We've been up to.....

No Good! Just kidding.
The past few days have been a big blur with activity. We really lucked out as Ben has been done with class at Cherry Point by 1 p.m. each day so he has been coming home instead of spending that time up there. Even though a few day seperation seems like a drop in the bucket after all of the deployments, we were glad to have him home instead of gone! Today is his last day of class so it will be back to the daily grind tomorrow!
Benny started to move the furniture from the spare room or soon to be Kendall's big girl room & taped a lot of it off last night. The hope is to get it finished today then start painting tonight. I guess Ben is going to have my dad help him with the crown molding this weekend. I am excited for Kendall to see the finished project.
Monday I was OCD about finishing the front porch plants. We did 11 pottings in total. I must admit I was exhausted but feeling very accomplished! I have no idea where this gardening kick has come from but I LOVE it. I can't wait to start the back porch planting and the backyard fence. I have several visions for what I want to do with both.
I worked yesterday. All I can say is WOW. I know that I have mentioned just about every week how many chemos we have now but it just amazes me every week. I decided to pick up another 1/2 day to help Janice (the full time RN) out. She normally has my help on Tuesday and another PRN nurse picks up one other day of the week but with 20 chemos a day on average plus nurse visits, billing, paperwork, and other things it is easy to get burned out. I am only going to do a day that Kendall is at PMO and of course that will be ending for the summer in May or June so we will see.....
Last night was a wives coffee for Ben's current squadron. It was a great time and yummy food! There were so many new wives there.....took me back to my first coffee and wondering what the heck I got myself into! It also made me feel pretty old :-) but I guess that is to be expected. I am doing the coffee next month so I am going to try to work on my menu. Any suggestions?
Kendall's rec play group is canceled for today so I guess we will be going to lap time then running some errands!
That about sums it up here.....hope that ya'll are having a blessed day.

Top of the morning to ya!

We hope that this morning finds everyone in a great mood and enjoying St. Patty's day. I need to find something green for Kendall and I so that we don't get pinched :-)
Poor Ben was up at 0430 as he had to leave way early to go to a class for the maintenance shop (a.k.a his ground job when he is not flying) In Cherry Point. It was his first day taking the short cut there so I will see how long it took him for future reference. It will be weird not having him here this week. At least he will be back for Friday and the weekend. My parents are coming into town to spoil their granddaughter and possibly to visit with us too :-)
Guess I better start on my household projects and get Kendall to PMO. Have a blessed day!

P.S. I almost forgot....CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Terry for making it into the top 50 on Nashville Star! We can't wait to see the premiere.

Before the wine & dine or professional night for HML/A 269.

Glorious weather

Here comes a close to another Saturday........

It is storming now but we had a nice day to be outside and work. Let's see, I guess we will start after lunch.

• Ben got to go for a bike ride and a short jog.
  
• We cleaned up the yard of some doggie and rabbit droppings and mowed the fescue grass that has popped up in a few places.
• We planted our pear and red maple tree in the backyard. (The pear one looks great and is already in bloom. The maple is small and not much to look at now but we are excited about it!)







• Ben got the lattice work fixed up under the deck. (now all we have to do is stain the deck and the back porch should be done as far as construction!)
  
• I almost completely put together a wrought iron/wood bench for our front porch but then had to grab Ben for some minor complications.

All in all, it was very productive for us outside. I am attaching pics on here of the new patio additions. Keep in mind it is a work in progress and none of the plants are out there yet! Hope ya'll are having a blessed weekend!

PICKIES????

Just put Kendall down for her nap but I wanted to write while lunch was fresh in my mind. We have been out and about enjoying the beautiful spring weather this morning. We took Kendall with us to purchase some trees and other plants. I am not sure that she understood my enthusiasm in all things green but she played along pretty well. We got home to unload and get her some lunch. She was cheerfully eating her pineapples when she spotted Ben with the pickles for his sandwich. I guess that she has picked up on the fact that they are "pickles" but just can't say the word so she yells "pickies" every time she wanted more. What an amazing transformation every day and from last year. She continually surprises me with the things that she understands.
We are going to work on the plants, planting the trees in the backyard, and the grass in the backyard. I hope that we get the grass really started sometime soon. It is so very hard to be patient with it but that is all we have to go on right now!
We had such a good time at the wine and dine last night. Not sure that the food was worth the price but the company was wonderful so an adults night out was great! I will put the pictures up later on in the weekend!

Insomnia 101

So here I am at the computer so I don't wake Benny up. I am curious if those of you with children had this problem when you were preggers and if there was anything that you did that helped it? Oh well.

Today I decided that I wanted to get organized and rearrange some things here at the house. I was a busy bee the entire time that Kendall was at PMO. Our housing development has 2 community wide garage sales each year so Ben and I are rounding up some things to get rid of in May. I went a little bit crazy with my closet since right now it seems like nothing is fitting!

Ben had 24 hour duty yesterday so he got off at noon today. It was fun to see Kendall run to the car to see him when we went to pick her up. We all took a very long and much needed nap this afternoon. Kendall slept for 3 hours and we slept for 2.

We have a "wine and dine" in Wilmington tomorrow night for Ben's squadron so I am looking forward to a little adult time with Ben. I think that we are going to try to work very hard on Kendall's new room this weekend since we have the paint and the crown molding for it.

Also, since a few of you have asked, I have been thinking about what I want to do about work after this new one gets here. If all goes well, I would like to hire one of the girls from the church nursery to watch Kendall and the baby one day a week. That still keeps my skills and licensure up plus will give me one day where I am not trying to juggle kiddos. Of course it is all subject to change. :-)

Guess I will sign off for now since I need to respond to a few emails as well. Thanks for listening to my late night rambling.

OH WHAT A HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is with great joy and thankfulness that I am writing to you tonight....God has blessed us and answered our many prayers! We found out about 2 hours ago that Ben didn't have to do a job that he really didn't want, we don't have to move, and that Ben got his slot at 467. (The new squadron that is starting in Cherry Point, NC.) We are absolutely thrilled not to have to sell the house so soon and that Ben will still be doing something that he loves. THANK-YOU one and all that have been on this crazy ride with us and that have been praying for us as well. We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives that support us no matter what!

13 weeks, 2 days and going strong

Hey all!
I had my first OB visit today. It is with much joy and happiness that I can report so far baby is looking great. I know that alot of you knew my worry that my fall hurt the baby so thanks so much for praying along with us! The heartbeat was in the 170's, my exam went as well as can be expected, and there is indeed only ONE baby. I am to see a cardiologist soon to run baseline tests based on the problems I had with my last pregnancy. All is well in the Beach household!
Crazy day at work today for me......LOTS of chemo patients so I am pretty bushed. Looks like grilled cheese is our dinner for the evening :-)
We are STILL waiting for word from the monitor on what Ben will be doing as far as orders this summer. There is a situation that could potentially be of benefit for us but nothing concrete yet. We are still asking for prayers to lead us in the direction we are meant to go. (Even if GASP that means moving again.)

CONGRATULATIONS to Lynn and Donnie!! It's about time :-) Many blessings and happiness to come.

Our Valentine's/St. Patty's day project

The drying almost finished stone

Helpful Daddy
How do you tell a 20 month old not to grab a handful of cement?

You know the weekend thing......

• A rainy, windy Friday that Kendall and I spent at home playing with toys!
• Benny getting home early on a Friday afternoon.
• "Ma, MEATLOAF!!" dinner on Friday night.
• Ben making one of his yummy breakfasts on Saturday morning. Pancakes and bacon sure hit the spot.
• Getting some projects out of the way at the house. Caulking sinks and tubs isn't much fun but needed to be done!
• Saturday afternoon naps for the girls and a 8 mile run for Ben. (yeah I said 8 miles!!)
• Visiting with some friends over the phone that we haven't talked to in awhile.
• PIZZA BURGERS..........
• An awesome service at church from the youth pastor. (We are still praying for a new pastor at church.)
• Finally completing our "Valentine" craft project on Sunday afternoon. It was turning into a St. Patty's day project so we finally got it under motion. We got our stepping stone finished so I will post pics on that later on.

Ummmm.....runaway naked cowgirl?

The things you see when coming up to see your husband getting your daughter ready for a bath!

Great Company and Yummy Food

Last night, we took a break from my cooking to meet a few friends at Mi Cabana. (a local Mexican resturant) We were mainly getting together to wish a friend of ours good luck as he is set to leave soon for another deployment. It seems that is what we do around here....say hello and goodbye! Anyway, I guess I didn't realize how much I have been craving mexiacn food as I chowed down & so did Ben! Thanks for the great company Len, Linda, Natalie, & Aaron!! (Of course Kennedy too even though she behaved much better than Kendall!! LOL)

God Bless & Good Luck to Cody, Len, and Ryan. We'll wait for your safe return and a "hello" dinner!

Early wake-up call

Now I have to admit recently I can sleep like nobody's business, even when Ben is up at 0500 to get ready for work....I barely hear him. The past few days Kendall has been up to no good and getting up at 0530. As much as I try to ignore her pleadings, "momma, daddy, ba-ba, pleeeeeezzzeeeee"she tends to get louder as she waits in her toddler bed. (See I told you guys she is doing fabulous in it!) So I get up this morning and grumpily take her down stairs so that she can see her daddy & to take the stubborn dogs out. (They stay with me in the bedroom even though Ben is downstairs and could let them out or play with them!) Not that I don't like seeing my hubby in the mornings its just well....I need SLEEP!!!
Ben surprised me this morning and made scrambled eggs and homemade fried potatoes. YUM! Just what I needed to kick my butt into a better mood this morning. I was able to get Kendall and I out the door on time for PMO & made it to Walmart early enough to get front row parking for my grocery shopping!
As our spring-like weather continues, I am set & ready to enjoy the day! Esp. after Kendall's nap when we will be going out to our new "sanctuary" a.k.a. the back porch to lounge on the swing under the gazebo!

Hi Ho...off from work

Today I actually stayed the entire time that I was scheduled to work. Shocking I know! It is amazing how much chemo's have picked up. I am at the point that I am trying very hard to get my CEU's completed for my upcoming licensure renewl in August. It is hard to get in study mode and makes me feel like everything I know is falling by the wayside with all of the new drugs and regimens! I guess that is for the best and what continuing ed is for :-)

I wanted to include our little bugs pic on today in her homemade outfit from Gma Beach. She makes coming home so worth it!!

Zoo slide show

Another weekend bites the dust....

So we have been having a pretty good weekend minus one snafu.......

• Friday night we finished off our day by renting "In the valley of Elah." Ben wasn't overly fond of it but I thought that it was pretty good in the sense that it was very sobering and interesting to me. Not Tommy Lee Jones' best performance but hey......
• Saturday we had big plans of getting things done at the house until midmorning I had an episode on the stairs. I just turned around at the top of our stairs and the next thing I knew I had fallen flat on my back and head & was halfway down the stairs. I had some abdominal cramps so I ended up watching Ben & Kendall from the couch. I am 6,000 times more sore today. My left shoulder and hip are hurting horribly along with my neck, back, and tailbone. What a way to celebrate getting into the 2nd trimester of the pregnancy!
• We also went to my friend Jennifer's on Saturday. She bought a new patio set & had an old set that was in great condition so she gave it to us. The porch is looking so good minus not having plants yet. I am excited for warmer weather so that we can get out and use it!
• Today we of course went to church. It is pretty interesting having a different speaker each week. Today's pastor was a little old and dry but that is ok. We got to sit with Natalie and Aaron so it was good to get caught up with them.
• Last but not least.....we just made some home made pizzas for early supper. YUM! We each made our own pizza (thank goodness!) so it was good to have it how I liked it. Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, broccoli, pepperoni, and lots of extra cheese! Ben got to have his crazy olives, mushrooms and whatever else went on there!

Congratulations Ray and Jennifer! We can't wait to see the new married couple.

Happy Birthday Geronimo!!

This is the month of our dear, sweet Momo's birth. I can't remember the exact day right now and I am feeling too lazy to go up and find his papers. It's hard to believe that he is going to be 4 this month! Time flies I guess. I still VIVIDLY remember house-breaking and working on commands. He has healed very well from his surgery last summer and is good as new as far as playing & running. Now if we could get his ears fixed!!

Happy Birthday Mo!

Lynnwood Park Zoo

Benny took the day off of work for his "birthday day." The guys get the opportunity to take a day off in honor of their bday if they want to so we decided to do something fun. There is a little zoo here in good ol' Jacksonville that we have never visited so we took a few hours to explore there today. Now it is not the typical city zoo but the owner was super friendly and there was some cool animals to look at and feed. It was a little run down but all of the animals looked well taken care of and the owner pulled us aside at one point to let Kendall pet 2 birds, a prairie dog, and a turtle. All in all, we had a great time there. I must say that I think that all of our favorite animal today was the pygmy goats. They were pretty funny with their crazy playing and head butting. Afterwards, we got to go to Smithfield's. Now I love Texas BBQ but I also have a very special place in my stomach & heart for NC BBQ. Smithfield's has the best BBQ sandwiches and I was really craving them today! Well stay tuned later on this weekend for some pictures of our adventures today!

Sneak Peek......

...of the new decor for Kendall's new big girl room. I am sure it comes as no surprise since we call her "bug" all the time & that she was a lady "bug" for Halloween that this is what her new room will entail.

Thoughts about brand vs. generic products

So here I am finally sitting down after a massive grocery trip to the local Walmart.....those of you that have visited me know how very much I like to be there around payday but we were running super short on everything.

Anyway to get to my point, I started thinking about grocery shopping with my parents when I was younger and in my teenage years. I HATED getting generic vs. brand name products. It embarrassed me to have any of my friends see those products and no matter what my parents did to try to convince me.....it just didn't taste the same! I now find myself cutting coupons and studying the shelves to see what the best bargain is the same way that my dad did. Kind of crazy to think that we come full circle and turn into our parents right? I figured out in all of my rambling time through Walmart today that I probably ended up saving between $50-$100 just by getting the "generic" products. I guess it takes having your own family to understand why saving .05-$1.00 on each product is really worth it!

In my reminiscing trip, I also began to think about the many different products that I was buying that never in a million years did I think would be in my cart. For example, mushrooms, refried beans, olives, and some other funny things for Ben. My how times change a person and their perspective on how the way the world works!!