We're going home!!!

Margaux and I are headed home today!!! I am so ready, let me tell you! I am just ready to have all of my girls under one roof again. I miss those 3 big girls like whoa!! And we're off! :) 

Dr Pepper, Please?

All I have wanted since I have given birth is a Dr Pepper or some good sweet tea. This morning when the girls came to see me they brought me this...

A Dr Pepper and cake pop's made with McKenna's cake pop maker that she got for Christmas. Do you remember in an earlier post where I said that when I sitting at the table addressing Christmas Cards McKenna turned to my mom and asked her to take her shopping to buy me a present? The cup is what she bought me. Is it perfectly me, or what?? <3 p="">

Christmas Surprise!!!

Christmas 2013 will be one that is special for so many different reasons!! The biggest reason? Margaux Easton was born at 7:11AM this morning. She weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long. Merry Christmas!!

From Our Family to Yours

This is probably my most favorite Christmas card to date!! I mean, I hate that Lover is not here but this card turned out JUST like I pictured!!!

Tis Better to Give than the Receive

This afternoon as I was sitting at the table with my mom and McKenna addressing Christmas cards, McKenna turned to my mom and said, "Mymy, will you take me shopping? I want to get something for Mommy for Christmas because she never has any presents under the tree." My heart melted. She is such a giver and loves to give gifts any chance that she gets. And for her to realize that I don't have as many gifts under the tree as she does, she is wise beyond her years.

McKenna's Birthday Party

McKenna's birthday party was tonight and it was a total success!! The theme of her party was, "My Daddy Loves Me Even On His Boat." She came up with that all by herself about 3 months ago. We were coming home from her BFF's birthday party and from the backseat McKenna goes, "I know what I want my party to be." I said, "oh yeah?" Thinking she was going to say unicorn or something. No. She said, "My Daddy loves me on his boat." She never wavered from that so I decided to create and surprise her with a Harry S. Truman carrier cake. She was very excited and proud of her theme and her cake! As we were cutting the shape and getting it ready to frost she came in and quickly knew just what it was and her face lit up. Completely made my day to make hers. :)

It's Nutcracker Day!!!

The day is finally here!!!! It's Nutcracker Ballet Day!!!!! McKenna and I had such a blast this afternoon!!! McKaela and Maisie stayed with Grandma and Grandpa and swam and played while McKenna and I went on our little date. It was a little long for her but she sat there and watched the entire thing and just took it all in!! I am so glad that I got to experience this with her. :)

Pure and Innocent Joy

McKaela always has a smile on her face. Little things excite her. Yesterday at Seth's birthday party he was opening presents and McKaela was standing right there beside him and could hardly contain herself. Her smile was a mile long and her eyes were sparkling and dancing. The comment was made, "she is so excited!" And her response was, "I'm always excited! I am excited for Kenna's birthday and for singing on the big stage.." And it is so the truth. She is always excited even about the smallest things. That is one thing about her that I absolutely adore. No matter what is going on, she is smiling and she canNOT just walk, she has to jump or hop. It is her joy and her excitement for life, in general, that reminds me of God's blessings and His love. She reminds me to stop and take a break from being an adult sometimes, to stop seeing things through jaded eyes, and to just enjoy life! Find the pure and innocent joy in all things. 

So my challenge to you today, dear friends, is to try and take a step back and really enJOY life. If it means doing something silly like skipping into the store as opposed to just walking or something as simple as going to look at the Christmas decorations in the store and really just taking it all in, do it! Just because we get older and become adults doesn't mean that we have to lose our childlike faith and joy. After all, that is what Satan wants, it is what he strives to do, rob you of your faith and your joy, and he has all the power to do so if you let him. 

Kohl's and the Military Wife

I most definitely stood in the corner of Kohl's department store talking to Lover for I don't know how long. When you are a military wife you will do whatever it takes to talk to your husband when he calls you from across the world. It completely made my day and I wouldn't trade these days for the world!!!

I LOVE YOU, LOVER!! I can't wait to have you home!!!

Happy Halloween!!

And for my entire halloween costume...

Trunk or Treat 2013

Yesterday was Truck or Treat at church and it was a blast!!! So many people but the girls had such a good time!! 

McKenna, the good little witch.

McKenna, the good little witch; Maisie, Sophia the first; McKaela, Minnie Mouse. 

Sophia- Moo, as McKaela called her. (the paci only comes out at naptime and bedtime, this was my attempt to get her to rest on the way to church..haha)

Part of my outfit.

Fia!!

Candy, food, and games. Who could ask for more??

Mommy said she had to eat some nachos or turkey leg first before having another piece of candy.

All in all, it was a great success!! We love Trunk or Treat at North Jax!!

Eyes Wide Open

Sweet baby. We've had some long days and late nights recently. Yes, she sleeps with her eyes open. Always has. haha It creeps Lover out but I love it. Sometimes she'll even follow you with her eyes while sleeping. haha

Her First Ballet

I just got tickets for McKenna and I to go to The Nutcracker Ballet!!! She is going to LOVE. IT!!!! I think I will make a day of it, too. Take her out in the silly car and everything. It is going to be so much fun. I haven't been to see The Nutcracker in years!

11 More Wednesday Until Christmas!!

I posed the thought the other day, "I'm really not sure why people dread Christmas and the season. It is only stressful if you make it that way." I got a fair amount of responses but you know what many of them were? Excuses. Pressure, perfection, shopping, crowds, money. That all sounds good and fine and that is how we sugarcoat it but they are just that, excuses. Why are you allowing yourself to be robbed of the joy of the season?? I understand that as parents we want to give our children the best Christmas ever and we want them to "have it all" but at what expense are we doing so? Christmas isn't about presents, it is about Christ and celebrating His birth. Christmas doesn't mean go broke buying for your family, it means remember the baby who was born in a manger so many years ago. Have you ever read 'The Gift of the Magi'? If not than you should. We should never ever spend above our means for any reason but especially for Christmas. If you "can't afford" Christmas than make it a year where you teach your children the true meaning of Christmas. You may not have something under the tree but why not bake some cookies and take them up to firehouse, a police station, a hospital? Why let the joy of the season be taken away by trivial things that are not going to matter, are going to get broken, are going to not fit, in the blink of an eye? Don't focus so much on what you "can't" do, turn it and focus on what you can. Teach your children that, "no, we may not have money for Christmas but that isn't what Christmas is about" and from there make sure that they know what the true meaning of Christmas really is.

I want to leave you with this, dear readers, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Merry (almost) Christmas!

Just a little political rant

Just a thought but how about step #1 in Funding Our Government 101 be to stop sending the president and his family on multiple $100,000 vacations a year and let them pay their own way just like the rest of us? I don't know, just throwing that out there. From there we'll move on to supporting the lazy, the illegals, and those who want to destroy us...that last one, however, takes us back to step #1 so... unsure emoticon

So, I might be pregnant. LOL We went to the Green Market today and these looked so good. haha Ok, so initially I only had one but the girls decided that they didn't want theirs so guess who volunteered to eat them. ;) 

Breakfast, Anyone?

I know what we're doing for breakfast tomorrow!!! The girls are going to FLIP!! I got it from Bealls. Online has it for $38.99 but I ordered it in store and got it for $29.99 because it is in the ad from this week and it looks as though it is priced at $29.99 so they corrected the price for me. :)

Where I Was When the World Stopped Turning

Where was I that fateful morning, you ask? I was taking my brothers to school and had the radio on the MJ in the Morning Show. MJ was talking about a plane hitting the Trade Center building and I remember being disgusted in the joke that he was playing. After all, it was a morning show, morning shows are notorious for playing jokes, right? I switched the channel to find something else, determined never to listen again after he had just taken it too far, and the same "joke" was on every station. I switched it back to MJ when I realized then that it wasn't a joke and I just sat there in silence and confusion. I had the same thoughts that everyone else did; "it was probably fog and some amateur pilot..how sad." - No, it was a clear day. "I bet the pilot on that liner was tired or drunk." - The plane had just taken off not that long ago, fatigue or drunkenness a possibility? Sure, but not a probability. It was then that in the one mile drive from the middle school to our house that the words, "terrorist attack" entered my head and subsequently were mentioned over the radio. No, it can't be! This is the 21st century and this is America...things like that don't happen anymore!! That was the first plane and tower.

After I got home I rushed inside and immediately turned on the TV. No one was home since I had just taken my brothers to school and my parents had already left for work. I turned on the TV just as the second plane hit. Now THAT was a surreal feeling. It was that moment that I knew in my heart that this was, in fact, our worst nightmare and the country, as we knew it, would never be the same again. I watched in awe as two iconic buildings of so much prestige were attacked. I was one of the many who watched people jumping from the top floors because that was a better option than the heat and the flames. I watched and I cried as I thought about everything that I was seeing and hearing and just what was going on. I cried because I was scared and I cried because I was confused.

Here we are 12 years later and I still remember that day like it was yesterday. So much has changed yet so much has stayed the same. I have graduated college with 3 degrees, gotten married, had 3 children (and one on the way), moved away, moved back, we as a nation have gone to war, we have changed presidents (good Lord, and not for the better), the list really goes on and on. The constant through everything, however, is that God is still here and He is still in command, and He knows all that has and will occur. September 11, 2001 may have felt like the day that God took a nap or turned his head but I think that it was the beginning of prophecy coming to play; the times that He talked about in Matthew 24: 6-8, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." These things must happen but we are not to be afraid of them for God knew they were going to happen and He tells us in Jeremiah 1:8, "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you." No, God wasn't sleeping that day, He was sitting there watching and crying with us, just waiting for us, His children, to call to Him and seek Him for the comfort that only He can bring. "But all of those innocent people, those innocent children who had no chance, why didn't he save them??" He has already answered that in Isaiah 57:1-2, "Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die." We will not fully understand any of this until we, too, are sitting at the feet of Jesus and even then I believe that we won't want to know why it happened or why some were taken from us so soon. We are going to be so in awe and overcome with peace and joy that we aren't going to be thinking about the bad that has happened on this Earth, we are going to be focusing on the face of Jesus! 

My challenge to you on this somber day where as much as it feels as though the world has forgotten what happened so many yet not so many years ago, don't walk in sorrow and pain walk in the knowledge that God is with you and He will continue to comfort and bless you. We can still mourn, it says in Matthew 5:4 that those who mourn are blessed because they will comforted by Christ. (And who better to be comforted by??) Remember this day, dear readers, never ever forget, but also remember that there is One who loves you, who is in control of everything, and who is just waiting for you to come to Him.

Mommy's BOWtique

The girls spent a little time at Mommy's BOWtique this morning. :)

Truth Be Told

So this is what happens when coming home from Mother's Day Out with Mymy!

My New Ring!!

I love LOVE my new ring!!!

Pomegranate Salmon

I am so excited to share my recipe with! It is SUPER easy and delicious! I am a member of a wonderful website called CafeMom and through them I was asked to be a part of an influencer program for Hidden Valley. They sent me a Hidden Valley salad dressing or vinaigrette, I had no idea what one I was getting, and I was to create a recipe using it. The Hidden Valley dressing that I received was a pomegranate vinaigrette. Now, let me be honest by stating that when I opened the box and saw that is what I was given I was immediately disappointed and thought, "what am I going to do with this??" I don't mind pomegranate fruit too much, though it is not my favorite, but I do not like pomegranate flavored anything, really; candy, icing, cough drops, etc. Not to mention, I don't like sweet fruits on my salads or meats; i.e. oranges in my salad, pineapple on my pizza, or mango on my chicken. Needless to say, I was sitting there looking at this bottle going, "ok, what now?" I had a couple of ideas to try, and still plan on trying a few out with what I have leftover actually, but ultimately decided to try my pomegranate vinaigrette as a marinade for salmon. 

I took six (6) salmon filets and thawed them in a cold bath.

After they were thawed I then patted them dry with a paper towel before placing them in a baking dish.

Once in the baking dish I poured the vinaigrette over them, I used about a half of the bottle, and then put the dish in the refrigerator and let them marinate for 2 hours.

After the 2 hours was up I placed the dish in a preheated oven set to 350 degrees and baked them for 20 minutes. You want the salmon to flake easily when it is done and 20 minutes was perfect for my oven. 

I paired my salmon with, as you can see, a side of mixed vegetables, broccoli, and rice (I would have used brown rice but I was out). I was so excited by the way that it turned out!! Everything complimented each other so nicely. My daughters are not really big meat eaters but all three (3) finished off their plates. My parents were also here for dinner and they both loved it, as well, saying that it was moist and not dry like salmon gets a lot of times when you are not careful, the flavor of the pomegranate vinaigrette complimented the salmon very nicely, and that this recipe is a keeper. I am so excited and I agree with them, I will definitely be making this again!

Here is comes!!

Whoop-whoop!!! My favorite time of year is coming!!!!

Where he is, I am.

I love hearing about the places that Lover has been and see, I always feel as thought I am there...and in a sense I guess part of me is.

The Newest Addition to my Cabinet

Yep, this sums it all up! ;) 

(I miss you, Lover!)

The Day Has Come...

On July 22, 2013 at 1100 the USS Harry S. Truman set out for a 9 month deployment. Please keep our troops and our loved ones in your thoughts and prayers. 

Walking to watch the ship pull away. 

Getting in place to man the rails. 

There they go.

Fair winds and following seas! We'll see you soon!