And the winner is...

BabyLuv!!

Congrats on winning the $25 American Express Gift Card

courtesy of Kelly Ripa and Electrolux!!

Thank you all for participating!

Adjustment

So our Soldier is home. Hubs has been home for 3 weeks now. (this post has been in save mode for 2 weeks) I'm so glad that he is home safe because that is one less worry I have to think about.  That's one less thing I have to have on my mind and that's one less time I have to wonder why he has not called in 2 days and what is happening for there to be a lack of communication.  Strangely, while he was gone, I didn't talk much about my worries.  Of course I had a lot of worries.  I knew that there were bombs going off on a regular basis not far enough away from the base.  I knew there were people being injured and attempted kidnappings going on right there where he was. I chose not to talk about these things often.  I think it was kind of a coping mechanism.  If I didn't talk about it, it wasn't a scary thing.

So now it's all over and he is home.

Now, of course, we are in an adjustment phase.  We were given classes to be prepared for this phase.  They tell the Soldiers that things are going to be different when you go home.  After a year, the spouses have developed a routine and to try not to go in and start stepping on toes.  The kids are use to there being one parent.  Go into "being a parent" again easily, giving time for the kids to adjust.

This is our first deployment, and hopefully our last.  I'm adjusting to him being here okay. He asks tons of questions that I have to get use to answering again.  When I start doing the laundry, he still takes over and finishes, just as he use to do.  Can't complain that the man does laundry.  Can, however complain that he doesn't do it my way, putting towels in with the regular clothes and not washing whites and lights separately.  AND he doesn't FOLD the laundry.  

I HATE FOLDING LAUNDRY!  

I can wash clothes all day.  Not a problem there.  But I will leave clothes in the basket for DAYS before I get around to folding them.  

YOU WANNA HELP, BUDDY?  

Let ME wash and YOU FOLD!  THAT'S a HUGE help!  I try not to say anything, though.

We are not doing great. I talked a little about our marriage and the issues here.  Funny, there really isn't much in this blog about my marriage.  Another case if me feeling like if I don't talk about it, it's not happening, I guess.  Just smile because everything is fine.  But truth is, I'm still wondering if everything really is fine. Military is hard on families.  He has been gone 3 years out of the last 7. That's a lot of time to be separated.  It's no wonder so many end in divorce.

Giveaway!

It's hot.  No, it's really hot!  In Georgia, hot is a different kind of hot.  Like, walking outside and feeling like someone turned a blow dryer on in your face type hot.

This past week, the kids and I had to find something to cool us off to try to escape to 103 degree weather.  The neighbor's pool has been a hit this week with the boys and yesterday I took them all to a friends house and let them swim while I had some grown up conversation with a few of my girls.

There are times when I just want to sit with my head in the freezer.  Now speaking of freezer let's get to that giveaway!

Kelly Ripa and Electrolux are joining forces once again to celebrate the launch of Electrolux Appliance's new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer - that's right, the familiar duo has split up. And to sweeten the celebration, they're bringing in the "Emperor of Ice Cream" Stephen Bruce, owner and founder of Serendipity 3, the landmark New York City restaurant and dessert spot, into the mix.

Kelly and Bruce teamed up earlier today to make banana splits for a cause.  And now we want you to dig in, with your virtual spoon! Starting today, at www.Kelly-Confidential.com, you can build your ultimate banana split using virtual ingredients from classic whipped cream to caramel sauce to rainbow sprinkles. For each "split", Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as part of its $750,000 commitment to help fight ovarian cancer.   

As usual, Electrolux and Kelly find new and fun ways to say thank you to those who support this great cause. Everyone who logs on to the site and builds a split will be automatically entered for a chance to win the daily prize - $50 towards sweet summer treats - and the grand prize:  the new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux.  

Now, that's one great giveaway, right?  I mean, who can't use a chance to win a brand spankin' new fridge and freezer??  MEEEEEEE!

Now, just for helping out, Kelly and Electrolux are allowing me to giveaway a $25 American Express gift card to on of my lucky readers!  

  All you have to do to enter is go over to the website, www.Kelly-Confidential.com, and build your favorite banana split (remember, $1 will go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund!)  Then come back here and tell me in a comment what kind of banana split you made!  That's it!  This giveaway will close on July 25th and the winner of this giveaway will be announced shortly after.

Want extra entries?


* 1 Entry - Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post and leave the tweet link in a comment.

* 1 Entry -  Post to Facebook about this giveaway with a link back to this post. 
** 2 Entries - Follow my blog on the Networked Blogs link my sidebar.  

Spaghetti Tacos, hmmm.

They kids are really strange.  Their newest endeavor was spaghetti tacos.  Yeah, that's taco shells with spaghetti on them.  Okay, so the idea came form iCarly, where apparently Carly's older brother, Spencer, is the very eclectic inventor type.  Well the kids have asked me several times if I would make them spaghetti tacos and my answer has been, "Ew! No."  So it just so happened that my fridge contained left over spaghetti noodles and left over taco shells and toppings.  They were hungry.  I was in a rush to get out after lunchtime and VOILA!  They decided on Spaghetti Tacos.  Okay, Miss Missy only eats plain, dry noodles, so her Spaghetti Tacos were just that.  Noodles on taco shells.  She was in heaven!  Cam, on the other hand, is a bit more creative with his.  His included noodles, salsa, lettuce and cheese.  C.J. opted out and decided to eat a bologna sandwich.

Okay, perhaps not the most normal meal, but hey, with a picky child and a very creative one, this was a perfect chance to let them be expressive and a great way to get rid of the left overs in the fridge!

EXHAUSTED!!!

That's how I feel today after spending 3 hours in the yard.  I took advantage of the cooler weather today... it is only 84 degrees... and went out to mow the grass and pull the weeds in the yard.  I literally woke up, put on some clothes and went outside.  You see, I am down to two weeks until the husband returns from Iraq, and I don't want it to look like I haven't done ANYTHING in the yard since he has been gone.  Well I haven't, but HE doesn't need to know that!

These are all of the weeds that we pulled today....

 ...that came off off this hill.

I know that looks like crap, with the tarp showing and all that old pinestraw coming off, but that is something I'm going to tackle another day.

It was so horrible and so manual labor-ish and my manicured nails were red underneath the pink and white gel.  AND there was dirt under them.   AND I was sweaty and sweaty in places that probably shouldn't be sweating.  AND I sweat in my hair which means that I have to make time to wash it.  UHGH!  I so don't like yard work!

I am literally too pooped to pop as I lay here in my bed on my laptop wondering how I am going to get up and make it to the commissary today to shop for groceries for the block party tomorrow.  I am trying to figure out if I even want to go and pick up my birth control prescription, which is really important because, well... Hubs IS coming home in two weeks.  I'm too drained at this moment to clean anything in the house and I'm praying that NO ONE comes over today and sees my shame, as I have not monitored the cleaning of the house today and I have no idea if the boys have cleaned the bathroom or the kitchen yet.  And on top of all that, the fireworks are going on on the base tonight and that is a tradition I just never miss.  I love the fireworks display.  I guess I better get UN-EXHAUSTED and get back to work!

Happy Independence Day, Y'all!

I slept in today until 11 and it was AWE---SOME!  I usually wake up between 8 and 9:30 but today I think the fact that I go to bed after 1:30 every night for no real reason what so ever has caught up with me. 

I've become an insomniac of sorts, as going to sleep at night is kinda hard for me.  I'm tired, yes, but my mind is always still wide wake and not ready to drift off.  So I play Bejeweled on Facebook until I can't take it anymore and then I watch TV until I can't take it anymore.  When that hasn't put me to sleep, I turn off all the lights, pray for a while and lay there in the dark with my mind wandering until finally sleep takes over.  It's amazing because when Hubs was here I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and that was usually before the 11 o'clock news.

I am really enjoying this school thing.  It really gives me a sense of independence and a sense of accomplishment.  It is amazing to me when I can focus on my Management class and understand what the book is talking about and I can relate some of the things that go on to my everyday life.  I was never much of the studious type back in high school, unless the course was Boys 101, and I never applied myself, but this has been an eye opener for and I'm now kicking myself for not thinking I could do this way before now.

So what's going on in your area for the 4th?  I've got a few plans this weekend.  I really love that the base has their Independence Day festivities on Friday this year. They always do theirs on a different day of the city because the city always has a big festival downtown and then this huge fireworks show over the river.  So the base has their carnival, concert and firework display.

Anywho, we are going to the fireworks display on Friday, visiting a friend and getting into her pool on Saturday and our neighbors are having a block party on Sunday.  I've gotta go shopping because I'm making some sides.  This should be fun because one of my neighbors has a pool and the other is renting a bounce house.  I love my neighbors.  They are so awesome.  When we first moved here, we were all a lot closer and we all would get together more often than we do now.  I think when my neighbor, Erica and her family moved to a Navy base in California, it slowed down.  She was kinda the glue that brought us all together because she was the most outgoing of us all. 

So it's PARTY TIME!  Can't wait to just enjoy myself, ya know?  Oh and the time for the soldier's return is right around the corner now!  2 weeks!  The kids are so excited!

Time is a passin'

This summer vacation seems to be flying by.  I guess I say that because we are now only about 2 weeks away from redeployment.  I never knew a year could go by so quickly.  Well, at least it did for those of us back here on safe land.

We haven't done anything special, but the kids are spending their second week in Vacation Bible School.  Is that cheating?  Are they only supposed to go 1 week a year?  It's at a different church and they REALLY had a great time last week so I decided to put them in at a different location this week.  You can't never have enough VBS, right?  And you know what?  VBS is nothing like it was when I was a kid.  I remember it being pretty much like regular Sunday School.  We sat in a classroom discussing the bible and doing a craft.  They are outside, eating dinner, singing songs, doing cool crafts and having a good ole time.

So do I feel guilty about taking them twice?  Eh maybe a tiny bit, but certainly not enough to not take them!

The time is winding down and I have done absolutely nothing this year to improve on the house or in preparation of Hub's return.  I feel like a lazy bum because I had all intentions of painting a room, making some curtains, SOMETHING!  But life seemed to have gotten in the way and nothing happened. 


Oh well.  I'm thinking that he will just be so glad to be out of the desert that he won't care if they house is a bit out of order!  Ya think?

Okay, so I started my classes at Kaplan Online and I am loving it!  I am really excited to be back in school and doing something to secure myself a brighter future. 

Cam is my little academic coach.  He is so funny because when I am on the computer, he will call from the other room and say, "Mom?  Are you studying?  Because it sounds like you're on Facebook because you're typing so much.  Mom, get off Facebook and study, please!"

It's officially summer and boy do I wish I had a POOL!  I want nothing more than to be able to go in my back yard and jump into some water right now. Anybody who knows me knows that I don't do heat.  My neighbors say they never see me in the summer and the winter.  They say I only come out it he spring and the fall. 

I'm dreading having to move.  I really don't want to go to Arizona.  I like it here where I am now.  I'm comfortable and the kids are happy.  The military sure can throw a monkey wrench in your plans for your life.  I hate the fact that we have 2 years left in the military before retirement and they decide that it's time for us to move.  With 2 years left in the military, Hubs should be networking here where we have been for all of this time and looking for a job.  It is crazy because we are moving to a place that is so new to us where no one knows him and he will then have to start looking for a job from there.  He is already talking about having to stay in Arizona after retirement and trying to get a GS job in the system there before trying to transfer elsewhere.

ELSEWHERE?  Where the heck is ELSEWHERE?  

I love my county and had it all planned that this is where my kids should grow up.  The Army doesn't seem to have much care for "your" plans, huh?

OKAY, enough complaining.  I got things to do.  My time is SHORT!  I have to at least try to get this place clean.  It's gotta go on the market real soon... yet another reason to not be happy. 

Call the Doctor! I have a VIRUS!

I'm on the brink of breaking. Today if my first day of online class at Kaplan University and I have a seminar that I'm suppose to be on at 7.  Low and behold, last night I clicked on something that gave me a virus.  YES A VIRUS!  Can you believe that!  My laptop is SHOT and I was up until 2 trying to get rid of this what seems to be a pretty bad flesh eating type virus... to no avail.  Not a computer geek in the least.

Although I am luck to still have a desktop, it is tucked away in a stuffy computer slash workout slash game room and there is little to no comfort and no ZEN what so ever.  Maybe I should get some water and fire going on in here!

Plus I really hate the fact that I'm going to be cooped up in that room for an HOUR and force to actually listen to the lecture.  Other than the PlayStation, there's nothing in here to distract me.  That may be a good thing, I guess. I am actually suppose to "listen", right?

Okay, so here I am, on high stress, wondering how my first seminar is going to go.  I'm thinking that I may need a massage and a glass of wine before the day is over!

Vacation Bible school equals Mommy Time!

Okay, so I'm up at what could be considered bright and early around these parts these days.  It's summer vacation and the kids don't get out of the bed until after 10 and I get to sleep in until the birds' chirping outside becomes unbearable every morning. This morning, that time was about 8am.

I bought new pillows yesterday because yesterday's sleep was so uncomfortable as I tossed and turned and turned, flipped and folded my flat and fluffless pillow so many times throughout the night that I woke up with bags and dragged the entire day.  So last night's sleep was so much better on a nice fluffy new pillow.

These last few weeks with the kids home has been challenging, to say the least.  The twerps have been driving me nutso!  Individually they are great, but together they are a hurricane!  Between their not so tidy tactics and their not so nice to each other attitudes, I am at a loss when it comes to how to keep my sanity and not YELL MY HEAD OFF all day!  They wake up to my fussin' and I fuss when they go down.  I felt a lot better when I talked to another mom that is pretty much feeling the same pain that I am and yelling as much as I do.  At least I know I'm not the only one that prefers year-round school.  What a TYRANT I am, huh?

I'm seriously considering finding a Vacation Bible School to put them in for every week of summer vacation just so that I can have some ME time and regroup.  I mean really, show up at a different church every week and drop their butts off!  Really... I'm looking into this! Seriously.  God won't mind!

I haven't let their presence hinder me from my workout though as I still get up to do my Hip Hop Abs workout and some Barry's Bootcamp every morning.  So Yay to me on that!  I have even tried to commit myself to running a mile on the treadmill everyday to add to that.  Okay, so I just started the mile thing on Friday and yes I skipped Sunday and Monday, but I'm really gonna try to implement this into my everyday schedule.  I wanna run for 30 days straight.  Think I can?  Me neither, but I'm going to try.  And since I missed 2 days, my 30 days starts over today.  I say that as I'm lounging on my bed, slowly losing my momentum after a 40 minute workout with Shaun T.

I think it's time for my B12 shot again because I had NOOOOOO drive today and did a fairly lazy workout. My pumps where not on point and my hip flexes kinda flopped!

You know, the plus to Hip Hop Abs is that I might actually find some rhythm, because I have certainly been lacking that all my life!

How to be a Fabulous Mom this Summer

It's summer vacation.

I spent the entire school year being a single mom and still remaining fabulous in the eyes of my children by showing up at school events, being a PTO officer and having "Mommy and Me Time" with the kids individually on doctor appointment days while the other kids were still in school, those opportunities to spend time in the kids lives are no more with all kids now at home.

My kids LOVED the fact that I was a PTO officer and I planned out the events at the schools because it gave them bragging rights.  All the kids in the school knew me and greeted me with "HI MRS. KAY!" every time I was in the school.  I loved being there and knowing that my boys loved me being involved.  Now that it's summertime, I have to come up with other ways to be that "AWESOME MOM" in my kids' lives.

There are so many things that you can do with your kids throughout the summer that will make them think of  you as an awesome mom, and it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg to do it!

Yeah, you could take them to expensive inflatable jump houses, Chuck E Cheese type places or water parks all summer, but that kinda of fun becomes costly and for moms like me who are fabulously frugal.  It just doesn't fit in the budget.

But with my kids, it doesn't take a lot to be an awesome mom.  Just a little quality time makes them think they are having the best summer vacation of their lives.  A little something every day for every few days and I promise you will be that mom that ROCKS!

Here are a few ideas to pass the time.

Making pizzas (or anything in the kitchen for that matter)- This is something that the kids LOVE.  It's easy if you buy a pizza kit like Chef-Boy-r Dee or a Boboli Pizza dough and some of your favorite toppings.  The kids get to get their hands dirty and add toppings that they like and they are all working together, laughing and having fun while doing it.  If you invite a friend over to help it becomes another one of those "bragging rights" moments and you are not only cool to your kids, but you are the coolest mom on the block!

Board Games - My kids love to have a family game night, or day, or whenever we can get one in.  I don't mean the video games, I mean the board games.  The ones that we use to play when we were kids.  They really love the fact that I use to play these games "back in the days", as they call it, and love asking questions about who use to beat who between my brother and me when we were kids.  I love to introduce them to things that I loved when I was a kids.

Nerf Gun Wars - This was really one of the best nights I had with the kids, and it gave me an opportunity to be a kids right along with them. The boys got more Nerf Guns for Christmas to add to the small collection that they already had.  Now, on a normal basis, they are not allowed to sun around the house and they are not allowed to shoot darts all over the place.  But on one particular night, I decided to let them let loose, and I was the one who started it all.  It was awesome as we ran through the house building forts and barriers out of couch pillows and laundry baskets for about 2 hours, just laughing and having fun.

Wii Competitions - I don't know why, but they love when we get together and play the Wii together. See, I'm a trash talker and I love laughing at them when I win and making fun of them when they lose. We can go back and forth like that for hours!  I'm a team player like that.  With the Wii being so interactive, they get to see me get silly and try to move my body in crazy ways to get my avatar to do what I want it to do.  They think its funny and so do I.  So Wii competitions bring tons of laughs... and sometimes tears, but they love that we are doing it together!

Camping in the Livingroom - Have you ever pitched a tent of bedsheets and blanket and had a camp out right in the middle of the living room?  We pop popcorn, eat S'mores, and tell ghost stories by flashlight. What is awesome about this is that there's something about the dark that makes kids sleepy and so the night is often shorter than normal as they wind down in their sleeping bags or blanket on the living room floor.  It's a Win Win situation!


If there is one saying that is true about kids it's that they keep you young.  I have found that with summer vacations and spending more time with them, I have become more creative, more playful and more active.  I do it all just to see the smiles that it puts on their faces, but OMG does it keep smiles on mine!