Routine

   It felt great to go back to work today and get back into a regular routine. It's nice for the boys and I to have a set schedule with some flexibility in it. Of course, Nathan fell and hit his head on the patio while riding his scooter and has a big goose egg on his head now. Now I'm going to try and get some sleep. Goodnight all.

Things Aren't Suppose to Break the First Day, Right?

   Okay, I've been through this separation several times before now so I should be use to it, right. It's different every time. However, I really don't think things are suppose to break the first day, right? I was giving the boys a bath and my towel rack just pulled off the wall. No, I wasn't even angry so I wasn't pulling with that much force. Even more annoying is that the cord to my computer has some kind of malfunction so my computer is refusing to cooperate, the one that has all my pictures on it, grr! Luckily I have a back up computer and a back up plan for the pictures but really!? Enough already.

Everything Ready, Now Go

   Being that I love making lists, including to do lists I've made a list of things to get done before my hubby heads to training once more. I have to admit like with all lists there are a few things that have gone unchecked. This of course annoys me but I will make the best of things. After all, you can only be so prepared for the unknown, after that you step out in faith knowing there will be challenges, but we will get through them. For tonight I'm going to enjoy this time with my family one last time until we go our separate ways for awhile! Let the adventure begin......it's better than just counting down the days, right?! Don't worry we'll be counting down the days too!

Hanging Out

   Enjoying this weekend with my family. Hubby leaves Sunday so just relaxing as a family and getting time in together before he is gone for a long time. We got Zio's ordered out and ate in the comfort of our home without having to fight the crowd (and I didn't have to worry about crying in public either). So double plus.
   Hope everyone else has a good weekend!

Grocery Shopping in the Rain

   I had the brilliant idea to go grocery shopping this morning and got caught in a torrential rain down pour. I do not advice anyone to do that ever! Other than that the day was well and I got a lot accomplished. Thankful that tomorrow is Friday.

There Is No Victory Without Battles

   Pastor Scott Miller visited our church at Destiny tonight. He spoke about how their would be no victory without battles! So true in Spiritual battles and in war alike. I almost didn't go to church tonight but when I told the boys we were going to stay home they wanted to go to church! I'm so thankful my boys like church! Nathan also likes school and learning and they both love to read! I'm blessed! I'm loving going to church on Wednesdays. It is such a great refresher midweek. Nathan asked me tonight why we go to church on Wednesdays? We just started going on Wednesday evenings. My reply was, "Life is hard, church is nice." I know kind of cheesy but the easiest way I knew to word it and the simplest. Really I just spoke what first came to my mind when he asked.

Distracted

   It's a normal week. I'm not sure if I want it to slow down or speed up. I think generally I have mixed emotions about it. I'd rather just get back to a somewhat normal routine. That would be great.

Emotional Roller Coaster

   I'm fine really. That's my most frequent response when people ask me how I'm doing with this upcoming deployment. Don't take it personally I just don't really like the question or the reminder that my husband is leaving for a long time. Just like today my hubby made a joke about eating at his favorite Chinese restaurant for the last time. What did I do? Start crying in a restaurant! Those of you who know me, I'm not a cryer! Gosh, what is my husbands problem mentioning the dreaded "last time" anything!? Really he should be more sensitive!

Sundays

   I have a hate/love relationship with Sundays. I love church and getting to spend some time with my family. For the most part I even enjoy getting ready for the coming week. What I do not like about Sundays is that I have a full work week ahead (and while I love my job, at least like it) I enjoy my family time more. Alas, it's also my last day to get my house in order and some last minute paperwork (which I always have to do) done for my job to start fresh anew.
   Today was bitter sweet. I enjoyed getting to sit with my hubby at church, it really is the simple things. Next week he will be starting on more training for his deployment and will not be with me. After church we went out to eat with my mother-in-law which I always enjoy (who can complain when you have good company and you don't have to cook?) And yes, I really do like my mother-in-law, and am very thankful to have a good relationship with her! I'm blessed I know. After lunch, we just hung out at our house and played some candy land with the boys. I assure you I had more housework to get done and plenty of things that I could do on my to do list but sometimes the best thing is to let things be and enjoy the moments that make up our lives!
   Hope everyone had a great Sunday and weekend! I'm going into this week ready for what's coming.....whatever that may be!

Beautiful Saturday

   Today's weather was beautiful! The boys enjoyed playing outside and I got my laundry and housework done, well most of it. Housework and laundry seem to be unending around here. I promised the boys a trip to the library and park if they did well this morning and helped get the house clean some. They earned their time and it was great to spend some family time together.

Dinner and a Movie

   Tonight was dinner and a movie at our house. I made a potato soup recipe for the first time, yum! And then we watched Open Season 3. Cute and fun! Getting my relaxing on now. Talk to you tomorrow.

Small Group

   Tonight was small group with my church group. I love being connected to a small group of believers that get the challenges of being parents and also want to grow in their relationship with God. It's so good to have fellowship and get more connected with my church family.

  The last point of Habits of Highly Effective Christians is Rest and Play. Now I love this one and need to be reminded of this from time to time! My pastor says "work hard and play hard". I've set aside Friday evenings to Saturday evenings to rest and play with my family and take a break from the business of my daily life. I think I need to do a quarterly review to make sure that I'm not over extending myself and I'm still taking some time to rest and play with my boys and rest and play some by myself.

Farewell Ceremony Today

   Well today was the official send off for my hubby's group. After fighting to find a parking spot I got where I needed to be and sat with another army wife. On my two hour drive I had a great talk with my Mom and my mother-in-law picked up my boys so I could spend the day with my hubby. My family is very important to me during this deployment season. My army wife friends are also very important to me as well because they understand and are going through the same thing that I am.
   On to tip seven for Habits of Highly Effective Christians, Attack the Hardest things First. This is definitely one I need to work on. It is so easy for me to procrastinate and wait until the last possible moment to get the biggest and hardest projects done. I need to remember this and put this into practice in my daily life.

Not to Much to Say Today

I don't have much to say today. I got stuck in traffic this morning, worked, went to the gym, and came home and made dinner. I'm hanging out with my hubby tonight and just trying to enjoy some down time. So on to point six for Highly Effective Christians, Make sacrifices. I think that is much easier said than done.

Happy Valentines Day!

   The highlight of my day was hanging out with my family for our Valentines Day dinner. I made heart shaped meatballs, veggies, mashed potatoes, and for dessert pumpkin bread and chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels. I love my family. The boys had a blast at their Valentines parties at school today. Nathan even made me a very special Valentines. Now it's time to sit down and relax some.
   Now on to Habits of Highly Effective Christians. Number six is Take God Sized Risks. In our Christian faith we have to take steps out of our comfort zone and into the unknown with faith as our foundation.

Sunday it is

   Today was not a bad day. First, it started off playing with babies in the nursery at church. Then I picked up some things for my boys for Valentines tomorrow. After that it pretty much consisted of baking and helping the boys get their Valentines ready for school for tomorrow. It's funny how being a Mom kind of takes over my weekend and most evenings for that matter too (but I really wouldn't have it any other way). However, that is why I think it's so important for couples to get away for some much needed time together.
   On to point five for Habits of Highly Effective Christians. Okay now that I'm looking at my notes again I realize that there are two number fours. I think the last number four that I shared of writing it down was suppose to be a bullet point to Dream big dreams. However, I'll just continue with the points and I guess we'll have eight :) Number five is Believe for the impossible. I think the thing that sticks out the most to me in this point is that if I'm believing for the impossible than I know it's not just me making my plans and agenda work together but God has a say and he's the one that ultimately puts the pieces of the puzzle together of this journey of my life. Believing for the impossible forces me to utterly rely on God to bring about his desire for my life because without him I can't do it because I'm merely human, always a good reminder to have.

Couple Time

   Tonight my hubby and I went on a date night. We try (really I try) to do them once a month. I must admit it's hard to keep up with them with our active schedules but I think couple time is so important. In the midst of raising a family and work responsibilities sometimes the two of us and our marriage can be put on the back burner unless we make a concerted effort to make it a priority, just like so many other things in our life.
   In other news, the boys have bunk beds now. This should be an adventure. Now we just have to get them big boy sheets. My boys are growing up, it's bitter sweet but overall I really do enjoy it. They are at such a fun age.
   Okay time for point four in Habits of Highly Effective Christians. The fourth point is Write it down. This is another one of my favorites! I know for myself when I write it down it makes it more concrete and sometimes puts it at the forefront of mind. There have been several times I don't really know all what I'm thinking until I start to write it down. It helps me process what's really important in my million of jumbled thoughts a day.

Friday Nights Are My Favorite

   Tonight I was treated to dinner (at Chick-fil-A) and seeing Tangled by my hubby and boys. I have been nagging my husband about seeing this movie (yes, I know I need to work on not doing this, but that is much easier said than done!). My hubby kept telling me that it's a chick flick. I tried to reason with him that it's an animated cartoon, the kids would love it regardless, which they did. It was nice to just spend a relaxing weekend night with my family.
   The third point in Habits of Highly Effective Christians is Dream Big Dreams. I love this one. No matter where we are at life we all have dreams and when we are walking with God he places dreams in our heart with a passion that just makes life exciting and nerve racking at times. It's amazing how He works out the details if we let him. We just have to stay intune with what He is doing and where He is calling us. And of course, we don't always have the answers, but that is half of the fun, sometimes!

Back to Work I Went

   I must admit it was nice to work outside of my home finally! And the roads really weren't bad at all! Then when I came home I made my family dinner and for dessert had some snow ice cream! Yum! I got to spend some time reading to my boys and tucked them in, I love them dearly (even though they make me want to pull my hair out sometimes). I did come to the conclusion that my hubby is much better at building a snow fort/igloo with the boys than I am. That shoveling just kills my back! I also attempted to make a snowman with the boys but failed. We shall see if we get around to it tomorrow and it works better. Oh well, at least we tried.
   The positive thoughts I have about today include:
1) I got to work outside my house!
2) We had snow ice cream! Yum!
3) I got to spend some times with my boys out in the snow this evening! I better enjoy it because it will be gone soon (not that I'm complaining).
4) I got my new picture frames hung up. (Major deal for me because I'm a big picture person :)
   Onto the second habit of highly effective Christians
   Point two is Follow Great People. This just reminds me that my friends that I choose to hang out with are super important. They influence who I am. They either help make me a better person or worse. Also, I need to be a friend that is lifting others up and bringing them closer to Christ. Wow, that's something to think about.

More Snow, and Off to Work I Go

   Well we got another five inches of snow today! Thankfully this weekend we are going to have nicer weather! Hopefully we can make it to the park sometime this weekend. I've decided to go back to work tomorrow for a little bit. I'm nervous about driving in the snow covered neighborhoods but I need to get out to see some of my clients. Praying things go smoothly tomorrow.
   So the past two Sundays my pastor preached on 7 Habits of Highly Effective Christians. I thought I would share them because I really enjoyed these messages. I'm going to go through one of them each for the next several days and talk about how they are applicable in my life and what I need to do to make changes.

  Number one is to think great thoughts. The verse that goes with it is Philippians 4:6-8. I think this is great, just the other day I was talking with my clients about the power of positive thinking. This goes beyond that but I think my main thing to start on is thinking positive. Overall, I consider myself a positive person. But when things start to go crazy I get grumpy.

Will the Schools Ever Open Back Up?

   Yet another day of no school tomorrow. We are due to get 8-12 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow afternoon. Yikes! I guess the boys and I will have a reason to build a snowman. It's the only snow activity we didn't do in the last week. We tried to make one today but the snow was to hard from melting and freezing again.
   In good news, we did get the new fridge today and it seems to be working well. Also, Jacob's daycare was open so he got to get out a little bit and play with some friends. I also lost my keys at Wal-mart today while I was restocking on a few food items for the upcoming storm! My friend agreed to come pick me up so I could get my spare set at the house. Although, I actually asked the customer service desk and someone had turned in my keys, so she didn't have to come to my rescue, although I was grateful for the support. Also saying a prayer for whoever turned in my keys that they be blessed! Keys and I seem to not have a very good track record!

Starting Out the Week with a Snow Day

   Yep, the schools are still closed. I'm not very hopeful that we will have school the rest of the week. It'll depend on what the storm decides to do tomorrow night. My hubby switched out our brand new fridge this morning for another one today. We just bought new appliances about three weeks ago but the fridge was making sounds so he took it back. I didn't feel like messing with dinner with our food being stored in the garage until our fridge comes tomorrow morning so we went out for dinner tonight. Nothing exciting to report today.

Refreshing!

   Today was refreshing. We went to church this morning, went sledding this afternoon, and hung out with friends to watch the Superbowl this evening. It was nice to get to relax and spend time with my family and friends. School is cancelled tomorrow so I'll be home with the kiddos again. It'll be interesting to see if we can go back to school this week. I guess it depends on what the weather decides to do. We are suppose to get more snow Tuesday evening into Wednesday. I'd be happy if the weather people were wrong this go round! It was nice to have some time to rest and relax but now I'm ready to go again!

Freedom!

Finally, today I got out of the house. My hubby took the boys and I to a local diner for breakfast! It's amazing how great it felt to be out of the house! After breakfast we went to a friend's house and visited with them and then came back home. We are suppose to get some more snow this week so at least we got out some today. I'm hoping to get out of the house and back to work this week but we shall see what the weather decides.

Snow Day Four

   Well today I was about ready to do anything to get out of the house but did manage to make it through the day. My hubby came home this evening and made a snow fort/igloo with the boys while I had some quiet time and read. They all had fun and I enjoyed some solo time. Not sure what this weekend holds for us but I'm glad my hubby is home with the boys and I.

Snow Day Three

   Snow Day Three was a little rough around the edges here. The boys were hyped up on energy. They are active and overall our household is busy but we like to get out and about. Now, if I was here by myself I might enjoy being in the house more, but with active boys it gets a little crazy. So, I've decided to make a list of the pros and cons being snowed in from this blizzard since tomorrow is day number four snowed in.

Pros:
-Snow Ice Cream (five cups of snow, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract) Yum!
-Catching up on Paperwork
-Surfing Online
-Reading
-Spending Time with my Family
-Making breakfast and dinner from scratch
-playing in the snow and doing snow activities (making snow forts, snowball fights, etc.)
-Scrapbooking
-Sleeping in
-Watching TV

Cons:
-Being cooped up in the house with two active boys

Okay, I guess the pros really do outweigh the cons but I'm ready to go back to work next week all week and get back to our regular routine. Be careful what you wish for, guess it might just happen and then you might change your mind. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side is true. I was thinking it would be great to get snow and to get some days at home but now that it happened I'm more than ready to get back to work.

Day Two Snowed In

   Today was better. The boys are still hyper but we got outside for a little bit and that helped. They were excited to just go out in the snow. They also got to watch library movies, play the wii, and hang out with Mommy and Daddy both so that broke up the day some. Still off tomorrow, so moving on to day three. I must say we have been eating good around here these days. I guess I'll see what I can cook up tomorrow. I've been seeing snow ice cream on the agenda on lots of peoples facebooks so we might tackle that for a little bit of diversity tomorrow.

Snow Blizzard Febuary 2011

   We are snowed in. We have a little over a foot of snow. I was excited about having a couple days off of work but now I'm getting stir crazy and it's only been one day. My hubby stayed home and worked from home today. He's headed back to work tomorrow so the boys and I will have to keep each other entertained. Hopefully, they got their craziness out today! Hmmmmm....snow, snow, and more snow!