What would your children say? Wednesday

It's that time again to embarrass your children! To follow go on over to Marianne's blog at http://familyamericanstyle.blogspot.com/

Kendall always comes up with some doozies but even I was amazed at this one. We were doing her nighttime routine. It had been a fairly normal night until she practically screamed "Wait mom, hold your prayers." (We were doing our evening prayers at this point.) So I said, "Bug what is wrong?" Kendall looked at me like I had 3 heads and said, "I have to scratch my bum."

Well I am glad that we at least stopped prayers because we can't have butt scratching going on while prayers are being said!

3 Things that Parents should teach their children-Blog Hop

Wow narrowing down to 3 things that are important to teach your children is hard. I have been thinking about this on and off since Brent posted the Blog hop.

"As a mother, I must faithfully, patiently, lovingly, and happily do my part - then quietly wait for God to do His." Ruth Bell Graham

1. TO LOVE: Period. Love freely and without abandon. God, family, friends, themselves, and yes even their enemies. In placing your love in someone else, they learn to let go and trust that God will let the other person open up and receive them as well.
2. TO LIVE: I want my children to charge into life full throttle and not take a second for granted. With living comes mistakes which will ultimately lead to maturity & respect.
3. TO GIVE: God gives us so many gifts and the only way to share them is to use them on others. I hope they give until they have nothing left so that those they touch can see what a beautiful being the Lord has made.

Here is where you get to speak up about your parenting values!


Special thanks to Purell Hand Sanitizer for sponsoring this blog hop.

Kendall's Quote of the day

While drawing on her chalkboard with her little brother, Kendall turned to me and said, "I'm teaching Isaac how to write in Chinese!" Well....seeing that your English needs some work....ha,ha. She makes me laugh just about every minute of the day!

More crafts, more pictures, more me

Kendall on our mommy/daughter date today. (I have been trying to spend our hour alone together on Monday and Wednesdays by doing some fun stuff.) She was a little under the weather today so she wasn't as wild as usual!

Kendall made a cookie in music class today. Yep music class!

"I can't believe my eyes...last night it wasn't like this!"

I made my first fleece blanket in 2005 while Ben was deployed to Iraq. My friend, Erin, taught myself & Michelle how to do these. I bought material right after we found out Isaac was a boy (so about 18 months ago.) I finally finished Kendall's and now have 2 more to make for Isaac. Here is the finished product for our Bug.

The diaper cake that I made for my friend, Natalie's, baby shower this past weekend. I have no picture of Natalie and I because (audible GASP) I forgot my camera was in my purse!

So here is a picture from back at Easter when Nat was still pregnant with McKinley!

Pictures for the Grandparents

I thought that the grandparents might be going into withdrawl so here are some pics to prevent that.....

Kendall says, "We are....PENN STATE!"

Play time after bathtime!

Friend Makin' Monday

List a few things that you cannot live without....

• God
• My wonderful hubby
• My beautiful kiddos
• My supportive family & friends
• My 4 Leggers
• Camera
• Computer/Internet
• Chapstick
• Juice

Check it out at http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/

A cool video about A&M

I just thought that I would share this after their awesome victory yesterday and well just because I am missing my Benny and I know that he will get a kick out of it when he returns!

New Blog Award!

This award comes with some rules and a survey that has to be filled out.
Rules
1. You Can Only Use One Word!
2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. Have Fun!

Thanks to Crystal at http://myfamily-crystal.blogspot.com/ for this award!

The Fun Part
1. Where is your cell phone? Charger
2. Your hair? Enhanced
3. Your mother? Gving
4. Your father? Funny
5. Your favorite food? chocolate
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your favorite drink? sweet tea
8. Your dream/goal? Ashville
9. What room are you in? Bonus
10. Your hobby? photography
11. Your fear? Death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren’t? rude
15. Muffins? Chocolate
16. Wish list item? dining-set
17. Where did you grow up? Pennsylvania
18. Last thing you did? shower
19. What are you wearing? P.J's
20. Your TV? LG
21. Your pets? Loyal
22. Friends? Wonderful
23. Your life? Perfect
24. Your mood? Happy
25. Missing someone? Benny
26. Vehicle? Suburban
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Your best friend? Laura
33. One place that I go to over and over? Groceries
34. One person who emails me regularly? Family
35. Favorite place to eat? ChickFilA

I have to pass this award onto 6 of my favorite bloggers:
1. Kim over at http://pairslices.blogspot.com/
2. Tim over at http://fortthompson.blogspot.com/
3. Kari at http://karinewsom.blogspot.com/
4. Sandy at http://mom2howells.blogspot.com/
5. Alison at http://johnstonfamily519.blogspot.com/
6. Rachel at http://troyandthemrs.blogspot.com/

Six Word Saturday and words to ponder

1. Full
2.Blessed

3.Unique

4.Loving

5.Thankful

6. Amazing

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The highest aim in life-To know God and do His will.

The most enriching good habit-Complimenting others.

The most destructive bad habit-worry

The greatest joy-giving

The greatest loss- loss of self respect

The most satisfying work-helping others

The ugliest personality trait- selfishness

The most endangered species-dedicated leaders

Our greatest natural resource- our youth

The ugliest look-a frown

The greatest"shot in the arm"-encouragement

The greatest problem to overcome-fear

The most effective sleeping pill-peace of mind

The most crippling failure disease-excuses

The surest way to limit God-unbelief

The most powerful forces in life-love

The most dangerous -a gossiper

The greatest life giver- The Creator

The most incredible computer-the brain

The worst thing to be without-hope

The deadliest weapon-The tongue

The two most power-filled words- "I Can"

The greatest asset-faith

The most worthless emotion- self-pity

The most beautiful attire-a smile!

The most prized possession-self esteem

The most powerful channel of communication-Prayer

The most contagious spirit-enthusiasm

The most urgent need-Salvation

The greatest attribute of Jesus-Obedience

The Greatest- God

*************************************************

Borrowed from Sandy at http://mom2howells.blogspot.com/

Fall crafts for me

Centerpiece for our breakfast nook table

View #2 of it. This is my favorite of the day
front door wreath

Centerpiece for our dining room table. I am not super happy with the bow I made but I need to practice or get lessons!

I LOVE decorating for fall. Of all the seasons, this is my favorite for decorating. I always see all of these creations that are horribly overpriced. I decided that I could do it myself and I did :-) I have so many vases from Benny sending me flowers that I also wanted to do something to recycle them! It was very relaxing for me (minus not having a pair of wire snippers big enough for some of the flowers.) For just under $50, I created these 3 and I have enough for 2 more small pieces. I would like to create a centerpiece for our raffle at ladies bible study but I need to get some more hefty duty wire sheers first! Hope you enjoy :-) (And if you know anyone who wants to purchase one.....I am thinking about making it a side business to go with the diaper cakes!)

Friday Flashback

This was at my friend from college, Kristie's, bachlorette party. It was taken in July 2003. (I know that is not so very long ago but it was important to me.) Not only did I have a GREAT time, this was the month that I really started talking to Benny. (We didn't start dating until August 2003 but I remember having some fun conversations with him this month.) Little did I know that less than a year later, we would be at my Bachlorette party!

If you want to participate in Friday Flashback, visit http://minyards7.blogspot.com/

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!

1. One week ago I was also preparing to get Isaac's portraits taken in the afternoon. (I wonder if this is going to be my Friday afternoon/evening until he turns 2?)

2. I loved gymnastics when I was young.

3. Mama told me there would be days like this. (I just didn't expect that I would be having them alone so much!)

4. Best friends we will always be, you and me.

5. Take your time and do it right the first time.

6. This to will pass! (Even though I don't really like this saying!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Isaac's portraits & small group, tomorrow my plans include Natalie's baby shower & something fun with the kids and Sunday, I want to clean my house after church and SS!

feast or famine....

I guess when I have time I go a little crazy with posts! Maybe the only ones that find these ones interesting are the grandparents & other family members...sorry if that is the case :-) I figured I would show you what we have been up to this week!

Isaac is in a much better mood so hopefully that will make for better portraits tomorrow evening. Yep we are going for take #3 (or #4 if you count the time that Sears didn't show up for his pictures) of his 1 year pictures.

Kendall made a cool pair of binoculars at church today while I was at ladies bible study. She is super excited to use them when Daddy gets home and they have their backyard camping date!
Ladies bible study is going great! We are into our third week of Beth Moore's "The Inheirtance." I am not 100% certain that I am doing great at facilitating but I am trying to sit back and let God work for me. Pretty hard for a control freak like me!

Our 4-leggers have been pretty moopy with daddy gone. I was experimenting with some settings on the camera so that is where these pics came from.

Jordan

Geronimo

Kendall has been doing all right at school this week. She was extra stubborn AHEM I mean strong-willed on Wednesday. I am so happy that her teacher seems to be working well and not taking any gruff off of her. Isaac seems to be doing well in PMO. He has stopped crying when I drop him off. I think that he is finally used to the idea that I am coming back to get him.

I had my last PT appointment on Wednesday. I have to go back in a month to make sure that I am still progressing the way that they want me to but....good news in my opinion!

I broke a bracket off my tooth this week so that was a pain but braces are going well. I now have purple bands per Kendall's request.

Ben is doing well. He is coming up on being gone 3 weeks on Saturday. We will have 2-3 weeks until we see him again :-) I am not happy about that if you couldn't tell! He remains busy but feels that this training will be beneficial in the long run!

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.-Albert Schweitzer

1 of 52

Before ladies bible study today....

Self-portrait during the steelers game this past Sunday
Picture taken by my little photographer Kendall
I figured that the 4-leggers count as kiddos too. Kendall took this today!

***************************************

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!**************************************
Stop by http://www.wyomingbarnetts.blogspot.com/ to see the original start to this!

The simple woman's daybook

Out side my window... the sun is shining and I think that we will have to take a walk when the kids wake up from their nap!

The time is... 2:29 pm

Today I feel...blessed to be with such wonderful ladies at bible study!

The weather here...in the 80's with no rain!

I am thinking...about the families of Nicki and Sarah.(2 women that we were asked to pray for. Both have newborns. Nicki passed away last night at 1135 and they were talking about harvesting Sarah's organs soon as well.)

At the moment,I am thankful...that I am here with my children. There is nothing like someone's tragedy to make you take stock of how blessed your life is!

I am wearing... grey/black capris with a white top

I wish...you all safety and peace today!

I am reading... The same ones that I talked about before & Kendall is on a little mermaid kick so Iread that at least twice a day!

I am working on...Kendall's journal, the kids baby books, mowing the lawn, laundry, cleaning, and a few other things.

I am hoping...to go to Natalie's shower this weekend.

I am hearing... ahhh silence!

One of my favorite ...??????

Quote of the day

Watch your thoughts they become your words.
Watch your words they become your actions.
Watch your actions they become your habits.
Watch your habits they become your character.
Watch your character it becomes your destiny.

I found this quote of the day on Cheryl's blog. I thought that it was pretty good so I am sharing! THanks for stopping by Cheryl :-)

Before I forget!

Happy Anniversary to Mamoo and Dadoo! I wish that I could haven gone to "Benjamin's" with you....yum that's making me hungry! Glad you had a great night together!

Friend Makin' Monday

If you are interested in participating, just copy the the 20 Questions, replace my answers with your own, and then link back to Amber's original post, over at her blog.

1. Do you cook every night? When Ben is home I cook 5 to 6 nights a week it depends on how many leftovers we have and what the schedule is like.

2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use & why? Gain. I have super sensitive skin & it works great and smells good!

3. Do you do laundry every day or loads at a time? LOADS and LOADS, and LOADS at a time.

4. How often do you eat out per week? It's hit and miss with us. I would say that we eat out between 4-6 times a month.
5. Where do you usually eat out? Since we don't have very many non-chain resturants, we mostly eat at them.

6. What is your favorite retail store? I really have no idea!
7. What's your favorite thing to drink? Sweet tea.(I drink A LOT of juice as well!)

8. Do you take vitamins? I do. I take a multi-vitamin, a B-complex, and sometimes a C.

9. What percentage of the household chores do you do? Ha! RIght now 100% with Ben being gone. I would say 80% while he is home. (He has an hour plus commute to and from work so I try to pick up the slack.)

10. Do your children do chores? {Or will they, did they, etc} Yes. Of course right now they are 3 and 1....Kendall does age appropriate chores and loved to help clean!

11. Do you go to church? Yes! I love my church and I love my church family. It's like going home...I love it there! I wish everyone had a church they loved and a church family like mine. It really is a blessing.(I couldn't have said it any better!)

12. Do you have a housework schedule? no not really,but I pretty much do the same things every day.
13. Do you keep a working budget? yes....we just have to really try to stick to it!

14. What do you do at night as a family? We wait for Ben to get home on week nights. (Most times between 7 and 8.) Ben plays with the kids to try to spend some quality time with them. We mostly just hang out, watch tv, dance, the normal stuff!

15. How do you prepare yourself for a new week?I try to take a few moments on Sunday night to run through what I have coming up the next week. I prepare the kids snacks for their school bags, try to lay out outfits, make sure the house is straightened out....

16. What do your mornings look like? Ben wakes up at 5:15. (Sometimes I will go down and hang out with him before he leaves) I am up normally by 6:30. The kids get up between 6:15 and 7. Everyone is dressed then fed. Most days we are out the door by 8:15 to various activites.

19. How do you manage all of the paperwork that floods into your household? We recycle what we can but I am a Nazi about ripping up or shredding paperwork with any of our information on it.

20. How do you keep your household organized? I have a calendar in the kitchen & also one that goes in my purse. I try to keep a certain schedule. (Days that I water the outdoor plants, indoor plants etc) I try to stay on top of all the bills and correspondence but I must admit that I have slipped alot since having the kids.

Check this out!

I was admiring 2 of my friend, Linda's, bracelets yesterday at church. One is made at a local jewelers so I am going to have to go check that out soon and the other she had made at this website.....
http://www.attagirlgifts.com/index.html
For those friends, family, and readers that are military spouses, children, or family please check this out! It is so awesome!

Home of the original military spouse and military family ribbon awards, Atta Girl!s honor our home front heroes for their military life achievements.She earned it. The world should know it.

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I deserve a medal for this!"? At some point in time in your military "spouse" career you will face things your civilian sisters will never face. I have met so many women that are so deserving of their own special award. This military life full of moves, deployments, long hours for little pay is not easily put into words. It is an experience that feels like you are the only one going through it. Yet we all come together in the good times and the bad. We make the most of what we have and know to enjoy every day given to us.We think you do deserve an award.

(from the actual website on why they do the things they do!)

Kendall's Korner September

Kendall has been loving pre-school so far. I think by far her favorite is music class and recess because that is what I hear the most about. (Everything else I have to prompt her on!)

We have been working on the ABC's with her for about 1.5 years and she had not been singing them. Now she can pretty much sing them without much help. (I guess learning from someone else is better than dear sweet mom and dad!)

Her teacher, Mrs. Sharp, sent home their curriculum for the month of September. I was super appreciative of that because I want to know that we are paying for preschool for good reason! I wanted to share it with y'all because I know that some of you have asked about it. I hope to be able to post something every month about it!

1. Each month they teach about the holiday of the month....since they weren't there for labor day I am not certain if they are covering it or not.

2. They are learning a Nursery Rhyme each month. Jack be Nimble is theirs for September.

3. This month they are also learning by incorporating into the nursery rhyme tall/short, over/under, front/behind, and colors.

4. This month they are also learning about their 5 senses.

5. They have also been working on number recognition. (they have to count how many objects then find the corresponding number next to it.)

6. Obviously the ABC's

7. For their bulletin board this month they had homework of coming up with things that they like...I had a blast sitting with Kendall and writing down the things that she "likes!"

Overall I am super impressed so far! I even found out (by accident) that Kendall's teacher comes to our church which is kind of fun!

Kendall's teacher is strict and orderly which I think is VERY beneficial to my EXTREMELY StRoNg WiLlEd child!

Physical therapy, braces, and such....

Ok, ok so I guess I haven't really posted much on what has been going on with my braces and physical therapy. Sorry I kind of get sucked into stuff then I forget that I haven't explained all that was going on.
Braces
I got my top braces put on my teeth the last week of July. My top teeth were not horrible but needed a few minor tweaks plus they needed to move a bit to create the correct arch for my bottom teeth. I hurt really bad the first two days after they were on but after that it wasn't bad. I have been going every 2 weeks for adjustments. I have had my bottom braces on for 10 days. I can already see a HUGE difference in my bottom teeth. I am very thrilled because the girl that does all of my adjustments seems to think that I will have to have them on less than a year! I go back on Monday to get another adjustment. I think that by far getting the bottom ones on was the worse. I had some really bad mouth sores even with the wax. Plus I have had to be super careful because my upper teeth are where they need to be but not the bottom so my bite is off a bit. (Thus I have been biting my mouth quite a bit.)
Overall, I am super pleased with our decision to get this done! I have opted to get the permanent retainers put in like Ben has so I never have to worry about it again! Since your teeth have a memory and like to go back to their old positions!
Physical Therapy
Let's see I guess we can start off with the ortho doc. I went because of my constant knee pain and the fact that the MRI showed a tear in my ACL. He wanted to be conservative (which was fine with me) in my treatment. I had a steroid shot (that I pray to God I never have to repeat again) and a referal to PT. I went to my friend Leanne's practice. She did a through history and exam. She concluded that from my falls down the stairs when I was pregnant with Isaac that I had an upslip. Basically my right hip/pelvis slid upwards into my back creating the problems with all of the muscles. This affects your gait and that was what was causing my knee pain. (My knee was taking all of the shock of running, jumping etc.) She has been adjusting me steadily each week & I haven't had any knee pain! Crazy to think that your back/hip/pelvis can create knee problems right?! I have been going 3 times a week which has created for a crazy schedule and lots of time with the babysitter for the kids. I have my last 2 treatments this week unless Leanne decides that I need more. I have been running intervals on the treadmill for 10 minutes each session without pain!
Anyway, that's the lowdown of those two aspects of my life!

Food for thought.....

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

Sneak peek

We went to get Isaac's portraits done last night at "A Beautiful Moment Photography" by Megan. He has not been extremely cooperative with being photographed by himself so I will probably be in a lot of them. Megan was awesome and worked for an hour and a half to try to get as many shots as she could. I will post more when she has them ready!

You can view her website (and eventually Isaac's pictures) here at http://www.abeautifulmoment-bymegan.com/

Happy Fall!

Courtesy of my photographer Kendall...she did pretty good and almost got all of my head!

She loves her flowers but refuses to believe that they are called "mums."

Happy,happy birthday Pappy!!

Baby shower for my friend Melissa

Today I headed to Wilmington, North Carolina, which is about an hour from us for my friend's baby shower. We met Melissa and Eddie a long time ago when we were with HMLA 269. I had a great time visiting with lots of old friends & a break from the kids. (Thanks to Melissa and Maya for watching them for me!)

The simple woman's daybook

Outside My Window... It is a pleasant 80 something degrees. much better than it has been! You have to love Fall!

I am thinking... about Benny and wondering what he is doing right now.

I am thankful for... my family for taking care of me when Ben is gone, my friends for providing me with a much needed shoulder to lean on, my beautiful children for making me smile each day even when everything is going wrong.

From the learning rooms... I am excited to be leading a great bunch of ladies in our new Beth Moore bible study, The Inheritance.

From the kitchen... I am sadly unmotivated without Ben here to make anything but chicken nuggets, ravoli, frenchfries, pizza, and cereal.

I am wearing... blue capris with a white tanktop and flowered blue top

I am creating... a legacy for my children

I am praying... for Juana (and her premature baby Sonya), Chris-Ann, the troops, and a few others.

I am reading... "The lucky One" Nicholas Sparks, "Traveling Light" Max Lucado, "The Shack", Psalms 16:6

I am hoping... that I can get the house cleaned & the laundry put away today.

I am hearing... silence....the kids are sleeping.

Around the house....I need to clean out the litter box, take out the trash, mop the kitchen floor, clean the bathrooms.

One of my favorite things... has recently been sleeping with my husbands ka-bar because I am strangely nervous & on edge this detachment. (Don't enter my house without me being aware just fair warning!)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

1.Kendall to pre-school tomorrow.

2.My PT appointment tomorrow

3. Isaac 1 year portraits tomorrow afternoon.

4.Melissa's baby shower on Saturday

5.Possible the Usbourne book party at Karens on Saturday night

6. Sunday school and church

7.Maybe another call from Benny this weekend! (I never get tired of hearing his voice!)

8. More household organization

9.Posting pics on snapfish & backing up the pics onto our external hard drive

10. Playing with the kids!

MOPS field trip to the fire station

Isn't my fireman just the cutest? He behaved the best of my two at the firestation!

Our afternoon cheering on the Dolphins!

Kendall with her BFF Maya (and of course daddy doll tagged along as well!)

Trying to do a cheer like Maya (and little does she know her Mama too!)
Maya

Melissa (Maya's mom) and Isaac

1 year well check

Isaac weighed in at 24 pounds 12 ounces
He was 29 3/4 inches tall.

And he is just so handsome I can't stand it!

He has 2 full teeth and 2 that are halfway decended. Isaac loves to throw things in the potty, unravel toilet paper, climb anything and everything, cuddle (ah I am enjoying it while I can), take long baths, and just about anything that involves his Mama!