Week in Review The Total Off Week

Oh goodness me what a week it has been!Some very fun and wonderful things have gone on here in our home and some very not fun and wonderful things too.

On the fun and wonderful side my newest nephew Mason had his second surgery.A shunt surgery and it went fantastically and he is right this minute out of the hospital and home with his family which includes his 6 excited siblings.

We also got to enjoy some great snow the earlier part of the week

We don’t always get a lot of snow where we are located so this has been fun!Several days of snowball fights and tromping out in the snow.

The not so wonderful part of that is that after those first few fun days kids got sick,mommy had sinus issues and then everything turned to ice and has made traveling fairly impossible.Of course the battery on my car died too, so traveling isn't  really an option  anyways until I get a new battery!

We are super blessed though to have a bit of food storage which meant we could stay snuggled up safe in the house and not starve,we have not lost power like several thousand in our area have and we have awesome friends who will help us get the car battery put in too!Its been a fun,long,exciting and exhausting week and I’m honestly glad to see it end ;0)

You Know You're a Military Spouse When....

-Someone asks when your Spouse will be home, you say July or August instead of 5 or 6pm. -
-You live on your own and by yourself more after you're married than before you were married.
-You know all of your Spouse's co-workers by their last name...and rarely know their first name. ... ...
... ... -You say "I'm going to the commissary" instead of "grocery store".
-You need your I.D to buy groceries. -
-You really want something but you say , well I'm going to have to wait for the 1st or 15th for it ".
-Half of your wardrobe has some kind of Military insignia on it and once belonged to your Spouse.
-The sounds of helicopters, and Jets flying over your house shaking your windows, surprisingly soothes you!
-Your Spouse's work and dress clothes cost more than yours do. -
-You only write in pencil because EVERYTHING is subject to change. -
-You know that a 2 month separation IS short, no matter what your civilian friends say.
-You know better than to go to the commissary between 11:30 and 1:30 or on a payday unless it's a life or death emergency.
-You know that any reference to "sand box" describes a deployment to Afghanistan, not your kid's backyard toys.
-You don't have to think about what time 21:30 is. -
-You pick apart uniforms on TV and in the movies for being inaccurate with your Spouses'.
-You are asked to stop talking in acronyms and translate it all to English
-When your Spouse says they get to "Sleep In" and is referring to 6:30See M

Super Blessed

I am just feeling so blessed today and I wanted to share it. First and most importantly my nephew Mason Tanner was born today!My sister (best friend) had her first c-section and is recovering really well (praise God) and Mr.Mason is also looking good.He is over at children's hospital being cared for by the best doctors(again praise God).

Due to my hubbys recent move from one place in Afghanistan to another (please don’t ask me where lol) we have been able to talk most everyday.The really awesome part is that we can talk on the phone.Where he was located before he could only use the internet.That was hard on the kids because the younger ones cant understand messages written on the screen.Now they get to hear Daddies voice ever day.God really knew that was weigh down my heart.Its so hard to watch my kids having Dad gone and it was hurting me to know the little ones couldn't talk to him.

On top of those great blessings we are also having an awesome week in school.Everything isn't going smoothly in every area.On the contrary there are some real struggles going on academically BUT every ones attitude is staying positive and that’s a true blessing!I am being reminded that we all learn differently and on our own schedule and that’s ok!

I hope everyone else is feeling the blessings in their life this week too!

When God speaks to Me

I love when God speaks to me. Sometimes its through a thought,a song, a feeling,a friend.Most often for me it is through the scriptures. Today in sacrament meeting our bishop was speaking and he referred us to the 22nd chapter of Alma.In this chapter Aaron is teaching King Lamoni’s father about redemption through Christ.The king asks Aaron “What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which though hast spoken?”. The king says that he will forsake his kingdom if that is what it takes. Aaron goes on to explain to the king the process of repentance and faith in Jesus. what the king says next during his prayer is really what hit my heart.He says  “ I will give away all my sins to know thee”.

When I read that scripture it just filled my heart. I guess I compared it to my kids and my husband. I would give away all that I have to see my children happy.I would give away all that I have to see my husband safe.Am I not then willing to give away my sins to know my Savior? My sins aren't something forced upon me by an evil satan,they are something I choose,something I hold close to me in tight fists.I must be willing to “give them away”. Is there anything I wouldn’t do to know my Savior? We all have our “favorite sins”.We foolishly cling to these sins.Often justifying them along the way. My prayer for myself and for you  is that we make the conscious decision  to give them away that we may have a more close and fulfilling relationship with our Savior and Also our Father in heaven.

Christmas Fun

I always enjoy the Christmas season.Its one of my favorite times of year.During Justin's first two deployments I was home with family during the holidays.Though I missed him I had all the extended family to cheer me up and keep me company.This year I wasn’t able to be home with the family and I was nervous.Who wants to be moping around lonely and depressed at Christmas?In an attempt to distract myself and the kids I booked us a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas.I have to say it was FANTASTIC!We all had a blast! I think this may just become a family tradition.

The lodge was decorated beautifully

We even had snow IN the lobby!The kids spend hours (no joke) running around playing magic quest, an interactive game that has treats and treasures hidden throughout the first 5 floors of the lodge

Treasure chest that open at the flick of your wand

A pixie room with

And a dragons lair!

Christmas Eve night we all cuddled up in our new Christmas Pj’s to have popcorn and watch movies.

Christmas Day we spent at the water park!I have no pictures of that part though!But you can rest assured we had a blast!I hope your Christmas was wonderful too!

A Wonky and Wonderful Day

Yesterday was a nice day.some of it was a little wonky but some of it really was wonderful!

In our new study on plants we started with a nature walk.Observing and noting the differences about the plants around our house.The kids enjoyed getting out even though it was pretty chilly,at least it was dry :0) We read about plant cells and compared them to animal cells and the kids sketched some plant cells.

We use All About Spelling here and if any of you use it you are familiar with the letter tiles. I love the tiles!They add a visual and hands on element that can be so helpful to kids.The only problem I was having with them is that I didn’t have a board to keep them set up on.Every time we would use them we would have to pull them all out of a bag and get them laid out before we could start our lesson.Needless to say we didn’t use them much!Finally we made it to the store and I found a magnetic white board that was a great price.My next issue was how to hang said board.We liv in army housing which means we cant do anything permanent.My husbands also deployed and tools are not my strong suit.So I needed an easy way to get this board on the wall!After searching I found something.Heavy duty velcro fasteners!I can do velcro! Now here is the wonky part

Though you cant tell from this picture, I was in such a hurry to hang the board that I hung it completely UN-level!It really looks wonky!But I am not willing to hassle with trying to take off and re-attach the heavy duty velcro fasteners ;0) So wonky it will be!

Now the wonderful part of the day was my Christmas present arriving :0)

That’s my beautiful new Kindle Fire! So far I am loving it! Its easy to use and I found tons of Free books,music and apps for it.I downloaded at least 10 books last night and guess what, no shelf space needed!Which is really good for me!In this house shelf space is at a premium!

A Little Change

I love changing my hair.Its like a fun accessory!  For the past few months my hairs been a nice brown color.

 

 

But after This…

Its now Red!