Crazy, wonderful week! :)

The last week was absolutely wonderful! :) I was able to spend each evening with a different one of my amazing friends.

Monday night the boys and I met Charita and her family for dinner at the local Mexican place. We don't get together nearly enough, but when we do it is so much fun. Full of laughs! We each have 3 boys who all get along so well.

Tuesday we went over to Chelsea's mom, Vanessa's house. The boys were able to ride a horse :) Chelsea's sister and neice were also there. River is only a couple weeks older than Parker. It was sooo cute to see them interact! It was very nice to see Chelsea and her family, and even better to see her happy again! Chels will always be like my little sister. No matter how old we get I continue to have that protective urge inside me. I love her to peices.

Wednesday we went over to Jeremy and Meredith's house. They are proof that friendship has nothing to do with the length of time you have known someone. Sometimes people just click. We just started hanging out and I feel like I have known them my entire life. I love so many of my friends here like they are my family but I am already used to being away from them. (Very sad but that's the life of military) I NEVER expected to move back to Arkansas for a few months and start a new friendship that is going to make it feel impossible to leave.

Thursday was my weekly night at Nikki's. My favorite thing about spending time with Nikki is that she has seen me at my best, worst and everywhere in between. We have had so much history together, even rfriendship has had it's ups and downs. But she is the one that through everything has always been there, or at least just a phone call away. I feel comfortable to just be myself with no worries of not being good enough. It has been so wonderful to finally spend time with her amazing little girl too!

Finally...Friday we drove to Texas to be with Ben!!!! We met at my Dad's house in Conroe. I always love seeing my Dad and other mother but it was just amazing to finally wrap my arms around my hubs! It was a LONG drive though. Surprisingly it went very well. I had the 3 boys and our 90 lb dog! If you can believe it...I only stopped 2 times on a 10 hr drive!!!

Saturday Maw and I decided that we needed to get matching tattoos. She has another one that matches her 3 girls so I was totally feeling left out ;) We went down to the tat parlor and got some cute tats on our feet :) There is a large star in the center in my Dad's favorite color, purple. Then there are 5 small stars. Each star represent the birthstone of our immediate family members. I have to say that Blake's green is beautiful. I want to extend the one on my side at some point and may just have to add some green to it!  Ben also got a tattoo. It is HUGE on his left shoulder/arm.

Yesterday, my wonderful other mother, Kim (aka Maw) was wonderful enough to keep my boys while Ben and I spent a couple days alone in San Antonio! We drove to San Antonio yesterday afternoon to help a friend of his move into his apartment. After we finished uploading his u-haul we went to eat at Papasito's. OMG Yum!!! The best fajitas I have ever had!!! Then we can back to ben's home for the last 3 months. (a hotel off the riverwalk) Let me tell you, he has not been roughing it at all! It was so nice to have a quiet evening with no worries of children!

And today...I have a day all to myself :) I have to go to Babie-R-Us though because I forgot my breast pump. Just great! I was already worried about being away from Parker for 2 days and having to pump. I had the pump already loaded in the van and decided to pump one more time before leaving the house and then left it :( Even with that little bump it feels so great to be in a kid free zone for a day!

Whew...that was a lot of catching up!

Our weekend away :)

There is nothing better than seeing the look on your children's faces when they see something new and amazing. From the time I was itty bity I have found the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to be absolutely incredible. As time in the continental US is ending, I decided that I needed to go see my Grandma in Illinois. I haven't seen her in 4 years. That is so hard to believe because her and my grandpa were such a huge part of my childhood. So I decided to take the boys up to see her. Since we had to drive right by the Arch anyway, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to show the boys a historical structure that meant so much to me :)

The boys LOVED! To see how huge it is, how small it looks up top but then to be able to go up there, all of it was so cool to them. Blake was a little unsure about the small, shaky elevator up but they did great!

Then we got to eat at my all time favorite restaurant...The Old Spaghetti Factory! Yummy!!! My Grandpa liked it too so it has great memories. The atmosphere is awesome!

My mom came with us too! She loved getting to spend the time with the boys. 

Then we headed up to my grandma's in Wood River, IL. It amazes me how much can change in just a few years. Everywhere I look in her house I see my Grandpa. I loved and admired him so much. A remarkable man! The whole time I was there all I could think was what a shame it was that he didn't get to see my boys. They would have adored him. But Blake got to read to Grandma. He is getting REALLY good!

 

Blake and Hunter got to play on the organ that I loved as a child. I spent more hours than I can count on this organ :)

We had a great time! We stayed in a hotel Saturday night, woke up and went swimming. Then we headed back home. The boys were really excited because we picked up Tugger from my mom's house. He will spend the week with us and then goes to Maw and PaPaw's house this weekend.

4 MORE DAYS AND WE ARE WITH BEN!!! WAHOO!!!

Veteran's Day

First off, Happy Veterans Day! Our Soldiers, past and present, sacrifice so much for us. Thank you!Today makes me miss my Grandpa. He was a WW2 Marine veteran. Grandpa was my big teddy bear growing up. Wish you were here to chase the boys around ;) Love you!

To my amazing husband...I am so proud of you! Thank you for what you do for our country, but especially for being the devoted father and husband you are. I love you more than words could ever express.

I really need to get some updated pictures of my man in uniform. I haven't seen him in uniform since his promotion to Cpt :(

Whew...what a day! The military decided to throw us a little curve ball today. We thought Ben was going to have to fly back to NC just to have a piece of paper signed. Luckily after all day on the phone, his commander was able to get it straightened out. Thank goodness!!! Some days should just never start though. I was an emotional mess today. I am beyond ready to have Ben back home with us!

Chelsea came to visit yesterday. Always great to see her and catch up. Busy lives keep us from getting together more. Tonight we went over to Nikki's and she cooked us a yummy mexican casserole. I FINALLY got my rings back today! I had to have them sized down and they messed them up. They were sent back in and they even fixed the prongs so it was more secure all at no charge! Yay! They are so pretty :)

Tomorrow we leave for St. Louis. I am really excited to take the boys to the arch. I haven't been in over 10 years! We will also visit my grandma, who I haven't seen in 4 years. Hunter was only a month or so old when I went last. It will be a fast trip but I really need to go see her. I am excited for her to see the boys. I will update when we get back. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Mommy gets mean

The last several weeks I have felt like I am a parenting failure. Blake and Hunter's behavior was getting worse and worse. Hunter has been wild, defiant and pushing every boundary possible. Blake has been getting wild at times but also disrespectful and unappreciative. Most who have been around me know that Ben and I have a little different form of punishing our boys. We are a military house, so we have military type discipline ;) Front leaning rest, invisible chair, jumping jacks, etc. In the past this has worked very well. Lately, not so much!!! I have also tried spanking, time outs and early bedtime. Sunday I finally decided I had dealt with more than enough! Here is why...

As we are driving to the zoo I had to pull over to nurse Parker. I sat in the middle row seat to feed him. I looked back to talk to Blake and saw that he had colored all over the arm rest and side of the van next to his seat! I was mad. All I could think was that I was taking them to the zoo and that's the kind of thanks I get for it. I considered turning around and going home but at this point Hunter was being really good for once so I didn't want to punish him too. I told Blake that I would be thinking about him punishment throughout the day. They were pretty good at the zoo. We had a great time and the weather couldn't have been better. On the way home the boys were laughing and carring on. It was dark so I couldn't see what they were actually doing. Then I felt water on the back of my arm! They were having a water fight in the back of my van! I hit my limit and the punishment...

We got home. I told the boys to go get ready for a bath and I would come in the give them a spanking and start their baths. I had them bend there naked bums over my knee and gave them an old fashion spanking. While they were in the bath tub I packed up every toy in their room. They went straight to bed. They are grounded from toys, TV, movies (in van or anywhere), and any kind of treats for at least a week. Blake also had to write "I will not write in the van." 50 times. After a week we are going to reevaluate their behavior and see if they can have any of their priviledges back. Results so far...

I was amazed at their behavior yesterday. The were both WONDERFUL!!! They played well together, spent a lot of time playing with Parker, built tents in their room quietly, and were really sweet. Maybe they finally realize that mommy means business. I just threatened Hunter with a bare bottom spanking today and he straightened right up :) I'll let you know how the rest of the week goes.

On another subject...I get to take pictures again this afternoon :) Meredith is wanting some pictures of Brock and Ashton. We are going to play around on their family farm. I have some great ideas and can't wait to see if we get some good shots. Should be a great evening. I always enjoy spending time with them.

Few more days and we are off to St. Louis :)

Driving is what I do best!

I feel like all I have done since my last entry is drive. Went to town yesterday to pick up my up wedding rings from being sized down, only to get there and they were messed up :( I'll be ringless for another week. I feel so naked without them! Upside to yesterday is getting to hangout at the Millers last night. :) They are so awesome to let us come over all the time!

The driving continued today. This morning we drove to Bergman for Blake's last soccer game. He scored 2 goals :) So proud of him! I am glad the season has come to an end though. It as been exhausting! Hunter finished up last weekend. After the game we drove to Rogers. 2 of our cousins, Connor and Quinn, competed in the State Cross Country compitition. It was the first time I have been able to see them run and I was SO proud. The boys team finished 3rd! Quinn made all-state! Great job to both of them :) Afterwards, Linda and I took the boys to the park and then to eat at Carino's. Yum!

Very excited about tomorrow. We are going to the Tulsa Zoo!!! :) It should be a beautiful day. I may have to figue out how to post pics on here tomorrow :)

Some great news.......Our things arrived in HAWAII!!! One step closer :) 13 more days and we will be reunited with Ben :)

Here goes nothing!

This is my first blog so please hang in there with me as I try to figure everything out. I thought I would start now before everything gets crazy with the move.

We have 2 weeks left before our family is back together again! It has been a long 3 months without Ben. Then it is only 6 weeks until we move to Hawaii! We are so excited. Very ready to finally be together in a place of our own. Our new temporary home. Ben is going out a week early to get a car and start the housing process. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we will get a nice house, in a great community. It will be our first time in military housing.

There are a few exciting things coming up before being reunited with Ben. We have a trip to the Tulsa zoo planned for this weekend! I always love going to the zoo with the boys. Nothing better than to see a huge smile across your children's faces. Next weekend we will be going to St. Louis! My mom and I will be taking the boys to see my grandma in Wood River, IL, which is not far from St. Louis. The boys have never been to the arch. We HAVE to go up in it.

Parker is up so I will close for now. I will do my best to keep this current. Also, I will update later about the boys and how they are doing :)