we are here

hi everyone.....sorry it has been so long since i have posted.....but the good news is, is that we are here in italy and safe.....we got here last week thursday......we have been running ever since with a welcome to italy class.......the kids are doing good and the weather is just beautiful........we are loving it and are looking forward to being able to do some traveling while we are here.....

leah....im soooooo sorry that i wasnt able to call you before we left, but twc came out and turned us off early......and i ran out of time on my cell with talking to mama and daddy before we left......but i have an address and phone number that i am going to try and call you tonight so that i can give them to you.......i miss you and love you and hope that you forgive me!!!

p.s. im using the post computers so i will be able to blog more often, but i wont be able to be back to S&T just yet.....cant download pics in here......

last post for now

today is my last post till i am in italy and can find a computer.....the movers will be here next thursday and/or next friday....we had to give them two days....for some reason they want to come and look at what they will be packing before they actually pack it or something like that.....we will then be spending saturday cleaning the carpet and doing any touch up painting that may need to be done so that we can turn in the house keys......i am not sure if we will be in a hotel or if we are going to stay with stephens parents for the next two days or so, mostly likely we will stay in a hotel because we are flying out of fayetteville and they live in goldsboro....so anyways....we fly out on the 2nd at i believe 3 or 4pm and arrive in italy sometime around 10pm on the 3rd.....we have two stops....we are going to charlotte from here, where we will have a two hour delay and from charlotte we fly to london.....we get to london at 8 in the morning and dont leave till 6 at night.....way way long layover, but it gives us the opportunity to sight see london for free....well, almost free...we would need to take a train to victoria station which is like 40 dollars for all of us....the train takes 30 mins and i am hoping that as long as everyone is not too tired from the flight that we will be able to walk around london for a few hours to see some things.....i think it will be good for several reasons.....

i think that if we can muster up the strength to go out and see london in that time rather than to just sit at the airport, it will help us with the jet lag.....i believe this because we will be on a night flight over there and hopefully everyone will be able to sleep....we can spend the day in london(not sleeping in the terminal)and then make the hour and 45 min trip to pisa, landing there at 10, check into our hotel and go straight to bed....

i also think that it would good for us to see london while we have the time and it only cost 40 dollars because we may not get the opportunity to see london again.....it is on our wish list of places to go, but that list is HUGE.....we want to see and do so many things that london might not happen in the time that we are there.....so i say seize the opportunity while it is available......

until i "see" you all again, take care and God bless!!

author unknown

before i begin, let me just say that i in no way, ever intend to offend or upset anyone with my posts.....

military pride runs deep in my family.....my pawpaw fought in war....my great grandfather fought in war....my daddy retired from the army.....my brother is a marine stationed in japan......his wife was in the air force.....my father in law is retired air force......i have an uncle and a cousin that were both in the air force....i have a cousin right now that is hopefully going to be on his way home from his 3rd or 4th tour in iraq soon.....my daughters father(the x-husband) was in the army and my husband now is in the army....he has served in bosnia, did his tour in korea and been to iraq twice......

i am a very proud and patriotic american.....have been since birth.....it runs in my blood and is a huge part of my heritage, making me who i am today.....it did not take a catastrophic event like sept 11 to make me fly a flag or tie a yellow ribbon....or a horrid war to make me say thanks to the military.....so with all that being said, i will now tell you what this is all about....

im a writing today in reference to a comment left anonymously on my S&T for this past friday.....i deleted the comment in a moment of frustration that now i wish i had not....next time, i will leave it for all to read and see....

the comment was not about my S&T itself, but rather about the move update i did at the very beginning of the post.....obviously they had also read my post for that thursday as well and felt that i was being a whinny baby and asking for thanks and a pat on the back that did not belong to me, but to my husband.....because it was he who was in the military and not me (not quoted, but the gist of it)....and all that was followed by the infamous "YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO BY MARRYING A MILITARY MAN!!!"

first off those are words that should be considered a sin unless you yourself are a military spouse....we say that amongst ourselves as one spouse to another,as a way to keep up our own strength.....if you are not a military spouse, you dont know what it is that we do or do not do to even be able to say that.....

secondly, i am not sure if i came off as being a whinny baby or not....if so, i am sorry.....all i can say is that i am only human and the flesh is weak at times....i read over both posts to see where i might have come off as whining.....the only thing i see is that i made a comment about us really wanting to make this move together, therefore it would suck if stephen had to go before us.....i guess i forget that not everyone knows me that well and would know that i was making reference to the fact that we have been married for almost a year, with only three of those months spent together as a family.....and before i go any further, yes, we are truly blessed that stephen did return home safely to us and we thank GOD every day for that.....

and thirdly, i say this....to the unknown author, do me a favor and take a look at your life.....inventory all the things that you have been blessed with.....all the liberties and experiences that have been so freely given to you(leaving comments like that)...once you have done so, find someone in the military, no matter the branch....no matter if they are active, retired, reserves, or national guard....shake their hand....tell them thanks....find their spouse and kids, tell them thank you...because it is because of all of them, from the founding of our country to the end of life as we will know it, that you have, and will continue to have what you have.....it is their sacrifices and hardships that make this THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE.....

to my fellow bloggers, thank you for your kind words and prayers....they are much appreciated.....much needed and much loved by our family.....we will continue to pray for you as well.....and to those of you in my shoes or that have ever been in my shoes....thank you for the sacrifice that you and your family made for me and mine....we love you for that....

in closing,(i know this has gotten really long)i would like to send out a personal thank you to ALL of the military members and their families.....thank you for what you did, what you do, and what you will continue to do for me and my family.....we will continue to pray for strength and courage for each and everyone one of you.....GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!

sorry that my post is soooo late, but i have had a super busy day.....ill tell you about that real quick.....if you read yesterday's post you know that the army decided to change some things on us and it was going to push our move back.....well this morning, things changed AGAIN.....stephen has his orders and the kids and i still have to wait.....we have spent the day trying to do anything and everything to rush them......chances are that he will leave before us.....no biggie, just sucks a little because he has only been home for four months and we really wanted to make this move together......

today's post may end up being my last for a several months......while my stuff is floating on a boat over to italy.....i will try my best to get to a computer and at least still look at all the great show and tells till i am up and running again.....so anyways, thats the update as of today......on to my s&t.....


i would like to introduce you to sarah, the dashing redhead, and annabell, the beautiful Blondie.....im not a huge collector of dolls, but these two are special to me and i love them dearly.......they were both given to me by my mawmaw.....

annabell is 28 years old.....she was given to me when i was born......she has made many a moves with me over the years and has the wear to prove it.......her dress is very simple and white with light blue flowers and ribbon embroidered on it....she has white lace up boots and frilly panties......her hair is a major mess but i am too afraid to mess with it.....her face has faded some, but still has bright baby blues and Rosy red lips........

now sarah, on the other hand, i have only owned now for the last two or three years.....she belonged to my great grandmother.......im not sure where the name sarah came from, but it stuck......she is wearing a lovely light pink cotton dress with a lace overlay on the skirt, neckline, and cuffs....she also wears lace up boots.....her undies are more traditional to the times, as they go from neck to toes.....her face is white as white can be and she has small coral colored lips.....unlike annabell,who only has one painted nail left, sarah has all her nails panted.....mawmaw used to say that she looked she was getting ready to be "courted".....

moving update

ok, so i know that i already told everyone that we will be leaving sometime next week, well.....thats not quit right....if you know anything about the army,you know that things can change at the last minute.....

we are still going to italy, but not until sometime around the 15th of april....reason being is that stephen was denied going because jeremiah cannot go.....the army, or rather efmp(exceptional family member program)said that the place that we were going in italy was not equipped to treat or handle his asthma.....after finding this out, stephen began to see if we could to germany or even somewhere else stateside that jeremiah could go.......that turned out to be a big NOTHING, except of course for two options.....

stephen was told that he could still go italy just that jeremiah couldnt.....and if he did not take the assignment to italy he would be sent to korea for a year by himself (option1)...then he was told that if he did not take korea, he would have to stay here at fort bragg and that by staying here he would be deploying again in december(option2)......so as you can see, he didnt have many choices.....and i was honestly no help at all in this one because i did not, couldnt not, and would not be the one to make the decision to go to italy and not take jeremiah......

he weighed his options and choose to go to italy.....and so now we are having to start the whole moving process over again with all of the physicals and efmp screenings and everything......so our new projected date to leave is around the 15th of april........

I've been tagged for Crazy Eights

My IRL friend Leah tagged me to participate in a meme. So, here are several things in groups of 8, that tell you a little about me!

8 things I want to do before I die

1. Encourage my children continue to be Christians and live a saved life.
2. Grow old with Stephen.
3. Be an inspiration to my children.
4. Have a house full of grands and great grands to love and spoil.
5. Learn to quilt.
6. Become the best person that i can, the one that God wants me to be.
7. Teach my children to appreciate life in a way that I am just discovering(borrowed from Leah cause it's just too good not to).
8. Re-build some old family bonds, not just for me but for all of my family.

8 things I say often

1. No.
2. Stop.
3. Not nice.
4. Good job.
5. I'm proud of you!
6. I love you.
7. Not so loud.
8. Thank you Lord!(for every blessing we get and every day that i am allowed to wake)

8 songs I sing over and over again

1. Sally the camel
2. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
3. Mary had a little lamb.
4. Clean clean up (from barney)
5. Abc's
6. If you're happy and you know it
7. Jesus loves me
8. And i can't forget the dora theme song.

8 things I’m passionate about
1. My God.
2. Stephen.
3. My kids.
4. My family.
5. Friends (the few that i still have)
6. Cooking.
7. Reading.
8. Building a STRONG christian family.

8 books I’ve read recently
1. The cat in the hat.
2. Goodnight moon.
3. Are you my mother.
4. The foot book.
5. Thank you God for all the animals.Dancing with Degas
6. Peek-a-Boo.
7. Mr. brown can moo. can you?
8. Not his type(romance about a plus size woman getting the hot guy)

8 things that attract me to my best friends
1. Loyalty.
2. Trust.
3. Honesty.
4. Similar interests/passions
5. Similar beliefs
6. Shared experiences.
7. Not just a friend to me, but to my family as well.
8. They accept me and love me for who I am.

8 people I think should do Crazy Eights, ok I don't know 8 blogging people, sorry pretty new to this.

for todays show and tell i am showing off some of the things i whipped up for my son's birthday party.....his party was originally going to a superman theme, but he changed his mind on TUESDAY....he wanted a party for some dude naruto......knowing nothing about him, i spent a lot of time on the internet......

here's what i found out...naruto is a japanese anime....the story line is a ninja love story, i believe.....his toys couldnt be found in the toy stores here and i didnt have time to order anything off the internet....and i found no party supplies for him....

so i made a decorated a store bought cake (i couldnt find mt stuff to bake it myself) with a naruto decal that i made using contact paper and a print out of him.....i bought some really cool looking blue and green plates and napkins....and then headed to the local asian market to pick up some chopsticks.....i actually found some candy chop sticks....printed off some coloring pages for the treat bags and painted what is supposed to be the symbol for friendship on the front of the clear bags.....i know that they are not 100% correct because i did it myself and all the characters are supposed to be beside each other and mine are not, i couldnt get them to fit( if anyone is of japanese heritage, i apologize, i was not trying to make a mockery of your beautiful language/symbols, just trying to satisfy a ten year old kid....and then i came up with this great idea for rice crispy sushi.....

they have to be my favorite.....they are not perfect, but cute......the "sushi' with the green center is not so hot cause all the green marshmallows melted too quickly and kinda blended in with the rest of the treat.....and the "sushi" with the pink center, well those marshmallows didnt want to melt at all, so they are a bit thicker.....either way, i think that they turned out cute and the kids love them.....

we will also be having the regular chips and dip along with some healthier snack choices.....there will also be popcorn and a huge bowl of steaming ramen noodles.....according to the cartoon, naruto loves ramen......

sorry my table wasnt big enough to hold everything


i tried to put a napkin behind the writing so it be seen better

hump day is here

as today is wednesday and it has always been called humped day, or atleast as far back as i can remember, i thought it would be a fitting title for todays post....

wednesday is the middle of the week and often times breaks a crazy week in half....however, for me, today is simply the beginning of a busy next few days......jeremiah is having his birthday party saturday......i have been enlisted to make his cake and put together the treat bags and arange the decorations......that is normally not a problem, especially being that i like to do things like that, but there are two problems with this birthday party.....actually more like obstacles than problems, but they are as follows.....

1.) i am planning the party with his mama at their house in goldsboro.....thats no biggie, but it does kinda leave some things to the imagination in regards to the amount of treat bags and the like....or the amount of decorations that she has to go along with what i have.......so my plan for that is to just save all the receipts for everything and if there ends up being unopened items, i will return them later.....

2.) jeremiah had originally wanted a sonic the hedge hog party......i hunted high and low and couldnt find all much in sonic....so he changed his mind to having a superman party....that seemed cool to me because i knew that superman stuff was everywhere.....but two days ago, i was told that he wanted to have a naruto party........this has turned into a challenge.....

first, i had no idea who or what a naruto even was......second, every store i went to did not have anything naruto......third, i could buy some stuff online, but 99.99999999% of it was coming from japan or china and wouldnt have been here in time for the party........

so here is what i have come up with.....i found a site that i could print off coloring pages of naruto(i printed like 40)those along with several other little party favors and even a few pieces of candy will be put into regular ole clear favor bags.......i will be decorating the outside of the bags with window paint(found at hobby lobby)....i printed off some of the japanese writing that is in the comic books(not sure what they are saying, but hey i thought it would be cool), and that will be on the sides of the bags.....i will also be using some of the same writings on regular dark blue napkins....and the plates will be the same dark blue......

since i could only find naruto shaped balloons at some chinese website that i wasnt even sure how to order from, his balloons will be basic primary colors......the girls and i are going to make him a birthday banner that we will be pasting a huge blown up picture of naruto and his friends on both ends of it......

and his cake, i am actually cheating there this year, i am not making it from scratch, not because i dont want to, but i cant seem to find my frosting tips anywhere and i dont want to buy new ones when i know i have some somewhere.....so i am getting a plain white cake with a red top and bottom border from walmart......once i get it home, i will be placing a naruto decal(that i have made myself)in the middle of the cake and adding on the candles.....i will also be "dusting" the cake with some sprinkles that i found that kinda look like the different word bubbles from comic books........

and all this starts tomorrow morning, so as you can see, my hump day is the beginning of a busy rest of the week.......wish me luck

p.s. i will post some pics later on this weekend or next week

trading in for a poodle dog

again, i come to you at the wee early hour of 1:30am, with sign of sleepiness in sight......and as i sit here, i realize that i have not posted in a few days.....not because there is nothing to talk about, but because i have come to a point where i am drawing a blank......

reason being is, i am almost 100% sure, that everyone is tired of hearing about us getting ready to move to italy.....i say this because i am getting tired of talking about it......it not that i am not super excited, but rather just ready for it to finally happen......too many delays happening right now, which is slowing us down a bit.....and it seems anytime that i talk to anyone in my family, that is all that care about.....i was the same way right before i got married.....seriously, i was sooo tired of talking about it and ready for it to happen that i simply stopped talking about it.......

so anyways, on to something else......i cannot wait....i repeat CANNOT WAIT till kee is three.....three is going to be a great day for me, i mean us.....she will be two years closer to being in school(YES!), i can finally go back to work full time, without the cost of all day daycare.....she will hopefully no longer be in the terrible two's anymore......although i have been told by my parents that she is just like me and it wont be any easier at three than it is at two....but i am thinking that anything is better than this......for example....

first off, kee is a very sweet, loving little girl....when she wants to be, but here lately she has just lost her mind or something......my last few days have been spent not patching and painting nail holes like i had planned, but rather scrubbing markers, pencils, and crayons off every single wall in the house....even when i put them up, she manages to find them.....i have been cleaning up paint peelings where she has managed to peel and pull paint off her bedroom wall.....refolding laundry like three times before a load can all be put away.....and remaking beds all day long.....

and to top it off, she has learned a new, not so very nice phrase......haha.....yeah it seems harmless, but with the devilish mind of a terrible two kid, its not so funny......last night, we had a very simple dinner of cornbread, grilled chicken and lima beans.....she loves the beans and cornbread, not so much the chicken(neither of the girls really like to eat meat).....she ate her beans and cornbread and some of her chicken....she wanted more cornbread but was told to finish her chicken first.....she gets up from the table walks straight into the kitchen and throws her plate in the floor, chicken scattered everywhere and says so very proudly, "HAHA, cornbread peas".....or when she got mad at me the other afternoon after lunch when i wouldnt let her have any more to drink because she was going to take a nap and i didnt want her to pee in the bed, she stood in the kitchen and peed in her panties, followed by the now infamous "HAHA".....she hasnt had an accident in forever.....and here i am left thinking to myself......"i want to laugh, but im too mad.....do i pop her hand or just leave her be.......no i'll trade her in on a poodle dog...yeah a poodle dog thats it"

recipes for the insomniac

it is now almost 2 in the morning, and as it is so very normal for me, i am wide awake.....though these dark and very quite hours are often boring, and probably going to kill me one day, i can normally find something constructive, yet not to noisy to occupy my time......sometimes i catch up on reading a book that has no pictures....sometimes i will watch a sappy lifetime movie....sometimes i work on a project or just spend time with God.....and many times, more than not, i will bake....so as i sit here tonight with nothing to bake, watch, read, or do, i thought that i might share my last night owl "baking party" recipe with you....

i grew up all over the world cause my daddy was in the army, but when it was time for him to retire, he took us right back home to his roots so to say.....we moved to opelika, alabama.....where i first remember having apple butter.....this is a recipe that i got from my mama a long time ago.....i recently made it and it tastes just as good as if she had made it herself......the recipe doesnt tell you how much it makes, but normally it will fill a medium size canning jar(somewhere between 3-5 cups)


Mama’s Oven Apple Butter


What you will need:
-8 granny smith apples. Peeled and diced
-1 cup apple juice
-1 cup sugar
-2 tablespoons cinnamon

What you will do:
-Cook diced apples and juice in a dutch oven over medium heat for 30 minutes, or until tender. Once tender, stir until the apples are mashed.
-Stir in sugar and cinnamon. Pour into a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish.
-Bake at 275 degrees for 4 to 41/2 hours, stir every hour.
-Cover and chill, or can.

Tips:
-If it does not turn out to be the spreading consistency you like, run a mixer through it for a few minutes.
-If you prefer to use a sugar substitute, add just a squeeze or two of lemon juice.



apples courtesy of http://www.bearhaus.com/main.html

ok bare with me, i love the idea of show and tell, but i am not real sure how this works....i believe that i am following all the directions and rules.....if i have it wrong PLEASE let me know and i will change it.....

my show and tell comes from my kitchen today.....i love kitchens, they offer soo much warmth, love, life lessons, and of course good sweet smells.....anyways, my kitchen is and has been done in americana for several years now......its not just your typical stars and stripes and hearts, but a mixture of alot of different things.....and today i am showing a set of six wrought iron figures.....my aunt donna found them at a yard sale and gave them to me......i love them and they fit so very well with everything else......

there is a colonial style woman, a colonial man, a cannon with a pile of cannon balls, what i presume to be a door knocker, and soaring above them all is a proud eagle.....they hang over the doorway into my dinning room.....i dont know very much about them except that they were made by a company named sexton....there is a 24 stamped in the back of all them and an old man at a resale/antique shop told me they were very old and highly collectible.......and that mine were still in very good condition......

the pictures that i have to share with you are not the best because i was afraid to take off the wall.....the hook on the back is getting very weak, so once i have them in place i DO NOT move them......the red they were once painted has faded to a dull brownish color, the blues are still brilliant and the cream color is yellowish in tint now.....colors would probably be better if i would actually wash them, but i am terrified they will rust or all the color will wash off.....they do get a regular dusting......

queen of crafts.....

ok ok, maybe im not the queen of crafts, but im working on it......lol...no seriously, i have come a long way, very very long way from my first "real" crafting project.......back then i thought i wasnt very good and felt it was a waste of time.....now i live to craft and craft to live......

about 7 years ago, leah and i thought it would be good for us to take up crafting.....actually i think it was more her idea than mine.....she used to have a super hectic life and i think that she thought that crafting could take her away from it all for little while.....anyways, we bought little terra cotta flower pots, some paint, some brushes, hot glue guns, ribbons and fake flowers......

so with a glass of wine,(we thought we were SOOOOO the stuff back then)and all of our supplies we sat in the middle of my living room floor and commenced to make our own flower arrangements......by the end of the night we had concocted these things that were white....but just barely, you could still see the terra cotta color peeping through, there was hot glue strings everywhere holding bunched up ribbons in place, flowers or what was supposed to be flowers painted all around the sides of the pots.....and i dont think that we ever made it to the actual flower arrangements themselves.......needles to say, they were not the prettiest of crafts, or at least mine definitely wasnt as i remember.....

thinking back on that day, i remember that we used my best towels for our drop clothes....they were a really soft light blue fluffy towel (i worked at sears at the time and got them for a great price).....by the end of our crafting night my towels were covered in paint stains and piles of dried up hot glue......

in preparing to make our move to italy, i was cleaning out my HUGE overflowing craft box, which is more like a three drawer dresser now, because they wont ship liquids and i have several paints that will need to be used or given to boo's classroom....anyways, back on track here, i found one of those stupid blue towels......it still has all of its original stains of purple and white along with the hot glue piles, plus the tons more stains that my kids and i have added to it......its almost a work of art by itself.....

like i said, it made me think of leah and that very first project all those years ago....if she had not made me do it then, i might not be where i am now.....and i love to craft and all things that i have made for my kids, for my family, friends, all the stuff for the house, and not to mention all the awesome flower arrangements that i am able to make, not just for me, but for several different weddings......i love it and its just yet another reason that i love leah.....

p.s. maybe one day i might get around to posting some of my projects!!

black history month project

as we all know feb is black history month.....in our family, being that half of us are white and half of us are black, that always brings up a ton questions and long talks.....one of the best things that my kids and stephen and i have all come to agree on, is that black history is a good thing to learn and to understand, but that black people are no different than any other race, that we were all created equal and that all heritage months should be taken away, or at least until (as my son said) "they find a way to give white people a month too since we are the only ones that dont have a month"......i am very proud of my children for the thoughts that they have and their ability to express them in ways that are respectful.....im also very proud of them for being able to look past a persons skin color to see who they really are inside......

anyways onto the subject at hand......jeremiah was given a project to do for black history month.....they were supposed to use the library, internet and books/mags. to come up with a paper and display......the paper could be on any one person that the student wanted to use and the display had to be at least a poster board, creatively done to represent the person that they chose......

in talking to jeremiah, we found out that almost all the kids in his class were going to be using martin luther king jr, harriett tubman, george washington carver, or booker t washington.......i told him that i felt that he should find someone else to do his project on......he could not think of anyone else to use....which is truly a shame because there are sooooo many more great black people that helped to make the world what it is today, but yet all that is taught in our schools are the ones listed above.......after being frustrated at this, i asked him if he knew who the tuskegee airmen were......of course he didnt, shocker there......so guess what, they are who he then did his project on......

i took him over to tuskegee university while we were still in alabama so that he could learn first hand for himself who they were and what they were about...... after a few hours there, we found out that the first black pilots in all of the military do not have an actual museum of there own.....the first one, which wasnt much better than the make shift trailor being used at present, was burned to the ground.......we gathered as much information and took as many pictures that we could.....we also were given the chance to see and touch the original one and only plane that was used to train every single one of the airmen....i also had jeremiah spend some time on the internet to find out some more stuff that he could use for his project........

we worked on his paper and his display which consisted of two poster boards(with props on the back so they would stand up), a map of alabama with tuskegee highlighted for it all to sit on, several different pamphlets that we got at the airmen site and a book......he was nervous about taking it to school because we had not followed the "rules" and had used more than one person for the project......i told him not to worry, that if he got in trouble or got a bad grade i would go and talk to the teacher........however, i am very happy to report that he got the highest grade and his project is on display for the whole school to see.....

it is honestly sad that in honoring black history, especially being that it is the month that is the most promoted throughout the media, movies, tv programs, schools and the like, that our children dont get the opportunity to learn about some of the other great black people that have changed the world too......

i have included a few pics that we took....

sounds of spring are in the air

so as i was awakened to the noises of lawn mowers and leaf blowers, my mind instantly thought....wow, they feel need to cut grass, that must mean that spring is on its way.......

although they are sounds that during the spring, are not welcomed at the crack of dawn, they were much longed for today......this winter season has been a crazy one.....cold then hot....then cold and snowy.....just to go back to hot......then to go right back to freezing.......so i am patiently waiting the days that i can walk outside first thing in the morning and enjoy a cup of coffee while i watch boo get on the school bus.....instead of the days of now, where we bundle her up, send her out at the last min and i watch from the kitchen window (to prevent keegan from being out in the cold that early in the morning) just to hop on the couch and bundle in a warm blanket.........

i miss spring.....spring and early fall are my favorite times of the year.....the weather is just perfect......no jackets, no huge piles of clothes......we can play outside instead of being pretty much limited to the house.......to run and play in fields of flowers....to lay down in tall grass....to be barefoot........Lord please make spring hurry

once were six on the move, but now we are five

as it were, all six of us were supposed to be moving to italy....stephen and me and all four of the kids.....well at least all four for the first year....but as it turns out, alex told us this weekend that she is no longer going to be going with us, that as long as she has free time in the summer she wants to visit, but she cant go for the year.....major shocker there.....we were all so excited about going and were counting down the weeks till we left, so this came as a huge surprise......

she has decided that she wants to stay with her mom.....she has been thinking about it for awhile and finally decided that it was time for her to tell us......it was a hard thing for her to do.....she was worried that we would be mad at her or that we might want to blame her mom.......she also thought that we might love her less or something like that (like that could or would ever happen).......its been a really long time since i was 13, i guess i forgot how their minds work........

after the initial shock of it, we found out that her reasons are really good and very mature ones to make for her age.....here in north carolina, they are starting a new program in high schools......starting the beginning of freshman year, which is next year for her, if a student passes an acceptance test and is approved, they can begin taking college classes at no charge (yes, i just said free college) ......doing this program will allow students to graduate at the end of their junior year with a two year degree.......so far she has passed the acceptance test and is waiting the approval......

i am not real sure just how this program works, so that will be my "homework" for the week, but i am extremely proud of her for having the motivation to start her college career this early......she is an incredibly smart young lady and if this is really something that she wants to do, she will be successful.......my only fear is that she is going to miss a lot of what high school is really about because from what i understand now, there will not be a lot of free time for her....her schedules are going to be picked for her...her normal school hours will be different and when the bell rings, her day is not over.....she will have night classes to head out to, and depending on the term, she may have some super early morning classes as well......

my prayer for her now will be that she continues to keep herself motivated and doesnt give up when it gets tough, as i am sure it will......not that she is the type of person to give up easily, but in the past, she has allowed friends, comments of teachers directed toward her "laziness" when she is bored with a task that doesnt challenge her, and the thoughts of other people to stand in the way of her success.......i pray that she will find her own strength in this process and come out on top, proving to herself what i already know.......that she can do anything that she sets her mind to.......

sweet home alabama

well its more like sad home alabama this time around....sorry that i havent posted in a few days, but we took a few days and headed home to spend some time with the family and to tell them goodbye...or rather, to say our "see ya laters"....this was the last trip that we will be bale to make down there before we head on over to italy......it was hard to leave, but its all a part of the life that we chose.....it did make it easier this time around because i know that my parents are already saving the money to come and see me.....and even though i will not be able to make a trip up north to visit leah before we leave i know that she will come to see us too....in fact while i was in germany she was the only one that made that trip.......

it was a good trip though...we had alot of fun hanging out and playing games with the family............i kicked some major booty in electronic monopoly and we played a few hours of uno attack......we visited our church and went out to eat at one of our favorite places named country's......great little bbq place with the best fried pickles ever.......hopefully i will be able to post some of the pics soon......

after the dreaded drive home, all the fun and games was over, well atleast for now......we had to pick up were we left off, and start trying to get everything finished so that we can leave on time......yesterday was more doc appointments and tomorrow will be all about the passports......wish me luck with that.......cause i will definately be needing it.....all the paperwork that is required for passports for underage children is just madening.......i already a whole folder full......we praying though that we will get them back in time......they have to be rushed.......

anyways, i think that is enough for now......i hope that this finds everyone is good health and spirits and that you are as blessed as we are.......peace, love and blessings

transport from 360

well i am not new to blogging, but i am new here.....i have been blogging on 360 for sometime now but have decided it is time for a change......i am still figuring out this whole blogspot, so bare with me....in the mean time i have posted a few of my blogs from 360 here to get me started, none of them are in type of order sorry.....i am not a mean or spiteful person, but i am who i am and i believe strongly about certain things.....i will never say sorry for the things that i post.......i hope to meet some new and interesting people here......hope you enjoy.......love and blessings

Prayers of a child
sometime last week elizabeth came to me and said that she didnt know how to pray.....i asked her why because she has been saying her prayers for a long time now.....she explained to me that she didnt want to pray the little kids prayer.....you see we have taught her the basic kids prayer of now i lay me down to sleep.....she has this book of childrens prayers, and we have read it several times....so she has now began to associate her prayers to the childrens prayers in that book....which there was nothing wrong with that, but she feels that it is for a baby....and plans on teaching it to keegan when she can really talk.....
so we began talking about why we pray and how we should pray.....we worked on a new big girl prayer for her to start saying.....that lasted till tonight.....after dinner and playing and brushing teeth and all that normal nightly bedtime jazz, i reminded her to do her prayers before she went to bed......she said ok and left......a while later she came back out and said that she wasnt praying right and wanted my help.....so i went in the room and sat with her and asked her what she meant......she told me that she wanted God to really hear her prayers and wanted to pray like mommy and daddy do.......
not knowing what exactly she meant i asked her what she meant......she told me and my heart filled with this pride and joy that i cannot explain......she is only five and already understands the true power of prayer.....she wanted to kneel and pray rather than sitting in her bed.....so we began to talk about what it is that she should say......i told her that the first thing that she should do when praying to God is to humble herself by kneeling and then begin by praising God for all that he has done for her....then she could then ask a special blessing over anything or anyone that she wanted to......and then she could ask God to help her to reach her personal goals for the week........and that then she should always tell God how much we love him and his son Jesus Christ our personal Lord and savior......so this was her prayer.....
Dear God,
my name is elizabeth kay martin.......you have made me special because i have a mommy, a daddy, a big sister, a little brother and a baby sister......you have also given me a dad......God will you please make my daddy and all his friends safe in iraq cause mommy says that they have the most important job in the world and their job is not over yet.......God will you please make my graw stronger and better so that i can go and see her again soon......will please make my sister not be so mean to me when we play.....can you make my mommy be strong for my daddy and be the boss when he is gone......and God can you tell my dad that i love him too.....because i love all of them and want them all to be safe.....God thank you for making us all healthy and happy and safe.......God can you help me to be a good girl this week, my goals are to be good in school, help mommy with the dishes and listen to what she says....to be nice to keegan and ms. janell......i love you God and Jesus, and tell Jesus thank you for breaking the bread small to feed like 25 people(her lesson at church today was about Jesus feeding 5000)......AMEN
i was sooooo proud of her for the simple prayer that she said and realized more today than any other that our children really do learn from our example......i guess i didnt know that she paid that much attention to me or stephen when we prayed.......but now i know......
baby, i hope that when you read this that you will see what a true impact you have had on this family......and just how much you are loved and missed.......we love you and miss you very much, and as you can see we are all praying for you and everyone else over there......i missed talking to you today and hope that you will get the chance to call tomorrow......i love you and miss you more than words can say.....

attack of the suckers
kids are some of the most amazing things that God could have ever created......they are sooo filled with energy and the things that will come out of their mouths will sometimes shock us.....but the craziest of the crazies when it comes to kids is the things they do to each other at times......
after church today, i told the girls that we had a few errands to run (both of them have been growing like little weeds, all the clothes that we got them for Christmas, are all getting tooo small already!).....so we go to kmart first, elizabeth needed to get some new pants.....we looked for what seemed like hours just to bring home clothes that dont fit.......yes, i know that i should have tried them all on her, but that is a difficult thing all by its self.....let me tell you why......i cant take the buggy into the dressing room, keegan wont stop screaming at the top of her lungs when elizabeth goes in by herself.....i guess she thinks that we were going to leave her......so we tried on one pair that did not fit and so i figured that if i got the next size up it would fit.......guess i was wrong there.....
anyways, we leave....and on the way to walmart, elizabeth asks if they can spend their money on suckers when we get there.....i said sure......did not think that buying suckers would cause any problems.......guess what, wrong again was i.....well the suckers themselves were not the problem.....the deveil child holding them was......keegan decides that it will be cool to throw the suckers into the buggy.....that normally would not be a problem for me cause atlaeast then she isnt throwing them all over the store.....but this time boo was "riding" on the back on the buggy and one of those big ole stupid suckers bounced right out of the buggy and popped boo in the eye.......i will be suprised if she wakes up without a blackeye......
of course she starts yelling and crying and everyone looks at me like i have just tried to kill her in the middle of the store or something.......so i have to take her and keegan to the bathroom so i can look at her eye.....while in there we all tried to go potty......thats when elizabeth decides it will be nice to leave keegan in the stall by herself......of course i am there the whole time so she wouldnt have gotten left......
it just amazes me, the things that the two of them will do to each other...but then in the same breath, if they think that someone is going to hurt their sister, they will be ready to fight.....
i hope that they will always stay that way for the rest of their lives.....cause i know for me, it really sucked growing up with an older sister that never loved me enough to fight for me, just with me.........
p.s....i forgot to tell my baby that i love him and miss him and i cant wait till you get to come home on r&r........huggs and kisses

life.....and sometimes death
ok.....there are a few things on my mind today that i need to get out so this blog may not have any type of a real flow......and may make no sense to some.....
i heard from stephen today and i was very happy in being able to do so......but then in the conversation that changed quick.....not in a bad way, but in a way that made me realize just how blessed i am.....and how sooooo many more of us (military wives/girlfriends/husbands/etc.) are to.....but it also made me notice how much of whinny babies we can be at times......
yes, it sucks that the phones go down at times.......and yes it really sucks when we dont get to talk to them......and the thing that sucks the most is that they have to be there in the first place....however, in some way or another, we all knew what we were getting into when we put ourselves in the lives of a military person.....so with all that being said, i guess i can move to my next train of thought.....
recently, there was a time frame of like four days when we heard nothing from our deployed ones......i am guessing that several of the wives freaked out and had the frg call down range to see why.....unless this is your first deployment, you should know that it happens at times.....and as soon as the phones are back up, they will be calling again.....(now to my story, and i am not sure if this is how it would happen.....this is what i think would)
its a normal day, well as normal as can be....work, family, kids, friends.....all the things that we do to keep ourselves busy during a deployment......the day has come to a slow close and while getting ready to rest for the evening, the phone rings....its an od call....just to make sure that you are home......within an hour there is a knock on your front door.....
peeking out the window to see who the unexpected visitor might be, your heart immediately skips beats and you become weak in the knees......knowing the worst is about to happen, you refuse to open the door.....if you dont open it, they will go away and it wont be true......
persistant ringing draws you back to reality......you gather yourself, the best you know how......smooth your hair back from your face and clear your throat, which is growing closed with every breath......all of this is happening within a very few short seconds......buzz buzz.....again, you tell yourself to open the door....
there is a uniformed man with his cover in his hand staring you in the face.....his first words to you are....mam......you dont even need to hear any more, which is good cause you cant hear anything but the beating of your own heart steadly slow.......your worst fear has just become a reality.......
your son or daughter.....your flesh and blood.....the child, because no matter their age, they are still your baby...that you birthed and raised to be a fine young citizen that grew up and joined the military is not coming home from this war (and we are not even techinally supossed to be at war!).....
back to my thoughts.......when the phones are down......dont be a cry baby about it.....and i am not playing blame games here, i am a victom of that myself at times.....we get so used to things a certain way and expect that they will always be that way.....and when they arent we want to pitch fits and have pitty parties.....
so the next time the phones go down......if you havent gotten this phone call followed by this, or a similar situation......get on your knees and pray......thank God that it wasnt your loved one.....and pray for the family that it happened to.....its the least we can do, as we all know that it is our deepest fear at this point in time....
this reality happened to some one is our battalion this past "down" time....we all need to spend some time in prayer for that family.....i wasnt told who they are, but that doesnt matter....it could be one of us the next time around and i would hope that this family would pray for us as well......
if this offends anyone....i DO NOT apologize.......this it the world we live in today and we all need to stop being so selfish (me encluded).....
stephen, i love you and miss you so very much.....and as always, we are praying for your safety, as well as, all of 659, along with the units that we dont know.....even though you know i do, i felt the need to tell you again that we, as a family......me, elizabeth, and all of my family and even my church back home, pray every day for you and all of our military.....you know how i feel about these deployments and the only thing that i can do to make me feel better about it is to pray......so thats what i do......