{ Happy 17th Birthday Nicholas }

It's hard to wrap my mind around that. 17. My baby boy. 17. How?

My heart is full, and happy and sad at the same time. It's all a huge roller coaster of emotions, but as sad as I may feel that my last baby is no longer a little boy, I am also enormously thankful to God and blessed beyond measure.

Nick is hilarious, he is so frigging smart that he continuously amazes me (definitely takes after his dad in that department lol), and yet he is still a mama's boy. He is now 6ft 2 inches tall, completely towers over me, is finishing up 11th grade, still into video games, interested in Game Design and is not only drawing and creating characters on his computer but animating them too.

I am constantly in awe of him and his sister, I clearly hit the jackpot with the children God bestowed upon me.

Happy Birthday Nick. My wish for you is that you continue to thrive and grow, continue being the sweet kind heart that you are, and continue making us laugh until our sides heart with your quirky and quick witted sense of humor.

Jasmine and I made his cake.  We basically raided the pantry and used what we could find.  It turned out to be one of the cutest birthday cakes I've made.

The cake itself is a white cake that I added sprinkles to in the batter.  The filling is a chocolate mousse and the frosting is whipped cream.  We made the little banner using wooden skewers and cupcake liners.

Had so much fun baking with my girl and coming up with this cake for Nick's special day.  I have always made their birthday cakes, from their very first birthday and all through the years.  I don't have anything against store bought, but it's a tradition I've stuck with and my kids wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 16th Birthday Nick!!!

16 years old!!!

My rainbow baby, my little boy, who is no longer little.  He towers over me, he is over 6 feet tall, full of life and craziness and incredibly smart, to the point where he leaves me stumped at times.

Watching him and his dad carry on a conversation about physics, religion, biology, DNA or whatever else, is insane, mostly because I have no clue what they are on about LOL

Nick has always been a sensitive, sweet boy with the biggest heart.  It's been a trait that both my children have inherited and it makes us so proud as parents.

He is the last of my littles, that's it, no more babies after this one, although as parents we always think of them as babies no matter how old they get.

I wish my son nothing but the best, all the blessings that the Lord can bring upon him and immense love, health and wealth for his future.

He is at that age where we are not allowed to take photos or use too many shows of affection, so I grabbed this snapshot of him when he was working on one of his Sign Language videos for school.  I think it is so him, so NICK!!!

I love you my son, and I'm so proud of you and everything you've accomplished until now.  I can not wait to see what the future holds for you.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Nicholas' First Kindergarten Show!

Last night we went to the school's Kindergarten Snow Show. As I sat there watching my little boy sing and act out the words, I had a lump in my throat. I was so extremely proud of him and the fact that this is the beginning of a whole new world for him. The maturing from a little toddler to a big school boy....there's something magical about their first school concert isn't there?

So be prepared for quite a few pics and a little video, I know it may seem like much but I just couldn't stop snapping photos and I know that the family is dying to see him. Nicholas is especially excited about Vovo (grandpa) in South Africa seeing that he can sing just like him. :)

After the show, they were all lined up so the parents could pick them, but of course there were a few straggler kindergarteners just wandering around LOL My son was one of course LOL

One of the really sweet things the kindergarteners do every year, is make Christmas Cards for the Luke AFB Airmen that are currently deployed and will not be home for the holidays.

The teachers supply all the materials and cookies to eat after the Snow Show and the kids get to make the cards and write whatever they want. Nicholas did this ALL on his own, he asked me how to spell "can't" and "sorry" but everything else he did alone, right down to his backwards G, and it makes me so proud of him. It brought tears to my eyes when I read the card.....it says:

I am sorry that you can't go home

And here's Jasmine's card, again, it makes me so proud of my kids. I think being a military family they are fully aware of what it means for a soldier to be away, Jasmine especially since she's been through it before when daddy was overseas during Christmas and New year's.

It was a great night, we enjoyed the children singing and seeing how happy they were up on stage. As with all 5 year olds, they started waving to their mommies and daddies and shouting out "I love you" LOL

It was so cute.

Here is Nicholas with his classroom's snowman, each class made one and put it up on the wall. he is pointing to his photo.

Here's the first song they sang...I couldn't get much more, I was so busy taking photos that I forgot about the video LOL

Cottages, Crafting and Cooking!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and this amazing lady is not only one of the best crafters out there, she has an amazing house and lives in one of the most stunning places ever. Literally sounds like she has it all doesn't it???

Anyway, she posted this photo, the one on the left here, and said this was about 100 yards from her childhood home. Is that not the most peaceful and charming place you've ever seen???

I don't think I need to tell you how much I love English Cottages and how I wish I could live in one, maybe one day who knows?

Things here have been crazy busy and I'm trying to get it all done, I have a house desperately asking for attention, I have fabric begging to be made into beautiful projects and I have ingredients sitting on kitchen shelves asking to be made into delicious food. I really should start making a list of what I need to accomplish and then jump right in with both feet.....maybe that's what I'll do today?!?!?!

Yesterday afternoon I had a Parent/Teacher conference for Jasmine, she's doing great, the teacher loves her to death and we got to talk about the usual stuff parents talk about, are they good in class? Are they respectful of others? Is there anything I need to be working on her with? So I was happy to hear good things about Jasmine, we always knew she was a great student so it's good to have it reiterated by the teacher. She got two A's, one B and two C's.....we'll be working on those C's for sure LOL

I don't know about the rest of you out there but we're not the kind of parents to get upset or ground them or whatever when they don't get straight A's, to me what matters is that I'm seeing my child work hard and devote herself to her school work, if she is still getting C's then so be it, do I condone it though? No, and we've talked to her about it so she doesn't think that it's acceptable to not try and better herself but we've also made her realize that she must never hide or be scared of her grades......we're in this together, whatever her grades we'll all work at it as a family and I think for me that is what matters.

One of the big things with Jasmine is that she does not enjoy reading, she finds it boring, no matter what books we throw her way.........and it's funny because she's the 3rd top reader in her class......go figure.

Anyway, I realized that I need to turn reading into something that she will enjoy so she's now got a small area in her room that has become her reading area, just throw down a cute little quilt, a couple pillows and some books, she likes reading there and she likes it even better when the pugs join her and take a small nap at her feet. (btw, ignore the date on the picture, I just realized that I haven't reset my date on my camera in forever LOL)

After the conference we came home and the kids wanted to decorate their little pumpkins so that's what we did, there was paint and yarn and fabric and all sorts of goodies available but my children are painters.......they have blinders to everything else around LOL

So here's the masterpieces, they didn't want help with theirs and I love watching the kids just having fun and doing whatever their hearts desire.

Back in Idaho, I went to the base thrift store and came upon this beautiful fabric, I just fell in love with it, it was free, there were a couple yards on it and I just love the pattern, so I picked it up and it's been sitting in my crafts box for months now. I've decided to take it out and finally do something with it but I need your help, see I seem to have hit a blank when it comes to sewing, I look at it and I know it would look beautiful somewhere in my house, but where???? Curtains, pillows......what?????? Help please, I know there's tons of crafty ladies out there with great ideas so help a girl out will ya???

Right now I have a wonderful Beef Curry cooking away in the crockpot and it's a first for me because curry is one of those dishes that I make myself on the stove top, that's how I learnt from my greatgrandmother but you know the crockpot looks so inviting and I have so much to do around here that I want, no, I NEED this day to focus on the house instead of the kitchen.

I swear Curry has to be one of our favorite dishes in this house, we never get enough of it :)

I'm heading out to get started on the house but I wanted to leave you with this photo of Nicholas, while watching tv this morning I heard my name from the couch and turned to find him trying to hand me a rose.....ok so a plastic rose, but still it's the thought that counts right?

Brrrrrr I'm cold

Before I start, just want to let you all know that my Tackle it Tuesday post is just below this one.....

Image by Marla's Palette

It's so unfair to keep tempting us and waving the Spring Carrot under our noses for a day or two only to turn it around, dump tons of rain and high speed winds and make my poor little fingers freeze. What is going on???? Where is the groundhog and what has it told us???? Do I have to go hunt a groundhog myself and ask him about his shadow???

Seriously I'm sitting here with my cup of coffee and my mouse hand is frozen, it's always my right hand, anyone else have that happen???

I have some free time this morning so I plan on visiting as many blogs as I can, I'm so tempted to get rid of them all in bloglines because there's just sooooo many, I keep adding and adding to it and I've over 300 blogs on there, like I REALLY have time to go visit 300 blogs???
I need to do some serious purging of bloglines, I just can't bring myself to it, you should see me trying to decide which ones to delete and which to keep, it's like trying to throw out that little piece of paper that means NOTHING but you've had for years and couldn't imagine it out there all alone.....wow I'm pathetic, I'm sure there's a medical term for me I just don't know it yet. LOL

I'm sure you've noticed that I changed my blog theme again, I love pink and am always on the lookout for anything with pink in it and since I don't have the time to make my own, I will just use one of the many wonderful free templates out there.

So we're planning our move this summer and it's amazing how much stuff needs to be done and planned. Here's just an idea:

Get official orders
Put in for housing at next base
Wait to get house so we can determine which school Jasmine goes to
Get all medical and dental records from hospital
Get school records
Coordinate moving company dates and times
Coordinate when the stuff will arrive at new base
Book TLF (Temporary Living Facilities) for this base AND the new one
Get pugs their shots and vet records for next base

That is just a few of the things, there's plenty more and I really don't even want to think about it right now, it gives me a headache and makes me want to run for the nearest hill.....with some snacks and diet coke, Oh and my computer and internet of course, AND the tv, and the cellphone, oh and my kids and hubby too.....Screw it, might as well just stay where I am LOL

I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss this base and my house, you know when you've lived somewhere for 9 years there's so many memories attached to it, but as a military family you learn to deal with it and you learn to carry those memories with you and make new ones wherever you go.

Ain't that the truth?!?!?

So tomorrow is Nicholas' birthday, he's turning 4 years old and he's very excited about it. I'm happy but also sad, isn't it weird how we get so emotional whenever our kids have another birthday? It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that he'll be starting school next year, I keep telling him I'm not letting him go to kindergarten, he has to stay home with me....he's not buying it though, he very firmly tells me that he's going to school and that the pugs will be with me at home. THANKS NICHOLAS!!! LOL

I tried bribing Curt into giving me another baby, just so that I have someone to keep me company when both kids are at school, he's not falling for it either, he keeps saying "have you forgotten what it was like for you when you were pregnant?", I know he's right, honestly I don't think my body could handle another pregnancy, guess I'll have to take up a new hobby, shopping seems fun, maybe origami LOL
Heck, maybe I should just take up the clarinet or the saxophone, then again belly dancing is quite entertaining too from what I hear.

On the 25th, Jasmine turns 8 years old but I could swear she's turning 18. She has the attitude of a teenager and just this past week she's discovered the PHONE. Yep, the teenage years and the long hours of phone calls are upon us. Curt is not thrilled at all LOL
Jasmine's best friend is in her class, she's this adorable girl named Bethany and they do everything together, so this past week they realized that it was time they exchanged phone numbers and called each other. ALL.THE.TIME

I pick her up from school, bring her home and within 5 minutes the phone rings....they talk for an hour, hang up and within another hour it rings again or Jasmine is calling her. All I hear is the one sided conversation about play dates, going to each other's houses, sleep overs and do you like chicken pot pie. YES people because if you don't like chicken pot pie you can NOT have a fruitful and successful friendship.....at least that's what I'm learning through all this.

Anyway, I think I've babbled on enough today, I'm sure you've noticed that I'm feeling much much better, now I'm going to run and do some drive-by-comments as fast as I can before heading out for a bit. Be ready, you may not see me clearly but you will definitely see my dust as I zip to the next blog.....my goal??? Hit as many blogs as I can within the hour....wish me luck.

God Bless,

How many times do you have to mess up

until you learn the lesson??? No really, humor me, how many times??? Once or twice, four times or maybe ten???

See I won't even go on to say how much I love my coffee. I think everyone and their mother already knows, "no coffee and no creamer make sandra something something" (sorry Homer Simpson jumped into my brain for a second).

But anyway, this morning I did it again. It's now the third time, "ALERT THE MEDIA", that I get the coffee machine ready and then turn it on, walk away and forget to place the carafe on it. So now I end up with delicious coffee ALL.OVER.THE.COUNTERS. It's heart breaking!!!
The first time it happened I was so upset that Jasmine said "why don't you just lick it off the counter?". Yeah thanks honey, although I would lie if I didn't say I was tempted. Does that make me weird???

So my blogging friend Courtney, had a great post yesterday about the things she's learnt through her husband's deployment. I have to say that reading her entry was like reading a page from my own journal.

I admit I too take my husband for granted when he's home. Actually there's times that he really gets on my nerves, but then he gets deployed or goes TDY and I'm miserable without him. It's the little things that you overlook when you're just going day to day, like.....the sound of the door opening when he gets home from work, the kisses that follow, the hugs when he walks by me during the day, and even the little spats over who left the empty box of cookies in the cupboard.

See the enemy has a way of placing doubts in our minds, especially when we're most vulnerable and there's nothing better than a woman alone with the kids, having to do it all, and worrying about her husband's safety. My mind goes into overdrive....I wonder what he's doing??? Did he eat?? WHAT did he eat??? With WHO did he eat??? Better not be a hot blonde around there!!!

It's just ridiculous the things that I think about, but usually only for a few seconds (yeah I can think all that and more in just a few seconds), I can tell when I'm being coaxed into these thoughts and that's when I ask God to wipe them from my mind and help me get through it without going nutty. Another lesson that will most likely repeat itself again next time he deploys.

I've been finding the weirdest things in my house, they're quite hilarious actually considering Nicholas has been the one behind them. I'm going to share two photos with you and you have to tell me whether I'm loosing my mind or my son is just trying to amuse me or himself. LOL

So this first one is sort of like a puzzle/riddle kinda thingamabob. See I hadn't been noticing (sorry I can't be everywhere at once) that Nicholas had been doing this. It's really quite interesting when you realize what they are....so let's see if you can all figure it out. Just take a look at this picture and tell me what is NOT supposed to be there, and then tell me if you know what they are.

Umm now I know I'm no Interior Decorator but even I can see that those green things are not supposed to be there....guess what they are???

And then to top it off, I walk around the corner and find this. LOL I'm sorry but I just can't stop laughing, to think that he did this and the silly dog just sits there. COME ONNNNN....get up or shake it off or something LOL

Doesn't she look happy???? LOL She actually stayed like that while I got my camera and took the picture...wonderful pug :)

So since I'm sharing pictures I couldn't help but to show you this next one, this is the sky this morning, it's just, well, it's just gorgeous....take a look. Jasmine said it looks like a Grill LOL

While we're on the subject of pictures etc....I added my Chicken Curry picture to the recipe post. Go check it out and tell me you're not hungry now...go on I dare you!!! I might just have to come to your house and cook!!! LOL
Hey if Curry is not your thing, then go check out the photo of my Crockpot Beef Stroganoff, now THAT is sure to make you salivate....I'm starving just looking at it.
*SIGH* I miss hubby, not because I'm talking of beef, but because I miss cooking big meals LOL

Today is our turn to provide the snacks for Jasmine's class. A lot of moms send in little bags of chips, granola bars, little donuts etc....just quick and easy stuff that the kids like, but being the homemaker that I am, can't pass up the opportunity to cook. Last month I baked peanut butter cookies and white macadamia nut cookies for the class.
For today, I made Cookies on a Stick. The kids LOVE them and it's a fun snack. But more than that it's EXTREMELY EASY to make.

Wanna see what they look like??? Oh and let me just say that what I love about these is that you can use them at any time of the year, like for Valentine's day you can use heart shaped cookies, for Easter Oval shaped ones decorated like eggs etc....just use your imagination :)

Now tell me which kid won't love eating a cookie like that???

Ok so now for the last photos of this post. This is what happens when daddy is gone and we get bored LOL Jasmine I guess wants to take in her mommy's "papparazzi" footsteps, give her the camera and she just loves taking candid shots. Of course this time I WAS the one in the crosshairs. First the kids wrestle me to the ground, beat me up (not really but hey if it makes them feel strong), and then she takes photos of my messed up hair. SHE said it was to show everyone my new haircut and highlights....I SAY it's just to embarass me, and so because I love my family and all my friends so much, I am not ashamed to post these. Now you look while I go hide my face for a few minutes.

Oh Lordy!!! Anyway, that's me when I'm bored, doesn't that look like so much fun??? NOT!!! LOL Actually it was fun messing around with the kids, just letting your hair down (literally) and saying "to heck with being a mommy right now". You should try it often it helps release stress.

And that is IT, I think I've either put some of your to sleep with all this babbling, or I may just have you in hysterics over my pictures....either way, it's amusement at it's best right???

Well my friends, I have tons of errands to run today, so I better get on with it. Have a great wednesday and Hey, go out and do something fun, but be sure to get pictures. Oh and I really want to know if you can tell what those green things are on the shelf....I'll let you know tomorrow what they are. Of course, I'm sure everyone will get it right, it's not Rock Science like Tara Reid says LOL

Adeus, Adios, Totsiens, Au Revoir, Ciao, Bye Bye!!!

For dinner we're having Bacon, Sausages, Biscuits and Gravy. Favorite kids breakfast and hey we all know how fun it is to have breakfast foods for dinner right??? I do miss cooking big meals though :)

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