered when I remind myself that I CAN do things by myself whether it be take care of the kiddos or even do small projects around the house. I know thatt I am improving myself and that is a great Pro!

* Improving our marriage. The old saying that "Absense makes the heart grow fonder" is always in play during a deployment and upon his arrival home. There is nothing like seeing his face over a webcam or that hug when he comes back! They are the most amazing times in my life.

* Packages!! I love checking our mail and seeing a letter or package from Daddy. The treasures he sends home is AMAZING!

* Unknown phone calls! The very first phone call where the caller ID registers UNKNOWN CALLER gives you butterflies in your tummy!!! The sound of his voice saying "Hey Baby" makes me feel 16 and in love all over again. I love hearing about his days (good and bad) and trying to tell him about ours over the kids yelling Hi to him in the background. HAHA

* Emails. Daddy and I do not send emails while he is at home b/c we can just call each other and say what we need to say. I love checking my email and finding emails from Daddy. I try to send as many as I can but I do not send as many as I should and am working on this super hard this deployment!

***Cons (again in no particular order):***
* Time apart. Though being apart does make us stronger it still sucks. I don't like it but know its the way of our life and wouldn't trade it for the world.

* Kids. They miss their daddy so much even when he is just here working so its definitely hard on them but they also know he does this because he loves our Country and his job.

* Only having 2 hands. Most people take advantage of having their spouse home to help them with the kids for say bathtime, bedtime, dinner, activities, etc. I know I do when he is home but man what a difference 2 hands make!

* Empty bed. Though I may enjoy being able to spread out from one side to the other I do miss having him to snuggle up with at night. A 3 yr old squiggling, squirming girl does NOT make up for this!! HAHA


I am sure I can come up with many more of both but I try to focus on the good instead of the bad! This year I am going to be working on the house trying to get rid of hopefully 1/2 of our possessions and getting the house ready to put on the market!!! Wish me luck.

When God Created the Military Wife

When the Lord was creating a military wife, he ran into His sixth day of overtime. An angel appeared and said, "You're having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied, "Have you seen the specs on this order? It has to be completely independent, but must always be sponsored to get on a military installation. It must have the qualities of both mother and father during deployments, be a perfect host to 4 or 40, handle emergencies without an instruction manual, cope with flu and moves all around the world, have a kiss that cures anything from a child's bruised knee to a husband's weary days, have the patience of a saint when waiting for its mate to come home and, have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way."

The Lord answered, "Don't worry; we will make other military wives to help. Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem, it's the heart. It must swell with pride, sustain the ache of numerous separations while remaining true, beat soundly even when it feels too tired to do so, be large enough to say 'I understand' when it doesn't, and say 'I love you', regardless.

"Lord," said the angel, gently touching His sleeve. "Go to bed. You can finish it tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something quite unique. Already it can heal itself when sick, on a moment's notice it will willingly embrace and feed total strangers who have been stranded during a PCS move and it can wave goodbye to its husband understanding why he had to leave."

The angel circled the model of the military wife very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough," the Lord said excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this being can do or endure."

"Can it think?" asked the angel.

"Can it think?! It can convert 1400 to 2 p.m.," replied the Lord.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she said. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.

" It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."

"What's it for?" asked the angel.

"It's for joy, sadness, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

Looking at her somberly, the Lord replied, "I didn't put it there."

5 Question Friday

Mama M over at My Little Life is putting on 5 Question Friday again to kick off the weekend right!!! Head on over to see answers from tons more people.

1. What's your guilty pleasure? HMM Cokes, chocolate, wait no the internet, oh wait again, maybe my "boring" TV shows as Daddy would call them. Crud I can't decide!! Its a toss up!

2. What is your favorite TV series? I dont really have an absolute favorite but one I try to never miss an episode of would be Army Wives. Yes its completely and utterly incorrect in most aspects but its funny and it keeps me entertained while folding laundry on Sunday night after the kids are in bed!

3. Can you speak any foreign languages? Does speaking Spanish while watching Dora count? Nope? Darn it guess not then!!

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Maybe 20. Now the real question would be how many pairs do I actually wear on a regular basis!!! That answer would be 4. Sneakers, Boots, and 2 pair of Clarks for the summer!

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.? Straight up (anyone else have Paula Abdul running through your head now??)!!! Add some popcorn to that and I am in movie theater heaven. HMMM I may just have to run to the store to pick some up tonight. Darn you Mama M!!!

Thankful

Today I thought I would do a post of things I am thankful for. They have been on my mind lately and I wanted to share them.

I am thankful for:

* Being able to spend time with my husband. He is gone so often that sometimes I take him for granted when he is home. I hope he knows how much I appreciate him and always will!

* A husband who loves me and our 4 kids unconditionally.

* Four amazing kids who love me unconditionally even though some days I am a bit too hard on them. Hopefully they understand those days are helping to mold them into the people they will be when they grow up.

* Kids who are healthy. We may have the sickies every so often but nothing severe like so many kids these days.

* A roof over our head. We may be busting at the seams around here but I know without a doubt that its here and is all ours.

* Another day to live life and love! What more can you ask for right?

And these are just some of the things that keep me going every single day of my wonderful, thankful life!

Laundry

ALMOST DONE!

WHOO HOO!

I guess there is something good that can come out of being planted on the couch for almost 2 days straight and that is I will be caught up with all of our laundry as soon as the 2 loads (1 in dryer and 1 in washer) are done! Oh wait now! This means washed, dryed, folded and put away!! Thanks heavens too because I was almost out of clean clothes. OOPS.

Does anyone else get a huge satisfaction from being caught up on the laundry? I do! Though I know its just going to start right back over in a day or two. Between dance 4 nights a week and now soccer practice 2 nights and 1 game day per week I know I will be overrun with even more laundry here soon.

These beauties? They are my wonderful washer and dryer and they running their final loads of the day!



And this "beauty" that has definitely seen better days is my coffee table that is normally COVERED with clean laundry but today its all put away!



This post has been linked to: Tackle it Tuesday hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.