Still Alive

Yup, we're all still breathing here. Just busy. Hopefully I'll have time to get back here soon.

In the meantime I have a very grumpy little girl to take care of. A little girl who we've discovered hates the cold weather. Hates having a hat on her head. Hates being cooped up inside after many months of long, leisurely walks in the warm sun. She's a little girl after my own heart to be sure ;)

Any unique ideas for indoor play with a 6 year old, 4 year old and 13 month old? Please share in the comments! I need to start a long list of options to take us through the winter, lest we all go crazy.

We are soo not winter people. (pst- hey Air Force! You can station us in California any time now M'kay?)

Today...

All 3 played together and nobody argued, teased or complained.

It was perfection.

And I was reminded how blessed we are that we get to raise THREE beautiful children.
How lucky the boys are to have each other.
How fortunate Vivi is to have two older brothers that adore her and will always look out for her.
How amazing it is that even when we think we have our future all figured out, God ultimately holds the cards and He knows what's best.

So glad that in His infinite wisdom He sent us a baby girl to complete our family when we were quite sure we were done.

Life is funny that way.
And I'm so very thankful for it.

And the Camo Bear goes to...

Commenter number 12!

Congratulations number 12!

Number 12 didn't leave me an Email address or a link to her blog, but my super sleuthing capabilities have led me to the conclusion that she's none other than Mandy from Mommy Musings.....Ok, not so much. She left me her twitter ID and I figured it out from there ;) And it's a good thing she tweeted about the giveaway too because it was that second entry that won her the prize!

Please send me a note with your preferred Email Mandy (and hopefully confirm for me that you are who I think you are, haha) and I'll pass that on to my contact at Build-A-Bear Workshop so we can get your prize on it's way to you!


For those of you that weren't lucky enough to win a bear don't forget that you can still take advantage of Build-A-Bear's 20% off discount (with valid military ID!) through Sunday.


This was fun! I'm glad so many of you participated! I really enjoyed reading through all of your stories (and keep intending to visit each one of your blogs to say hello- if I ever have the luxury of enough computer time to do so!). I was overwhelmed by the number of you that have loved ones serving in the Armed Services getting ready to deploy or currently serving overseas. I'm so proud to be a part of this community of women who are standing alongside our soldiers (airmen, sailors, etc...) as they serve our great nation!

21 candles

Tonight, as a family, we lit 21 candles in observance of Veteran's Day. 13 for those slain at Fort Hood. 8 for the years we've been at war and for those who have served bravely throughout.

I'm hoping to make this an annual tradition. The number of flames wont always be the same year to year, but the sentiment will be there. It's so important that our children are raised with a deep appreciation of the many sacrifices this great country of ours is built upon...

Thank you to our veterans past and present!




Inspired by The Kitchen Dispatch.

Time for another giveaway!

Sorry to disappoint those of you who were convinced my "news" here might have something to do with pregnancy *wink* (I am NOT pregnant, and can assure you that barring a miracle of God, there wont be any more announcements of that nature on this blog ever again, haha.)

Instead I have something fun for all of YOU today! Did you know that Build-A-Bear Workshop offers an entire line of of products inspired by the armed forces? I didn't either! Not until they contacted me recently wondering if my readers might be interested to know that in honor of Veterans Day on Wednesday they're showing their support to military families by offering a 20% discount on any one transaction at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores. Just present your government issued military identification card at the counter! You know, the one you have practically glued to your hand anyway because you can't even buy a head of lettuce on base without it ;) (Can't get there on Wednesday? The offer is still valid through Sunday, November 15th!)

They also wondered if you all might be interested in having your very own Camo Bear as a "Thank You" to the many military families who frequent my little page here...

I hope I was correct in saying "YES, I'm quite sure they would love that"!


After all, Mr. Camo Bear is pretty darn cute! What little girl or boy wouldn't like to add him to their collection of favorite toys? Dillon has fallen in love with ours already, appropriately naming him "Daddy Bear". Gee, I wonder how he ever came up with that name? Maybe it has something to do with seeing his father dressed in an identical outfit every day ;)



I wish we would have had one of these when *J* was deployed. He would have been a cherished friend for the boys to love on while Daddy was away, made even more special by the fact that we could have personalized him with a recording of *J*'s voice. In fact one of my good friends here took her three children to Build-A-Bear last year before her husband deployed and he secretly left a message for each of them, sewn up into their new plush toy, to be played whenever the distance got to be too much during the 6 months he was gone. *sob* How sweet is that?

So here's the deal friends:

Build-A-Bear Workshop has generously offered to send one of YOU a Camo Bear just like ours (In the uniform of your choice of course. Camo Bear is not Air Force exclusive.) *or* a $25 gift certificate if you'd rather pick one out and personalize it yourself in the store. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post! Feel free to spread the word so more people can get in on the fun. If you post about this drawing on your blog, Facebook or Twitter page your name will be entered twice! (Just make sure you come back here and leave me a second comment so I can assign you an additional number. Limit two entries per household please!)

No, you do not have to be a military member/dependent to enter. Everyone is welcome!

Contest is open until Thursday night (11:59 PM eastern time) and I'll announce the winning name Friday morning.

Good luck!






In accordance with FTC guidelines and in the spirit of the Blog With Integrity pledge it's my duty to let you know that Build-A-Bear Workshop sent us our Camo Bear free of charge so we could brag on him truthfully. He really is that cute folks, and in keeping with the integrity of this blog allow me to state for the record that I am not being compensated in any other way to tell you so.

Well...

It's red, that's for sure! Holy heck is it red! Can you see the fear in my eyes up there? That's not exactly a sincere smile, ha! (More like a "it's 10PM and my kids have been sick all week" kind of smile.) At any rate, it's all a bit much for me. Definitely will NOT be keeping it this way indefinitely, but I guess it's better than the two tone look with a visible root line I had before.

I actually think it's darker in person. I'll attempt better pictures later. The whole taking-your-own-photo-in-the-bathroom-mirror-under-horrible-florescent-lighting thing has never yielded me a good result so I'm not sure why I keep attempting it, but you get the idea :)

In the end, I didn't have to spend a single cent which is what we've challenged ourselves to over the next couple of months. Our goal is to spend not a penny more than what falls under the category of absolute necessity. (Just trying to see how little we could live on if we ever had to scale back. Way back...)

You'd better believe though that when we're done with our little experiment in financial responsibility (lol) I'll be toning things down quite significantly. I'm all for trying new things, but I've come to realize that I'm kind of a straight up snob about my hair. When I have it done I want it DONE- the right way, by a professional. Now on to convince *J* that "highlights" will need their own category in our revised budget ;)

Speaking of my husband- he loves the crazy red. *shrugs shoulders* Go figure.

* ** *** ** *

I have something fun to share with all of you this weekend! Be sure to check back in the next day or two...

To color or not to color...

I've had this:

Sitting on my bathroom vanity for weeks now. I discovered it buried deep within a box in the back of our linen closet, a discard from when I bravely used to color my own hair. Except this particular time *J* had run to the store to grab me a second box and came home with the wrong color, so it was immediately shoved into the dark depths of bathroom cabinet obscurity- just in case I ever found myself *desperate* enough to use it.

I'm just not a "Dark Red" kind of girl you see. I don't have the guts for it, much less the sassy personality to pull it off successfully. I'm more of a ginger with blond highlights kind of girl. You know, nice and safe. The one and only time I ventured into "Dark Red" territory years ago a close friend at the time announced, "If I were ever going to become a drag queen I'd do my hair that same color!"...Believe it or not he meant it as a compliment, but umm...Let's just say that wasn't exactly the look I was going for.

Alas, *desperate* times call for desperate measures...My roots are overtaking my head and I'm one of the lucky few who finds herself going gray already in her early 30s. More like white. I have handfuls of pure WHITE hair popping up everywhere. White as snow.

I can't take it anymore.

*J* and I have committed to a very strict budget through the end of the year and a professional color and cut is just not in my financial future right now. So I have 2 choices:

1. I can accept that I will soon look like the poor man's Madonna:


with a sprinkling of white for good measure.


2. I can grow a spine already and go for the "Hibiscus" until I can afford to have it done right.


*Or* I could continue to stare at the box on my bathroom vanity for another 2 weeks convinced it's going to be a disaster either way.

Decisions, decisions. What's a girl to do?

Wordless Wednesday

PS- Someday I will actually write a post again ;) As soon as life gets less busy...In the mean time though, allow me to share a post by the amazing Sheri Prescott that really hit home with me today. Hope it's as much a blessing to you as it was to me in the midst of a hectic week.

Happy Halloween!

Fearsome Ninjas and sweet ladybugs go together perfectly right? ;)




PS- Vivienne was a ladybug last year too. She sure has come a long way hasn't she?

Birthday Party

Of course she refused to smile for me here. But sticking out her tongue she can do! It's her newest trick. Crazy girl. She's clapping with all the excitement here...

First tea set and first "pony" From Aunt Michelle and Aunt Nikki.

Even a year later I can't get over having pink in my house :)

Happy Birthday "Viva Diva"! (How can she possibly be O N E?? *sob*)