Busy Week (end)

We had a busy start to our weekend already. Yesterday Banyan finally got to meet up with his new trainer & Liberty the other handsome Golden in training through All American Dogs . We met up at the Yelm park where a lot of ducks come to swim in the pond. The two boys where a beautiful site to see walking around together in their service vests. They where excited to meet but soon settled into a good walking pattern that gave me a chance to talk over some goals & such with Banyan's new trainer. I am really excited she lives so close only about twenty minutes from our home . This hopefully is going to allow us a lot more opportunity to do some training during the days so we aren't so busy at night. It will also give Banyan the chance to work with another well trained pup!

Banyan also made it to the gym with me to watch me do a little cardio & relax in a much needed sauna. I have still been super busy working on my  fitness goals while the boys are at school or I have a free moment. This week  I had the chance to add a second workout in on Tuesday & Thursday evenings during my youngest son's soccer practice. A couple of the moms asked if I could come bring my workout equipment and help them get beach body ready while the boys practice. I don't claim to be an expert by any means. But having taken the ISSA course & working out like I do with my trainer for so many years I thought, why not? It will give me the chance to get a little extra in and I would just be sitting in the van reading for an hour. I love it when other moms decide to get healthy & work out! We did circuits with the weights & other fun things I was able to bring. We also jogged a really nice lap - I did it twice. It was a good start & I am sure the ladies will get faster and stronger with each passing week. It also gave me the chance to share some nutritional information along . They are eating pretty clean & healthy but there are some tweaks that could be made to drop a few of those pesky pounds.

Today we have our first soccer game of the Spring season and we are ready to go! Banyan will join me in watching the game which should be exciting for him with all the crazy distractions. A lot of kids, fast moving balls, etc. I think it's a perfect training opportunity. But before that I am off to walk the trails around my home in a new 25llbs weighted vest a friend got me. I came home & it was sitting on my front porch- ahh she knows me to well because I was super excited! It'll be perfect for helping me get ready to carry crazy heavy objects from point A to point B in my runs. I love my friends! She thinks I'm a fitness nut but hey she supports my habit!

My husband and I also got the wonderful news this week about Block Leave- you other military wives know what that means! I can see the light at the end of the long dark deployment tunnel! We actually talked & decided to take a much need 6 night 7 day vacation anywhere I wanted to go that we could afford. Let's face it with four kids there isn't a lot of options but I wasn't passing this chance up! With his everyother year deployment schedule we need the time to reconnect & remember why we love eachother. Why we choose to stay married through this crazy roller coaster ride called Army life. I called the grandparents up told them the dates we had in mind & of course my  mom said whatever you all need. YAY!! So Ommie (my mom) will fly out in July to watch my boys for a week while we jet off to Hawaii!! That's right folks finally I am going to lay on a beach somewhere with my man & no children! I did some checking and found out that the Hale Koa Hotel   that is just for active duty military now offers a special of 30% off for those soldiers who are on R&R or on Block Leave home from a deployment!! We where super excited because that fit our budget! We locked in the dates we wanted and soon will hopefully find some good cheap airline tickets. We have already made a tentative itinerary of activities that we both enjoy & want to do while in Hawaii. My goal is to have everyother day be an activity that one of us chooses that the other participates in whether they love it or not with out complaining. With all these multiple deployments I am very aware of the fact that both me & my husband have grown - changed with every deployment. My husband who was once quiet but would go out with me anywhere to enjoy a night with friends now prefers to stay home alone with his computer or the fmaily. Or he only fishes all day every day all the time. It can be hard & frustrating for me who is beyond out going & never sits still to long. I have turned into the girl who use to be outgoing but because I was forced to do it all alone for years now needs to constantly be moving & yeah well fly-fishing your just sitting in the river all day not talking much- so not my thing. We both know we need to reconnect & find things we can both enjoy doing together as a couple. That will be what Hawaii is all about.

We have a fishing day trip planned for him where I will pick a book I;ve been dying to read grab my camera & sunscreen. I will lounge on the boat in a gorgeous setting snap a picture when I need to of my man and his fish- but I will not complain! I think since I will be surrounded by clear blue waters and sky I should be good! He will go on that romantic sunset dinner cruise with me even though romance has never been his thing- but I crave it since he is gone so much. He will try to not to cringe at the luau with all the other couples surrounding him and enjoy the fact that we can talk about whatever we want with out little ears listening as well as gaze at eachother & be mushy!! Then we have snorkeling planned which we both are excited about as well as a day of hiking because we both love to hike!


 This week has been fun and one of the most challenging in my life for several reasons . I am excited about the future & ready to get this deployment over with! I hope everyone out in bloggy land is enjoying the start to Spring with some renewed hopes & dreams . Doing what you can to make them come true for you. We aren't promised a tomorrow with our family & friends. We aren't going to stay the same we are always moving forward and changing. We just have to remember as we do move forward to make sure we take our loved ones along for the ride & enjoy every moment! Have a great weekend everyone.

Soccer Saturday Again....

Saturday morning came way to early for Jacob & I today. We where up and out the door by 6:25ish to head to the Recreational Cup Soccer Tournament. Our team was going in undefeated for our age group (9 &10 year olds). We where the underdogs playing boys that where 11 & 12 years of age with more experience alot more height!! The boys where excited even though it was pouring rain ,windy & cold all day long! They played hard against another undefeated team in the first game & lost horribly 10-1. But it was a great experience of playing with 9 players on the field, larger goals, & a longer field. But really, really hard for us parents to watch.

The second game was delayed a bit but once we got going it was a good match. We lost but we held our own at 4-2. They played hard even though they where soaking wet & cold! They still had huge smiles on their faces after both games & will be back better then ever next year. Our last regular season game is next Saturday. This will be the first time ever I have missed any of Jacob's games in three years. But I think he will survive as he get's to ride with a friend from the team. I will be running the 5k & praying they are WINNING as usual!

Now I am home out of the wet cold clothes . In my comfy yoga pants laying around for the rest of the night. Here are a few fun pictures from today. I hope everyone is staying dry & warm this weekend!

Smiling for Mom before the first game

The boys goofing around waiting for the 2nd game to start

Jacob playing Defender blocking a ball

End of the Tournament Cupcakes- where earned!

Tune Time/ Movie

I really had no idea what song I wanted to pick for this week's Song Link up over at Goodnight Moon ? Then I watched the movie Wednesday while folding laundry that I LOVE so much & it always makes me laugh everytime! Here is a hint for you all ....

 

BULL-$%*T   haha one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

Ok, Ok if you don't know yet here is one more clue for you all....

 "It's a little give & a little Go"  another great scene

But I love the music most of all through out the whole movie there are great songs to listen to & sing along with. I have two picks which I know is technically against the rules-lol But I can't help  myself.

So if you still don't know the movie it is "How to lose a guy in 10 days" with Matthew McConaughey & Kate Hudson- if you haven't seen it RENT it NOW!!

First up is Keith Urban with "Love Somebody Like You" Very catchy & makes me want to sing it to my husband  if he was home.

Next comes from the funniest scene- ok so there are so many favorite scenes in this movie I love! But this is towards the end at the Dinner-haha Gotta Love Carly Simon! But I love this clip from the movie just as much so here you go- a little snippet of the funny movie that keeps me laughing!

Now I hope you all had some fun & if you want to hear more music you head on over to see Amber at Goodnight Moon  and LINK -UP yourself while your there.

Halloween Snacks

Jacob has his turn to provide snack tomorrow after his Soccer game. So while I was busy on Pinterest -LOL- busy wasting time I came across a yummy looking treat! I modified it a bit & we now have Candy Corn Trail Mix to hand out for snack after Soccer. Jacob & I had fun making it after school today. It tastes as good as it looks. The pictures aren't the best because my good camera finally died :0(  I don't have the money to replace it right now so I am stuck using a really old one we had in a drawer. Stinks since the Pumpkin Patch is coming up & I always take a ton of pictures. Anyway here it is a fun Halloween Snack you can make in about 2 hours to hand out to friends.

Jacob sprinkling the chocolate drizzled pretzels

We placed the pretzels in baggies with two types of Candy Corn & the little pumpkins

My cutie dressed in a Christmas t-shirt ready to hand out Halloween Snack bags

Mid-Night Movie Madness

Breaking Dawn pt 1

I got my tickets for the  midnight Premier!!! I came late to the Twilight party & actually remember leaving my two good friends standing at wal-mart at 11:40PM one night as they waited for their pre-ordered copies of New Moon. Then Paul deployed again & I needed something to read. My lovely gave me her copy of Twilght thinking she could suck me in....well after I read that  I needed to read the next.....and the next...and the next...ahhhh. I finished the whole series in under two weeks folks! I am pretty sure the kids lived off of hotdogs, chips, chicken nuggets, anything they could fix themselves-lol. Then I had to watch the movies to see if I liked them as much as the books- I didn't until  New Moon- then I was hooked! I am a total Jacob werewolf fan! They are just cuter I have never liked Pale men so why would I start now?

Now my friends & I have been patiently waiting for the first part of Breaking Dawn. We are not sure how they can make it PG 13 when the book obviously isn't even close. But that doesn't mean I am not super excited to go to my first ever Mid-night Premier! I was already out with some lovely military spouses for dinner & a movie tonight when we learned our theater had just put the tickets up for sale!! We called anyone & everyone we thought might want to brave the mid-night showing with us. We ended up buying eight tickets for the showing! It is going to be a lot of fun & now I can hardly wait until 12:01 AM November 18th!!

Are any of you Huge Fans??? What Team are you on, even though we know who wins- it's still great fun!

Picture Night

Tonight was picture night at Soccer for Jacob & his team. He never let me have his big beautiful smile with teeth.....but I'll take what I can get. I snapped one real fast so dad could see on my cell. Then I took a quick one of his new hoodie he got as well. He is loving Soccer this Fall season & I think we have finally found our team for good- thank goodness! Especially when we got a sponsor & they bought the super awesome Nike uniforms for the boys ! Mom & dad for once didn't have to pay for anything but the hoodie.

 

No teeth but he is still a cutie ! 

Just Keep on Running & Running

"Holy Smokes Batman" was the last thing I remember hearing last night as I fell asleep in my husbands comfy chair around 9:45PM. Yesterday was a day where I literally ran from one activity to the next with only minutes in between to check in with my husband so he knew all was well. I knew ahead of time it was going to be a crazy busy day, but it wiped me out!

I took our oldest to the Orthodontist, dropped him off ran to Rite- Aid to pick up medicine refills for kids. Then headed to the Post Office to mail my man his care package & three other items filled with books I was swapping. I found a great site called Books Free Swap  but that is a whole different post in itself.  From the Post office I ran to Safeway with all my coupons in hand & list ready to shop. I made it through Safeway in record time & saved $53.48 I believe on my groceries- YAY ME! Then I ran back to pick up Hunter from the Ortho & headed home. Got to the house had boys help unload the van & we all changed into our swimsuits. We headed to the pool for an hour to just try to relax. Then we ran home showered, ate & headed to the Junior-High for Orientation for the older two boys. Hunter my oldest is still considered a Freshman but they stay at the Junior High until 10th grade which is fine with me. Much easier having two kids in the same school then across town from eachother.

I really thought we would be in & out of orientation in thirty minutes like last year- boy was I WRONG! They had total CHAOS going on when we arrived. I even came early! Unlike last year there was no real direction so we ended up in two lines that we shouldn't have been in until last! Finally my friend Sam who was volunteering stirred us to the front of this super long line to get the boys ID cards they use for everything. An hour & a half later we left ,UGGG! I raced home to get the youngest fed,dressed & out the door for soccer practice. At this point I was DONE! Just ask my older two. I was "that" mom who totally embarrassed them when two girls tried to cut in front of us in one of the really long lines- yep I told them to GO TO THE BACK NOW! I am pretty sure my head spun around backwards as I said it too! The boys where like "NO MOM!!", I so DID NOT CARE! I laughed later as I recalled all the girls who looked like they had spent hours preparing for that one afternoon of orientation. Make-up, hair, & inappropriate clothes ruled the day. Only to have almost zero boys pay any attention as the giggled & tried to get their attention. About 80% of the male population where to busy high-fiving each-other  & comparing schedules to even notices the girls-LOL Anyway, back to running out the door to soccer.

Headed to soccer where at least I was able to sit down & breathe for an hour. I met another nice set of parents & chatted the practice away. After  we left & headed home I was more then happy to let the older two boys go spend the night with friends. I knew the house would be super quiet with those two out of the picture for the night. I snuck out to the little community store at our front gates & bought some yummy ice cream for the little guys. I let them make a fort in the living room & fed them ice cream. I finally got a quick chat in with my husband as the kids watch old TV shows. Batman & Robin was the last I remember hearing. I woke up around 10PM turned off the TV & made everyone go to sleep. What a day to say the least! I knew it was going to be a crazy day- but I had no idea how worn out it would make me feel. So glad today is gym time for me & the pool with the boys if the sun pops out. Nothing else at all! Saturday I am looking forward to the day spent hiking around Mt. Rainer with my friends family & my boys. I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend & get's to rest.

Now for the picture I took before orentation so my husband could see how much both older boys had grown. They are both taller then me now & it's a little strange for us all.

  

My Freshman in the white & my 8th grader in purple. Where did my babies go?

Thursday Tune & Movie Time

I was super lonely on Tuesday evening so I did what any sad,lonely Army wife does while her husband is deployed. I picked out two really sappy, girly love story movies to watch & I poured a glass of wine,put on my head phones & tuned out the boys TV shows. I watched my movies snuggled  under my husband's blanket while sitting in his chair on my laptop incase he got on-line of course. I did make the boys some frozen pizza for dinner so they weren't totally neglected or anything- I mean they love that stuff! 

I picked Anne Hathaway & Jake Gyllenhaal in Love & Other Drugs to watch first. I mean I needed a little "eye candy" on screen as well as a good love story. YAY for Jake! Second came  Hillary Swank & Gerard  Butler in PS I love You,ahhhh more yumminess to watch on screen! Not to mention they both played two good songs during the movies that I love & I decided would be my music picks for Thursday's Song Link up with Amber over at Goodnight Moon.

 Love & Other Drugs The song from this movie is by Billy Bragg- a little Irish jig that I can't get out of my head now called Way over Yonder in the Minor Key. It's super catchy & I have been singing all day !

Then of course after watching PS I love you  with all it's great songs I had one stuck in my head. In the movie it's sung by  Gerard Butler with an Irish accent- but it's actually an American song. Steve Earle's  Galway Girl- great song!

So there you have it, two song picks that I fell in love with again this week. I have listened to them both non stop! Missing my soldier & watching sappy love stories makes me feel a little better, especially when they have good music on their soundtracks! Now you head on over to Goodnight Moon to listen to some more great songs or link up one of your own!

All Things MARVEL

With four boys in my home not including the husband I have always had tons of Gi Joes, Batmans, Spiderman, Hulk,& Captain America toys laying around. I never once while I was growing up imagined this in my "plan" for my life. I pictured two twin girls maybe a boy for good measure, but definitely a lot of PINK! Well God had a much different out look for my life & gave me a lot of CAMO-LOL My friend always says " tell God what your plan is & then he will give you His Plan- as a joke!".

Today as a treat for my boys for not having any cavities at their dentist appointments I took them to see Captain America. I have seen a few of the Batman movies. All of the Spiderman series as well as The Hulk & Ironman. I wasn't going in with a bad attitude because I actually liked a couple of the other superhero movies. The X -Men series is GREAT! But I left smitten with Captain America. I knew whoever they picked would be good looking but once the transformation was made from the skinny looking dork to Captain A- ahhhh so cute! It doesn't hurt that after 5 weeks away from my man, the eye candy was NICE!

If your wondering if you should go see the movie you should. It had very little profanity which I thought was a huge plus since all four boys hang onto every word these days. No sexual situations that I had to explain at all! I give it 4 Stars in the family category & I can hardly wait to see if they make a sequel. I love all my men & once in awhile I don't mind giving up a good girly love story for a handsome superhero <3

This is last Halloween & my super handsome Captain America - Jeremy

The All American Saturday

I am still here & alive I just didn't have a lot going on this week to BLOG about until yesterday. We woke up to a gorgeous Sunny sky for the third day in a row here in Washington. What a treat! The older boys where gone sleeping over with various friends. The house was nice & quiet as I thought about what to do before the last Soccer game.

 My youngest woke up & we decided to tackle the grass,weeds, & flower beds for a couple hours. He did an amazing job with his spade at helping dig out some huge weeds. I am NOT a gardener at all!! I usually kill perfectly fine plants & flowers until I get a hold of them. My mom on the other hand can make anything beautiful,I  didn't inherit her green thumb.We worked side by side for almost two hours of weeding & sweeping porches etc. He was cute when we planted his packets of Marigold seeds in a pot. I sure hope he has better luck & they grow for him. I did use Miracle Grow potting soil in hopes that would  help. I forget that he is only eight going on nine some days. He tries so hard to keep up with his older brothers all the time & act so tough. But yesterday in his sweatpants with bright yellow rubber boots,a pair of mittens because he misunderstood when I said get some old gloves to wear for weeding. It was nice to see that little, cuddly ,sweet boy that I love so much & that is growing up way to fast.

Soon it was time to change, shower, & leave for his last Soccer game of the spring season. The two boys with Paul & I piled into the van , off we went on the beautiful spring day! It was already 65 outside & everyone was in a good mood.We arrived & hoped the boys would have a good last game as their record was only one loss all season. They started off strong & never stopped! It was wonderful to watch every single boy on the team score a GOAL!! They where all so excited & they WON again! It was a great way to end the spring season.

                    On his way to score a goal!

                 HE DID IT- SCORE!!

                 Last team huddle for Yelm United- Spring

His good friend was playing a Baseball game at the same park so we stayed to watch for a little while.

 

These two always crack me up! They both like to watch the others sport but admit when asked they have NO IDEA what is going on during eachother's games! We will miss our Baseball friend as they prepare to PCS soon. It is my youngest first time to have to say "see you later" to a really good friend.

After the sport filled afternoon we all headed home & laid around for the rest of the afternoon. Then I got a much needed  mommy break with some friends. As the time of the deployment is coming faster & faster I needed this a lot! We all chose to go see the movie Bridesmaids, which was just AMAZING!! It has a lot of the cast from SNL & one from the office. We laughed from the moment it started until we walked out of the theater. It is a very raunchy,over the top humor at times, that had me snorting as tears rolled down my face with laughter! It was just what this army wife/mom needed to de-stress. The hysterical scenes that where played out had the entire theater roaring! It is a MUST SEE movie pick if you need a really good laugh! I enjoyed my huge tub of popcorn with m&m's sprinkled inside & all the glorious laughter. We walked out to our sunshine having been replaced with a torrential downpour of rain falling  from the sky. Back to our usual PNW cold, wet weather. But nothing could put a damper on our moods after having such a wonderfully relaxing Saturday.  

Here is the movie trailer for you all to catch a glimpse . I hope everyone out there has time to relax & enjoy the rest of your weekend. Now I am off to enjoy my second cup of coffee & listen to the rain,it is actually quite a pleasant sound.