a coasties girl

My favorite kind of date

2012-03-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

So the other night I reenacted our Valentines date night.

At home.

Which pretty much topped the Vday date.

Why?

Because we had the wine, the cheese, the yummy food,

only this time we were in our pajamas, on our couch!

Oh and the wine didn't cost 10 bucks a glass.

I love setting aside a night to put down the lap top,

and whatever other activities we have going on, and just spend time together.

I was seriously so excited and giddy all week for this night.

We chatted about this and that while munching on food, till we could no longer

swallow one more olive or grape.

Then we groveled on the couch with full bellies while

watching a flick I'd been wanting to see {to be revealed at the end}.

And of course there was ice cream involved.

Always.

Main course:

Raisins. Almonds. Olives. Goat Cheese. Herb Havarti. Salami.

Kashi Whole Grain Crackers. Grapes. Turkey Finger Sandwiches.

Wine choices:

Chardonnay and Riesling.

Never had this Chard before but it was pretty tasty.

Ok there's one thing that irks me.

Whenever I get wine while eating out {which is hardly ever since it's so ridonkulously expensive}

the glass isn't even half full!

Really? If I'm going to pay 10 bucks for a glass I expect it to be full people.

So here is what I like my glass of wine to look like!

What really made this date wasn't the wine though.

It was the pj pants.. and my new super soft blankie from TJ Maxx...

mmmm I love a good soft blanket.

Aftermath:

Then the ice cream.

{seriously how did I fit all this into my belly and live?}

And now for the movie.

I know by this picture you'll know exactly what is it.

I just hope you don't think less of me. :-p

I like to watch mindless entertainment sometimes.

Dun dun dun.

Team Edward!!!!

haha KIDDINGGGGGG!

I'm not an obsessed fan. Just like to see what it's all about.

And the hubs humors me. =)

Best. Date. Ever.

Ze kitchen

2012-02-25T15:44:00.000-05:00

Step into my kitchen won't you?

As the tour continues, you'll find youself walking through the front door

with the kitchen immediatly on the right.

First off you'll notice the chalk board with perfect scribbles on the lower half.

Done by the one and only McKennon, and truly a work of art.

Then you'll find you've ambled into a bright and lovely area.

Small but full of charm and character.

Items from far off places and nearby stores adorn the walls, fridge and cupboards.

I've done some traveling in my day, and have brought back

such trinkets that delight and please me.

Here you will see them displayed.

So without further prattle:

I have plans for the wall with the little black shelf on it..

They inlude herbs in the tea tins, 4 mugs -not just 2,

and something to cover up that unbecoming phone jack!

That concludes today's tour.

Perhaps next time you'll sit a spell and have a cup of tea with me.

Did someone say pancakes?

2012-02-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

Lets talk about pancakes.

One of my favorite foods, whether it be for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

There's lot of different versions out there.

IHOP, Bisquick or Krusteaz..

Or your own super secret special whole wheat ones.

I for one, have my very own super secret special pancake recipe.

And today's your lucky day, because I'm going to share it with you.

That's right!

I grew up on these babies.

My mom made them all the time, they are really the only pancakes I've ever known.

We have a deep, true love, these pancakes and I.

I'm not sure if my mom made up the recipe, or got it from a book.

Either way they're super special.

Recipe is as follows.

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 Tblespn sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk {I use almond or coconut}

1/4 cup oil {I use grapeseed or coconut}

Large dash of wheat germ

Mix wet ingredients together, then add the dry and stir all together.

Yields around 7-9 pancakes, depending on size.

{In case you're wondering why I use almond or coconut... well we've taken the leap

and ditched cow milk. I always knew it wasn't the greatest, and then I did some

research and reading and came across this article. So that was the straw on the camels back...}

Sometimes I'll plop blueberries into them... if I'm in the mood

or a certain someone requests them =)

I have to smother my cakes in real maple syrup.

And sometimes I'll put peanut butter on them.

We grew up doing that and some people thinks its weird...

you tell me.

Well, make them sometime and tell me what ya think!

Bedroooooooms

2012-02-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

We shall continue the tour with our little bedrooms.

I've already showed you McKennons...

Now I'm really quite embarrassed to show you the others

because there's lots of work to be done.

I haven't even put up anything on the walls really.

And I have yet to make my headboard.

I'm waiting on nicer weather before I can repaint the night stands and dresser in our room..

It always takes much longer then I'd like to finish my projects..

The weather really is partly to blame..

and I suppose the other half is called having munchkins afoot. :-p

Anyway, here ya are.

In Charlie's room I think I'll go with a music-ish theme.

We had to hang J's guitars up and that was the only place there was room.

Plus it works out cause Char loooooves guitar =)

There you have it.

Nothing to look at really =(

Le Bains

2012-02-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

Translation, in my own words:

The bathrooms revealed.

That's right, I'm starting the tour of my house with the toilets.

Classy huh.

We have 2 bathrooms.

Nothing special about them.

Cute and small, 1 sink each.

I painted the master after we moved in cause it was an awful mint green.

Before.

After

I loooooove the way it turned out.

I got the glass canistes from Goodwill. $6.

The two tins from Target. $10.

The Lavender plant and pot from Ikea. $10.

Little blue bird from Michaels. $3.

Postcard pics from sister. Free.

Next is boys/guest bath.

I left color as is.

Loved the darker country blue.

I found some cute little tin buckets at the dollar spot in Target.

I hung them with twine from the towel bar and put some bathroom necessities in them.

Oh, and the twigs in the pitcher....from the back yard =)

How could little tin buckets make one so happy?

I threw together this sign one night as well.

I just wrapped twine around a matte,

then stenciled the letters on.

I think twine is my new crafting obession.

And well, that's it my friends.

Hope you enjoyed the tour =)

Ah love

2012-02-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

I'm so glad there's a day set aside just to celebrate love.

There's so much in my life that I love...

For starters, a sweet little VB jewelry box and cookies.

{there I go with cookies again...}

Yesterday J told me to be ready and dressed for a night out by 7.

He had no argument from me.

I was ready by 5.

He took me to a fancy wine and bistro bar.

We celebrated two things.

Our love, which is deeper then the deep blue sea.

And paying off our car.

Praise the Lord Halleighloooo!

It's a good feeling, not being in debt.

Although we might be back in debt after the dinner we had...

Ah people, I could seriously live off wine and cheese for the rest of my

and be perfectly content.

And goat cheese.. oh it's just so delectable!

The food was sooo delish.

All we did on our date was eat and drink.

And talk about how we wanted to rush back home to get into our jammies

and watch our tv show (currently Prison Break).

We are such home bodies.

How silly are we?

I love us though.

Happy Valentines.

The End.

Birthday smiles and LOTS of food

2012-02-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

Another weekend come and gone.

Only this weekend was full of fun and festivities.

And tons of food.

Literally I think I ate my weight in cookies and ice cream.

But fortunately I didn't double my size =)

My sis has a Nikon so when she comes I'm obsessed with taking pictures..

Mostly of food.

Not sure why.

But food is so photograph-able.

And everyone loves food.

I'm sorry if you're desperately hungry by the end of this post.

I also got a few of the babies.

They're pretty photogenic too. =)

Charch wore a bow for the birthday girl.. for about 2 seconds.

We started off the weekend with presents, drinks and chocolate covered strawberries.

Nothing could go wrong with that combo!

Birthday morning cinnamon rolls with some bubbly.

Peach bubbly no less... mmmmmm.

Babies, balloons and bottoms.

A very good combination if I do say so myself.

Birthday lunch!

Yummy turkey sandwiches with cream cheese pesto spread

and garlic fries.

Talk about a breath bomb.

The birthday girl requested an ice cream cake.

I was all over that..

I had pinned this guy awhile ago.

Can't go wrong with Oreos.

Excuse my silly pose and jammies.

It was one of those weekends where you just stay inside all comfy and stuff your face.

Saturday morning we woke up to snow.

Weird right?

Well, weird for here anyway.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough to snow us in and keep my sis here longer.

One can always hope.

And that my friends concludes our birthday weekend!

Party time

2012-02-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

Oh dear bloggy friends.

I feel horrible.

I really do.

I've been holding out on house pics.

I have begun to take pictures, but then the lighting isn't right.

Or the house is a complete mess.

And when I show my house I want it to be perfect.

But then I realized...

It's messy because of my two little boys.

And I'm kept busy taking care of them.

Laundry, making meals, cleaning.. you name it.

This is my life and I love it.

So why shouldn't you have messy house pictures.

Every toy doesn't have to be in it's right box.

Or each pillow on the couch fluffed.

So... NEXT week I will show the house!

It's such a little casa though, so don't get too excited =)

I would this weekend, but we're very busy partying.

My sis turned 29 today, so this is her birthday weekend!

There's lots of delightful food,

{including 3 different kinds of cookies}

wine, presents, pom poms, trips to the mall, friends,

and birthday cake.

I'll share more pictures after the weekend.

So I shall leave you with my homemade pom poms..

which are so fun!

And now I must get back to Phantom of the Opera and my cookies.

Weekend smiles

2012-02-05T20:56:00.000-05:00

So I've decided it's high time I start doing some sort of regular posting.

Alot of blogs I follow do something once a week.

Like...

Pinterest Wednesday

Best of Instagram

What's Your Song

etc.. you get the idea.

Lately I haven't been taking very many pictures.

So to make myself take more, I'm going to

snap photos of what makes me smile over the weekend.

Now...

It might be hard, since I smile alot with my 3 crazy boys around.

And I'll try to take pictures of things other then my boys.. and food.

But for today, that's mostly what it is.

Food really makes me smile.

I'm sure you know how that is.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Beyond delish.

In fact, so delish they're all gone.

Budgeting

And meal planning.

I've been trying to figure how we can save on groceries.

Does anyone else feel like you buy a ton of food and then two days later its gone?

That's us.

But I do love planning and taking care of my boys.

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

Soup is best in a big cozy mug.

And a tasty grilled cheese best on my pretty blue plate.

{have you ever had Pacific Natural Organic Tomato soup? Simply the best}

Rainy days and boys with cars

It rained all day, so the peanuts and I amused ourselves with

cars for most of the day.

I love spending time with them.

They make me smile SO much.

Charlie explores everything.. mostly with his tongue

And that's it.

What made you smile over the weekend?

Mama and baby monsters

2012-02-03T20:52:00.000-05:00

Ever since we got moved in I've been trying to get back into

drinking my green monsters.

I just have to say people, if you drink them, add blueberries.

Takes it to a whole new level.

I've been making some for little Charlie bear and he doesn't mind them so much.

For him I just do spinach and banana.

Yummers.

I love switching up what I put in my shake.

That way it doesn't get old and I'll keep drinking them.

That's key.

This week's concoction:

kale -anti-oxidant super food, great fiber, good for detoxing and loads of Vit K

spinach -immunity booster, contains lots of lutein, high amount of Vit A

chia seeds -high in protein, essential fatty acids

coconut milk -iron, rich in phosphorus {bone food}

banana -high in iron and fiber and sugar. yay

I'm pretty sure Char enjoyed his today,

as evident by.. well you'll see.

Charlie bear has now become charlie monster.

Beach stroll

2012-01-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

I'm very much digging this living-close-to-the-beach thing.

Because on those days when the sun is shining and it's warm outside,

all I have to do it pop the boys in the car and 5 minutes later we're there.

And that's what happened over the weekend.

We finally had a break from all the rain we were getting,

so I talked McKennon into a beach stroll.

{he hates sand btw. weird or normal? weird right? silly boy}

I eventually distracted him from the sand by pointing

out all the things we could collect in his bucket.

Ya know, the usual things, like shells, sticks, feathers.. oh and dead crab bodies.

He was all over that, although there was some whining in between.

I gotta get him loving the sand before summer hits!

It was a walk worth going on.

We went home with a full bucket, sand on our shoes and

the salty ocean smell in our clothes.

Success.

Inquries and replies

2012-01-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

As I sit down to write this, the hubs and I are getting settled into our evening.

We've been watching Prison Break on Netflix

annnnnnnnd

we're addicted.

How do they do it with these tv shows?

Goodness.

Just like Bachelor.

Or HouseWives.

Such awful shows yet they suck you in with all the drama.

{Although I must say Prison Break is not like either of those!

Just a good action/suspense serious}

But my post is not about television shows and their tendency to take over your life!

Two lovely ladies tagged me in a couple posts recently

{Melissa from This Crazy Life and Kaylee from Max&Kaylee}

Just some fun question and answer what nots.

So here goes.

Always fun to find out more about the blogger right?

Guidelines, if you will

1. Link who tagged you

2. Answer 5 facts about yourself

3. Answer the ?'s the tagger created for you and create 6 more for those you'll tag

{I'll answer 4 questions from both ladies}

4. Tag some people to keep the Q&A going

Fun factoids about moi.

-I cannot stand when the toilet paper is on backwards.

-I hate celery

-I used to be a massage therapist

-My favorite job was working at American Eagle

-I love boxers {the dogs}

Questions from Kaylee:

-Favorite food = um. everything sweet

-What would I do if I won the lottery = Give lots of money to those in need. Buy our dream house

-Favorite accessory = Wrist watch

-What would I do with a 'day off' = Sleep in, get a bunch of comfort food and watch Downtown Abbey all the way through

Questions from Melissa:

-Can I drive a stick shift = very poorly

-What is one object I can't live without = my car

-If my house was on fire, what is one thing I'd grab (family is safe) = my computer {only because it has all my pictures on it!}

-What do I do to let off stress = eat sweets. sad.

If ya wanna keep this going, here's some questions for you.

-do you like to cook?

-what is one of your pet peeves?

-do you have siblings?

-what is one thing on your bucket list?

-are you a sports fan?

-would you rather live in the city or the country?

A room full of trucks

2012-01-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

And now it's time you all finally saw the house.

Well, at least one room in the house.

Ahhh haha I'm sorry I'm terrible.

It takes me forever to get things looking right..

and then just when I do, either a little boy

or baby comes crashing through and it doesn't look the same.

And I have proof of that, which I'll show you at the end..

If you remember McKennons old room at our other house,

I had hung a quilt my mom made for him.

Well, this time I hung the quilt she made for Charlie.

It has trucks all over it and is better suited to McKennons interests right now.

So that was my inspiration for the rest of the decor.

That and the 5 million cars/trucks/trains and tractors everywhere.

I was able to get some old apple crates from my dad.

{It's good to have connections with a fruit grower}.

I love the way they look!

I would love to have more, but for now this will have to work.

{Mainly because he's in colorado, ha}

Anyway, enough chatter.

You may enter.

{oh ignore the top bunk. no mattress yet}

{and while we're on the subject of ignoring, I plan to get better bedding to. ok that's all}

I got the vintage prints on Etsy..

Besides the apple crates, they're my favorite part.

Printed on old dictionary paper... fun huh?

Well, that's it.

As you can see I'm pretty proud of it =)

What do you think?... honestly.

It never looks that neat though..

This is a little boys room isn't it?

Doesn't Charlie look pretty in his necklace?

Love them.

Screws versus nails. Screws win

2012-01-23T20:50:00.000-05:00

So I've been working on a million little projects.

I fancy myself quite the interior decorator.

I was truly meant to be a stay-at-home-mom,

that can watch after her little chicks and make her home inviting and lovely.

I've been working away at McKennons room.

It's always seems to take forever for me to finish, since I'm so thrifty.

I shop second hand, do DIY projects and drag my feet when

it comes to buying something big.

I think I pretty much finished it up though.

I'm sure I'll switch it up a little bit,

but my friends, when do you ever stop tweaking your decor?

Truly.

My mom scored a couple fun things for me at Hobby Lobby back in Colorado.

Boy, do I wish we had a Hobby Lobby.

She sent this great vintage metal truck.

I knew right away I didn't wanna just slap it up on the wall.

Something fun had to be done with it!

Off I drove to Home Depot and wandered the lumber aisles,

looking like I knew what I was doing.

I came across some cedar wood

{that smelled amazing}

and it was cut into the perfect planks.

Well... thickness-wise anyway.

I found a cart with some saws and measuring tape,

so I hauled a couple boards over and went to town with the saw.

6 pieces later and I'm realizing I really need to start working out more.

Yikes.

Once I got home I gathered my tools:

-Wood glue.

-Screws. {first it was nails, more on that later}.

-Drill.

-6 planks cut into desired size

-2 skinny pieces of wood I found wandering around in the trim and mold section.

Glue the planks together, place the skinny pieces of wood length wise and make sure it's level.

Then SCREW them into place.

{I used nails at first cause I didn't have screws.

Then that night it came crashing down off

the wall in McKennons rooms. Guess that nails didn't hold it very well and slipped out.

Barely phased McKennon.. he only stirred haha}

Have someone strong, rough and tough do some hammering to re-enforce everything.

Then slap a couple nails on the front to hold the truck and you get this:

That's more fun right?

More... rustic?

I don't know what you'd call it, but I love it!

Next post: McKennons room!

Because.......

2012-01-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

.....pickle bandaids make everything better.

Scripture and wine

2012-01-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

Scripture and wine you say?

Do those two words belong together in one sentence?

Methinks perhaps they do.

Maybe not necessarily hand in hand..

Although that is possible too.

I've never had wine while doing my devotions...

But the world isn't over yet.

Ok anyway, I'm not even on subject yet and I'm already getting off it!

First off, I had no idea my mention of chocolate wine

was going to be such a hit.

Ha.

But really, chocolate and wine are two amazing things.

Add them together and it's heavenly.

I think I've actually blogged about it before..

We discovered it last summer when my parents came to visit.

You can find it at any fine grocery store.

Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Farm Fresh.. maybe even Safeway.

It's around 10 bucks.

Looks like this.

It's super delish.

Small doses are best.

Too much and you might end up feeling sick.

And I do not say that from experience.

It's just very sweet and rich.

Moving on from the wine.

Today I got some really good quiet time in.

It's been awhile since everything has been so busy.

J and I have alot on our minds these days regarding our future {more on that later}.

So I had some much needed time with my Lord.

I always forget how much I desperately need those moments in the Word,

until I take the time to do it.

I'm always blown away by how good our Heavenly Father is to us.

I'm slowly slogging my way through the prophets.

Sometimes it's hard to understand.

Sometimes boring.

Yet God's Word truly is living and wholesome, and I love it!

One thing captured my attention in Jeremiah.

God is so faithful to His people, Israel.

No matter how many times they turn away, disobey and sin,

He loves and forgives them.

{But He is also a just God that punishes and disciplines His people too}.

Israel was taken into captivity many times.

Their city destroyed.

Everything they had taken away.

Yet God always saved a remnant.

And promised restoration.

He promised to heal their wounds,

bring them back, and lead them along a straight path by streams of water

where they would not stumble. {Jer 31}

He promised to refresh the weary.

And best of all, He had plans to prosper them,

give them hope and a future and listen to them.

When I read those passages, I thought of one word.

Good.

Plain, wholesome, amazing, great goodness.

As a child of God, I have those promises too.

And it just blows my mind to think about how much God loves me.

About everything He has promised for His children.

And I know I don't deserve it.

I thank Him every day for choosing to save me.

For giving me the life I have.

I'll leave you with a verse that really caught my heart.

The last sentence in particular..

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them:

I will never stop doing good to them and I will inspire them

to fear me so that they will not turn away from me.

I will rejoice in doing them good and

will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul".

Jeremiah 32:40-41

Good ending to a long day

2012-01-17T22:07:00.000-05:00

Today was just one of those days.

Up at 4:30 AM to take J to work.

That's what happens when you only have one car people.

It's rough.

We needed groceries, so there was no way around it.

I did try to find my way around it...

But when you have 3 boys in the house,

it makes having an empty fridge impossible.

{even if one of those boys is a baby bear}

Anyway.

The morning went fairly well.

Afternoon naps went wonderfully.

I finally finished painting the bathroom.

Then there's that space of a couple hours, between 4 and 7.

It's when I can never catch a break.

Between making dinner and getting J's breakfast and lunch ready for the next day,

the boys are always getting into some sort of trouble.

Charlie is always very clingy {aw I do love him too}

and McKennon is in the weirdest energy little boy mood.

Shew.

Today I wanted to collapse.

And I did.

It was when I got in the car to get J from work.

My lower back started hurting so bad I got silly.

Have you ever experienced that sort of pain?

Then I just got dead tired.

So after dinner I treated myself to a hot bubble bath, complete with

chocolate wine.

Oh, and my bubble inspector.

It was a good way to end the day.

I even got my hair brushed too.

And now it's time for bed.

I'm so ready.

Holiday pictures

2012-01-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

Thank you ALL for your kind words and prayer!

I needed them!

And now, like I promised, some more pictures of the recent

holiday craziness.

With my mom, sister and I all having our own cameras,

we managed to take over 800 pictures.

Don't worry, I won't post them all. ;-)

Be prepared to be blown away by baby cuteness.

Family pictures at the beach.

Gotta love those.

Especially when you have 4 babies.

And a grumpy brother.

Oh and did I mention we were taking these on self timer?

There was LOTS of time to hang out with grammy and papa,

not to mention cousins wrestling, playing and grabbing toys from each other.

We made a couple trips to the freezing cold beach.
Toured an old lighthouse {the first to be built here actually}
and had our fill of seafood.

Those crab legs got eaten up like hot cakes.
There's never enough crab...

And that's what I'll end with.
I want to post alot more, but it's mostly of babies
lolloping about with toys, toddlers playing outside, and grownups lounging around.

This weekend we're headed up to Maryland to see my sisters new house
and hit a big Ikea sale!
And I'll seriously try to get pictures of the house up soon!
Like next week soon. :-p

No title

2012-01-08T20:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight my heart is heavy.

Really heavy.

I don't even want to blog, but I need an outlet.

I need prayer.

I need time in the Word.

That's what I should be doing right now actually.

I can't really say what's on my mind.

But I want to share something that I read recently.

There is an amazing ministry called Whole Heart Ministries.

Sally Clarkson is a wonderful, God fearing, amazing woman.

I read her blog as much as I can, and the other

day she posted this.

She said so much that really hit home with me.

Especially since I have little ones.

When you have your own wee ones, the world changes.

There's nothing I desire more then for my sons to grow up to be

God-fearing men that walk with integrity, understanding and wisdom.

To be different.

For people to see Christ in them, and want Christ in their lives in return.

I've come to learn that no matter how much you train, discipline, correct, talk to your children, nothing will get across more to them then how YOU yourself act!

{and honestly McKennon is only 3. I'm not even there yet!}

How you live your life.

They need to see Christ in you.

And that means being in the Word daily.

A huge part of it too is marriage.

How you respect your husband.

They notice the fights.

The harsh words.

The lack of affection.

Good marriages = happy children.

But alas, I'm getting a little off track.

Here's something Sally says that goes along with how I feel:

seeing my children do well in life and love the Lord and us and

continue growing is not as a result of a list of rules that I followed,

but as a result of following the Lord, praying, obeying Him

and seeking His wisdom and then LIVING by faith and watching His grace.

God is in charge and will work in and through the personality and circumstances of my life uniquely, If I walk it with Him.

I agree wholeheartedly.

And....... anyway, I'm gonna go now.

I didn't even really scratch the surface with everything I could say..

If you think of me, say a prayer =)

A little Lavender for the soul... and bacteria

2012-01-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

It may not be spring yet, but that doesn't stop me

from doing a little spring cleaning around here.

Especially since we just moved.

Since our stuff had been sitting in storage for 3 months,

I decided something needed to be done with our couches and mattress to freshen them up.

Enter Pinterest.

I found this great tip and since then have done both couches and master mattress.

It's quite simple, natural, chemical free and cheap.

And leaves your things smelling lightly of lavender.

Sooo refreshing if I do say so myself.

Take baking soda, Lavender essential oil, and I added Tea Tree Oil.

Shake in whatever container you have.

Then sift it over whatever you wish to freshen.

Let it sit for about an hour, then vacuum off!

It draws out all sorts of icky things and deodorizes.

I love the smell of the tea tree.

And it's great cause it's also antibacterial and antifungal.

In fact I use tea tree for lots of things.

Especially when it comes to skin care.

Lavender is great too, for many reasons.

It's a calming scent which is excellent for the nerves and induces sleep.

{Maybe I should put this on my mattress for often. Genius I say.}

It's great for immunity, and it's also antifungal and antiseptic.

I'm so happy now.

My things are clean.

And smell good.

I don't think any fungus or bacteria will be getting on my couches anytime soon!

;-)

Christmas babies

2012-01-03T20:51:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning we awoke like any other normal day...

{My family likes their sleep}

Until Christmas Eve, the presents had contentedly been sitting atop the piano.

You see, that's where they go when you don't have your tree out,

plus 2 crawling babies and 2 nosy toddlers.

But my sis and I decided there needed to be some

sort of normal-christmasness going on,

so we dug out a little tree I had, put in on the fireplace and put the gifts around it.

{note, please excuse poor quality of the photos}

Charlie got a little stuffed monkey from Grammy.

My favorite part about this christmas was just watching the babies.

Oh, and getting my TOMS.

Yes, I finally got them.

From my sweet hubs of course.

But I was so out of bloggy mode I didn't even take a pic.

Oh well, you all know what TOMS look like. =)

McKennon got his long awaited Thomas and train set.

My niece got a cute little tea set.

The rest of the day was spent playing trains and drinking tea.

Christmas babies = grammy heaven

And the after-math

{oh wait, there's my TOMS!}

After all the gift opening, we enjoyed a very late breakfast.

Something my sis made.. a gourmet french toast thing.

Quite delish.

The rest of the day we enjoyed each others company and then had to

watch Jingle All the Way.

{One of J's christmas traditions growing up}

So there you have it.

And although all my pictures are only of presents, really my friends,

I'm going to be a bit cliche and say the true meaning of Christmas really is celebrating

our Lord Jesus.

I'm sad to say this year we didn't even read the Christmas

story from the bible like we usually do.

I think there was just so much going on with everyone there and all the babies.

I definitely want my boys growing up knowing

what we REALLY celebrate Christmas for.

We've never done the whole Santa thing.

Never will.

It's about Jesus.

Christmas Day and every day!

Stay tuned for more holiday pictures.

I do hope you don't tire of them, but I have soo many good ones!

And.... break is over!

2012-01-01T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's time to get back into the blogging saddle again.

Hello all.

Did you miss me?

I had a lovely break. Yes indeed.

We got all moved into the new house.

My sister and brother helped arrange furniture,

build said furniture, hang pictures {perhaps a bit crookedly, but still hung},

unpack and set up.

The cousins had a blast playing together.

My parents arrived after all the chaos to pamper us with

lots of eating out, yummy beverages,

trips to the beach and aquarium, and my mom took over some of the cooking.

And then of course there was Christmas.

We only had a very small tree and no decor.

I didn't feel up to going all out.

We all tore open our presents, then watched as the babies proceeded to eat the wrapping paper.

And now it's a brand new year.

Where did 2011 go?

It seems like the older I get, the faster time goes.

I. Don't. Like. That.

Specially since it seems like my Charlie bear is growing up so fast.

He's 8 months now. =(

Crawling like crazy, pulling himself up on everything and eating solids.

He's hilarious, and I love him to death and back!

Through this whole process I've discovered a few things.

- my brother is a total scrooge when it comes to christmas

{I couldn't even listen to christmas music}

I still love him though =)

- my sister gets mad when I don't have the right spices to cook with

- ice cream and beer keep everyone going

- toilet paper is a move-in essential

- recycle doesn't take bulk cardboard. Need any?

- the jets come super low and close to the house.

{kinda cool but also VERY loud}

{did I mention we live close to a naval air station?}

- I could not have done this move without my awesome family

- I loathe cooking on a electric stove top

- the beach is freezing in the winter and not an ideal time to walk the boardwalk {duh}

- finding Charlie with a cockroach in his hand is enough to send me into shrieking hysterics

- the only thing that sustained me and gave me patience

through this whole process was the Lord

I have tons of pictures to share of course.

And I know you all want to see the new digs ;-)

I realllly don't like showing things until I have it perfect,

but since you guys are pretty much the best, I won't make you wait that long.

I have lots of projects to do so it'll be awhile before it's perfect anyway.

Thank you all for sticking with me during the break.

Can't wait to catch up with your blogs!

Happy New Year

{at least all the adults are looking at the camera} :-p

The long awaited graduation

2011-12-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

I have to pop back in and tell you all that J is officially graduated!

Hooray and praise the Lord!

We made it.

Felt like forever, and I'm so glad it's over.

We have decided that if J has to deploy on a cutter, we're getting out.

We can't do this long distance, single parent thing.

No sirrrrrrr-eeeee!

The boys and I drove up early Friday morning to the training center,

had a little bite to eat, then went to the ceremony.

I got to pin J's crows on.

He's a petty officer now and I couldn't be more proud!

The boys did great during everything.

My little pride and joys. =)

In fact McKennon was a very big help, pushing his brother around everywhere.

So I realize all the pictures are mostly of me and J.

Hahaha ahhh yes...

Well, I like my man in uniform, and I rarely put decent clothes and makeup on.

So there.

Plus I couldn't really snap photos of anything else,

since I was the only one taking care of both boys.

My hands where pretty full.

Annnnnyway.

Next big thing:

My sis and sweet little nieces get here tomorrow.

I can't even tell you how excited I am.

So I won't try. ;-)

And lastly, thank you for understanding my need for a break.

You. All. Rock.

Absence = an occasion or period of being away

2011-11-26T19:13:00.001-05:00

I've been absent.

Did you notice?

I hope so, cause that means you've missed me =)

But I'm only back to tell you, well, that I'm going to be absent some more.

Things are beginning to get crazy around here,

and I'm not really in the blogging spirit either.

So I think a nice little break for the holidays is proper.

J is graduating next week, as well as we are moving out of our little apartment.

Week after I will be joined by my beatimus sister and her babes,

AND my brother.

Then a couple weeks later my parents will be in town for Christmas.

At least I'll have lots of help unpacking and setting up.

I must say I'm beyond thrilled to have my sis and brother all to myself.

It's been quite some time since we've all been together.

There's good times ahead people, gooooood times.

Oh and we had a good Thanksgiving.

{Goodness, I had quite forgotten with everything else going on}.

How was yours?

Full of turkey and pie I presume.

I ate lots of pie myself.

It's my favorite part.

I meant to take pictures of the food and all that,

but sometimes I just plain forget.

And well, I forgot.

Thus the absence of food pictures.

I'll be back after Christmas,

and who knows, I may even pop in here and there before that.

I just don't want to make any promises.

You know how it is.

Moving, children, holidays, visiting family.

Those are good excuses right?

Don't miss me too much. ;-)

And have a blessed Christmas!

Newwwww look

2011-11-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

Hi.

I've been out of the bloggy mood lately.

But I'm still here.

We have two weeks left.

2 weeks of school.

2 weeks in this apartment.

2 weeks until we get our stuff and move in {well, that might be more like 3}.

But I think instead of gaining steam,

I'm losing it.

I'm so done.

It's so hard to cook in this apartment {tiniest kitchen EVER}.

And eat healthy during this whole transition.

I could go on and on but bleh.

Whatever.

2 weeks!

So.

In the past, I've mentioned cutting my hair.

Well, I finally reached that moment.

I was just done with the long hair.

I never wore it down.

Ha long hair with a nursing baby? And cleaning up after a tot?

I hate hair in my face and on my neck and around my shoulders.

I can't stand it being in the way.

I just had one too many messy buns.

Ok so you get the picture.

Without further prattling..

Before:

After:

And here it all is not on my head anymore:

Ah.

No regrets people.

I love it.

It's so freeing. Haha.

I just get up in the morning, and go.

No fuss. No hassle.

What do you think?

I honestly wanted a bit more of an A-line but this will work for now.

Next cut will be more A.

Whenever that may be.....

Birthday weekend

2011-11-13T20:32:00.000-05:00

Sunday evenings are usually spent taking J back to school,

rushing home and getting the boys fed, bathed and put to bed.

But instead, on this Sunday evening, I'm blogging.

Because J had duty.

Ah duty, you and I will never be friends.

Duty didn't ruin our whole weekend though!

Friday was J's birthday, and Veterans day.

So, to celebrate the birthday boy, we went to Guitar Center and Starbucks.

Two of his most favorite things.

Guitars and coffee.

I left there wanting to play the banjo.

I think someday I will.

Someday.

Our Starbucks run resulted in a eggnog latte and a regular coffee.

I'm sure you can guess which one was mine.

When we finally made it home, we ate a little dinner, put the boys

to bed, and devoured a coffee ice cream pie.

Yes, more coffee.

I can't keep my husband away from it.

I didn't get a picture of us eating it, because, well, we were too busy eating it.

That's oreos crumbled on the top.

Then I drizzled chocolate sauce on it.

I think we ate the whole pie in one night ;-)

What a exciting, wild, fun filled weekend we had.

We are just a crazy bunch over here.

It's probably all the coffee.

Hope you're weekend was delightful!

Crunchy leaves and cobbled streets

2011-11-09T20:46:00.000-05:00

Fall in Old Town.

Beautiful.

Crisp.

Magical.

The last couple days have been perfect weather for

wandering the brick laden sidewalks,

taking in the fresh, cool air and snapping pictures left and right.

Here is Old Town,

through my humble little camera lens.

Goodness.

Talk about picture overload.

That's what I feel like anyway...

But fall is my favorite and I could never get enough of it.

Someone is experiencing his first fall, and I could tell

by the look on this face he was just dying to crunch some leaves

between his chubby little fingers.

So being the good mother that I am, I obliged.

We also had our first swing ride.

He seemed to be indifferent about it,

so we stayed for awhile and gently swung in the autumn air.

Tomorrow we get to pick up J a day early from school.

Then it's his birthday on Friday.

Hoory for celebrations and cake!

Musings of a mama

2011-11-07T20:55:00.001-05:00

Have you ever heard your mom say,

"why did you have to grow up?".

My mom says that alllllllllll the time.

I used to just roll my eyes. And smile.

But now that I have my own precious pumpkins,

I know exactly what she means.

I wish my little boys would never grow up.

When Charlie bear sits on my lap, I love to smell his head.

It's the best smelling head ever.

His little fooseley hair is so soft.

He'll grasp my fingers and they immediately make their way into his mouth.

He'll chomp and gurgle.

Then try to blow bubbles with my fingers still in his mouth.

It results in a spray of Charlie slobber onto everything within a 6in radius.

At night when I nurse Charlie, McKennon likes to come up close,

whisper "mommy play cars?!", give me a kiss, then dash off to play with said cars.

I watch him meander down the hall.

Sometimes it's a full out run.

Other times a weird hop/dance thing.

Then I heard car sounds coming from the other room.

It makes me smile.

Really big.

Then before too long he'll reemerge to check up on us again.

Sometimes, if he's feelin some brotherly love, he'll lean down

and plant a kiss on Charlies fooseles.

So you see, I don't want my 6 month old bear, or 2.5 year old bobbins to ever grow up.

I want them to stay just this size.

I want the cuddles, kisses, little voices and yes,

even the poopy diapers, crying and toddler attitude.

You can't have the good without the bad.

In my opinion though,

there is no such thing as 'terrible two's' if you raise your children right.

There are terrible times. Ha ahhh yes yes there are. But.

They need structure. Schedules. Discipline. Patience. Consistency.

Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Prov 22:6

Every night I pray for their hearts, minds and souls.

I know one day they'll be strong, handsome, God fearing men.

But not yet.

Mommy still wants to smooch little cheeks.

Wipe little buns.

Nurse.

Feel soft baby skin.

Get spit up on.

Play cars and trucks.

I could never express my love or thankfulness for my pumpkins.

God is good.

No, beyond good.

God is great.

Thank you for giving your mama so much joy little boys.

I'll love your forever.

*fooseles: whispy baby hair

Yay for new music!

2011-11-03T19:22:00.001-04:00

Ooooooooooooo!!!

I just found out my favorite band ever came out with a new cd!

Do you ever get super excited about music?!

This band is one of my all time favorites.

I went to see them in concert about 5 years ago and it was fantastico.

I was on cloud nine.

We even played one of their songs at our wedding.

And I remember one of the first times hanging out with J,

I made him listen to them.

I'm glad he likes them too, otherwise we probably wouldn't be married. ;-)

I have so many memories listening to these guys..

Good ones too.

Like our wedding, obviously.

And a year I lived with my sis, it was all we listened to.

Ok so you want to know what band it is?

I shall tell thee.

And you tell me if you like them/heard of them!

Ever heard them?

This is the song we played at our wedding, well, reception.

Ah yay.

Must get their new cd!

Hello oatmeal

2011-11-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

Is it silly that one of the things I look

forward to most in the morning is my bowl of oatmeal?

I used to just make oatmeal for McKennon

and I would nibble on something else.

But then it just got easier to make it for me too.

And then I discovered sunflower seeds.

In the oatmeal.

Genius.

So first, I put a dash or two of ground flax in the bottom of the bowl.

Then the oats.

And I poor boiling water on top.

{I prefer to never use the killer-wave. Otherwise known as microwave}

Then I add the goodies.

Sunflower seeds. {obviously}

Butter.

And a pat of sugar. Just a pat now. Have to keep it healthy.

I then consume it while wearing my really cool Ecuador tshirt from my

soon to be sister in law.

Ah, it's the little things in life...

I can't believe it

2011-10-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

Dear bloggie friends,

I am completely high on happiness right now.

If you haven't read my previous post, please go do so now.

It will help you understand my giddiness a bit more.

How can I say this in a way that will sink in?

We. Have. A. House.

There.

It's perfection.

But before I tell you about it, I must give credit, where credit is due.

The Lord provided this house, plain and simple.

It wasn't luck.

Or good timing.

When you trust in Him, He will provide.

And He provided for us, above and beyond what we wanted.

This house has 3 beds, 2 baths.

A lovely brick, wood burning fireplace.

Great, spacious kitchen. {and it's cute!}

A garage.

Large fenced in back yard, that backs up to woods.

Good neighborhood.

Very close to work, commissary and BEACH.

Below our BAH {basic allowance for housing}

And, the couple we're renting from are super duper nice.

They're even going to paint for me,

I just have to pick out the colors.

Say whaaaat?

That's probably my favorite part.

We move in beginning of December.

I'm already mentally arranging the furniture and decorating.

I'm so thankful.

God is good.

God is faithful.

Praise Him!!!!!

Learning to trust

2011-10-27T21:19:00.000-04:00

This week I had to let go, and take a break.

Not from blogging {obviously}.

But from house hunting.

I was jumping the gun a bit anyway.

We still have about 6 weeks left of school.

Everything I was finding is sure to be gone by the time we need it..right?

Besides, I was really stressing myself out.

I would look 5x a day, and it was always the same thing.

I was spending more time on the computer, wasting time, then with my

sweet, silly boys.

And time is too short and precious to be wasting time on the internet.

Tonight I'm feeling...
Blessed.
Thankful.
Trusting.
Happy.
Calm.

I know full well, that every bit of my life (and my families),

is in God's hands. He's in control.

So why stress myself to death about a house?

He will provide the perfect one for us.

So this week I decided to let go, and, as the saying goes, let God.

I need to trust in Him, for all things.

His goodness, faithfulness and love for me is more than I can comprehend.

He won't let us live under a bridge in a little shack...

{If that happened though, wouldn't that be a test of faith?! Yipes!}

The key for me, to learn to trust, and to stay trusting,

is to be in the Word.

Daily.

{My bible, complete with toddler scribbles}. :-/

Annnnnyway, back to the housing.

This week I haven't looked once for a house.

I want to learn to trust my Lord

.And I'm so glad I have taken a break.

It's been beautiful.

I've been a more relaxed mama.

My attitude and heart have been happier.

I know Mckennon can feel that too.

{It's amazing how kiddos sense things}

I've been spending more time being goofy, playing cars, snuggling and kissing my boys.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much joy

these little stinkers bring into my life.

I love them soo much.

{They are great helpers too, especially when it comes to doing laundry}

Don't you just love the underwear on the head look?

Don't worry, it was definitely clean =)

I'm glad this week is almost over, and tomorrow we get to pick up J from school.

I guess it was a rough week for him.

I'm going to dote on him and fill him up with ice cream and yummy meals.

And next week, when I get back on and continue the house search,

I'll remember to...

...trust in the Lord with all my heart

and lean not on my own understanding.

In all my ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make our paths straight.

Prov 3:5&6

Salt sea air in my hair

2011-10-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

Saturday rocked my world.

Why?

Because we went to the beach.

I forgot how much I love the ocean.

The salty air, the sand, waves crashing...

I was so excited I went bounding and skipping down the wharf like my 2 year old.

We wondered down to the base J will be working at.

It's away from the city and hub of actual Virginia Beach.

I love it.

So quite and quaint.

I already know we'll be spending plenty of our summer days at this beach.

I packed us a little lunch the night before,

and off we went to explore.

We found the commissary and exchange.

Important.

And looked at a few houses I found on Craigslist,

just to get an idea of the area.

Then we ate our scrumptious lunch and hit the beach after.

It was all excitement and craziness to get out to the beach and see the ocean.

However when we got out there,

someone was not a fan of the sand.

Not one little bit.

He takes after me and doesn't like to get dirty.

I think there was too much sand in his toes for his taste.

That being the case, we didn't stay long.

We snapped some pics.

Took some deeeep breaths.

And quickly dashed back to the safety and cleanliness of the boardwalk.

Indeed, Saturday was a good day.

But now we're back to our regular week.

{6 more by the way}.

I'm trying to plan things to keep us busy.

Monday always starts out great, Tuesday fair, Wednesday's my worst day.

Then Thursday I start getting excited to pick up J from school.

And Friday is spent getting dinner and house ready and picking up J.

Ah I can't wait for school to be over!

{wanna come play with me at the beach?}

Dear diary

2011-10-20T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day.

It was just one of those days where everything was lovely.

First, it was gorgeous out.

Sunny. Breezy. Chilly.

Perfection.

And there was a cruise ship in, which we immediately had to go check out.

Secondly, while the two littles napped, I got to put my feet up,

do some reading,

and catch up on some Office.

{Any Office fans out there?}

Thirdly, while big little still napped, I got some good snuggle

time with little little.

I truly treasure these times, cause I know they won't last. =(

Fourthly, nothing says happiness like a warm, moist, chocolate chip cookie.

I made some today.

And they turned out perfectly.

{I have to admit, sometimes they don't turn out so perfectly. Boo}

{I had to bite into that cookie for the picture. It was tough, but I did it}

And fifthly and lastly, this day is almost over.

Which means tomorrow we get J from school.

And that day will be just as good as today.

No, better.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Some...preoccupations

2011-10-16T21:01:00.001-04:00

Guys, I'm so obsessed with looking at houses right now, I can't even blog.

All I want to do is search every website with rentals.

Again. And again.

I can't wait to find the perfect house.

I've found some pretty good choices.

Silly thing is though, we don't need said house till beginning of December.

There's really no reason to look right now.

But I can't stop!

I'm very much obsessed with this peanut butter.

Have you ever had it?

It's divine. I literally eat it out of the jar.

It's like dessert.

I'm obsessed with anchors of late.

I'm thinking a map/nautical theme is in store for the new house.

And I'm really loving this necklace.

I recently discovered TOMS.

And I'm obsessed.

I think they're a must for the closet no?

Christmas is approaching....

I'm obsessed with cute boys.

And fortunately, that obsession is easily fulfilled.

*note* I realize obsessed is really not the best word.

It's denotes... an unhealthy habit.

Online dictionary defines obsess:

to dominate or preoccupy the thoughts, feelings, or desires of a person.

So yeah.. that's more like it.

I just get preoccupied every now and then my houses, peanut butter, shoes and boys.

No big deal really.

{*important note*} only my boys

Orders are in

2011-10-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

Well guys, after MUCH prayer, stress, lack of sleep, talking,

researching, and anxiety, we've reached a decision.

{Hence my absence}

Our next station is....

...the beach!

{Not Back Bay wildlife refuge. It was the only good map I could find}

Virginia Beach that is.

The Lord never ceases to amaze me in how He works and answers prayer.

I believe you all know I have a sister.

Who I am very close too.

They live in Washington, and we knew that around this

same time they would be relocating as well.

Well, turns out, they'll be moving to Washington DC.

And living on Fort Belvoir.

Indeed, I had to laugh, and cry.

Because my good people, that is where we JUST moved from.

Is that not beyond crazy ridiculousness?

So we'll be a short 3 hours away from each other,

which in my book, is just fantastic, and I'll take it!

{Belvoir friends, I'm sure we'll meet again}

I've already been scouring the net for houses.

We could potentially live on a base again, that is south of Va beach a bit.

I for one, like living on base, so I hope that works out.

There's a quieter, nicer beach that we'll be close to,

called Sandbridge.

I'm excited to spend summers there.

Can't wait to take the boys!

I also can't wait for J to be done with school.

7 weeks left, feels like 7 years.

I spend my days playing cars, changing diapers, watching Thomas the train,

taking walks and telling McKennon to be gentle with his baby brother.

This girl needs some adult interaction!

The long awaited ferry ride

2011-10-06T21:11:00.000-04:00

Today mommy took me to ride the ferry.

It was the best day of my life.

I love boats {and cars and trucks and trains}.

It was my first time ever on a boat.

I didn't cry at all, or get scared.

In fact, I'm so brave, I led the way.

Mommy was too slow anyway, pushing Charlie bear in the stroller.

I tried to wait patiently but it was soooo hard!

There's nothing more fun then watching other boats, while being on a boat yourself.

Trust me, I know.

Once on the other side, mommy and I walked to the mall.

She took me on a date to Chilis, where we split chicken crisper's.

And a huge cookie with ice cream.

Afterwards I was very energetic.

I hid in the clothes racks while mommy shopped... for me.

She bought me a new hat.

I love my really awesome, pretty mommy.

I couldn't wait to ride the ferry back home though.

Charlie seemed indifferent.. in fact he fell asleep.

Silly Charlie.

I love you ferry boat.

You made me goofy with happiness today.

I can't wait to ride you again.

{hint hint mommy}

The best part of waking up..

2011-10-04T09:29:00.000-04:00

...is not Folgers in your cup people.

The best part of waking up is the little scritchy scratchy noises that

come from the crib as Charlie explores

the mesh siding with his little fingers.

Then the gargling dinosaur noises that start out quiet.. then get louder and louder.

But really the best part is bending over the crib

and seeing his little face break out into a huge smile.

Like this one.

He's just so irresistible.

I snatch him up and bring him back to bed to snuggle.

We lay smiling at each other and speaking in pterodactyl language.

{who knew that you spell pterodactyl with a p? not me}

He's really good at it. I'm afraid I sound more like a sick cat.

Then after lots of kisses, tickling and giggling, we get up.

{And then I put coffee in my cup. Not Folgers though}.

And that's how I start my day people.

In which I splurge and spend 9 dollars

2011-10-03T09:35:00.000-04:00

My weekends always end waaaaay too quickly.

Ah but it's like the curse of the weekend..

You always looks forward to it but then it's over before ya know it.

This one was especially short because J had duty today, so he had to go back early.

Boo duty.

We managed to squeeze in some fun though.

And by fun I mean flea market!!!

It was literally two blocks from our house.

I was in heaven.

I love thrifty, I love old, ~~I love ugly antiques~~.

And the weather was cool.

I was in such a fine mood as we ambled down the brick lined

sidewalk, with my papoose strapped on.

{Btw you'll never find a cuter accessory}

J said I had a bit of in Indian look going on...

The braids probably didn't help.

My little Indian brave did much stick collecting.

We can't go on a walk now without McKennon filling up his hands with twigs and sticks.

Too bad we don't have a fireplace..

{sidenote. I'm slightly captivated by moss.
I love how green it is. And how it makes things so prettily charming}

McKennon was quick to abandon his sticks to check out all the cars and goodies at the market.

He didn't even have to buy anything..

his good looks got him some toys for free!

My heart stopped when I spotted a shelf of old books.

I'm drawn to old books like a bear to honey.

I love them.

So I got 7.

7 for $6 bucks.

Can't beat that.

I should have bought the whole shelf.

Maybe next month.

And they're not just random books.

But good ol' classics!

Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Three Musketeers and Robinson Crusoe.

As soon as I got them home I inspected them for hidden money and treasure maps.

No luck.

I did however find some signatures and dates.

And discovered two of the books are 101 years old.

Can't wait to put these treasures in the new house.
They will definitely be incorporated into the decor.

Attention. Subject change ahead.
I've decided that I'm done with my heavy drab dishes
that are packed away somewhere in a box.
They're large and square and getting chipped and broken.
So I'm going to start a mismatched collection.
Starting with plates.
Naturally I got some at the market.
2 for 2 dolla.

After the market we were all quite tired and hungry.
So we came home and enjoyed a snack of toes.
Quite delicious.

It's time

2011-09-30T13:36:00.003-04:00

It's time to go pick up J from school.

I'm so ready.

Not only to see my darling,

but because this mama needs a break

and the boys need their daddy!

Happy weekend!

Country life anyone?

2011-09-27T19:39:00.006-04:00

Lately I've been in bloggers funk.

You know, that feeling/mood of:

'I have nothing to blog about'

'Who really reads my blog?'

'Should I be doing better things with my time?'

'I'm bored with how my blog looks'...

Sigh.

Ah blogger, the things you make me feel.

It doesn't help that I'm currently wearing a wrist brace, which makes typing a challenge.

I mean, typing is a challenge for me anyway,

but throw in a wrist brace and I'm practically helpless.

I've been keeping busy lately by baking.

And taking lots of walks.

And pinning.
{Officially addicted}

And also doing lots of reading and journaling.

This whole moving around thing has really got me to thinking.

There's nothing like leaving your home,
all your comforts

and living in strange places to set the wheels turning

about what you really want with your life.

At least for me anyway.

{I wouldn't recommend doing all that to get your wheels turning though}

{Maybe something less dramatic. Like skipping your morning coffee}

J and I always talk about what we want long term.

Coast Guard as career?

I think we're beginning to see the military life isn't for us.

For one thing we can barely stand being apart for a whole week.

What would we do for whole months if he got deployed?

I would probably bake myself into a coma and

McKennon and Charlie would have to find bits of crumbs to live off of.

For us, the most important thing in life is family and being together.

We want to raise our boys in an environment where they can thrive.

To me, that's the country.

I might be a little biased, since that's how I grew up.

Trust me, it wasn't all joy and smiles washing chicken poop off eggs.

Or having grasshoppers shoved into my face by my brother.

{I loathe grasshoppers}

But it is joyous waking up to fresh air.

Getting your hands dirty in a garden.

Eating delicious food picked from said garden.

Playing paintball in the woods out back.

Puttering around in the pond on lazy summer days.

Feelings the breeze in your face as you look out on God's country.
Yep, that's what I want for my boys.
And for me.
I long for it actually.

I'm dying to be able to grow and pick my own food.

And then can, freeze, and dehydrate it.

{Oh and eat it too of course}.

What's funny is I did all those things growing up.

And I hated it.

Now I'm longing for it.

Weird how that happens.

It happens when you have a family of your own though, and you want what's

best and healthy for them.

I even want a goat, that I can milk.

For reals people.

All that to say, right now we are continuing to pray

and go where the Lord guides us.

Right now he's guiding us to three more years in the CG, via contract. :-p

This is the view from my brother in laws deck.

Not too far from where I grew up.

How would you NOT want to live in a place like this?

If you read through this whole thing then you deserve a cookie.

Come over and I'll bake you some.

Be kind to your nose

2011-09-22T20:38:00.004-04:00

In preparation for seeing my darling husband tomorrow..

I'm doing some beautification.

To my nose.

Every nose could use a little love and now and then.

Call me weird, but I love doing these little nose strip guys.

What I love even more though... seeing the little forest of black heads on the snowy white strip.

It's called seeing results baby!

It's like seeing all the dirt in the vacuum cup.

Also something I love.

But anyway...

I now have a happy, almost black head free, red, itchy nose.

Got all that?

I know J is really going to appreciate what I'm doing for him.

Hooray for weekends!

You know you're loved...

2011-09-21T15:05:00.004-04:00

....when you start getting lots of packages in the mail.

And oh my but I dearly love to receive packages.

{online shopping anyone?}

There's nothing that cheers you up more then opening a box full of goodies.

Right?

Especially when you're husband is gone.

My friends, mom and sister know this.

They are THE. BEST.

Yesterday I was surprised by two giant boxes.

Inside, whatdya know, two of my favorite things.

Wine. And bread.

{Insert hallelujah chorus}

And also, a juicer.

Just because I told my mom that's what I wanted for Christmas.

So this year, Christmas came early.

Thanks mother dearest.

{does this mean I get another present AT Christmas?! ooooo}

Then today, my sister calls and tells me to look out the front door.

First thought: she's standing outside my door!!!

Oh how I wish.

Next best thing though, 2 packages.

More packages? Sheesh I could get used to this!

Only a sister would send you something you had casually been talking about the day before.

{I call her when I need some adult conversation}

Now I have something to do with my evenings:

And now you can find me happily sipping on wine and eating apple bread,

while making juice and watching The Middle.

Weekend recap

2011-09-18T20:23:00.005-04:00

My weekend has ended.

I find myself sitting on the couch, tired and ready for bed.

It rained all day on Saturday.

Which was pretty fitting actually, since J had to study.

It ended up being a cozy, lazy day.

I stayed in my pjs for most of the morning.

That's what Saturdays are for right?

J had help studying.

McKennon and I did a little coloring.

And puddle splashing.

I was in the mood for a messy braid.

I'm good at them.

Actually, I'm good at any messy hairstyle.

Charlie had a deliciously long nap snuggling with his bear.

{um yeah I'm slightly jealous}

We ate lots of good comfort foods.

Aka brownies n' ice cream.

Then.. it was back to school for J :(

The weather matched my mood..

At least we got some starbucks to help cheer us up.

And that was our weekend.

Hope yours was lovely!

Bringin out the good stuff

2011-09-15T21:19:00.004-04:00

Tonight I'm feeling a little mopey.

And lonely.

My days are really long since I don't even get to talk to J till around 6.

And being a single parent 5 days a week is ALOT of work.

So to cheer me up tonight I went all out.

No holds bared.

I started off with a little wine and pbj.

Then I did a little Netflix Instant action.

Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Perfect night for a chic flick.

And lastly some nail therapy.

I needed this.

Haven't done my fingers in forrrr-eva.

And... that's all.

You're wondering how I can stand so much excitement?

It's tough.

That's why I'm going to bed now.

Sweet dreams all.

Time for boats

2011-09-14T20:45:00.005-04:00

This evening we took a much needed walk along the water.

Someone had been yelling boats in my ear all day.

And I also needed some fresh air.

It's still a bit warm here for my taste.

Can't wait for this weather to permanently cool down.

While we were out the mosquito's thoroughly enjoyed feasting on my legs.

Another reason I can't wait for the weather to get cold.

Downtown Norfolk

There's an awesome mall nestled among those buildings that I will be frequenting soon.

Charlie could have cared less about the boats.

He was much too interested in devouring his toys.

I'm sure you all anxious to know so I'll tell you.

I borrowed a wine opener from my aunt yesterday,

and was able to successfully open my bottle.

It's a local white.. from Williamsburg, and it's so yummy.

Cheers!

Just some randoms

2011-09-12T20:28:00.000-04:00

Made it to Portsmouth.

Safely tucked away into our new little house.

Getting all unpacked and cleaned.

Did I mention exhausted?

Some new little 'house slippers'.

My sister kindly pointed out they make me look like a grandma.

Whatevs, I'm rockin them.

Post pregnancy hair loss is in full force.

Globs and globs of hair everywhere.

It's enough to make one go crazy.

Don't worry, I'm not going to post a picture of my hair globs.

Globs, I like that word.

Can't wait to ride this little ferry guy.

Pretty sure McKennon will love it.

And I'll love it because it takes us across the river to the mall.

There's nothing worse then having a cold bottle of wine in your fridge..

and no wine opener.

Especially when your sister has ordered a pizza for you.

Pizza and wine.

More like pizza and water. =(

It's time I cut my hair.

I'm so ready.

I've had long hair for far to long.

I'm thinking something like this...

What do you think?

Looking for some new blogs to follow?

Or new followers?

Just go here.

Globs

Sweater weather

2011-09-08T08:54:00.000-04:00

Is finally here.

At least in Cape Cod.

I'm not sure how long it will last though...

And I really won't be able to find out either.

Because I'm flying back to my wonderful hubby on Saturday!!!

Yes I can hardly contain my excitement.

The Lord has answered prayer and provided a sweet, snug little house in Old Town.

I almost cried with relief when J told me.

This has been the weirdest, craziest trial ever.

I can't say my attitude has been the best throughout the whole thing.

But the Lord has definitely used this time to teach me a few things.

And maybe that's why everything happened the way it did...

Anyway, back to sweaters, baby legs and fall!

This is my favorite season.

{and from all the blogs I follow, it seems to be everyone else's favorite too}.

It's been raining here the past couple of days.

Which is fun and cozy right?

But also crazy when you have 4 chilluns under the age of 7.

A little rain never hurts though,

so we herded them onto the deck to get some energy out!

Yay for colorful hoodies.

This is the first time I've busted out baby legs for Charlie.

If you have a baby, you must accessorize with these.

Must.

And the best thing about fall attire? Large, comfy, sloppy sweaters.

I'm a such a home body.. so this suits me best.

Stay cozy my bloggy friends.

Evidence of the chaos

2011-09-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

Now you can all see for yourselves the craziness of my life.

I promise I'm not making it up.

Although I don't have a picture of the fleas.

They're too small and fast to catch on camera anyway.

Gag.

{ok whitney, time to get over the fleas already}

~ getting ready to pack up and leave the house

{seems like this was ages ago}

~ road trip down to Portsmouth

~ then suddenly we find ourselves on a plane...

disheveled, tired and hungry

~ and now we're at the Cape, enjoying long walks and cousins

Today we're going to get out and do some exploring...
Can't wait.

Hurricanes, rodents and fleas, oh my!

2011-09-01T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hello dear bloggy friends.

Hello cyber world.

Hello fb.

Hello sanity.

I so desperately want to fill you all in on what's been happening the past couple weeks.

I have so much to say but my mind is blank right now.

Sleeping in the same room with your toddler and 4 month old will do that.

I'll try to do a quick, easy breezy recap for you.

I don't want you getting bored after all.

I and my sweet boys are in the beautiful land of Cape Cod, Mass.

There was no getting rid of the fleas at my aunts.

And the smell of rotting rodent flesh.

So here we are with J's oldest brother and his family.

{Who I might add, JUST moved here. We are still unpacking. And that is why I didn't have internet until today}.

Back in VA, we searched and searched for a place for me and the boys to stay.

Nothing was working out.

A hurricane was coming.

What to do?

After lots of hair pulling, nail biting and prayer,

we felt the only door the Lord was opening was to be up here

at the Cape.

And funny how it all worked out, but because of little miss hurricane Irene,

my aunts neighborhood had a mandatory evacuation.

Underneath the house got all flooded, which destroyed the duct work.

Where I might add, a dead possum was found.

Hence the horrendous smell.

The Lord truly knows best. The Cape didn't even hardly get touched by the hurricane.

Just some slight wind and rain.

So whatever we may be planning in our little pea sized brains,

may not always be what's best for us.

And the God will direct us where HE wants us.

I'm still trying to come to terms with being away from J.

Still wondering how God could want that

But my job isn't to wonder. Just to trust and obey.

After all, it's not forever.

May not even be for the whole 3 months.

If all gets cleaned up and fresh smelling at my aunts, we may go back there.

Time will tell.

But at least now I can get back to my regular, witty, picture filled blog posts.

{Witty? I flatter myself}

Please forgive me for any rambling, or the blahness of this post.

I truly am tired.

And with that, I think I shall go take a nap.

xoxo

What plans?

2011-08-22T11:41:00.000-04:00

Hi.

I'm Whitney.

Do you remember me?

Ok so it feels like MONTHS since I was on here.

I hate not being able to blog, and follow all your blogs.

But things aren't going as planned.

Disaster has struck.

And this time, I'm NOT being dramatic!!

We got my to Aunt and Uncles...

and they had a flea infested house.

Yes, fleas.

If you've never encountered them, then you are soo fortunate.

Not only were we worrying about the nasty little bugs though, but also all the chemicals it was taking to kill them.

I don't want my babies around that stuff.

No way siree.

So right now we are staying with some other friends.

J reports to school in Sunday.

We looking into renting a furnished apartment for me and the boys.

We are praying.

We I am crying.

Things are stressful.

But God is in control and we are so thankful to have a roof over our heads for the time being.

I have no idea when I'll be able to get on here and do a more proper post.

With pictures.

{You know how I like pictures}

But I promise I will try soon.

Please don't abandon me! ;-)

Someone is sneaking peanuts

2011-08-17T20:37:00.000-04:00

Guys, I'm pooped.

We're almost there.

My wrist hurts.

My back hurts.

Pretty much everything is packed.

We're winding down for the night now.

McKennon is sleeping on just his mattress, since we had to take down his bed.

Charlie in the pack n play.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a good night...

This is dinner tonight.

I'm literally drinking out of the bottle because we have no more glasses.

{I promise I'm not an alcoholic, eeps}

And when I was packing up the kitchen today, I found this guy sneaking some peanuts.

Stay tuned for more fun packing/moving/sneaking pics.

Please excuse me while I pack

2011-08-14T21:16:00.000-04:00

New followers?

Oh, hello there!

Thanks for tagging along with me in our Coast Guard journeys.

You've caught us right in the middle of a move.

So please excuse the boring posts about packing boxes and cleaning house.

Boo.

It's been a long afternoon of packing, so I'm settling back with a nice tall cold one, my hubby, and you guys. Gosh, let's party!!

Everything is going pretty smoothly.

For the most part.

Even though we have plenty of time to pack, that little ugly monster called stress still shows up.

J and I have thrown some attitude at each other.. but then we just throw "I love you" in after it and every things ok.

I'm doing surprisingly well with the chaotic mess of the house.

Clutter everywhere.

Boxes everywhere.

Match box cars everywhere.

I do however, have a VERY good helper. Who needs professional movers when you have this guy?

{plus he doesn't wear pants to I get to see his cute little booty all day}

The boys really are doing well though.

They either hang out on the bed, in boxes, sleep,

suck thumbs or just keep each other company on the floor

{packing is hard work ya know, specially for Charlie}.

I'm surprised I'm even getting anything done with all their cuteness around.

Anyway... in all seriousness though,

my mind is totally preoccupied right now,

so forgive me if I don't blog much in the next couple weeks.

xoxo

Blessed family time

2011-08-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

Hello all.

I've been away 5 days.

And I've missed you.

This is me tonight.

{don't ask why I look so happy. Overtired maybe + wine}

Comfy old shirt, glass of wine, and a good movie on.

{Man From Snowy River to be exact. Excellent flick}

We had family in town for 3 days.

J's oldest brother and his family.

We had a BLAST together.

I love my little nieces and nephew. And then to see all the cousins play together.

I just love little people.

We didn't do much other then hang around the house.

They are a Coastie family as well, transferring from Alabama to Massachusetts.

So they'd been in the car for 3 days. Bleh

We ate LOTS of ice cream, got pedicures, took walks, played games.. you get the idea.

{yep, all that working out... for nothing}

Is there anything better then family?

I always forget how truly blessed I am until we're all together, enjoying each other to the fullest.

We're praying hard that someday we will ALL live close together.

Lord willing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Quick updates.

Washer = bought a new one. My youtube videos weren't a success

Headboard = Sadly I've decided to put it off till we get to our next station.

It's just too much trying to get it done before we move.

And speaking of moving, it's happening. This week we're packing. Let it begin.

Message in a bottle

2011-08-05T13:58:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I received something quite surprising.

When you open the mail box, you always expect letters, or magazines, and maybe small fun packages.

But never a bottle.

My very first thought when I opened my mail box was, pipe bomb!!

I don't even know what a pipe bomb looks like, but for some reason, that was my thought.

However, upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be, a real message in a bottle.

How fun!

I have a dear friend and fellow Coastie wife that recently moved to the great wilds of Alaska.

We correspond with handwritten tidbits.

I keep her sane and supply her with news, as she is in the wilderness with nothing but bears and her salmon fishing husband.

{and alas, she does not have a blog, otherwise I would insert here}

But how clever she is to think of putting her letter in a bottle.

Indeed!

Doesn't she have lovely handwriting?

Makes mine look horrid.

Sometimes we like to pretend we're in the days of Jane Austen and write like she did.

Yes we're silly.

And our husbands make fun of us.

But we're girls.

And besties.

Thanks E, for my awesome letter.

Tribulations of a house wife

2011-08-03T20:28:00.000-04:00

I wholeheartedly believe that God is in control of everything.
Whether it be something small or big.
Tragic or joyous.
Silly or serious.

I also believe He is present all the time.
And I try to go about my every day remembering those two things.

That being said, life brings you things you don't want to deal with.

Last week life brought me a broken washer. I was devastated.
Oh Whitney, it's not that bad you say, don't be so dramatic.
I can't help it. I'm a clean freak.
And because I am, when things aren’t clean in my house, I get a little crazy.

No washer = no clean clothes, sheets, towels, etc. Duh

You know how things get when something big and expensive breaks.
The stress levels goes up, attitudes get cranky real fast,
and we start silently screaming in our heads WHY?

We called in a repair man. 40 dollars later he said it would cost us $320 to fix.
We said no thanks, we can just buy a new one for that.
So we did.
We carefully and lovingly brought it home and hooked it up.
Then three days later, it broke.
I could not believe it. Could not.
I proceeded to call the place where we got it.
They are out of those washers and cannot provide us with a new one.
Sigh.

After the whole ordeal, and I’d calmed down a bit, I sat down to do a little reading.

And whatdya know, the very thing I read in My Utmost For His Highest had to deal with life's troubles.

It didn’t mention broken washers necessarily, but the same applied nonetheless.

Here's a tid bit “God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour,
but only for the strain of the minute”.
And thank heavens He does, otherwise I think
I would have started throwing dirty laundry
and yelling at the washing machine.

So as you can imagine, we have ourselves
a little dilemma. I’ve been googling and you tubing all day
and I'm pretty sure I can fix a washer now.
I'm at least gonna take a look. If I can save us money, but golly I will fix it myself!!

If not, the Lord provides, and I'm thankful to just be able to

have the funds to buy a new one.

Lesson learned today: God uses many different ways to teach us,

a broken washer being one of them.

Stay calm, and be thankful!
And... make cookies. That will always make you feel better.

{I think these are the best chocolate chip cookies I've EVER made. Go here for recipe.}

New project coming soon

2011-08-01T07:35:00.000-04:00

Guys. I'm excited.

So we're moving right? Well, I'll be living with my aunt this fall.

But then by Christmas we'll have a new house to decorate.

I mean, I will have a new house to decorate.

Cause lets be honest, J just isn't into that kinda stuff.

I've been throwing around some ideas in my head for our bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom..

Um yeah.. every room!

I'm starting to collect stuff {i.e. free stuff in the alley, thrift store finds, art off Etsy}

for the new place.

{hahaha free stuff in the alley.. I sound like a weirdo}

But what I'm super duper excited about is something I'm going to make.

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know I'm very thrifty.

I take my time, go to second hand stores, make my own things,

wait till there are big sales going on, etc.

You get the idea.

As I've been scouring the internet for bedroom ideas,

something popped out in almost every picture.

And the something was...

drum roll please

{alright just SAY it already!!!}

I am going to make my very own amazing upholstered headboard!

Bam.

What do you think?

Once I get an idea of something I want to make for the house, I get very giddy and have to go gather my supplies right away.

I've found several good websites that give tutorials on making a U.H.

I think it will be fairly simple.

I'm not adding tufts/buttons like this one:

And the reason being for that is because the fabric I picked out has a pattern,

so I think the tufts would just get lost.

Which, would you like to see the fabric I found?

Of course you would.

Is it not ahhh-mazing?!

I stinkin seriously adore it.

I wanted something chic and that would pop, and the colors are exactly what I am going for.

And what's even better, it was 50% off.

Not only did I get my fabric, but I painstakingly measured and taped
an imaginary headboard.
I'm such a perfectionist when I make things so I had to bust out the level and everything.
Just for tape.
I also called in a professional taper to help me.

Can you just picture how good it's gonna look?
I can for sure.
And of course in the new house I'll be painting, and there will be lots of other changes too.

Now you're excited too huh.

You want to make your own upholstered headboard.

Do it.

I probably won't be able to make it for a couple more weeks

cause we have some fam coming into town and I have to finish getting my supplies.

But you better believe I'll be posting about it once I've made it.

Alright then, Happy Monday!