Kisses

Day 184 of 365

As is the mother, so is her daughter.
Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Ezekiel 16:4

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mother-in-law Chris today too!! Hope you have a wonderful day! Stay tuned I have a special message that I hope to post tonight from your grandchildren!

Wordless Wednesday/Mother's Day Mania (OOps...guess this didn't post yesterday!)

Wordless Wednesday

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Today is the first day of Mother's Day Mania over at www.fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/ Head on over to see what it is all about!

Whoopsie Wendesday

In my nearly 4 years of parenting, I have had quite a few whoopsies. I vividly remember 3 days before Ben was to come home from his 3rd deployment seeing Kendall head toward our raised, stone fireplace. Now she was always a very careful child (unlike my second) so I wasn't super worried until I saw her trip then fall......she caught the corner of the fireplace on her temple. Oh she cried, I cried.....and it is captured on our homecoming pictures forever.

Also during this same deployment, she had her first ever fall off the bed. I was less than 5 feet away brushing my teeth when I saw her flipping off the bed onto the floor with a big old rug burn down her nose!

The wedding party

We had several wonderful friends to stand-up with us. I have so many fun memories from that day & all that they did for us.
I am quite sure that the civilan groomsmen probably wanted to strangle me but since Ben chose 2 friends that were wearing navy whites I had the guys in white tuxes to keep it consistent. I think that it turned out wonderfully with all the red, white, and then of course Ben's black jacket. Then again, I am a little bit biased on the topic!

Day 183 of 365

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.
Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Dorothy Canfield Fisher

To love your husband Tuesday

I don't know about you but I have found that my husband responds better to praise and affirmation. (I mean really who doesn't?) While criticism is part of life, isn't it an eaiser pill to swallow if you have been uplifted by your spouse a large majority of the day & know that you are respected?

What I am getting at is.....my prayer partner, Kelly, and I have been trying to hold each other accountable to do something each and every day for our husbands that is uplifting. For example, when my husband is here, I have been trying to come greet him with a hug and a kiss whenever possible. (Letting him know that he is the most important part of your day by dropping what you are doing to greet him.)What a better way to start your evening together on a good note? I have also been blessed with this technological age to be able to text & email him little positive notes too. It never hurts to throw a little more spicy ones in there too!

I know how appreciative I am when I get something in the same realm from my husband.
So hopefully it is keeping love a verb instead of a noun.

For more tips from some lovely ladies check out

For my kids....(Random Fun facts about your mommy)

Check out Alison at http://johnstonfamily519.blogspot.com/ for more.

Today is Random Fun facts about your mommy.

-I love Easter candy.

-I used to try to straighten my hair in highschool.

-I cheered in high school & am still proud of that fact.

-I also twirled baton from when I was young, through marching band, & even now will break out the batons and play around.

-I cannot stand spiders.

-I like to garden even though daddy thinks that I kill all the plants.

-I like to camp and go boating with your daddy but don't tell him!

-I can't stand dusting.

-I like being "vertically challenged."

-I am very sentimental.

-I love to learn new things.

- I love to try new things (mostly motivated by daddy.)

-Change is often scary for me even if it is needed.

-I try to take a picture of you guys each day. (Even if I don't publish all of them on here.)

-I can't stand having my nails polished.
-I am not very poltically savy and I am fine with that.

-I am concerned on a daily basis that something might happen to you so that is why I am so protective.

-I am so happy (& sad) every day to see you accomplish new things. It is great to see you grow & become independent but also sad because it seems like you are growing too fast.

The Bride

Can I just say that I LOVED my wedding dress?!? I picked it out first in a magazine then my best-friend (I was in California so my mom couldn't come along to go dress shopping. That was one of the only downfalls.) & I found a wedding dress shop in San Diego that had it. It was the first dress I tried on & Laura had to convince me to take it off and try other ones on. I liked the modern twist of having a punch of color in it while keeping it mostly traditional too.

True Story Tuesday

It's a Monday & it is mommy/daughter date day. We go to a favorite park where we like to play until we have to pick Isaac up. Kendall and I are discussing being the only ones in the park. I said, "How cool is this? We can play on all of the stuff whenever we want because we are the only ones here!"Kendall said, "Don't say that. It's bad luck."Me: "HUH?! What do you mean it's bad luck?" (We don't talk about bad luck because we don't really believe in it so I am not sure where the phrase has come from.)Kendall: "That's bad luck to say that. God wouldn't like it.""why wouldn't God like mommy saying that?""Because that's a bad sharer mommy!"Oh good reason!

Day 182 of 365

Franklin D. Roosevelt:
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

Monday Mugs (Then & Now)

Heather over at http://oswaldcuties.blogspot.com/ is having Monday Mugs today.
Today's theme is Then and Now.

Kendall and I....June 30, 2006 (Then)

Our first mother's day May 2007

Last night before bed (Now)
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Isaac (Then)
September 7, 2008
June 2009

Last night before bed (now)

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Then
Ben and I shortly before we were married in 2003.

Now (kind of!)

Vows

First off let me say that this is one of my favorite pictures from that day. I don't know why out of 24 rolls of film this one stands out but it has always just made me smile.

My father-in-law, Jim, officiated our renewal of vows. This was a big bonus because we got a lot of say in how we wanted our vows to be. I thought that I would share those with you today.

I, (Ben/Jamie,) having full confidence that our abiding faith in each other as Christians will last our lifetime, take you (Ben/Jamie,) to be my wedded husband/wife;

I promise to be your loving and faithful husband/wife;

to have and to hold,

to honor, treasure, and defend,

to be at your side through sorrow & joy,

sickness and in health,

in prosperity and in need,

to love and cherish you always.

Where you live, I will live.

Your people will be my people.

And your God my God.

I promise you this from my heart,

with all my soul,

for as long as we both shall live.

Day 181 of 365

Eleanor Roosevelt:
People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.

Days 50- 56 Project 365

Day 50 (Sunday)
We spent the day relaxing, playing, and cleaning.

Day 51 (Monday)

School for the kiddos.

A run for me (my first in 5 weeks!)

Of course have to include some pics of the kiddos!
Why she can't be this sweet all the time is beyond me!

Day 52 (Tuesday)

MOPS Earth day celebration

Meeting with Beth for the VBS crafts that I am responsible for....

Day #53 (Wednesday)

Field Trip to Southwest Farm for strawberry picking.

Sutton and Kendall- prepicking

Midway through the field

Sharing a ladybug

These little piglets were less than a week old. They were so cute and SO afraid of all the kiddos.

This is what Isaac looked like before......

.......and after. I can't even take 2 minutes to go to the bathroom and he is in trouble!

Day #54 (Thursday)
Ladies bible study
Fun with the kiddos
Meeting with Kelly

Of course it wasn't all fun!

Day #55 (Friday)
School for Kendall
Change of command ceremony for Ben's squadron
Friday night fellowship

Kendall's version of naptime and mine did not mesh very well today!

Isaac's nap was much more what I had in mind!

Day #56 (Saturday)

Fun at Relay for life
Missing Serena's birthday for my laryngitis :-(
Welcome party for the new commanding officer of Ben's squadron

Checking out the sights at Relay

Raising money for a cure

Why we do it.
So you can celebrate those that survive, those that are fighting, and those that lost their battle.

Jennifer and I.

The Groom

Ben waiting for me to get down the aisle....

Our renewal of vows anniversary is not until May 29th but to combat the grumpiness that I have been feeling while Ben has been gone on detachement I am doing a month long of celebrating!
I say renewal of vows (in case you are new to my blog or not a close friend or family member) because we eloped on December 31st, 2003 then had a large ceremony for all of our family and friends in May.
So until later this month when I get my handsome Hubs back.....

Getting to know you

The questions..

1. Are you superstitious? Nope.
2. If you were an animal..what kind would you be? Toss up between a tiger and a dog. Depends on the day! They both have very admirable qualities!
3. You would never catch me wearing.........? A nose ring....makes me shudder to think about having something in my nose 24/7.
4. If someone posts a VLOG..do you watch it? ????not really sure what a vlog is so I guess I am not watching it :-)
5. Have you ever waxed your girlie/manly parts..or any other part of your body? No girly parts but other parts of my body yes!
6. Are you a spender or a saver?A little bit of both. But early in our marriage Ben called me "the money nazi" so I might be a saver :-)
7. If you were starring in a movie..who would you want to play your leading man/woman? I am asuming this is supposed to be a movie star so I am going to go with Matthew Mc Conaughey.
8. Smoker..never smoked..social smoker..or smoked back in the day? Absoultely NOT. Never, never never. (Ok so I feel kind of strongly about smoking.)

Day 180 of 365

Anthony J. D'Angelo:
Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant.

Military Spouse Blog Hop

Hey everyone! Today I am joining in with the MilSpouse blog hop over at

Ok so my brief (and I am not known to be brief so bear with me!) bio....

My name is Jamie. I have been a Marine Corps wife for a little over 6 years. I love being a chrisitian, my family, and my friends. I am an Oncology RN by trade but I have decided to hang up that hat to be a SAHM. (At least for the time being) I have 2 small children. Kendall (almost 4) and Isaac (20 months.)I am from a small town near Pittsburgh PA. I love football and hockey. (Steelers, Penn State, and Penguins fan but I also root on the Dallas Cowboys and Texas A&M for my husband!)

I dabble in photography, scrapbooking, sewing, crafting, and a few other hobbies.

In my 6 years as a military wife, I have learned a lot about myself (and my strength) & have made more friends (more like family) than I could have ever imagined. I love being a USMC wife. Where else can you find more patriotic people & those dedicated to the service of others?

That's not to say that it doesn't have its sucky (AHEM) I mean more challenging moments. We are coming to the end of my husband's 5th detachment (varying in length from 4 to 9 weeks) right now. He has also served 3 back to back seven month long deployments to Iraq. (That means home 5.5 months and gone 7 months 3 straight years in a row.) I have friends who have been through many more so we are indeed lucky to have only done just these.

Take time to check out the blog hop and find some more lovely military spouses!

Our Wedding song

Since Hubs is not here with me but will hopefully be home in time for our renewal of vows anniversary, I decided to do something each day from our wedding just to keep my mood upbeat until he arrives home. Yeah I am your sappy, sentimental person! You can gag on your own time. Our anniversary song came on as I was looking for quotes so I figured it was a perfect way to start!

I Will be Here: Steven Curtis Chapmen

Tomorrow morning if you wake
up and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'Cause I will be here

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to cryin'
Through the winning, losing and trying
We'll be together
I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for these years
So I will be here

I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here
Oh, I will be here

Day 179 of 365

Anais Nin:
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.