Merry Christmas Eve!

I am so excited that it is Christmas Eve! This is the first time since 2008 that I have not been in my own house for Christmas. This year we traveled to my in laws in Texas for Christmas Vacation. I always get a little nervous when blending Christmas traditions from other families, but my in laws have been great. They are so laid back and I am sure they enjoy my cooky goofy ways.

Today I am baking cookies with my daughters. I already made gluten free sugar cookies with Kailah and Charlie. I found a recipe on my all recipe app for a simple sugar cookie. I substituted Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix for the flour and substituted half the butter with mashed banana. Everyone seems to like them.

As I am typing this, I am waiting to make Chocolate Chip cookies with Kairah and Kaijah. Kaijah's science teacher used the recipe to teach her students how to use measurements. So we got the mix in a cute jar and just have to add the wet ingredients. (picture to follow soon).

I am so enjoying Christmas music on my iPhone via iheartradio. I really love technology sometimes :D Charlie has had so much fun today singing and dancing to the music. She even sings some of the songs, although some of the lyrics might be a little different.We have also been tracking Santa on NORAD through the computer and my iPhone.

It has been a great Christmas Eve so far.

Tell Him What you Want

Disclaimer: this post maybe be perceived as being a Scrooge, Grinch or just out right negative, but is in no way meant to be that way.

As most of you know, I have been married 4 times (3 husbands). During all of those failed relationships I would read and read and read, looking for advice to fix my relationships. It took me a while to realize, I just picked the wrong people at first. My first couple of Christmas experiences with my first husband was negative (although our Christmas together before getting married was nice, what happened?!). I pretty much shopped for myself or didn't receive anything. He was never really into the Christmas spirit.

I know Christmas is not about receiving, but it sure does feel nice when others think about you. I love being the giver, but it hurts so much when you do not receive anything. The only thing that ever saved my Christmas was my children and their wonderful made gifts. Often times they would be really sad because mommy didn't get presents from "daddy" or Santa. So, that is mainly why I would "treat" myself to a few things.

With all that being said, the best advice in my opinion that I ever received was "tell them what you want." It was said to me by many people and read in many books and articles. So with my new husband I decided to give this a try. Oh boy oh boy does this not work with my wonderful, loving, and giving husband. He does not like for me to tell him what I want. He seems to have either a stubborn streak or he wants to prove that he knows me better than I know myself.

This year I tried to ensure that I would love what he got me because in the past I either had to pretend or tell him and hurt his feelings. (There is nothing like explaining to your spouse why you don't wear something they bought you.) Now, to be clear he has only missed the mark maybe 3 times, but this year we are tight on money I really do not want something I do not absolutely love. (There was my selfish Grinchy statement. Yes I said it. If I am going to get a gift or gifts this year. I want to love it. I do not want to donate it to a Thrift Shop in 6 months)

Any how, I made a new rule: we will only buy what is one our wish lists (because even I have to admit I hardly ever follow my kids lists, so this was a challenge for me too). I received a super long list from Kairah and Kaijah, a super short list from Kailah and Charlie took pictures with things when we were in stores. Then I asked Lew to make a list, he didn't. I then made my list and put it with the others and texted it to him. It was so organized. It was broken down by price increments and had items under $20 all the way up to over $100 (knew we could not afford that, but hey I can wish right?). I even told him about things; like that cool vacuum robot or costume jewelry. I even sent him pictures when I saw random things in stores.

This leads me to last night and my sheer frustration and deep down desire that my husband really does knows me. We decided to do some present wrapping while we waited for one of our shows. He put my presents in boxes so I could not see what they were. When he came out with three boxes I was super surprised because  I did not expect to have so many gifts. I then asked him (with excitement) "oh wow; did you find some things on my list?" I even clapped my hands like a little kid. (I seriously love opening presents) He responded with "no, I did not use your list." I am pretty sure I gave him a crappy look, not intending too. He proceeded with," I think you are going to like what I got you." I attempted to have to conversation about the rules (because I like rules!), but gave up and just enjoyed wrapping presents with him.

I will continue to tell my husband what I want; from presents, to how to make the bed, to whatever. He will probably continue to ignore those requests. I guess maybe this is just how our awesome marriage works. Understand that I did not say perfect. I said awesome! It is awesome because we both decided about 2 years into our marriage that this really is forever. That was the first time I ever truly made that commitment and I could only make that commitment to him because he truly made the commitment to me. That was a first for me. I remember when he told me "stop pushing me away. I am not going anywhere. I love you and we will make this work." Did I ever tell you, my lovely readers, how much I love that man! - With all my heart, frustrations and all!!!!

'Tis the season...

'Tis the season for crafting, baking, and giving! Christmas is my favorite holiday for those three reasons. Even as a selfish teenager, I still enjoyed doing all those things just as much as receiving gifts. These three reasons are also why Christmas can be aggravating for me.

As you all know, I have 4 daughters and you would assume that they would enjoy taking part in some of my favorite things. This is so far from the truth that it cannot get much further. My children have never enjoyed crafting or baking. They enjoy the time they get to spend with me, but not the act. This shows in how little they take pride in their work. Over the years I have had to learn to try to overlook this "fault" (I use that term loosely because my children are perfect in their own individual ways, but my obsession with pride causes me to believe not taking pride to be a fault). I have to constantly tell them that it is okay to make mistakes, but not okay to purposefully not care about the end result of things. Now that my three eldest are teenagers or tweens, I am having more difficulty in finding things to do with them. Kailah seems to enjoy watching cartoons (the weird ones that I do not understand at all) and playing her flute. Kairah seems to enjoy sleeping and "momming" everyone. Kaijah seems to enjoy being annoying. What is a mom supposed to do with this? If I try to do crafts with them, knowing full well they do not enjoy them, I get a kid that rushes to get back to cartoons, a kid that tells everyone what to do, and one that just annoys the crap outta everyone. LOL (I seriously laughed when I wrote that last sentence). Baking with my kids is a joke too. They refuse to follow recipes and anyone that bakes knows, you have to follow a recipe; its a science. The crafting and baking is only the beginning.

(L) Lew made me a Christmas decoration w. everyone's picture (R) Kairah made Lew a holder for his name tag etc. 

My biggest frustration during Christmas is the giving part. I have two children who are giving when they are told to be giving and one that is as selfish as one can possibly be. I do not say that to sound mean. My oldest has always been self-centered. It is just in her nature. (Yes I believe that nature always beats out nurture, how else do you explain successful people with crappy parents, or crappy people with wonderful parents) She would have been the best only child ever. This year, I think I have finally given up on trying to force her to being selflessly giving. Three years ago, we decided (mostly due to the economy issues) that we would change how we did gift giving. We started doing "secret Santa" among their cousins and within our family. Each one of my children pulled a cousin's name to buy/make a gift and we all picked a name for our immediate family. This year we added making or baking things for our extended family and friends. Everyone participates, even if they are reluctant. This year, Kailah has been expressly defiant. So, I grew tired of fighting with her and did not coerce her to make anything. Our boxes have one less baked good and I made her cousin gift. More than likely I will make her family gift also.

(L) I made an applique for Kailah's shirt (R) Kailah decorated suspenders for Kairah

I know some might disagree with me about not forcing her to participate, but people she is 14 and this is not life or death. She will have to live with the "guilt" or not. I have made a parental decision to make peace with my child's personality trait and hope that one day some great thing will happen to change it. Until then I chose to love her the way she is. Maybe this is my way of giving to her. This is what anyone wants right? To be loved and accepted for who you are no matter what. It freaked her out that I was not mad about making the gift. I told her that I was disappointed that she put her wants before someone else, but I have accepted it.

(L) Charlie decorated a bookmark for Kaijah (R) Kaijah made a pillow for Charlie (Kaijah and her silly faces;)

So instead I chose to live by this statement this year "'tis the season for unconditional love and acceptance."

Stop Delegating YOUR Work to Others!

I am a member of a group on facebook that can really be aggravating at times. It is the 3S0X1 group. This was my old career field when I was in the Air Force. The positive to being on this site is seeing what is going on so I can let my husband know if it affects him. The negative aspect is being reminded of why I was ashamed of my career field at times.

from pinterest, owner unknown

 The main thing that bothers me is when these high and mighty personnelist (3S0X1s) get on this board and make fun of the other career fields (mostly maintainers and cops) for not being aware of what is going on with personnel stuff. Are you serious? I finally had enough today. A maintainer (someone who works on the aircraft) was made fun of for not knowing what MilPDS (the computer system that houses "career" information) is. This was my response:

My duty title list just keeps getting longer....

I have to accept that I am not superwoman, but it is so hard. There are so many things that need to be done and so many things I want to do. I honestly think I have more duty titles now, than I did when I was active duty. I am a housekeeper, childcare worker, full time student, tutor, yard maintenance person, house maintenance person, personal chef, nutritionist, gardener, woodworker, painter, seamstress, soap-maker, alarm clock, beautician, shelf stock manager and therapist.
(I have edited this list a few times while typing this, ha!)

Welfare vs. Veteran's Assistance, Tax Credits, and Student Programs

Disclaimer! This is my opinion and no way reflects the opinion of anyone else or any other organization. If you do not like my opinion, that is okay. If you chose to comment about my opinion, I just ask that you be respectful.

I am finding out very quickly that politics really boils my blood sometimes. Especially when people skew information to get what they want. I am now finding that people trying to help their political party are lumping welfare into the same group as veterans programs. This is not the same thing. I believe they are doing this to possibly say, "if we have to get rid of welfare, then we have to get rid of all these other public assistance programs to be fair."

Anyone else frustrated with trying to be healthy?

So as I write this blog I am extremely hungry. Why you may ask. The answer is simple, I have no idea what to eat anymore.

I remember having a discussion with one of my previous supervisors who was a complete gym rat. He told me I need to eat healthier and I would lose weight. I laughed at him and said I tried that and I gain weight. I never understood why until the internet boom. You see, I have a thyroid condition called Hashimoto Thyroiditis which causes my metabolism, among other things, to go out of wack. I discovered via the world wide web that there are healthy foods that can prevent your thyroid from functioning at its peak, especially if you already have a crappy thyroid. What!!!! This is why I could eat McDonalds and not gain a pound (as long as the calorie take was minimal), but if a ate raw veggies and grilled chicken I get fat.

Isaac, You Little Trickster...You!

This storm has been an unpredictable mess. First it was headed right for us, but then went to Louisiana. Then it tricked us into thinking it would not do much damage by being just a Cat 1. Well, he sure showed us "I may be small, but I am slow, so let the rampage begin....buahahaha." Now, he waits until my children go back to school to start with his demon spawn again, tornadoes. This shows how we human beings really do not have control over anything but ourselves and our own personal decision. Everything else is circumstance and controlled by someone or something else.  

I wish all the best to those affected by this monster!

On a lighter note, I finally finished Charlie's apron thanks to the hubby being off and Isaac playing nice yesterday. I am also way ahead on homework, of which I plan to stay on that path.

Recently I have been asked to make lots of things for people. I would absolutely love to do this. Does anyone know of any way for me to keep it all straight and how I can try to stay on task to get them all done? I thought about doing a written list on my craft closet door and give myself suspense dates.  (the Air Force in me...lol)


I am also getting ready to make my first batch of french milled/triple milled/re-batch soap. This process helps to keep a stronger scent for essential oils (I am partial to these over fragrance). My planned scent will be a blend of tangerine, nutmeg, and patchouli. If it comes out awesome I will be making some lotion bars or whipped body butter in the same scent. I am also planning on experimenting with lip-balm too using tangerine, nutmeg and ginger. I have ensured they are all "lip-safe" essential oils, but I still only plan on using a hint of these in my balm recipe. So EXCITED!

Isaac Sent His Spawn to Visit Instead

Staying busy while waiting out the tornado warning.

A few hours ago we just finished two back to back tornado warnings (the spawn of Isaac). Apparently this is what happens when you are on the east side of a hurricane. I was not prepared for this. Either way, we took cover in the two safest places in the house: Charlie's bathroom and the laundry room. When the second warning happened during the first "take cover." I decided to run out and grab water and some snacks just in case we were under cover for a long period of time. Maybe not the smartest idea, but Charlie was so restless due to being hungry. On the way back to the bathroom I also grabbed a few things to keep her occupied. These items are now a permanent fixture in her bathroom until this thing is over.

pretty gross to have food in the bathroom, oh well

When we were able to come out we finished stocking up these areas with water, snacks, food for the dog, books, magazines, blankets, pillows, and medicine to calm the dog. It might seem like overkill, but taking cover with 6 people, 4 of them being children, for long periods of time in very tight spaces is just asking for drama. So, we are prepared for the next set of warnings.

I am also moving my two children that sleep on the opposite side of the house to my side of the house which is closest to our "safe" rooms. I have been through tornado warnings before, but this seems so much different than the other times, so I do not want to leave anything to chance.  This is some scary stuff!



I am so grateful that we do not have to experience a hurricane and at the same time I am sad for those who do. I hope everyone is as safe as possible.

Pictures from earlier:

Santa Rosa Island, Florida 28 Aug 2012

Gotta love the wind-blown hair-do

The birds taking cover from the wind

Some businesses remained open and some were boarded up and closed

My house is still boarded up. Better safe than sorry.

Where are you going Isaac? Don't you want me anymore!?

Apparently Isaac decided that Northwest Florida was not his ideal vacation spot. We are still keeping our boards up and preparing for the worst in case he changes his mind.

 
It was pretty nice out so I decided to take Charlie to the beach. She was so excited to see me in my swim wear when I woke her up that she sleepily jumped out of bed and immediately put on her swimsuit. The rest of the morning she added things to wear and bring. She even had me change "Baby" out of her nightgown into a swim suit. Look at those cute little pink wolf ears. I think those are quite appropriate for the beach.



I figured it would be red flag when we got there and I was right. I just really wanted to get her out of the house. I only grabbed a bucket and two shovels out of my large stock of beach gear.

We lasted all of about 5 minutes before the flies started biting us. The couple that left when we got there warned us and suggested staying close to the water, but that did not help.

Charlie was very sad about leaving. I had some coupon shopping to do, so I tried to make it up to her by letting her play a bit in the stores. They were quite empty so we were not bothering anyone. She even pushed the cart in one of them. Despite the disappointment, I think her morning turned out alright. I saved a total of 77% after all of my purchases. I am no extreme couponer, but I think I do alright. I also got her a donut and blue slushy so she was quite content when we got home.

We took a long nap and then the older girls and I began pulling our furniture from the yard in preparation for Isaac's tail that is supposed to hit us in a day or two. Charlie happily played on the back patio with her tricycle and chalk. It seems that she is quite ready for the storm. Look at that pretty pink scarf for the "snow."

Isaac is coming....maybe?!

Yesterday was an extremely long day for my family. My husband and I got up early and headed to the local home improvement store with the intention of buying wood and asking them to cut it. We measured all our windows, drew out diagrams; we were ready to get these windows covered.

At the home improvement store, we ran into a little snag. Their wood cutter was broken. Plan B, buy a decently priced saw (so we can use it in the future) and cut the wood ourselves. A wonderful worker helped me pick out a saw. We payed for our purchases and we were ready to get started.

I was very nervous that we would not be able to get everything done because Lew has been at work all day and night the day prior and I was worried he would be called in yesterday also; and I was right. Luckily the other person "in charge" with him was headed to the beach and volunteered to stay either until we were done or until they let everyone go home. Lew kept his phone close just in case they needed him and he was called quite a few times. It makes me extremely happy that this person volunteered to help us out. I am not sure that I could have completed the task while refereeing 4 children.

Anyhow, we measured and cut and measured and cut. We (I) had one measuring mistake, but we bought some wood for our sliding glass doors and decided that the window we messed up would be more exposed and needed to be covered instead. We worked until almost noon just cutting. We put those boards up and took a lunch break. After that we decided to cut and put up each time.

We had to figure out some issues along the way. For instance, our bay windows are not the easiest windows to cover. We had to "rig" them and we are hoping it holds. The clips we used are not meant for siding, but we had not choice. Also we have some odd shaped windows and lots of pieces of wood so we "puzzled" a few together to try to not waste wood. We had to find a way to make the clips tighter on the wood. I tried using the pliers, but I was not strong enough. Then I used my foot and it was "wonky." Lew ended up having to tighten all the clips with the pliers.

I guess I miss home ;)

We also had to try to keep 4 children from either beating each other up or tearing up the house. They survived! Bonus! My husband and I only had one tiff while doing this project. That is amazing for us. We had some good laughs too. We made fun of how our house looked like a condemned "crack house." I mentioned how my dad was amaze at how nice our cities are here. He said "where is the trash?" I think that was his way of saying I lived in a nice place. I grew up in Long Beach, California. We have trash all over the street, graffiti everywhere. It is definitely different here.

BTW, we are the only people on our street with boards up so far. I would rather be safe than sorry. 

Hello Isaac!

blog.beaumontenterprises.com

We are preparing for a hurricane here and it is my first time having to do this. It is very nerve-racking. Every time I get on Facebook I see posts about being scared or making fun of the people getting 20 loaves of bread at Walmart. I am trying to take a more common sense approach to things. I also thought I would share my feelings and doings during this storm threat.

When I first found out yesterday that we should start preparing I just figured I would keep my gas tank full, make sure we have some batteries and flash lights. I had the hubby pick up some water and charcoal (which was already on the list to get due to an awesome sale).

As time goes on and I read Facebook posts I start to realize that maybe I should be more worried and start hoarding things. Maybe I should go buy a generator so I do not loose the $400  in meat in my freezer (of which I never buy this stuff in bulk and I am kicking myself for doing it last month). Maybe I need to buy a gun to fend of looters. I do not want to be a crazy, but to say that I am not worried would be lying.

www.accuweather.com

My husband and I compromised on some things and we decided to just get some extra ice to have on hand to try to save as much meat as possible and as far as the rest we will just figure it out as things happen.

I had to have the preparation talk with my kids by myself tonight because my husband was called into work to prepare for the coming storm. I had to be careful not to scare them, but also prepare them for the worst. I explained the plan for sleeping arrangements in order to have people in the safest possible place. I explained how we can prepare and survive a power and water outage. We started bringing items in to the garage so they cannot be launched into our windows by the wind. We will finish up the larger items tomorrow when Lew is home.

I honestly do not think that someone could possibly be perfectly prepared for natural disasters. I think you do the best you can and what you think is right. When a situation arises you put on your common sense cap and shield of bravery and deal with it.

As time goes on I will try to post about what we are going through unless we lose power. :D

Annual August Road Trip Part II

After our busy day of shopping on day 4, I really needed to just relax on day 5. I decided to take Kailah, Kairah, and Kaijah to the movies. We went to see Step Up 4. They just love these dance movies. Their uncle Jeff is in quite a few of them, but did not participate in this one unfortunately because he is an awesome dancer. Any how, we really enjoyed the movie and the theater food. Seriously, everything IS bigger in Texas. My nachos were huge. I could not even finish them. One of the funniest things during the trip happened at the movies also. My goofy daughter got nacho cheese all over, not just one, but both of her bare feet. Kairah and I have a bad habit of taking our shoes off in theaters (usually mine are cold because I am wearing flippy flops so I bring socks to put on) and she forgot that she had put the nachos on the floor under her feet. She stepped right in it. I laughed so hard. The rest of the day we just relaxed. We had a big day ahead, our trip to Dallas.

We spent day 6 and 7 in Dallas. We stayed at The Great Wolf Lodge which has this awesome indoor water park that is included in your stay. I dropped Lew and the older girls off at Six Flags Over Texas and myself, my mother in law and Charlie visited Legoland. I cannot tell you much about the girls time at Six Flags because I was not there, but we had a great time at Legoland. I found it interesting that the mall in Dallas not only housed stores, but also Legoland and ...wait for it...wait for it... an Aquarium.....WHAT!? Legoland was pretty cool. We rode a ride kind of like Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers, played with lots of legos and watched a show. Charlie adopted a lego cow and played with that thing almost the entire time. It went down the slide and even went to the show with us. After Legoland we went back to the hotel and got busy in the water park. It was a blast. Charlie had to have gone down the "blue slide" over 20 times. This activity was a great lesson in following directions, being safe and standing in line. She had a few time outs for running and cutting in line, but she still had a great time. We ended the day at Joe's Crab Shack right before picking up Lew and the girls. I will say that there was not a lot of talking going on at the dinner table except for Charlie. My mother-in-law is married to a seafood hater, so it was awesome for her to have someone to enjoy some good seafood with. We chowed down! I even wore the bib.

The next day we ate at the Character Breakfast. The food was delicious! After breakfast, the older girls got to experience the water park. It was a ton of fun. We were having so much fun that we did not snap very many photos. Each of the girls got to spend time with each adult. I think most of us rode most, if not all, of the rides at least once. Charlie really enjoyed the wave pool and outside pool. Kairah loved the slides and Kaijah loved the big bucket o' water dump (had no idea what to call it). I think if we stay here again we should add a day or two and snag the package deal that includes Magi Quest (an interactive adventure in the hotel). We headed back to Killeen that evening after a fun filled, we were extremely tired, day.

To be continued...(we are up to 8 of our 10 day trip if you are trying to keep count)

Highs and Lows of the First Day of School

I have not forgotten about the rest of my vacation posts, but I thought it fitting to squeeze in a post about the first day of school (today for us).

The day began a little rough like all first days. I am very happy that I prepared school lunches the night before. I woke my middle schoolers, Kailah and Kairah, up 15 minutes after they ignored their alarms. They fought over the bathroom of course. I served them up a fourth of a Happy Shake. They were not impressed, but they still drank it. (I am happy to report that Kairah said she felt awesome today and I think it has something to do with the shake :D) They were ready on time. I snapped a photo and watched them leave for the bus.

Kaijah got up and was so not happy with the happy shake. It is always difficult to give her new things when she did not have the idea, but she eventually chugged it down. She tried to just throw something on and not do much with herself, but I convinced her to put a little more effort in. When she returned to me, she looked wonderful and handed me a necklace and earrings that she needed help with. Then her morning turned bad. The bus did not come to our house as it did last year. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with transportation trying to get information being transferred and hung up on. We usually take care of this at orientation, but transportation was not around after our orientation and had closed before I could call them. She was in tears. I felt so bad for her. I got Charlie out of bed and put her in the van in her PJs to take Kaijah to school and we found her bus on the way. I am sure the bus driver thought I was crazy because I watched it in my rear view and stopped when it did, waved it down and let Kaijah out. I did not want to be in the huge mess at school of parents that cannot let their kids go to school like normal on the first day.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Charlie watched TV after breakfast while I tidied up the house. I even got all the dishes done and counters wiped down in the kitchen. I did my FLY mission, not only to my room, but everyone else rooms also. We made cupcake pops, colored, and played with blocks. It was so nice and peaceful.

After my nap, while Charlie was still sleeping, I got myself ready for my first day of school. Charlie got up 30 minutes later ready to play. We got her dressed and spiffed up. Then the drama began. Kailah and Kairah arrived home.

Even snapped a pic of Lew this morning :D

I do not know what happens to Kailah during the school day, but she almost always comes home with a crappy attitude and tired. They get home an hour before she has to start homework. This week "homework" is paperwork and organization time. I asked her to wash her lunch dishes and get a snack. She refused snack as always and fought with her sister over the sink. She gave up quickly and hit the sheets. I woke her up 10 minutes before homework time and I got the ugly monster in return. Gotta love teenagers! I guess dad will be filling out paperwork with her tonight or she can get in trouble at school.

Here I am, ready for my first day of school

Kairah had a wonderful day it seems. She was very chatty about her classes and sat at the table with me while I filled out her paperwork. She has some classes with her friends which to her means the world.

Kaijah has only been home for about 15 minutes, but she seems to be in a good mood. She said everything went well once we got her on the bus. She has a friend from last year in her class.

Charlie is now a hot mess! Hanging all over me and whining. She is a completely different person when her sisters are around.

I hope everyone had/has more highs than lows on the first day of school.

Annual August Road Trip Part I

Kairah being silly at IHOP in Mississippi

Heeeeeyyyyy! Nice to be back in my house. I love being on vacation, but it is so nice to come home also. I always come home with new eyes, ideas, and ready to get things done.

 Our annual August road-trip was lots of fun. We headed to Texas again to visit my husband's mom. The first stop on the way was to Alexandria, LA. When we got into Alexandria we popped by the Kent Plantation which I had planned to tour, but we were 5 minutes late for the last tour. Apparently you cannot be on the property unless you are a part of a paid tour. The lady offered to give us a partial tour for full price of which I started to agree to, but thankfully the universe stepped in and killed the phone line to their credit card machine. We ended up just going back to our less than stellar Hotel and swam. For dinner we headed to Ryan's where a lovely couple gave us a coupon in the parking lot. It saved us from paying for one kids meals. Awesome! The people that worked at Ryan's were so sweet. We went to bed early because the hubby and I were already not feeling good most of the day.

The next day I was greeted by pee colored water coming from the sink and decided "lets get the eff outta here!" I convinced the owner to provide a partial refund for the trouble of not being able to shower and we hit the road. Day 2 was more miserable than day 1. Lew was suffering from food poisoning and 2. I was paying the price for a glutenful doughnut I ate a few days prior. We worked hard to stay pleasant with each other and the kids and made lots of stops.

First stop in Texas

I was so happy when we hit Texas, my second favorite state to visit or live in. It only took a few more hours to hit Killeen, home of Fort Hood, the largest Army Base. My father in-law is retired from the Army. Unfortunately he was out of town when we visited. He is a blast!

On Day 3 my baby turned 3 years old. OMG! I cannot believe how fast they grow up. This day began a new stage for her. The clingy to mommy stage. Ugh! Oh well. I spent the first 3 years of her life trying to hug on her and now I get it back 3 fold....lol. Lew, Kairah, Charlie and I hit the PX and Commissary to pick up a few things. When I got back to the house Kailah and I made Charlie's cupcakes. We used these cool silicon baking cups from Wilton. No cupcake pan needed and they are reusable. We opened presents and Charlie decided that she wanted to have dinner out. We went to Texas Roadhouse (love this place!). When the crew came by to sing to her, she hid behind her sisters. It was too cute. We all wore bows (except Charlie) at Charlie's request. She wore her Burger King crown from earlier.

 

After getting her ears pierced

Day 4 was full of shop-shop-shopping. We shopped 'til we dropped; oh yes we did! We wasted some time being swindled in the mall in a suit shop, but ended up walking out with nothing. "You cannot fool us Mr. Suit Man!" It was extremely entertaining people watching in the mall. Texans definitely have their own sense of style. Some good and some bad in my opinion. I would love to have Clinton Kelly next to me in that mall. We all got some cute stuff and Charlie left with newly pierced ears.  She was so upset with me which absolute hurt my feelings, but it was short lived. We took her to Lion's park to get her mind off it and blow off some steam.

Week 7 in Review

Telling me "noooo." She did not want her picture taken.

This week did not have a theme. I just ran out of ideas and we had lots to do without adding in crafts and such. I am sure most of us parents are getting ready for the up coming school year. I am busy putting together a schedule for my poor husband who will be running 4 girls around in the evening while I am at school. I am also trying to put together a 3 month menu that will allow me to prep mostly everything once a week and use my slow cooker a whole bunch.

We did our usual "not much" on Monday and clarinet practice and library on Tuesday. Appearantly we have been to the Uptown Station Starbucks so much that Charlie remembers to ask for it now.

We were playing at the playground while waiting for Kairah to finish her clarinet lessons, when Charlie came up to me and said "I thirsty." I said "do you want some water?" She said, "come on mommy." We followed her right to Starbucks where she asked for her usual milk box. 

After Starbucks, I let the kids play in the music store where Kairah was taking her lessons. Yes, I am one of those parents that lets my kids play with things in stores. To me, they put this stuff out they must want kids to play with it, especially when they leave a bucket o' sticks next to the drum set. Charlie had a blast! (It is hard to get picks of my older girls, so no nasty comments about Charlie being in most of the photos)

Kailah, Kaijah, Charlie and I went into a few stores while we were waiting. Charlie has been telling me how much she likes things in the store lately, so I decided to help her with a Christmas list. The older 3 have already given me their list, but Charlie is not able to write yet, although she does try. Last Christmas, she would ask for a piece of paper and pencil to write a letter to Santa. When she does this she mimics the characters in Charlie Brown by scribbling and then putting the pencil to her mouth as if she was in deep thought. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Any how, I started taking photos of things she told me she "loves" for a photo wish list. 

 

 Next, we headed to base to take care of some of the items for the girl's library program. They had little tasks for them to do to earn library money for prizes. Yep, I am one of those moms too. This was day two of trying to help them get as much money as they could. I helped them list the support facilities on base. That was the biggest money maker, $1 per facility for a total of $41. They washed my car for another $5. The list was long, but I am so grateful because I learned about things that were available to my family like family game night and family movie night.


Of course we had our picnic lunch at the park and two my children played in the sprinkler pad. Which brings me to this photo <----. This week I remember how much I love ruffle butts on toddlers and babies and I love pretty pink painted toddler toes. I got this cute swim suit on sale at Children's place. I love shopping out of season in Florida because you can wear your new out of season swim suit well into September.



Wednesday was the library program party. The girls bought tons of stuff with their money. Kairah bought Charlie a lot of books; what a sweet girl. They all had fun playing games outside. I have no idea why I have no pictures of the festivities. Lew came over for a little bit on his lunch hour with great news about his inspection at work. His office got 100% compliance. I am so proud of him. He was put in charge of organizing their binders and such.


On Thursday, I did not do much until I took Kailah to Pensacola for a doctor's appointment. On the way she started talking about getting her second holes done in her ears. I was in shock! Let me tell you the story of Kailah's first time getting her ears pierced.

I had the mis-fortune of marrying (two) men who believe that kids should express interest in have their ears pierced before you do it. Kailah asked when she was 3. My ex did not believe me (as he was in Korea when it happened) and got mad at me and said just do them all. Yes! I took Kailah (3), Kairah (2) and Kaijah (almost 1) to the mall that day. I was so excited. What mom does not want to pierce their daughter's ears. I had Kailah go first. She sat nice and tall in the seat. They popped her ears at the same time, she scream and jumped out of the seat and ran down the mall walkway. They almost did not get the gun un-hooked before she took off. She was mortified. The other two did just fine.

Kairah has had two holes for almost 4 years now. Kaijah got her second holes done a few years ago and let them close up. So, Kailah asking was very surprising. Lucky for me the mall is across the street from hospital. Ha! Kailah is known for blaming others for things not going her way and this was perfect timing so I did not have to hear her complain and I was curious to see how she would take it. I am so proud of her. She did really well and is very happy with her second set of holes. Now she wants her cartilage done and Charlie finally told her dad that she wants earrings. Oh yes! These are my children...lol.

I am seriously starting to appreciate all our base has to offer families. Lew has taken the girls to the Sound (beach inlet) on base to play in the water a few times and even rented equipment. We went to the Sound on Friday with the EFMP program and had a blast. We had free rentals and BBQ dinner. Although it was extremely windy, we all tried the Stand Up Paddle boards and Kayaks. (I am still sore and it is Sunday) Of course a storm came in about 30 minutes before it was over and we headed to the Landing Zone (Recreation Center) on base. Family movie night was moved from the Sound due to the storm.  It was a long night, but the girls all had fun sitting on the bean bags watching The Empire Strikes Back.

famished from all the shopping, Logan's! Yum!

Another thing I realized this week is I love spending time with just my older three girls. I am still torn with how I feel like I have two different families (Kailah, Kairah, and Kaijah & Lew and Charlie). Sometimes it makes me sad and sometimes I have a blast with each group separately. I took Kailah, Kairah, and Kaijah school clothes shopping. We found some great sales and even had lunch at Logan's. Kairah and I told each other a few times that we miss Charlie, but boy was it so much easier without her at times. 



 I did take Charlie to the zoo for a few hours when I got back. She had been asking to go on a 'fari for a few weeks; she would even bring me a hat to wear and a map. Charlie was so sad when I left in the morning. I told her I would take her somewhere when I got back. After her nap she asked where I was and told Lew that she wanted to "go right" and kept pointing down the road. We wore the hats, fed the animals, and rode the train. She loves that place. Our annual passes are one of my best investments of the year.

We are all looking forward to our vacation. I will most likely not be posting until we get back in a few weeks. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer. We only have a few more weeks :D

Week 6 - Here Birdie Birdie Birdie

We love to craft! This week we painted bird houses, made bird seed feeders, and put together a bag of items for birds to make their nests out of.

I think the painting of the bird houses was the biggest hit this week. I decided to make our craft mobile since we often have time to kill while waiting to go to different things "in town." We bought the supplies at JoAnn's (with coupons and student discount) and A.C. Moore (with coupons). It was a very affordable project. We found a table at the base park and the girls sat there and painted for over an hour. Charlie had to have her own set of paints because she likes to mix them. The other girls did really well sharing. Kailah and Charlie completed their houses that day, but Kairah and Kaijah still want to work on them. Once I get them hung up I will post some more pictures.
 
Another craft we made was bird feeders. I am thinking we kind of messed these up (that is why we do not have finished project pictures). Charlie, Kairah and Kaijah had fun making them. If I can make the project work out I will post more pictures.

On Friday, we used a mesh produce bag to put together some goodies for the birds to make their nests out of. We used dryer lint (thanks to all the rain I had to use my dryer most of the week), ribbon, yarn, and embroidery floss. From what I read the birds will collect these items and use them to build their nests and it is supposed to help you see the nests easier because the items are colorful. We shall see.

Outside time is so important and I am thankful we were able to squeeze some in this week.

A little rain did not stop Kairah and Charlie from playing on the playground at Hurlburt Field Community Park. I hung out in the tunnel for a bit to try to keep dry. It makes me so happy to see that even a 12 year old can still have fun at the playground.

Charlie played at Uptown Station while waiting on Kairah to get done with her Clarinet lessons. Charlie absolutely loves that playground. She was so proud of herself for climbing the rock wall all by herself. We are still working on getting her to go down the pole by herself. She is still a little bit scared. Although, Kaijah and Kailah did not play, they still got some fresh air while drawing outside.

Another hit at Uptown Station is the pet store. What kid does not like the pet store. Kaijah and Charlie had a great time looking at the birds and fish.

I was so excited that we were able to go to the Panhandle Butterfly House on Sunday. I love to sit on the bench and watch my children explore. Kairah ran around taking pictures of butterflies with her phone and Charlie loved looking a the flowers and "baby alligator" (a toy in the pond). Kaijah enjoyed talking to the ladies that work there. I think I might take Charlie here more once school starts back for my older girls.

One of the consequences of having 4 children with activities is sometimes overload. Charlie had an overload episode this week and all I could do to keep from going crazy was to document it. It kept my mind focused on taking the pictures. It really sucks when this happens, but there really is not much you can do about it. Even older children have melt downs; you just have to sit back and watch. When it is all over then you can hug them and try to make it better. Below is a happier Charlie riding the carousel at the mall on Saturday.

Does the outfit look familiar? It's the one I just finished last week. :D

Some other highlights of the week included a wonderful LtCol allowing us to sit with him at the BX (base Walmart) food court; made soap and cookies with Kailah; Kairah, Kaijah, Charlie and Lew went to see a movie on base; and made our Christmas wish lists (yes I made one too this time, it is so fun to wish for things).