A Movie with a Song

It's that Tune Time Thursday over at Goodnight Moon with Amber. I watched one of my favorite movies last night after I put the boys to bed . I love almost all the music from this popular movie.....GREASE ahhhh.... I wanted to be Olivia Newton John when I first snuck to watch this back when I was in second grade with my friend Renee. I can't believe I can remember who I watched it with. I can only explain that all the great music, Oliva & John  made a huge impact on me! I really want to dress up as the Pink Ladies for Halloween with my friends one day-lol We lived in California at the time & Renee's parents always let us drink coke & watch movies with them. This was my first adult movie I remember going to see that I loved. It's hard to narrow down a song but since Summer is coming to an end I went with Summer Nights. I hope you enjoy this catchy blast from the past. If your like me you will be humming it all day long!

Now you head on over to see Amber at Goodnight Moon to listen to some more catchy songs new & old! Link up while your there with your favorite from this week!

Maybe I'll go watch Dirty Dancing now.......

Free to Good Home...well Maybe Not

I love my dog, I love my dog,I love my dog....I kept repeating this early this morning as Miss. Heidi decided to test mom & see just how much I did in fact love her! At 3AM folks- I barely wake up to a high pitched whine coming from my living room. Well I knew one of the dogs must be feeling sick so I stumbled out there & let them both outside. They always have to go together no matter what! Heidi took off & long after Panzer was back inside sitting with me by the back door she would not come back! We have a huge fenced back yard so I wasn't concerned just tired! I wanted to go back to bed already. I mean I am barely getting five hours of sleep a night with my man deployed so doggy drama is not high on my list of fun things to keep me awake. I finally coax her back in after almost ten minutes lock the door & tell them both to go lay down! Crawl back into bed & pass out! Then at 4:15 ish AM I hear the whine again, GOOD GRIEF! I try to ignore it but then the pacing starts as well,uggg. So once again I drag myself out of bed - this time put Panzer in his Kennel  then let Heidi out with a warning to HURRY UP! Almost five minutes later I am on the back porch in a screeching high pitched whisper telling her to COME! Does she you ask ? I mean she is a well behaved girl most days but of course not today! I finally get her inside & go crawl back under the covers only to have her start whining & pawing at the door at 5:45AM. I let her our, shut the door & lock it! That's right folk I leave her outside & go back to bed! My Heidi hates to be outside for to long with out me or Panzer- well TUFF was what I was thinking! I covered my head in pillows & went to sleep for about another hour before I heard her barking. Only because I felt bad for my neighbors did I get up to let her back inside.

Now you might be saying "she must be sick", "poor girl has a tummy ache" or something close to those. But nope as soon as I got out of bed & put on the coffee she was all tail wagging happy! There was nothing wrong except she wanted outside. I went to investigate this morning & found nothing out of the unusual in our yard. I honestly thought maybe a dead bird or small creature would be found that she had heard & killed- NOPE! I have no clue why that anxious,hyper active female needed out all night long- she better hope it doesn't happen again tonight or she may find herself being given away to the highest bidder! Not really my husband would be so upset, she is his dog & Panzer is mine- but I swear I might consider doggy tranquilizer's soon-lol.

Heidi is the small one on the right....she is lucky she is so pretty!

" I wish my dogs had a SNOOZE button!!"

This is what is on my new coffee mug a friend gave me- the saying is so true!

Relaxation was the Word

I was really looking forward to today for about a week now. Another military spouse had given me a coupon to get a 50 minute Relaxation Massage at a new Day Spa that opened in the town about 30 minutes away. I love massages! I use to treat myself on birthdays,anniversaries, etc but my lady stopped working in our town about two years ago  :0(  I never took the time until today to try someone new, so HAPPY that I used that coupon! I spent $10 for a wonderful massage. Scott had amazing hands & was very talkative! The room was quiet with a heated massage table. Lovely music playing softly in the background I almost fell asleep! It was exactly what this busy mom of four needed to recharge my batteries. I could go to bed now & it's only 6 PM! 

I know how lucky I was to have 3 weeks in July of kid-free time. But it was to early into this deployment for me to feel settled into a routine. I feel like now we are slowly getting into a routine of chatting with Paul everyday & SKYPING once a week. I also have been running non-stop taking the kids all over creation to enjoy the last month of summer. Especially since our weather perked up! Today was a much needed MOM day! I got up helped with breakfast then walked out the front door! Went & got my pedicure because my feet looked awful! NO way was I letting some body massage my feet when they where that awful! Then I went & finished back - to - school shopping. Jeremy needed new tennis shoes so I found a cute pair he loves! I also grabbed some new snack items for Paul that he requested. My man is doing cross-fit hard everyday & on a super lean high protein diet. Kind of hard to do in the desert! So he requested some different nuts to eat & I found a few cans of them I think he will enjoy. Then it was off to Panda Garden where I cheated & ate the yummy orange chicken I love. I can't remember the last time I ate there? No worries tomorrow I will be hitting the gym hard to work it off, but today I savored every yummy bite! Then it was off to my massage- BLISS..... for a whole 50 minutes. My muscles needed that & so did my brain.

Now I highly recommend you take time to pamper yourself once in awhile if your spouse is deployed. I can't say enough how much nicer I was to the kids when I walked through the door. All it took was a nice six hour break , pedicure, & a massage. I don't feel guilty as some might because with me being both mom & dad it's exhausting at times. The boys are constantly pushing the boundaries to see what they can get away with while dad is away. Just for today Relaxation was the word of the day !!

Hand & Stone  this is where I went today . They do offer Military discounts & are located in several different locations. I loved them & will be going back at some point.

Motivation on Monday ?

I have NO motivation at all today to get my workout in right now. I have started on lunges & glutes here at home only to stop after my three sets of fifteen. I should go outside & walk the trails so I at least get something accomplished I have time, the kids are all playing with friends- so there is NO excuse. Except it's Monday, I haven't worked out in 3 days- so I am blah! I know if I just go do it, I'll feel better- but getting started is hard today. I thought maybe if I wrote it out I might get motivated but so far it hasn't happend-LOL. Stay tuned to find out if I get OFF my TUSH or stay comfortably planted in my husbands chair for the day!

 

Trying to let exercise be my friend but finding it hard today.....

Off to School

I have been Homeschooling my Jeremy now since about 5 weeks into Kindergarten when we realized that me teaching first grade across the hall wasn't going to work. Not only did my little man decide he needed to see me ALL the time, he wondered out of the classroom because he became to overwhelmed with all the activity. We where lucky that I had landed a teaching position at a private christian school so there was only fifteen little kinders - but that was fourteen to many for Jeremy. After much angst Paul & I decided I would give up my job to stay home & work with Jeremy. I enjoyed all the one on one time with him & soon learned he needed a lot of extra help. I got him set up to do Occupational therapy once a week in a town about forty-five minutes away or an hour with traffic. So every Friday we drove to & from his OT. Then we where told he did indeed have ADHD so we finally decided to try some medications to help him be able to concentrate. It worked like a charm! But I couldn't figure out why he wasn't remembering things he learned for more then a day if we where lucky? After a round of tests CAT scan & contrast MRI we learned that the area of his brain affected by a round of really bad seizures had affected his long term memory & recall - that really helped me out. Well since then we have Homeschooled up until last Spring when I realized we where at an impasse. I could no longer help Jeremy with certain learning techniques as I was never trained in Special Education.

After much research & several weeks of meetings I decided to let my little guy go to school this fall. He did a lot of testing & he qualifies for his OT twice a week in town at his school! For the first time in 5 years no more driving back & forth every week!! He also needs a little bit of speech which he will get once a week as well s visual therapy. His Glaucoma in his right eye has now made him legally blind if he doesn't wear glasses . He also requires eye drops twice a day to get his pupil to open up. I had to fight & get some medical releases but he get's to go to school with Jacob right down the street. He will be literally 5 minutes from me! This is the ONLY reason I am not freaking out to bad- I am sure the first day I will be a nervous wreck! He get's to stay in a classroom with other children all day that have some special needs as well. But his educational program is totally geared towards him! He has an aide that will be with him all day- so he can never wonder off. I am nervous but excited for him to go to school & meet some other children during the day. I loved Homeschooling him but he has been very isolated since we moved to Yelm. I hope & pray we are doing the right thing for our guy. He is so excited! Today we picked up his new glasses for school so he is all set to go on September 9th for the first time since Kindergarten. I am thinking I will be that mom who sits in the parking lot freaking out for awhile until I know he is OK.  But anyway just wanted to catch everyone up to date on all the running around we have been doing to get him & mom ready for a new year a new experience. Please pray & keep your fingers crossed it goes well- not sure what our  next step will be if this doesn't work. We have prayed & left it in God's hands. So far every door I needed opened for this choice seems to fly open when others said "how did you get that done so fast?". So we will continue to pray that this is where God is leading us for Jeremy & our family. For the first time in fourteen years this mom will have seven hours a day to herself....hmmmmm. I guess now I'll have NO excuse for not having a clean house  :0(

 

Here is my handsome boy in his new glasses

Kites,Sand, & a Wet Pup

We decided to hit the beach today at Ocean Shores! The weather called for 80 degree temps here at home so we knew this was our best bet of "warm" weather on a Washington beach-lol We got up fairly early & got out the door. It only took about 2 hours from our home right next to Mt. Rainer to be on the Washington coast- it's great! The sun was out, but it was super windy. So of course as we played & got wet we got cold! But not so cold we weren't KNEE DEEP in the water !! It was great! Jeremy flew his kite for awhile. Jacob ,Hunter, & Matthew worked on sand castles while I tossed the Frisbee for Panzer over & over. Panzer absolutely had NO FEAR! He loved the waves, the water, & the sand! He was so well behaved with others playing or walking by us. Never barked or growled at another dog. If this had been Heidi she would have not been so nice! We even had a little yellow lab pup who looked just like Marley come over to chase Panzer's Frisbee- he got to the Frisbee first- but Panzer was so nice. He looked at me, like "mom, he has my toy! HELP!!". 
It was a great way to spend our morning instead of the pool. We have enjoyed the pool & the lake but where excited for a change of scenery. Most of the crew slept on the way home- now mom needs a nap!! But nope we have a night swim at 9PM they have been looking forward to going to all week. So just a quick break then back at it to wrap up our summer. Hope everyone else has a great weekend as well!

Little Video that made me wish we where someplace just a tad warmer for a tad bit longer....

Tune Time Thursday

It's that time again of the week- my favorite song of the past week. I was driving to the gym on Tuesday & had the radio set on my new favorite station that plays 80's,90's, & NOW! They kept playing some oldies that I loved- Great White "Once Bitten"- LOVED IT!! Who could forget Tawny on the hood of that car? Then they played a little Vixen- enjoyed that as I hadn't even thought of them in forever. But right before I parked on comes one of my all time favorites from my MTV Video watching slumber party days- the CARS " You Might Think" I was singing at the top of my lungs while I was parked in the ANYTIME lot- I am sure some poeple inside thought I was a Wack-Job - haha. But that video always made me smile back in the day & I still love how catchy the song is today. So please head on over to Goodnight Moon to link up your favorite song & hear some other lovely choices of the week.

Tacoma Glass Museum

Today was a beautiful sunny day in the Pacific Northwest & I got to spend the whole afternoon with son number two all by myself which is rare. It was some much needed quality time at the Tacoma Glass Museum for a Blue Star Family event they where holding for children of deployed soldiers. We arrived had the presentation of colors ,opening remarks, then where given private tours of the museum. Matthew got to learn to make a layered glass tile, watch glass blowing, & enjoy his good ole mom's company all day! We had a good time even though it was a long day. We actually snuck out thirty-mintues early & headed to dinner. I let Matthew pick since it was our special day out together. He picked seafood at Duke's Chowder house on Ruston Way- YUMMY!!  We enjoyed sitting on the deck in the late afternoon sunshine & talking. I gave him some helpful tips for when he is on a date because I know that is not far off,uggg He also got to try clam-chowder for the first time & our server thought he was a cutie so she kept bringing him special drinks. He loved all the attention! I was very blessed to get this special time with Matthew my special,artistic, sweet son. Since he was born he has needed a little more of mom's attention & today was just what we both needed! Thank you to the Army for giving us this day,it allowed us to create wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

In front of the Museum at the beginning of the day

He wanted a picture for his dad in front of the glass Salmon Panel display

Working on his layered Glass tile project

Glass & Water sculpture outside

View from the top of the museum

A 9 year old girl drew this "Shark Attack" then a local artist blew the glass for her.

Dear Deployment......

Dear Monday Deployment,

I HATE YOU!! I have enjoyed the bright sunshine we have had lately in the Pacific Northwest, but it has not brightened my attitude towards you! I have noticed a few things that are different during this deployment #4 compared to the last few times.

1. No matter how many activities I plan for the boys - they still argue at least four times a day! During the previous deployments they where excited ,happy, & worn out after fun pool filled days! No more....uggg

2. I can longer tell the boys that hotdogs,mac/cheese, & chicken nuggets qualify as a meal??? YEP, they are now medium sized men & expect real food- WHY????

3. Even Heidi our dog misses her daddy- she keeps pulling out his folded clothes in the closet & laying on them- can you say separation anxiety?? She has it BIG TIME!!

4. No SKYPE unless we can find time when the husband isn't exhausted from working night shifts to feel like walking over to the MWR tent to SKYPE. So far SKYPE has only happened once & I feel to bad to ask my soldier to stay up an extra hour after his 12 hour shift to walk to the tent to chat, so it stinks!!

5. No FUN care packages to mail every two weeks. Due to limited living space husband shares a room with three others so he can't have a lot of stuff to store. That was how the young boys kept in touch- with art,letters, etc that we mailed. Any suggestions now are welcome?

6. No body to hang with on the weekends that are husband-less- this was a HUGE surprise deployment to us- in a new unit- so all my go-to battle buddies have husbands or have PCS to a new post. It is making this 7 weeks drag so much!

7. I am TIRED all the time!! I actually fall asleep in my man's chair during the middle of the afternoon- what is that about?? I know I am not sleeping well- but nap's during the day has never happened before unless I am sick.....weird!

8.Un-motivated to meet new friends or volunteer- pretty sure I want to do things but lack the motivation to even try- feeling the coming & going of past friends was  IS hard- so why bother to meet new friends who will leave again while I stay??

Yes Deployment right now after only 7 weeks in I feel like you are kicking my BUTT to put it somewhat nicely. I don't like it & I hope the happy face I put on for the kids is working for them. Because it is exhausting for me. That's all for now, just thought you should know I HATE YOU!!

Love,
 Amanda

P.S.
I would appreciate it if you would give me a break soon-thanks-XOXO

Under the Sea Day Camp

Today was all about Jeremy & about one hundred other little people with special needs having a fun day at camp. We arrived around 9AM got registered & headed directly to the fishing dock. Jeremy had a lot of fun catching a nice trout & throwing him back in for another day. He made some art, slid down a huge inflatable slide too many times to keep count.Then the face painter arrived! Jeremy ran to get in line & waited patiently 45minutes until it was his turn. This lady was amazing! We had already watched her paint a blue monster with horns,batman, & now it was Jeremy's turn! He asked for a tiger with orange & black stripes & a little bit of white around the face. She did an awesome job & Jeremy was thrilled! Then it was time to slide somemore & have lunch. Only on today would mommy allow him to have four chocolate chip cookies, a sprite, & a bag of potato chips-whew!!! But thank goodness he ate a banana as well with out me even prompting him. It was time for a nice ride on a pontoon boat around American Lake where Jeremy got to drive for awhile. It was a beautiful sunny day with a clear view of Mt. Rainer. After boating it was time to wrap our day up & head home. We made a quick stop at Dairy Queen for some milkshakes as we where hot, it had finally hit 85 degrees in WA!!! It was a fun special day with my little Angel, I am glad we where able to spend the time together.

 

My Week in Pinterest = Sunshine

I wondered on over to Mrs. G.I. Joe's  BLOG to read more about these posts that keep popping up called "Pinterest". I love the concept of putting up Boards that show a theme that struck a cord with you during the week. Especially since I don't have much to write about this lazy Friday. My week totally revolved around enjoying the sunshine that FINALLY decided to show up in the Pacific Northwest for the last couple weeks of summer. The boys & I are loving every second of the warm feeling you get as you play by the pool or ocean in the sunshine. So here are the rules below to link up over at Mrs. G.I. Joes Blog & then here are some of my fun little ditty's for the week. Have a great weekend everyone!

1) Link to only a certain post, not your whole blog or a giveaway. Make the post full of your favorite pins from the week. Maybe its 10 or maybe 1 thing just really changed your week and you want to share.

2) Have fun with it! Show us a little of everything or stick to a theme!

3) Check out other people's pin boards!

 

 

 

"You are my sunshine,my only Sunshine. You make me Happy when skies are Gray. You'll never know dear how much I love you! Please don't take my Sunshine away."

Tune Time Thursday

Today's music & video are brought to you thanks to someone recommending that I watch Vampire Diaries from Netflix. I started watching yesterday afternoon & loved almost all the music they use as well as the show. I heard a familiar voice singing a song during one of the episodes & looked for the soundtrack. Sure enough it was Matt Nathanson singing one of his many great songs. I heard him the first time a couple years back during deployment number two. It was a good song letting my soldier know I missed him so much! That is the song I am going with for today's Song Link up over with Amber from Goodnight Moon.

My song choice because it does tell of how I miss my man also shows off the great voice of Matt Nathanson is Come on Get Higher. He has several more great songs so I added a couple more videos if you have only heard my pick, go listen to some others. Have a great day & don't forget to go share a song .

  

Still.....another great song

All we Are...beautiful as well

I love how his voice is so smooth it just calms me down if I have had a stressful day. I hope you all enjoyed listening to him as well. Now go listen & share something yourself at Goodnight Moon. 

Keeping the Faith

Woke up after having a dream about care packages that I was mailing to my soldier. The boys & I have been enjoying the sunshine lately, but I have been missing my husband A LOT. Going to group dinners are fun but being the only one there with out your spouse is hard. Seeing him on Skype was great, but seeing how tired & lonely he looked hurt. Watching my son pack for another fishing trip for the second year in a row that his dad should be going on with him makes me cry. I know my husband is grateful as am I that his buddies are letting Matthew tag along, but we both wish Paul was here to enjoy it with him. Looking on Facebook seeing another post about a friend's husbands unit who lost five soldiers last week knowing she is scared- makes me cry as well. Seeing photos pop up this morning from an on-line friend who just dropped off her soldier to say goodbye,yep you guessed it tears again.

 I know God has a plan for us all. I know in his time we learn what that plan is if we just have a little faith. Somedays are just harder then others to continue to have Faith like a mustard seed Luke 17:6.  But I will plod along in hopes that the time speeds up a bit. That the fun activities we have lined up help it pass with laughter instead of tears. Today is taking a friends daughter to get her Memorial Tattoo for her dad that she drew herself. I know some think why would she do that- others like me think because it's Art & she wants to memorialize her dad. I love this idea and she is taking good friends along for support so it should be fun. Saturday is Day Camp with my angel Jeremy . Just mommy & Jeremy time all day at a camp for kids with special needs. He is super excited to get to do an activity like this for only the second time in his short life- so I am thrilled to go with him! 

Anyway having a rough morning but trusting all is the way it should be & hanging on to my Faith as best I can. Have a blessed Wednesday everyone.

Tolmie State Park

 

 

Three of the boys,Panzer & I took the morning to head to Tolmie State Park for some beach time. We all enjoyed the sunshine & sand! The boys worked hard on some sand castles while I threw Panzer his Frisbee over & over & over again! He never got tired of splashing around after that thing! After a couple hours we washed off & enjoyed our picnic lunch before we headed home. All the other families we encountered just loved Panzer & his Frisbee antics. We would throw the Frisbee & it would sometimes crash into the sand before he reached it in the air. It would suction down into the sand he he would dig & whine furiously to get that Frisbee! We all laughed so hard & it kept us all entertained.

I just love days like this morning where the outdoors becomes our classroom. We found more sand dollars then we ever have in the past. A couple of live crabs as well as dead. Clams all over the place! It was so fun exploring it all & watching the excitement on the boys faces. Today is one for the memory books & I can't wait for another adventure soon.

Now for your entertainment, Panzer will try to get his Frisbee from the mean old sand monster! The video just doesn't do it justice at how funny it was to watch him fling sand everywhere trying to get his toy.

Rampage......Hear I Come!

While getting my hair cut by my favorite lady Teresa she told me about another 5k Obstacle run in October close to home. I ran straight home googled it & registered! I love obstacle runs even though they wear me out!! What makes it so great is it is in October so I still have enough time to prep since I just started  back to a good gym routine & that it is only 35 mins from my house! We didn't get to register for the Warrior Dash like we did last year so I was a little bummed. But it is about a 2 hour drive & over night stay- wasn't happening with the husband deployed. But this is right down the road & involves almost all the same obstacles just a little shorter course. It's called Rampage ! They promise mud, cargo nets, fire, water slides, & FUN! I can't wait! If you remember I did the 5K JBLM Mud Run for the second time this past May. It is always so much fun to push myself on the obstacles. I am NOT a runner at all,but the obstacles help break it up for me. Super excited & it will keep me motivated to keep up my gym time.

Speaking of gym time, when I went earlier today I had so much fun! I studied through ISSA to get certified as a Personal Trainer & completed all the test but my final when I just never made the time to take,totally my own fault! But I have all the knowledge to help guide people with their Personal Training in the gym & today I got a chance to do just that!

I watched as I worked out a young girl of 16 working out with her dad. Her dad looked to be in pretty good shape & was trying to help his daughter. The problem was he was giving her to much weight, not helping her with her form, & was just not a good trainer bless his heart. I finally had to cut in when I was doing my push-ups & was right in front of the machine he had her working. She was struggling by pull three because the weight was so off for her. I stopped & butted in! Very unusual for me as I hate to talk to people I don't know, plus who knew if the dad would be offended or not? Lucky for me, as I explained to them both to lower the weight & corrected her form he asked if I knew how to help with girls-lol. I said I knew a little & asked her how long she had been working out? Well turns out it was only day two for her & she had just joined the High School volleyball team, so dad got her a gym membership to supplement practices. I was super happy to take her off the machine she had no business even working on & handing her a free weight. I showed her how to keep her form & do the same exercise that the machine did but with no strain on her neck or back. They then asked for a few more pointers which I was happy to dole out before I hit the showers. Man it was so AMAZING to be back at helping others which I love- I am so a caregiver at heart &  showing a young girl the correct way to exercise made me happy. It makes me want to kick myself for not taking the time to get that dang final done! I can go back re-register & just take the final but it will cost, so I am thinking hard about doing just that. Love to exercise , I love to help others learn to love a healthy lifestyle, so maybe I'll get back to it soon. That is one thing I adore about deployments, the possibilities for your year ahead are endless- the year IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!! I say GO BIG or GO HOME!

Oh & here is my new end of summer hair cut. New length & thinned A LOT! I have majorly thick hair- so I always love when Teresa thins it for me.

 

Loving Technology

Last night the boys & I FINALLY  got to SKYPE with our soldier for the first time in 5 weeks! It's a long story but basically he is still stuck living in a tent with twenty something soldiers. There is simply no extra room for private living at the moment. He works a late shift & can use his computer at work to chat on Facebook. That has made it easy for me to keep up with him but bad for the kids. It was wonderful to see all their little faces as their dad popped onto the screen last night. It took a couple minutes for him to be able to hear & see us but when he could his whole face lit up!

We laughed because he was in one of the MWR tents & you could hear a ping-pong game  going on during most of the conversation.The boys told him a few of their favorite things they had done while on vacation in TN. He loved their new haircuts- we could actually see their faces. After about ten minutes of chatting with the whole family I got him all to myself for about another 10 to 15 minutes. He did look tired because he had been working all night & it was 7:30AM time for him to go to bed. But it was so nice to actually hear his voice & see his face. He could have slept through our SKYPE time with out me being upset. I loved seeing his reaction on his face as I told him all the latest news from home. Chatting on Facebook is nice, but not the same as actually watching his smile or shocked expression over things we discussed. I miss him a lot but am loving me some technology this morning for sure! We hope to be able to set up some more SKYPE times about three a week now that he has his routine down. We will just have to keep our fingers crossed they eventually get those last guys moved into their own barracks rooms soon. Then he can get a better days sleep as well as SKYPE whenever we want!

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

Knots in My Stomach

When you wake up to log into your Facebook first thing with your cup of coffee while your soldier is deployed & the first headline you read puts your stomach into knots, makes you nauseous, you know it's going to be a bad day. I knew as soon as I took my first sip of coffee & hit my Facebook icon. The screen popped to life & the first headline I saw was 31 US Troops Killed, 7 Afghans in NATO Helicopter Crash This was a huge SHOCK!! It's no secret my husband is deployed with the NATO team they have pictures up almost daily of his peers. Yesterday's pictures just happen to be of his bosses & his peers as they traveled by Helicopter around Afghanistan. I knew in my heart/head that my soldier was safe, but the dread & sadness at the thought of our friends receiving the news that would forever change their lives, sickened me greatly.

According to all the news reports that are slowly being released this is the single most deadly day for the US since 2005 when 16 Americans where killed. We know now that 25 of those soldier's that gave the ultimate sacrifice where from the Navy Seal family. We pray for them & their loved ones left behind who must learn how to move forward. I also ask that you keep all the remaining soldier's that are in Kabul trying to make sense of this in prayer for comfort. That they are able to focus & continue on in their jobs. This is a sad, dark day for all American soldiers. It is another reality we as spouses left behind to wait must deal with- fear so great you are paralyzed until you hear from your soldier.

31 Special Ops Troops Dead