R&R

Hello all! I'm back after a fabulous R&R with my husband, a wonderful Birthday for my monkey girl, and a wonderful Christmas with my parents. Fabulous Dah-ling, FABulous! I'd like to take a moment and share my 'picking up daddy" story. It's -most- definatly worth the read.

The day before was hectic, like normal, cleaning, prepping, gettin myself all purdied up, so that evening while we were out we grabbed some Taco Bell for dinner. Evening went as planned. I ended up going to bed a bit early as I didn't feel good. I woke up around midnight with the worst stomach ache EVER. no temp, no throwing up, just a horrid stomach ache *darn Taco Bell* Later on during O dark thirty as I was laying there awake clutching my stomach BD calls from Ireland *YAY* Told him I wasnt feeling so hot but I'd be there the next day. Then he drops this bombshell.."oh ya, btw, I dont have a connecting flight to Killeen, Dallas is my last stop" to which my blood ran cold. Yes I had planned to pick him up at Dallas anyways but if I was still feeling as I was there was no way I could make a 3 hr drive and he'd just have to connect into Killeen...soooo I chuckled and said "I'll.........be there" CRAP!!! Morning came, still hadn't slept, still felt like crap. But I knew his flight wasnt to be in until noon *and had been scheduled as noon for the past 24 hours* so I had some time. I'm busy gettin everyone ready and its around 730am and I get a "mommy feeling" and decide to call the hotline for the flight info just one more time...imagine my surprise when the lil man says "arriving at 1030am" I almost choked on my tongue. I start hollerin at the girls to get to the car, hurry hurry, poor babies didn't know why as they just knew we were 'going on a drive' *hence where my organization comes in handy, I was nearly ready to go, thank God* So we make it to the car and i realize "CRAP!" I didn't get gas the night before bc "I had tiiimmmeee" ARGH *smacking forehead* sooo I get gas thinking "im gonna be late..gonna be late" and see, its not just the 'picking up the husband' bc if I -was- late, he'd just sit there and wait on me, no biggie, it was the whole DFW R&R "EXPERIENCE" that I didnt wanna miss out on. We FINALLY make it out of town and we get to Belton *about 10mins away* and............Allana throws up.....all over her nice outfit, all over the carseat, all over herself. I wanted to just hide. I got that whole mess cleaned up and off we were again. Might I add in here that I still felt like death.
So -somehow- we make it to DFW by 1025..(ok, I sped a bit..shhhh) and we get there and I breathe a sigh of relief. Filled my kids in on why we were there, they were excited, I was excited, we MADE it! I LOVE DFW R&R. The volunteers and USO workers are SO helpful and so nice. I got told 4-5 times "Thank you so much for YOUR sacrifice, thank you for what YOU do" which just brings tears to my eyes. Soo we all crowd around the Arrivals area and wait...and wait..until 11:30.....lol..and soldiers come out and at this point I expected my children to act all happy and excited and anxiously awaiting their father,acting like good lil Army Brats...I was wrong...dead....WRONG. As each soldier comes out theres clapping and whistling and music and JROTC and signs and hugs and tears and its AWESOME and with each soldier that came out my lovely 3 year old would scream "YOU AREN'T MY DADDYY!!!!" crying, wallering on the floor.I wanted..to...FAINT. 1. I was embarassed, 2. I still felt like death. Those who have been around kids know that when 1 goes psycho the other does also. So I had 2 screaming kids and I had to stand there and look like the "Ever in control" Army wife *HA!!* I told the people standing next to me 3 or 4 times "Im sorry, she's just overwhelmed right now" Luckily they understood. Of course my charming husband was the LAST FREAKIN PERSON off the plane. So I endured a whole plane load of soldiers in horrid painful heels, feeling like death, nervous as heck and 2 screaming kids. Im sure every mom has had the moment where they wanted to abandon their kids and say "those arent MY crazy kids" *RAISES HAND!!*
But when he finally came out it was AMAZING. The kids went right to him and were stuck to his side from then on. I couldn't have asked for a better R&R..The time seemed to go slow which was wonderful.

We made it, we did it, we had an AWESOME R&R..Freakin Murphy had his hold on me until the second I gave my husband a hug but we did it!! We are ALMOST into "teen' weeks also! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll blog some pics of our R&R soon!

Happy New Year!!

Nice tidbits of info

I'd like to share a few tidbits of information I've learned lately, things that may enrich your life and make your life more enjoyable....

1. Shortening *of the baking kind* can be used as an amazing buffer for your fake nails. It shines them up quite nicely...along with moisturizing the hands.

2. The bike/cycling machine mabobber at the gym causes what can feel like a massive booty cramp. I did not expect this bc one would think "bike: leg workout" oh no my love...I walked out of the cardio Cinema with a massive booty cramp. Which is akward when you have to walk through said gym.

3. Dog toy making companies need to make stronger dog toys...Harley chewed through a new tennis ball rag toy within the first 5 minutes...I'd hate to make him mad............

4. When you say "I don't want anything for Christmas this year" "Santa" will break your dishwasher and fry your computer, causing you to have to buy a new dishwasher and computer during Christmas time. From here on out I am asking for stuff.....lots of stuff. No good deed goes unpunished

5. This time of the year I am reminded of how many people love my children, sending them Christmas gifts, cards, letters. I'm reminded of how much we are loved. It touches my heart as a mother to know my children are so loved by so many people. For my family that is far away this year may you feel the warmth and love of Christmas and be reminded just how much you are loved.
I'm reminded just how much I love my babies. It's amazing to watch the magic of Christmas through their eyes. I now understand why my parents were up far before we were on Christmas, waking US up. Because its such an amazing thing to watch your children get so excited about Christmas and the gifts and the whole spirit of the day.
I can honestly say I am SO excited for this Christmas. I get to spend it with my husband, which is a rare honor, I get to spend it with my parents, whom I haven't shared a Christmas with in years, and I get to watch my children's eyes light up as they open their gifts...I get to watch EVERYONES eyes light up as they open their gifts, I get to watch everyone savor the food I've prepared and I wouldn't have it any other way.
My Christmas "gift" this year is having my family together. whole. safe. My 2 beautiful babies and my husband.

I pray for those who are serving our Country during this Holiday season. May you feel the love and warmth of your families and the joy of the Season.


Merry Christmas!!!!!!! ho ho ho

Extreme Home Makeover is in the HOOD!

The other day I had quite the excitement. I was heading home and I was pulled over by tons of Police zooming around and what did my lil eyes see in my rearview mirror...a huge bus..my first thought was "omg, is it Kenny Chesney?" *Don't ask..I dont know what that popped into my head* lol but lo and behold it was the Extreme Home Makeover:Home Edition Bus!!
I was kinda hopin they were going to come to my house but they ended up going to the home of someone far greater, SSG Patrick Zeigler, who was paralyzed in the Nov 5th Shooting here at Ft. Hood.
Unfortunatly I wasn't able to go help with R&R being so close and having my 2 kids but a fellow Army wife and friend, Laura, was able to go help. Check out www.lauracashion.com to see her blog with pics and the story of her Extreme Home Makeover experience.

MY favorite things

I was thinking the other day "Oprah can have Favorite things, why can't I?" I'm as cool, or cooler,than Oprah so I should have "Favorite things" So here we go Ladies and Gents *I hope there are some 'Gents' out there reading* My First Annual Favorite Things List. Disclaimer: Unlike Oprah I am not rich, so I will not be giving one to all of my readers, I will though, work on seeing if someone will sponser me for next year, so stay tuned :-) hehe

1. My Swarovski Crystal Snowflake necklace. I wear it nearly EVERY day starting in November. It was a gift a few years back and I LOVE it! It Looks similar to this, only a necklace.
http://www.swarovski.com/Web_US/en/1065956/product/Magnet_Tack_Pin.html

2. My Itouch. I cannot live without this and if it is lost, it is a sad, scary day in this household. I lovingly refer to it as "My brain" my calendar is on there, all my appts, my to do, music, email, facebook, world clock so I always know what time it is in sandland, games for the kids to keep them busy should a situation arise. It goes EVERYWHERE with me. If you don't have one........go get one. Even my bank has an app so I can always check my bank acct. love!

3. My Dyson vacuume. Thank you Mr. Dyson. I first got my Dyson when I was pregnant and nesting with Lillia. For some reason my husband had a mental lapse *or else didn't wanna fight with a Nesting Pregnant woman whom he had just seen cloroxing the underside of the kitchen table* and agreed to buy me the $500 vacuume. It was and still is worth the money! I've vacuumed any sort of mess you can imagine and it still works perfect, Ive even vacuumed the outdoor carpet we had on our porch.

4. Heres one for all my foodies out there. Oscar Meyer Carving Board Lunch meats. Oh..How..Yummy! They have ham and roast beef and o..em..gee, they make the BEST sandwich EVER!

5. Mint Milano Cookies..Yes.. sir. I will do just about anything for some Mint Milano's. For thsoe that want to win my heart..Mint Milano's is the way to go. My husband's friend, Frank, first introduced me to them when he brought me some as a gift after I had Lillia. It was probably one of the BEST baby gifts I got..no, I am NOT kidding. I guarded those with my life. LOVE!

6. Kohls..yup..you knew this would be here huh? I LOVE Kohls. I go in there during a sale and my Kohls card and it's more of a game what type of deals I can score. My all time record is spending $180.00 but I saved $250.00! yup! I recently scored an 80.00 purse for $4.00. How can you -not- love that?

7. Ju Ju Be Mini Be backpack. I recently scored one on sale and I love it! It's super sturdy, works great for a diaper bag now that my kids are older, plus Lillia LOVES carrying it, which means I don't have to. Honestly, I was very shocked at how sturdy it was for being so small. I anticipate purchasing another for Allana next time I can find them on sale! I can also carry it and it doesn't look goofy. It has an insulated pouch which works great for small snacks like string cheese, ect. It also has 2 cup 'holders' which is fabulous as I have 2 kids! Most bags that small don't.

http://www.amazon.com/Ju-Be-Diaper-Sienna-Swirl/dp/B0026PTDQY

8. Gap jeans. I am a short, thin, but with big hips type girl and it was sooo hard to find jeans that looked good and fit me. I just recently bought a pair of Curvy Gap jeans and I am in LOVE! They fit me wonderfully everywhere. They were sooo worth the 50.00! They are lightweight yet the give where you need them to give and fit snugly where you want them to. If my house were on fire, they would be one of the things I would grab before leaving.



So, those are my favorite things. If I had to leave my house in a hurry I would probably grab all the above *Of course my kids too!* and then leave. I just love them that much!