You know you're getting old when.....

after a day of giving your son's room a really good deep cleaning, you sit in bed with the most grating pain in the lower back.

Oh it's not just from the room, the older I get the worst my back feels.  Do you know that I can't stand and do dishes for more than 5 minutes without feeling my lower back screaming in agony?  Do you know that the same goes for sweeping and mopping?

I'm 36 years old folks, I understand that I'm no spring chicken anymore, but I'm also still young, so this pain is very irritating.

So after this week of pneumonia's and hives and whatever, I've been on a cleaning spree, I pretty much follow Nicholas around with a can of lysol and a bottle of hand sanitizer, I'm determined to keep the germs away from the rest of us.

I do the usual daily cleaning but now that he seems to be well on his way to a full recovery, I gave his room a really good cleaning this morning.  He helped me.

The curtains were removed and tossed in the washer, the blinds were vacuumed and wiped clean with bleach and the same went for the window sill and the toys on it.........except for the part where I throw the window sill and the toys in the washer.

He takes his job very seriously, he washed all of his cowboys by hand and insisted on putting them back where HE says they belong.

Of course no cleaning is complete without a few short breaks of monkeying around on top of the bunk bed.

This boy cracks me up, I forgot to tell you that last week while we were at the ER, the nurse came in around 3am with his meds to take.  I had given him a glass of water which he filled to the top with ice, so it was really cold water.

She started passing him the meds and he started taking them but you know kids, they turn their noses and make these faces because it tastes gross, so in his attempt to wash away the nasty taste he started downing the icy water which in turn gave him brain freeze.  He put his cup down, grabbed onto his head and with this look horror at the nurse said "are you trying to give me brain damage?"  HAHAHAHA

My husband and I were horrified but I wanted to laugh so bad because the nurse's expression was priceless.

After the room was done, it was back into the kitchen for me, some more puttering here and there, drying and putting away the clean dishes and dinner preparations.



The simplest and tastiest of homemade bread. A slice straight out of the oven, hot, melted butter and the biggest of smiles on the kids faces.

But my poor back is rebelling against me, it complained all through the sweeping, yelled and yelled through the 3 loads of laundry and has finally taken to giving me the sharp little twinges while I'm sitting in bed.

I am going to attempt to bribe it into submission...maybe a cup of coffee and some apple crumble will suffice???

Thermal Tote Giveaway Winner!

First I want to thank Caitlin from Thirty One Gifts for the great giveaway.

Now, thank you to all who entered and as always, I just wish I had one for you all, but don't let that stop you from purchasing one of the Thirty One products, they are inexpensive and totally cute :)

I used Random.org to draw a winner and it came up with:

#20 - Chrissy

Congratulations Chrissy, you will be receiving an email from me shortly!

The Life of a Military Wife

We are trying to make a decision, a decision that will affect our futures and so therefore, it has to be made taking everything into consideration, looking at the pros and cons.

It may not seem like a huge thing to some but if you're military, you know that when the time arrives to retire, you are always faced with the choice.....do we retire now after serving 20 years or do we extend for another 2 years? 

There are so many things pushing for us to retire, mainly the fact that we loathe Arizona and would love nothing more than to pack our belongings and move home to Idaho, to buy or build our own house, to start putting roots down somewhere.....but then we have to look at where we are right now in our lives and figure out if we are ready for retirement.

What will we do, do we have enough income to support a family of four, do we have enough saved up to allow us to build or buy a house and to have enough to live on every month?

But if we stay in, there is a HUGE chance that because it's only an extension for two years, that we may not have the retainability we need to get orders somewhere else, which would mean another two years in this hell hole. 

So, we're weighing our options and we're asking the Lord to give us a sign, to help us make the right decision.  It's hard folks, this military life is not cut out for everyone, so please, keep us in your prayers.

What I'm sharing underneath couldn't have come into my hands at a better time, it just reminded me of what a strong person I am, little ol' me in the military wife ranks and it just reiterates why even though things are tough at times, I keep doing what I do.   Hope it brings a smile to another military spouse's face and I hope for those who are not one of us, that it will bring a little understanding of just what we go through on a daily basis :)

MILITARY WIFE

Lots of moving...Moving...Moving...Moving far from home... Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course. Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house; Moving curtains that won't fit; Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours. Moving away from friends; Moving toward new friends; Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.


Often waiting...Waiting...Waiting...Waiting for housing. Waiting for orders. Waiting for deployments. Waiting for phone calls. Waiting for reunions. Waiting for the new curtains to arrive. Waiting for him to come home, For dinner...AGAIN!


They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better: She is fiercely In-Dependent.


She can balance a check book; Handle the yard work; Fix a noisy toilet; Bury the family pet...


She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts. She can file the taxes;Sell a house; Buy a car; Or set up a move........all with ONE Power of Attorney.


She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her. She reinvents her career with every PCS; Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south. And learns to call them all 'home'. She MAKES them all home.


Military Wives are somewhat hasty...They leap into: Decorating, Leadership, Volunteering, Career alternatives, Churches, And friendships. They don't have 15 years to get to know people. Their roots are short but flexible. They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.


Military Wives quickly learn to value each other: They connect over coffee, Rely on the spouse network, Accept offers of friendship and favors. Record addresses in pencil...


Military Wives have a common bond: The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique. He doesn't have a 'JOB' He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...He's on-call for his country 24/7. But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town! His language is foreign TDY PCS OPR SOS ACC BDU ACU BAR CIB TAD And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his. She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.


A Military Wife has her moments: She wants to wring his neck; Dye his uniform pink; Refuse to move to Siberia; But she pulls herself together. Give her a few days, A travel brochure, A long hot bath, A pledge to the flag, A wedding picture, And she goes. She packs. She moves. She follows.


Why? What for? How come? You may think it is because she has lost her mind. But actually it is because she has lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man, Who puts duty first, Who longs to deploy, Who salutes the flag, And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband, She will remain his military wife. And would have it no other way.

--Author Unknown

Flowing beautifully

I began this journey feeling that I need, or rather should, stick to a schedule.  That we should begin school at a certain time and end by a certain time, that we should eat lunch at so and so hour and dedicate a certain amount of time to studying this subject or that.

We tried it the first few days and honestly it quickly became evident that it would not work, I won't say my children are not cut out for structure, I will say that for some reason, maybe the fact that they despised this public school they attended and caught a lot of bad habits there, they were in desperate need of a break....some unschooling if you will.

Now there's days where it's chaotic and stressful and we can't figure out which way is up and which way is down but then there's days like today, where everything flowed beautifully.

From the minute we got out of bed things just fit.

First let me explain that the style in which we homeschool is based on our own preferences, with our children's needs and desires being the biggest consideration.  Everyone is different, children learn at different paces and require different things and to me that is the beauty of homeschooling, knowing that I can tailor it to what works for us.

We got all the schoolwork out of the way before noon and then I did laundry

They played together on their Nintendo DS's

I worked on my crochet a little bit more



They watched a movie

We had popcorn and hot chocolate

Nicholas played a game on his computer, Jasmine read one of her books

I read a book for review

They ate chocolate chip cookies for snack

I made the best chili ever for dinner and we all enjoyed it.

As this day draws to a close, I am sitting on my bed with my laptop typing this post and I hear their voices coming from Jasmine's room.  They are giggling and laughing and being silly and I'm smiling because the biggest change I've seen in my children, other than the joy on their faces, is the bond they've created.

The sibling rivalry is at a minimun, they love each other and it shows.

There's nothing like watching Jasmine teaching her younger brother, I've heard this often happens in homeschooled kids, the oldest take the youngest under their wing and they teach them and I'm seeing that happening already.


So I close this post with the memory of a beautifully flowing day and one single thought deeply ingrained into my mind that this is why I homeschool, this is why no matter what tomorrow may bring I can be certain that we are doing what is right and what the Lord has shown to be the best path for our family.

The rest???  It doesn't matter.

Cooking Thursday - #4 January 27

Crazy Pizza Bread

Credit:  The Ivory Hut

1 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup Lindsay Chopped California Ripe Olives or 1/2 cup Lindsay Large Pitted Black Ripe Olives, sliced
1 1/2 cups favorite toppings, chopped
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl. Let it sit for 3 minutes until foamy, then add in flour and salt. Mix (using a mixer, spoon, or your hands) just until it comes together. Add in the olives and toppings and combine well.

Dough will be tacky, but feel free to dust with a bit more extra flour if it feels too tacky. Let rise for about 1 hour, then put in the refrigerator for another hour.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and flour a Silpat or waxed paper. Roll out into a rectangle about 11×17”. Sprinkle cheese over top. Then, using the Silpat or paper, fold along the long side, like an envelope. Seal sides so cheese is not exposed. Let rest while you preheat oven to 450 degrees. Let oven stay at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Bake the bread, either on a pizza stone or baking sheet, for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. About 3 minutes before taking it out, lightly brush the top with olive oil and let it finish baking.

Let rest on a wire rack to cool slightly before slicing.