Funny Stuff...

Mommy to CC: Did you toot?
CC to mommy: I think it was daddy in Djibouti.

Happy Anniversary, Nutz!

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. ~Mignon McLaughlin

CC's take on marriage

CC to mommy: "Daddy married you because you are a princess. You're going to have a happy versary (anniversary)."

Yes, Nutz and I will celebrate six years of marriage on Sunday.

My sweet girl...

Tonight at bedtime, CC said to me: "Mommy, I'm going to dream about daddy tonight. And, Cinderella's castle, too." :-)

A Sunday with Friends

Today we spent the day with the Broussard and Behr families. It was a fun-filled day of sun and swimming.

Deuce Rolls Overs

This morning while playing on the floor with CC and me, Deuce decided to roll over for the first time. And as luck would have it, I had turned away. CC said to me, "Mommy, G just rolled over." He had. I'll try to get a video or at least a picture when it happens next time.

Check out CC's writing....

she's getting pretty darn good at it!

Makes sense to me.

Source: http://flowingdata.com/

The Purple Crayon (or CC's interpretation of a purple crayon)

Today, my sweet child decided to give herself a haircut AND color her face purple. No, not at the same time. The haircut was on Ms. Amy's watch and the purple face was on my watch. In fact, I sat in the chair and let her do it! I figured, why fight it? It will wash out and she was really having a fun time making me laugh. After she was finished coloring her face, I told her to go to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. She exclaimed, "Mommy, I look like a purple crayon."

Our trip to the Outerbanks

Last week, we took a week-long trip to the Outerbanks with Bonnie and Bella. It was nice to get away BUT, it's certainly no vacation when you've got a toddler and baby AND no husband around. We missed you Nutz!

The Dinner Diva: Cherish your Children by Leanne Ely

Indulge me for a moment, will you? Today's column is more about food for the soul, than for the tummy.

Years ago, I was watching TV and I saw a commercial for diapers. I don't remember the entire context of it, but the commercial showed a baby in the crib, then, later, as a toddler learning to use his pull-up diapers and go potty like a big boy.

I almost got teary over that commercial! I don't know what it was about that ad that landed so hard in my heart. After sleeping on it all night, I realized exactly what it was.

I spent a good portion of my children's childhoods wishing it away. Instead of cherishing the moments, I would say to myself, "This is so hard. It will be so much easier when they're older."

My children are there, now, at 18 and 20 years old. They're close in age, 21 months apart. When they were little, I had double everything: stroller, car seats, diapers, you name it. Their babyhoods were a blur — I was nursing one and trying to keep another happy. I was tired, stressed out and wanted motherhood to be easy and perfect — like it is in magazines. The reality was quite the opposite: I was overwhelmed and spent an inordinate amount of time looking ahead instead of loving their sweet heads. "When they are older, THEN I will (fill in the blank)."

Why am I telling you this? Because I have guilt and regret and can't move forward? No, it's because I finally realized that even if I did wish away too much time when they were babies, now that they have gone away to school, I thoroughly cherish each moment that I have with them. Oh sure, there were times they were rotten and need straightening out, but I am not trying to tell you that life becomes perfect when you're looking wistfully back on their childhoods. The root of all discontent, however, is expecting "perfect" out of anyone (child or adult) or any situation; I am thankful I learned that while they were still home.

Here's a way to put this important lesson into practice: instead of constantly trying to correct and PERFECT your children's table manners, consciously try to have a dinner table that welcomes the stories about your son's day, your daughter's dreams and laugh together! My heart's memory book is filled with memories from those kind of interactions and (thankfully) not the guilt of nagging at them constantly.

My children grew quickly and were gone before I knew it. One thing that really helped me enjoy them and love them each day was breaking bread each night together at the table. Having dinner together not only blesses those at the table, but it blesses the hands that make it.

Wherever you are in your journey as a mother, you can begin to cherish your babies now — no matter what age, even if they have children of their own! You are still a mother and you still have moments, God willing, left to cherish. The past is one thing we can do nothing about, but we have today!

Take a moment today and look at your children's faces and understand that they are there in your care by divine appointment. It is no accident that God gave you that child or those children. They were hand selected to belong to your family — no one else's. What a gift!

So tonight, when you are gathered 'round your family dinner table, thank God for giving you each child even if you can see their tonsils with mouths full of spaghetti. Treasure your sweet children and love them like there is no tomorrow. They are gifts to be cherished at each meal, with each moment.

Happy Birthday America!

Letter to daddy

Mommy to CC: What are you doing (as she rummages through my closet in the office)? CC to mommy: I'm picking out a birthday card for my daddy. :-)

As she was writing on the card she was talking aloud. She said: I love my daddy. He's part of my family. He needs to come home from Djibouti forever.

M&Ms

Mommy to CC: What would you like for dinner? CC to Mommy: I'm eating M&Ms for dinner.

I'm so exhausted that I'm okay with this. :-)

A friend from high school sent this to me...

Letter to a Military Spouse

While I have never had the pleasure of meeting you or your husband, I felt the need to write you and express a very deep feeling that I have in my heart.
I, as a person, am not brave. I do not tackle things head on, as I hate confrontation. I will travel 100 miles out of my way just to avoid a conflict. I am an American woman that has no idea what is going on in the military other than what I hear on the news.

I have never had to let go of someone so that they could go fight for people that they didn't know, people that sometimes do not appreciate or understand what they are fighting for.

I have never had a sleepless night of worry because of a report that another bomb has exploded and I still haven't heard from my husband.

I have never had to wait for months on end to hold the one that I loved so.

I have never had to tell my children that daddy wasn't coming home tonight because he was so far away fighting for something that they aren't yet old enough to understand.

I have never had to hold my head high and suppress the tears as I hear that it will be at least another six months of separation before my loved one gets to come home.

I have never had to deal with a holiday away from the one that I thought I would share every day of my life with.

And I have never had to feel the panic rising in my heart at the sound of a ringing phone or knock at the door for fear that it is the news that everyone is terrified of getting.

For the reasons listed above, I can not tell you that I understand how you feel. I can not tell you that you must be strong. I can not say that you shouldn't be angry, because you "knew what you were getting into when you married a military man". I can not say these things because I have never had to walk in your shoes.

What I can say for certain is that because of your unselfish acts of bravery and your husbands willingness to stand up for those who see him as "just another soldier" - - I will never have to walk in your shoes.

I do understand that as a military wife you are expected to uphold a certain amount of control, but I never understood how you could do it, until now. I have figured out that you are not like other women. You are of a special breed. You have a strength within you that holds life together in the darkest of hours, a strength of which I will never possess. The faith you have is what makes you stand out in a crowd; it makes you glow with emotion and swell with pride at the mention of The United States of America.

You are a special lady, a wonderful partner and a glorious American.

I have more respect for your husband than I could ever tell you, but until recently I never thought much about those that the soldier leaves at home during deployment.

Until this moment I could never put into words exactly what America meant to me.

Until this moment, I had no real reason to.... Until I heard of you.

Your husband and his military family hold this nation close, safe from those who wish to hurt us...but you and those like you are the backbone of the American family. You keep the wheels in motion and the hearts alive while most would just break completely down. Military families make this nation what it is today.

You give us all hope and you emit a warming light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

Because of you and your family...I am able to be me. I am able to have my family. I am able to walk free in this great land. Because of you and your family, I can look ahead to the future with the knowledge that life is going to be okay. Because of you and your family, I can awake to a new day, everyday.

I realize that you are a stronger person than I will ever be because of these things and I just wanted to take the time today to say thank you to you and your family for allowing me that freedom.

I will never be able to repay this debt to you, as it is unmatchable. However, I hope that you know that no matter where you are...what you are doing...what has happened today...or what will happen tomorrow...Your husband will NEVER be "just another soldier" to me.... And you, dear sweet lady, will never be forgotten.

You are all in my prayer's everyday and I pray that God will bring you back together with your loved one safely.

May God Bless You!

(Author Unknown)

Daddy's Little Girl

Rest in Peace, Dr. Arana

Today, our good friend, Jose, lost his father to cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family! We love you!

Happy Father's Day, Nutz!

We love you!

Happy Father's Day, Big Ira

Happy Father's Day, Big Ira! Thanks for being such a GREAT dad and papa all of these years! We love you!

Our Little Ballerina