MilSpouse Blog Hop!

Morning, afternoon, or evening depending on where you are.  I am super excited to be following the MilSpouse Blog Hop hosted by Riding The Roller Coaster! 

I am Lynn and proud to be a military spouse of 10 years to my wonderful husband, Daddy.  We have 4 amazing (yet chaotic!) kiddos. Feel free to check out the about me over on the right hand side to get an idea!  "M" is 9 and going on 30, "V" is 8 and my little mother hen, "A" is 3 and my little comedian and "S" will be 2 next week and always keeps me on my toes.  We have been super lucky to have been stationed in the same spot for our entire career.  Well some wouldn't say lucky because this has come with 4 deployments, turns to Korea, and several courses that have kept our entire family apart but we have made some wonderful new friends over those years.  We wouldn't trade it for the world! 

I love taking pictures with my new camera and cannot wait to learn more about it!  I also make hairbows for little girls and am trying to get the courage up to open my own etsy site one day soon.  Oh and I am sort of obsessed with the exclamation point! I do try and keep its use to a minimum though.

I hope you have a wonderful day and come back soon!  :)

Feelings and the Military

As the spouse of a Soldier we all go through hundreds of different feelings daily.  These feelings are amplified when they are deployed.  One of my fellow bloggers Julie posted Toby Keith's video American Soldier on her blog today. Head on over and watch the video.  I promise you wont be dry eyed after it either. 

Back to the feelings.  Like I said there are hundreds of different feelings you may feel and I promise you that they are all normal!  Here is a short list of things I have heard of and felt some of them first hand. (in no particular order)

Sadness..nothing like that first day they leave to shoot this one at you. 
Anger...why do they have to leave all the time? 
Worry..is my loved one safe? 
Fear..will there be a knock on my door anytime soon? 
Happiness...hearing their voice on the phone brings it all back
Excitement...opening your mail box and seeing a letter (email works too!)

Being through so many deployments has kind of made me cold to these feelings though I do get the excitement and happiness one.  I am a very independent person and know that what Daddy does is for a great cause and he loves his job.  Do I hate him being gone?  Yep but again I know why and accepted this when I said I DO.  *Disclaimer*Now that statement was in no means a blast at anyone who feels all these feelings just stating that its the way I handle it.

Watching the video Julie posted really hit home today mainly I think because my Father In Law just taught "S" how to salute and seeing the son in the video salute as his father leaving just got me.  I cannot wait for Daddy to be able to this in person or until I can catch it on video! 

What are some feelings you encounter daily??

Mamarazzi Monday-Rainy Days

We have had several rainy days here so we have resorted to playing inside.  Cabin fever is setting in and there are only 2 days in the next week that have been forcasted for no rain.  I guess those April Showers are coming in full force finally!

This is what happens when I am in the kitchen making myself lunch finally.  "A" has made a "swimming pool" for her dolls, horses, and whatever else will fit into the bucket!  No questions asked about her imagination huh?

Any ideas on what her doll is thinking right now??

This post has been linked to Mamarazzi Monday.

Getting to know YOU Sunday

Head on over to visit Keely @ MannLand5 and join in on Getting to know YOU! 

1. If you could star in any movie genre..what would it be..romance..horror..comedy..suspense or action?  Suspense or Comedy since those would probably fit right into my life!  You never know what may happen next and it usually ends up being comical in the end!



2. Do you recycle? I recycle most of the time.  The girls take it to their school which is awesome for me since we don't do curbside recycling around here.  Saves me a trip!  Now some of the time they end up not taking it with them and I am left with bag after bag in the office so something has to be done with it.  Most of the time I drive it up there myself but sometimes it ends up in the garbage. Man I wish they would pick it up for me!

3. Have you ever been to a strip club? Nope!  Not sure I even want to.


4. Do you have a nickname? Daddy calls me Sweetheart but other than that not anymore.  Over the years growing up I was called Pooh Bear though.


5. What's a name you can't stand to be called?  My first name!  Nope not telling you what it is either :)


6. What are your Summer staples? Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Potato Chips, Goldfish Crackers.  Oh and not on a food related note...shorts, tanks and slip on shoes!


7. What was the last thing you bought for yourself? White Chocolate Mocha Frappacino from Starbucks. Is it sad that I had to seriously think about that??? 

8. Are you happy with your boob size? Nope. Eventually I would love to have a breast augmentation but first the kiddos need to be a bit more self sufficient.  One day though!

Now head on over to MannLand5 and join in on the fun!

Oh the Chaos!

Falling in tune with my blog name this weekend has been chaotic for sure!  Friday night we were getting warnings about bad weather headed our way.  Of course "V" has soccer on Saturday mornings so we had no clue if this game would still be played as scheduled or if they would cancel it.  I checked the website to see and the lovely message I saw was that they would update at 0730!  UMM Do you really want me to get up at 0730 to check your site and see if they were playing at 0900??  Darn it!  I have to get the kids up and moving around then to make sure we have enough time for breakfast, getting dressed, loaded in the car, drive 2 minutes down the road and spend 15 minutes circling the parking lot trying to find a parking spot.  Of course the games were cancelled b/c when I woke up around 5 the storms were a brewin' and it would not have been a pretty game!

The kids also decided that they would have a fun Friday night and play tag on who wakes me up every single hour!  "M" and "V" would take turns giggling which would in turn wake up "S" who decided that he didn't want to go back to bed on a dime like usual.  So let's see...I was up at 11, 1230, 2, 4, 5, 7, oh and 0730 to check on the soccer games!   

We finally woke back up around 9 and I spent the day doing laundry and dishes since I didn't get much done this week b/c I was dying super sick. Anyone else wish they had a maid who would come and clean just when they were sick??  This week my house sure could have used one! 

After all this laundry was somewhat under control we had to get kids packed up and out the door b/c "M" and I had a dance competition to head to.  I dropped off the other kiddos with my in-laws and headed out praying that the storms would wait until we got into the building.  Well we must have had someone watching out for us b/c the rain stayed away the entire hour drive!  Competition was awesome as usual.  They made a change to one of her dances and my child is a flipper now!  Talk about making a mommy's heart stop.  Thank heavens no one lets go of her the entire move but still there is nothing like seeing your child fly backwards on a wooden stage.

My in-laws had the crappy end of the stick b/c they lost power about an hour after I left and it didn't come back on until we were getting ready to head back to town.  Thank heavens my kiddos were well behaved for them and they love board games b/c that is what they spent 4 hours doing!  It is going to be interesting to check the paper and see just how bad the storms were.  The only thing I heard was that there was 1 tornado in the area but not sure of any damages (hope none!) or if there were any others.

"M" and I headed back to town and grabbed the others and went home.  I was exhausted and so were all the kids.  We headed to bed..well tried to!  "S" decided to pull the "cuddle you" card and wanted me to cuddle with him most of the night.  I rotated from couch to his floor several times until the boy finally crashed and stayed asleep until around 10am!!  Now we are off to spend the day finishing up the cleaning and getting ready for the week ahead. 

What did all of you do this weekend??  Whatever it is I hope you had a great one!

5 Question Friday

  
Ready for some fun?  Then head on over to MamaM's blog Five Crooked Halos and join in on 5 Question Friday!  There are tons of other blogs participating this week so go ahead and read away!

1. What was the first car you owned? Pontiac Grand Am that was this odd pink champagne color inside and out!! We wont go into how many people I could fit in that car so as to not incriminate myself :) It was my first car so I loved it no matter what though my absolute favorite car was my red Honda DelSol.  I still miss and love that car! 


2. What song are you embarrassed to know the lyrics to? Umm...Baby Got Back, Ice Ice Baby, there are just too many to count :)  I also know all the lyrics to most preschool shows like Dora, Diego, Franklin, Backyardigans, etc!  Yep pretty sad huh???


3. Have you ever had stitches? Only the ones from having my wisdom teeth cut out.  I have been lucky so far to avoid them and hope my luck keeps on going.


4. What was your first job?  I worked for Piercing Pagoda in the mall.  It was pretty darn fun.  I love people watching so being in a Kiosk it was the perfect opportunity.  The only thing that stunk was having to run into another store to use their bathroom.


5. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?  Cookie Monster!  I love me some cookies and can definitely relate to him in that aspect. Being big and blue?  Not so much!

Super Late!

Due to circumstances beyond my control raging sickness in my house that has hopefully ended with me my posts have been somewhat void lately!  Ok fine!  Non-existent.  There..Happy?? 

So I bring to you Mamarazzi Monday and Wordless Wednesday all in one post.

Brother and Sister watching....

Watching this sister paint her heart out on the front porch....

While this sister is laying in bed plagued with the same sickness that graced their mother the past few days! 

(No you will not be seeing a picture of me! Sorry.)

This post has been linked to Mamarazzi Monday and Wordless Wednesday.

5 Question Friday

1. What words do you use on your blog/online that you don't use in real life?  HMM..You know I don't think there are any!  I try to stay as true to my speech in my typing as possible.  As I say it in my head it gets typed onto here!


2. Do you still write checks?  Unfortunately!  The only place we regularly write them is to "M's" dance.  Its much easier to keep up with the hoards of money we pay them each month if we write a check and not use the good ol' debit card!


3. Who was your favorite President and why?  I think I will plead the 5th!

4. Are you a yeller?  Yes unfortunately.  I try extremely hard but as you can imagine with all 4 kiddos going at once sometimes I have to yell to get my point across or even over them.

5. Have you ever dumpster dived?  True dumpster diving?  No but I did grab a bookshelf from someones front yard since they were going to throw it away.  Hey all it needed needs is some TLC.  One day I may just get around to it!

This post has been linked to My Little Life's 5 Question Friday!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

This picture is an older picture but everytime I look at it I have to laugh.  Of course its not because of the fact that "S" was hurt but because he looks so stinking cute with that big ol' band-aid on his nose!

This post has been linked to Wordless Wednesday.

Mamarazzi Monday-Planting

Are you a part of Mamarazzi Monday held by Household6Diva?  If not head on over and read all about it!  If you are then see you over there!

We had planting to be done and since these flowers were picked out by "A" she wanted to do the planting all by herself.  Well ok!  Less work for me! 


She really gets into her work doesn't she?    
              


Just look at the concentration.

The finished product!!!

This post has been linked to Mamarazzi Monday.

The Happy 101 Award

My very first award!!!! Join me in the happy dance since that is what I did when I found out she left it for me!

Thank you so much to Julie over at Julie the Army Wife.

The rules:

1. Thank the person you received the award from.

2. Name 10 things that make you happy.

3. Pass it on and contact the lucky winners!

10 Things that make me happy are (in no particular order)....

1. My husband

2. My kids

3. Sleeping in

4. A clean house for more than 5 minutes

5. Sunny days

6. Time with friends (sometimes w/o kids!)

7. Quiet mornings

8. Cuddling with my kids

9. My phone ringing and knowing its Daddy!

10.  Comments left on my blog

Now to pass this on! 

1. Hillary at The Other Mama 

2. Ann Marie at Household6Diva

3. Bonnie at House of Grace

Its Party Time!!!

Blog Party that is!!! 



This wonderful Blog Party is hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.  Head on over (ok you can wait until you read my post first if you insist)and see how many new bloggers you can meet this week! 

Welcome!  My name is Lynn and have been married to my wonderful husband ,whom we will call Daddy, for 10 years now.  Wow that seems like a long time when I write it but it seems like just yesterday I met him.  We have 4 wonderful kiddos and live our life for them.  "M" is 9 and is our little ballerina.  She is on a competition dance team and is always going! Oh and yes that keeps me going too.  "V" is 8 and our sportster. She loves playing soccer whenever she gets the chance.  "A" is 3 and is older than her years.  She always comes up with some of the funniest things!  Then comes "S" who is 23 months and the only boy of the bunch.  If you want to see a sibling spoiled by his sisters well come and watch him!  He can get away with most anything once he smiles at you with what we call his "cheesy grin" which he got from Daddy!

Me you ask?  I started this blog a few months ago just as a way to keep up with the things we had been doing since with 4 kiddos my memory seems to be slipping away more and more each year day!  Now I am really enjoying writing and sharing my story with whoever may come by.  I am fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with the younger 2 while the older 2 are at school during the day and in my spare time I like to make hairbows for little girls.  It all started when I realized I was spending tons of money on bows that my girls would either lose in a day or two or they would either fall apart during the first wear.  I set out to beat those goals and so far I have!!  It has blossomed into a larger hobby and I am now making them for friends and family and also people I have never met before! I just recently received a super neat camera from Daddy and am having tons of fun learning to use it but would love to be able to really learn the ins and outs of the photography world.  Anyone wanna tutor me?? 


There are so many awesome prizes up for the winning at this year's Ultimate Blog Party but if I could only choose 3 my top three picks would be:

23 - 50.00 Gift Card from Monogrammed-Gifts.com

11 - A $100 gift eCertificate to Restaurant.com

USC 15 - $50.00 Target Gift Card
 But if for some reason those three were already chosen, I would love any of the following:  7, 49, 69, 70, 73, 96, 105, USC 4, USC 43 or anything else related to girls (ages 9, 8, & 3) and a boy (23 mos).

Ok now you can head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and keep on reading or you can stay here for a while.  I sure don't mind!

Wordless Wednesday-Great Sleep

I went in to check on "A" and this is what she looked like....

I went back in a minute later and she had moved to this position!

Dont you wish you could sleep like that???

This post has been linked to Wordless Wednesday

Spring Is Here!

And I am loving it!!!  These are some of the newest additions to our household this month.  The kids are really enjoying taking care of all the plants and flowers.  I am glad I am able to teach them the little bit I do know about gardening.  They would love a vegetable garden but our backyard is just not cut out for it.  Maybe when we move in a couple of years we will have room!

Now if I could just get the flowerbed completely cleaned out and the exact way I want it (this year) I will be estatic.  I would love to add another one in front of our boxwoods but have to convince Daddy of that one first.

Don't they just scream SPRING?

Mamarazzi Monday-Easter

In the years past I always had an easy time taking Easter pictures. Call the girls over and let them know what you are about to do and they would strike a pose in 2 seconds. Now with S taking pictures is more like a 3 ring circus! I was hoping that we could entice him with a toy or something but he was having nothing to do with it. I am sure part of it was the fact that M & V woke everyone up super early. Of course they wake up early on a weekend but during the week? Nope I have to drag them out of bed. Ok you got me. Maybe just maybe something to do with a tiny tiny bit of sugar shortly after that! Anyway, here are a few pictures of my attempt for the "perfect" family Easter picture!







This post has been linked to Mamarazzi Monday at Household6Diva.

Friends

Our favorite neighbors moved away in June and we have all missed having someone to play with at any given time during the day. So when we found out that they were coming into town during their spring break we were so excited! Unfortunately they were here while the older 2 were in school but I played the good mommy and picked up my girls early from school yesterday so they could PLAY!

It was definitely interesting going from only have my 4 kiddos for the past 8 months to having 8 kiddos running around playing, screaming, laughing, etc. But it was wonderful! The girls had no clue why I picked them up and even seeing their van it didn't register for a min. Once they went inside they all started screaming and jumping up and down. Who said long distance friendships couldn't last?

There was no way I was going to let them leave without getting a picture of all the kids together since I forgot to do so before they moved. Let's just say getting a picture with 8 kids who did not want to stop playing was not an easy task! They were all trying to make funny faces so we compromised and did one picture with them looking as serious as 8 kids could and one with them all making funny faces. Can't you just tell how much fun they have been having??


This post is linked to Friday Favorites

April Fools

I have never been a big prankster but for some unknown reason today I decided that this year would be the year! I made these "cupcakes" for dinner! I had planned on making them when the girls were still at school but yeah well that didn't happen so I was stuck trying to make them while I ushered them outside and I hid in the kitchen. That was interesting to say the least! They would have looked a lot prettier had I not been rushing to throw the "icing" on before the girl saw them! Oh and next time I will read the directions better and use FOIL liners since the paper ones were falling apart hence the extra one underneath!

A was the first to see and taste them as she can't keep her hands out of anything pink! She licked her finger and yelled "Pink potatoes! Yuck!" HMM how will it go over with M who is super picky?? Better than I thought! She tasted it and said that next time to not make the icing pink b/c that was her pink..haha. V of course loves pretty much anything except for sweet potatoes and stuffing!

I definitely think I will have to find something new to do each year since it went over pretty good. Did you do anything fun for April Fool's this year??