Cars Trucks and Pink Polka Dots

$5 off $5 or more!!!

2010-12-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

Shop at Chadwicks or One Stop Plus and use coupon code CHNEG5 at checkout and receive $5 off of total purchase of $5 or more!!!

Check out their fabulous clearance items ~ enter the coupon code and you have got yourself one heck of a DEAL!!!

More GREAT deals!

2010-12-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

Woman Within 50" x 60" Sueded Comforter Throw Blanket $1.99 after applying coupon code: CHNEG5 at checkout. FREE SHIPPING!!!

2 Bag Cooler Set for $3.99 after applying code CHNEG5 at checkout. FREE SHIPPING!!!

HAPPY HAPPY SHOPPING & SAVING!!! : )

Cyber Monday comes EARLY for Gap & Old Navy!

2010-11-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

40% entire purchase at Old Navy!

Enter promo code at checkout:
MONDAY40 (Old Navy)
MONDAY40A (Gap)

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Are you ready for some deals???

2010-11-21T13:22:00.000-05:00

We have been busy BUSY busy! My camera is has about 400 pictures on it. I need to transfer them to my computer. Until then I am going to share the latest and the greatest... SHOPPING DEALS!!! As I have been recovering from a very busy and exhausting (yet FABULOUS) weekend... then a flu bug hit me HARD - WHAMMO... I have been browsing the discovered Black Friday ads along with some A-MAZING sales/deals online. Wow. I have been jumping everytime I see one! Tim looks at me like 'Wow, are you serious???' haahaa... he knows he's lucky to have such an awesome sale finder for a wife ; ) Who DOESN'T love to save some moolah ; )

I have a list of them that I wanted to share, but here are a few for now. I promise I will be back later today to post some more!

Personalized Disney Fleece Throw on SALE $12 PLUS FREE SHIPPING!!!

**promo code for free shipping: FLEECE

80% off Restaurant.com (expires 11/25)

**code: GOBBLE

**For example, a $25 gift certificate, which sells for $10 - $15 (depending on store), is now only $2 - $3 and a $10 certificate, which sells for $4 is just $0.80 (from Brad's Deals).

~IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Not EVERY restaurant participates. Before you make your purchase, click on your city to see what restaurants participate in your area.

~If giving as a gift ~ do the research and you can do something fun and cute like printing off the list of restaurants where they can use their gift card!

Children's Place Starting at $1 or less!

**Many items are priced as low as $5 or even lower!!!

**Use this coupon code to get an extra 15% off: C6C2010

Check back!!! I will be posting more steals!!!!!

Oh Yes! It is DONE!!!

2010-10-22T13:51:00.000-04:00

I can finally say that... THE CRAFT ROOM IS DONE!!! I have a lot of different crafty items. Whenever I would go in that room and take a peak, I would turn around and make a mad dash far far away from it. It's so weird because all of my 'toys' bring me such joy, excitement and peace, but organizing and unpacking it all... not so much!

Let's take a peak of how disasterous it looked before I took over and did the deed.

That is just as you walk into the room. It got worse and worse as you kept moving forward.

Last night I got the motivation that I needed to put it together! I have so many projects that I want to finish, but it just wasn't possible with this mess! I couldn't find ANYTHING! Imagine that ; )

Finished craft room ~

YAYYYY!!! Very very exciting moment!!!

You see all of the fall looking odds and ends underneath the table? Those are what I have stocked up to make Halloween and Fall Decor. Well, I better get on it because we only have a little bit of time left until Halloween is HERE! I just tell myself that I will be able to use them next year too ; )

Speaking of Halloween, the kids are so so excited to wear their costumes and go trick or treating! Jackson is going to be 'Bumblebee' from Transformers, Ayden is going to be a vampire (no, this was not my doing with my love of Twilight and all) and Addison is going to be a flower! I cannot wait to go out with the kids this year! For one ~ Tim will be with us! Two ~ this is Addison's very first Halloween!!! Such an exciting little holiday it will be!

Tim and I took the kids out to Saunder Springs ~ it's a nature reserve right outside of the post. It is so beautiful ~ ESPECIALLY at this time of year. It was so refreshing walking around the trails and checking things out!

We're having a post wide yard sale tomorrow... ummm, I haven't even started gathering all of the things that I have accumulated over the past four months that are going in the sale. I am the biggest procrastinator! So ~ I am going to close this computer and go through Addison's clothes first (emotional moment). I know that there are PLENTY that she has outgrown! Time passes too quickly.

Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Family = COMPLETE!!!

2010-10-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

My husband is home! My husband is home! My husband is home!!! Tim is H-O-M-E!!! After a grueling 12 month deployment to Afghanistan our family consists FIVE awesomely amazing people under ONE (yes I said ONE) roof! He arrived mid August. He actually was a lucky one ~ he was chosen to be apart of an advon party (a group that needs to come home early) and was home approximately a week before the rest of the unit. We were ecstatic! We have had a full month with him home - soldiers are allowed 30 days leave after a deployment. It has been so wonderful. We have spent so much quality time together - it has been the best! I cannot even express how wonderful it is to have my family complete again.

Here are a few of the pictures that I snapped when he arrived at the airport.

We celebrated Ayden's 7th (yes SEVENTH) birthday! He is growing up way too fast. It seems they usually do though (as I whimper). My son is into Bakugan. Yes... Bakugan. I don't even understand the whole concept of this game... it is a cartoon on Cartoon Network (the select few that he can even watch on that channel). So of course that was the theme of his party ~ it was a lot of fun! We had several of our friends over for food and fun! We had two extra special guests that came in for the weekend ~ Grammy & Grandpa (Tim's parents)! The kids jumped on the boys' brand new trampoline that their Grandpa insisted on getting them... so sweet!

I have been hitting up some garage sales lately and have SCORED! We have been talking about going camping lately. You see... I am not the 'sleep in a tent, no air conditioning/heating' kind of camper. Well I will say that I 'have not been' that kind of camper. Folks ~ I am giving it a try! The only condition that I hold is that we get a very roomy tent AND a heater. So back to the garage sales... I found a three bedroom camping tent! BRAND NEW and originally around $200 - I got it for $60 buckaroos!!! I was jumping for joy! At the same garage sale they were selling brand new coolers... the big ones. I got one for $15 (originally $50)!

Tim took it out of the box and put it up for a practice run. The boys and neighbor kids had a BLAST playing in it!

Ayden, my 7 year old can fit into this : ) I think it will hold ~~my stash of Dr. Pepper~~ plenty of bottled water and snacks, don't ya think?

Oh! A couple of months ago, I decided to let the boys have a TV in their room. I am not a huge fan of having TVs in the bedroom, but it's nice to have during rest time. I found a TV and DVD/VCR combo (at a garage sale) for $20. Perfect! So while I was out garage saling (the same day I found the tent and cooler), I stopped by a little sale (I almost drove past it, but sure glad I didn't) and found a box of Disney VHS tapes! Now we have been to some flea markets lately and people are selling these things (VHS Disney tapes) from $2 - $5... This gal who was having this garage sale gave me the entire box for $10!!! I took them home and just HAD to count how many I got because either way ~ I got quite the deal! I counted 42, YES, 42 movies!!!! You can't beat that!!! I have been stocking up on the VHS because I am DONE buying DVDs for these kids (at least for their room) - they end up scratched and in the trash. We have gone through over 50 DVDs since Ayden was little. These VHS tapes are STURDY haha!!! So those old school things sure come in handy!!!

Soooo.... for the past several months I have spent time on facebook updating my status, uploading pictures and such. It dawned on me that if I would spend THAT much time on my blog, it would be updated frequently and I would have a lot to show for what we have been doing for the past year. Actually, what I was doing was looking at pictures on FB from when we got back from Germany and seeing how little the boys were. It was the sweetest thing ever! I really want that for this blog. I want to be able to look on here and see what we were doing a year ago today. Even the little things - like the little quirky things that the kids do on a daily basis. So that's what I am going to do. Okay? Yep. I am going to do it. (Yeah yeah yeah, I keep posting things like 'I'm going to get back into the swing of things', blah blah blah, hahaha) I have also been spending soooo much time reading all of the blogs I follow and all of their awesome and adorable crafts that they have been working on! Oh my gosh, I can spend hours doing just that - ooooing and ahhhhing over each post.

I have started a couple of crafts of my own (Halloween decor) inspired by some of these blogs. Once they are done I will post some pictures! I also need to figure out a few things on this blogging world ~ like figuring out these link parties and how they work, haha! Okay, that is just one of many things.

One step at a time, Jessica.

Okay, so the black spray paint and I are going outside now! Well see you back here soon!

June/July 2010

2010-07-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

Quite a bit has happened within this past month! Where to begin, where to begin... For starters, we had our first VTC with Tim as I mentioned in our last post! It was sooo neat. We went into a conference room with a big screen on one end and a microphone in the middle of the conference table. It was so wonderful to see his face! The boys sat on the end of the table, directly in front of Tim and the looks on their faces and their body language was priceless... so relieved and so so happy to see their Dad.

Here you can just see how much they miss their Dad... and his goofiness!!!

He couldn't believe how much Addison has grown. The last time he had seen her was when she was a month and a half old! When I held her in front of the screen for the first time, she just stared at him. You could see that she was trying to figure it all out ~ she is so used to hearing his voice on the phone.... and then BAM, it clicked!!! She was reaching out for her Daddy and smiling from ear to ear the entire time!!!

She is my sweet baby girl!

My boys and I... I am one lucky gal!!!

Sooo... I went yard saling : ))) Boy did I SCORE some deals!!!! Check out our new hope chest that I came across ~ I can't wait for Tim to come home so we can start sanding and painting! This will go in our bedroom at the foot of our bed.

Here is a look at my (finally) finished livingroom ANNNDD... our new little loveseat that I came across. Five bucks BABY!!!

And... can you say FIREPLACE??!!?? Yep! Yard sale!

The kids have been ENJOYING playing with their new friends soooo sooooo much!!! At our last house, there weren't any neighborhood kiddos to play with. Now they're surrounded! I LOVE seeing my kids have so much fun with a variety of other kids.

They LOVE the wagon. What is not pictured is them going down a steep hill inside it ; ) They keep me on my toes!

What kid doesn't LOVE to catch lightening bugs?!?

Jackson seems to be the lady's man ; ) Here is Lou Lou & Jackson... Lou Lou is such a trooper!!!

Here is a sweet friend of mine ~ we actually went to HIGH SCHOOL together! Can you believe it?!? Seriously. In December, her husband (who I went to HS with as well) was transferred to Tim's unit and was sent to Afghanistan with the rest of our soldiers).

This is definitely a God thing ~ AMAZING. It feels sooo wonderful to have a 'piece of home' here with us.

This is Amanda & Karley loving on eachother!

Rolling around.... : )

And look who is holding her own bottle?!?!?! My sweet Addison is!!! I tell you what, she is growing way too fast ; ( I am so very proud of her... I cherish every moment and every milestone ~ especially since she is my last. I am definitely not wanting her to hurry and grow up! She is such a sweet and wonderful baby.

I am so so very blessed.

Can you tell?!?

We are back home in Kentucky!

2010-06-18T17:08:00.000-04:00

We are here at Fort Knox now : ) It was great being in Topeka near family, but with a deployed husband and three kids ~ I must say that it is nice to be around people that are going through the same thing that truely understand = GREAT support!!! Boy do we miss our family though... wish we could have brought them with us! The time we spent with our family was priceless!

So how about this heat here in good ol' Kentucky?! Wow! I think it's pretty much the same anywhere you go, but HELLO SUMMER! The boys have had a BLAST with their new friends and our massive backyard that they play in each day! Our days consist of hanging out, playing outdoors (the boys, haha), swimming, bbq's with friends... it's awesome.

What's new? Well... I finally gave into letting the boys have mohawks, hehe! We did it in perfect timing so that it will be grown out when Dad arrives ; ) The reaction from Tim was priceless when they told him! They look soooo cute ; ) It's summertime anyway ~ the first thing that Ayden said was 'It feels so much cooler Mom!'. So hey, that's good, right?!

I have been debating on giving Addison her first haircut - her 'bangs' are getting rather long, but I just can't bare to cut it yet! It's so cute - she looks like she has a comb-over. Also, I have apparently taught our little girl to growl, haahaa! When I play with her I make funny noises.... I didn't realize this until SHE starting doing it right back to me! It is sooooo cute!!!! Also, since we have arrived (a few days after) she has been sleeping in her playpen ~ I haven't had the urge to put her crib together yet ; ) LET ME TELL YOU... this girl will sleep!!! So far, the latest has been until 11:30am!!! THANK YOU ADDISON!!! Now if only the boys would do the same, hehe.

A month later, our house is pretty much unpacked EXCEPT for the craft room ; ) Yes, that is quite the project. For some crazy reason, I have not been motivated to work on it. Soooo weird!!! Since we have arrived, I have had this complete calmness take over me... I am actually laid back again, haha! It is so great, we are really happy here!

Even greater news..... (1) We are below the 90 day mark for when Tim comes HOME!!! (2) TOMORROW we get to do our FIRST VTC (video teleconference) with him!!!!!! Our slot has been chosen and we are READY TO GO!!!! We are all soooo excited!!!! I must be honest ~ I am kind of nervous about how Tim will react to seeing Addison. The last time we saw him was in January and she was TEENY TINY! I am just worried about him and how he feels about how much she has grown. Tomorrow will be such an AMAZING experience, but it will definitely be an emotional one. I am hoping that I will remember to bring the camera ; ) But who know... I get to see my husband!!!!!!!

Lots of things go on each day ~ I have so many projects that I am getting ready to start, including some amazing garage sale finds/fixer uppers! I will keep you posted!!!

My Poor Poor Blog

2010-05-06T23:15:00.000-04:00

Oh how I have neglected my blog so so badly. I can't stand it. What I want is to write and post one or two times a day - EVERYDAY... I want to update everyone on what is going on in this household and this crazy mind of mine and the ideas and things that I am up to (they're quite funny sometimes). I would love to share with you what I have learned and continue to learn about marriage even if it means being separated from my husband for a year. I would also love to just vent about how hard it is to be a single parent of three children, but how great it feels to know that my children love me so much and even better.... to know that THEY know that they are my WORLD.

I am going to try and keep this brief - give updates from the past month. I should have read my last post so I don't repeat myself. If I do, I apologize.

~ We were all sick - it was a complete domino effect. It ended with me getting a sinus infection and double ear infection and even worse - Addison had pneumonia : ( It was so scary hearing that she had it, but the doctor gave her some meds that knocked it right out of her system. Phew!

~ We have been waiting on the green light to get ready for our move (officially). A few rounds with the housing lady and her several stories (she seriously cannot keep them straight, but BOY I can!!!) we have a date! We are leaving monday the 17th to head East! My mom and brother are coming with me and the kids (THANK YOU MOM AND JAKE & THANK YOU LORD!!!). My mom is going to help me drive (I get tired while driving really really easily) and Jake is going to drive our other car. I am sooo excited to spend some quality time with them before we are there for good. The boys are sooo excited. I don't know what it is about their uncle Jake, but WOW... he is one special guy in these kids' eyes!!!

~I haven't started packing. I am the biggest procrastinator. I am having a garage sale that I pretty much started getting ready for a few days ago. It's kicking my butt, let me tell you. I have just had a hard time getting really motivated. Been a little overwhelmed (to say the least)... a bit down too.

I know there is soooo much more that has gone on, but that is all that comes to mind right now. I suppose if I held onto all of the craziness, I would be a bit of a nutcase, huh?! Yes, it has been THAT crazy.

Oh! After trying 3 times to get out with my girlfriends (Addison wouldn't allow it... she would cry endlessly until I came home)... it happened this last weekend! Woo hoo! It was a lot of fun. We went to Kiku, a Japenese Steakhouse ~ it was for my 'Last Night Out' ; ) Then we went to a local bar... ran into lots of people, wow. It was a lot of fun! I love being with my girls wherever we are!

Oh! I also attended one of my best friend's baby shower : ) Ashley and I have been best friends since 2nd grade : ) She is pregnant with her first child ~ it's a boy! His name is Avery Paul and will be arriving in June!!!

Soooo... I have to be up super early in the morning, so I better hit the hay. I want to get a few chapters in on 'The Host'. I just started reading it. I am not into the whole Sci Fi thing, BUT, Stephanie Meyer wrote it (she wrote the Twilight Series... yes, I am ridiculously in LOVE with each story) so I figured I would give it a try. That woman is an amazing writer.

AND ~ for all of you that make fun of us 'Twilight Lovers'... in all seriousness... just give the books a try. They're not evil, yes, you can be a Christian and like Twilight, and they're not just for kids... ; ) They are really great novels - very very intense. These books mean something completely different to each individual. Just don't knock it until you have given them a try : ) *** Can you tell I get a bit of static from it, hahaha! ; )

So - two days of this oh-so-lovely garage sale, a baby shower Saturday night, Mother's Day Sunday and PACKING, PACKING, PACKING & getting the cars ready for travel, ID cards for on post, Addison registered into the system, reservations made, time spent with family and..... staying somewhat sane.... that is what I have ahead of me : )

Wish me luck!!!

Organizing Ribbon, Scrapbooking Paper & Fabric

2010-04-14T12:19:00.000-04:00

As I prepare for this big move back to Kentucky, I have to make a few organizational changes. This means - no more taking the huge shopping bags full of craft goodies and putting them in the basement with all my supplies to wait for them to be used... piling up to be a huge jumbled MESS. I have tables and plenty of plastic drawers full of who knows what! Our new house we are getting ready to move in does not have a basement. At first I freaked a bit, but then I thought, "Well, I suppose this means it is time to get organized!"

When I say I have had tons of things sitting and waiting for me to start creating away for baby items... I'm serious ; )

Let's start with my ribbon. This I have been collecting for a few years.

I made this stackable thing... but it's too flimsy and very inconvenient to move around. It did work for a great display though! But... I couldn't fit all of my ribbon on them... so I used my favorite storage item - BASKETS : ) Before this ~ all of my ribbon has been in a HUGE OVERSIZED bag. Quite organized, huh?!

Now let's move to my fabrics. This is a recent collection... over a year or so. I am IN LOVE with damask prints and love love love Amy Butler's designs! You can make anything look fabulous with her fabrics!

I found all of this fabric in several several shopping bags and storage crates, haha! A piece or two here... and few pieces there... yeah, you get my drift, right? When I shop, I LOVE to go to the clearance bins and pick out a few things. I mean, a buck or two for some fun fabric?! Definitely. Then I'll mosey on around through the aisles and see something and an idea pops into my head and I feel that I MUST have it! I also am very guilty of buying random things so that I have a variety to choose from ; ) I really dislike starting something and then realizing that I need to run out and get another item to finish the project. That is just annoying to me.

Next is scrapbooking paper. That isn't so bad. I have started with that since Ayden was born. I love paper - the cute designs and patterns! I don't really scrapbook, but I adore all of the different layouts that people come up with. I mainly use it for decoupage projects, gifts... really anything that I can use paper for.

There are a few books of different themes... super super cute.

NOW - why did I take pictures of my inventory of ribbon, fabrics and paper? Well, I have to find some space saving ways to store my things for our new place. I am really hoping that I can find a way to put it all into a closet, maybe?! I know that plenty of people wonder what kinds of ways they can organize and store their craft items. So as I get through all of this I will be showing you ways so YOU can get organized too!

Hey, if I can do it... ANYONE can do it : )

A Month of Utter Chaos

2010-04-13T15:32:00.000-04:00

A lot has gone on this month... like one thing after another... and another. March 19th was Jackson's 4th birthday ~ we had his party with our family and friends at Chuck E. Cheese's. The kids had loads of fun! Lightening McQueen is still 'in' in our house - Jackson loves the movie, the cars, everything.

After the birthday party ( about a week after or so ), the boys came down with bronchitis and ear infections. THEN - Addison got pneumonia in a matter of only a couple of days... SCARY. Then I got a double ear infection and a sinus infection in two places - I have gone through two antibiotics - one of them made me crazy/loopy/tired/sick/you name it. Sooo...

I talked to the housing lady ~ we were suppose to have the moving date at the beginning of this month, but when I talked to her, she told me a COMPLETELY different way of how they do things and told me it won't even be until sometime in May when we get a house. I went ahead and called yesterday and told her what's going on... husband is deployed, three kids, by myself... I NEED some kind of info and a date. She told me the same thing as what she said the very first time we chatted and our move in date is now May 5th! Sooo... I'm going through my house and getting rid of all of the crud and am going to try and get it all done for this weekend. Since it's just me, I am REALLY hoping that I can do it.

Easter was great - we spent time with both families. The boys had lots of fun with the egg hunts!

Ahhh, they are so precious... (most of the time) ; ) I FINALLY made Addison a pretty flower clip. I bought so many headbands and flowers 4 months ago and they have just been sitting with my craft stuff. Thinking about it, I have soooo much stuff that is just sitting, waiting for me to make cute baby items and clothes out of. If only I would just make the time for it all. Hoping to do it in Kentucky. I have been saying this for ummm, 2 years now?!? Oh well... it will happen when it's suppose to and when I just do it.

Here's to getting a LOT of work done in the next couple of days!!!

Momma's Big Break

2010-03-12T14:55:00.000-05:00

The sun was out and now... it's gone. We are left with cold temperatures and RAIN. Ick! On top of that, Spring Break has officially started for most kids including my own. What shall we do on this lovely day? NOTHING BUT PLAY. Sounds good to me! The boys have recovered from ear infections. I am still recovering from a sinus infection. I did have one FABULOUS idea just a little a bit ago.

How about I beg the grandparents to lovingly take these boys and ~~get them out of my hair~~ spoil them rotten tonight and tomorrow? One night with my husband's parents and one night with mine. Did it work?

YES

I mean, we ARE moving in a month, right?! They are going to miss these kids sooo much... they might as well spend AS MUCH TIME with them as possible. Heeheee ; )

Oh yeah guys! We're moving next month. I talked to the housing lady and we're in. I will get a call after the 1st of April with a date. Boy do I have a bunch to do (to say the least). As I walk around in la la land thinking of all that I need to do, I decided to capture these pictures instead.

My adorable little ones. They are so precious.

BUT... this Momma needs a B-R-E-A-K. It is just me, myself and I with 3 kids... daydreaming of what it will be like to have my husband home and have a daily routine. The thought is such a tease. It makes things worse sometimes actually.

I am going to enjoy two nights with just Addison and I. If she were old enough and I could let her out of my sight for long periods of time, she would go too. But..... no.

What are we going to do with this time we have? Well... I just checked the dollar theaters and my FAVORITE movie is there - 'New Moon'. I am beyond anxiously awaiting it to come out on DVD on March 20th... or is it the 21st? One or the other. I am infatuated with the Twilight Series. Like, almost obsessed. I love drifting off to Twilight land. It makes my heart beat so fast and I get anxious and can't help but smile. When Tim was home on R&R we went to see 'New Moon' together. It was great. He loved it. I cried off and on throughout the whole thing... I just get so into it. I'm such a nerd. Oh well. It is something that I enjoy.

Love this

So anyway... I think we might go and see it again at a much cheaper price. It's something different to do. We'll see how Addison takes the loud noises ; )

Well, I have a baby and two boys to feed. Better run!

Love to all!

Valentine's Crafts

2010-03-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

I made these Valentine's for Ayden's classmates. They were really simple and fun to make! I LOVED how they turned out! He was super excited to hand them out to his friends! He let me know a few days before the day of his party that he told his entire class that his Mom was making something for each and every one of them. I thought that was just TOO CUTE!!! Ahh, my Ayden... he is one special kid. I love and adore him so much!

I made this for my mother in law. I had planned on making more - even one for myself, but I ran out of time. This took me awhile (like a few hours, haha) because (a.) it was my first time (b.) I am a freakishly perfectionist and took out the pins and felt a few times (after getting half of it done) all because it wasn't lining up the way I liked it and (c) because I cut the circles too small! BUT ~ hey, it turned out CUTE!!! I WILL be making more next year and will be using this technique for some future crafts and decorations.

Now, I don't know if you can really call this a craft - this was more like a 1 minute throw-it-together kind of a thing. 2 SECONDS before tucking the boys into bed (the night before Ayden's V-Day party) I asked Ayden what his bag looked like at school - the one he made for all of his Valentine's to go into. He said, "Oh, it's just a brown bag because I didn't have time to decorate it this week". WHAT?!? No way is MY son just going to have a brown bag for his Valentines bag. Soo... after getting all of his Valentine's finished at about 2am, I put a few things here and there and he had one fun sparkly Vday bag!

He love it ; )

*** I followed tutorials for the Valentine's cards and the bouquet ~ I am going through the blogs that I follow and am trying to find which ones who have the tutorials posted. I will post them as soon as I find them so I can share them with you all as well!

Jessica Elizabeth's Baby Boutique & A Quick Move

2010-02-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

My baby boutique has been such a huge dream of mine for quite a few years now. I LOVE anything crafty, but I have this special place in my heart and soul that LOVES anything BABY and CHILDREN. I have been working on it for a couple of years - gathering ideas, trying out new things here and there, but I haven't put it into action. I was so close last year in Kentucky and then I got pregnant and sooooo sick and then got news of deployment. That completely swept it under the rug for the time being.

I have been doing soooo much reading and am working on a business plan. I MUST get all of the details worked out because I cannot just throw it together and go. I have a notebook FULL of ideas and inspirations and new things. I have really gone outside of my bubble on this! I have EVEN been keeping tabs on the newest trends, etc. Now that is HUGE for me, haha! What I am doing now is narrowing it down and figuring which items I will be featuring FIRST. I will slowly add things after I am done perfecting them. I am just soooo excited to FINALLY get this thing going! My husband, parents and grandparents have such amazing faith in me. They really lift me up and give me so much courage and faith so that I CAN DO THIS! My semi final goal is to open up my own online store (not through any other company... just mine), but for now I will be getting my name out there in many ways. I will definitely keep you updated as I take each step - I do know that it is getting closer for me! I can't wait!!! It feels sooo good to know that I am about to do something that I have dreamt of and feel in my heart it is what I must be doing. It makes me smile from the inside on out!

On another note ~ we just found out we will be moving here within the month to head back to Kentucky! I knew that we would be moving before Tim arrived from Afghanistan, but I didn't realize it would be so soon. After talking to some friends there along with the housing management, I found out that we qualify for some really nice housing - great neighborhood, etc. The only thing is... the houses are filling up really quickly. If I wait to move, there will not be any available and we will have to choose whatever is left. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. We had really really bad experiences with the housing last time along with the neighbors (bad is an understatement to say the least) - so I am not going to back down when it comes to my family living in a nice and quiet place : ) So... all I know is that we could be moving in as little as two weeks. I will find out on Monday or Tuesday! Please say a prayer (or two or three) ~ I will be moving my three children and I from Kansas to Kentucky on my own without the help of my awesome husband! This will be a challenge within itself!

This head of mine is overflowing with thoughts of how to get organized, packed and moved so quickly! It is also overflowing with project ideas - my oh my! My mind is going crazy with clothing ideas that I keep a notebook out to jot down something that pops into my head at the moment so that I don't forget! This weeks project consists of an adorable tutu outfit for my sweet Addison! I have a few friends that make the adorable things and I don't know why haven't given them a try yet! Well, I suppose I know why... I JUST had a little girl myself ; ) There are quite a few different ways to make them, so I am going to incorporate a few techniques into one! I can't wait to show off my finished project! I also need to post some pictures of crafts that I did for Valentines!

I have gone BLOG CRAZY this morning! I think I will give it a rest for now ; )

HAVE A FABULOUS SUNDAY!!!

The Big 2-7!!!

2010-02-28T11:29:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I celebrated my 27th birthday! I went out to dinner with my girlfriends on Saturday evening at the casinos ~ it was a hoot! Little miss ornery Sarah (gotta love her) got the word out that it was my birthday and boy did these waitors MAKE A SCENE! According to our waitress, these guys were waiting to get the chance to come over to our table (there were four HOTT mamas sitting there, hehe)... but as soon as one guy started yelling about it to EVERYONE, I wanted to jet out the door! Many of you who really know me... I am definitely not one to be the center of attention. I LOVE being behind the scenes and hiding behind someone really really tall, haha! I felt very loved though, my girls are the best.

This was after the 'scene' ; )

After dinner we had to take some pictures of course! This was also the very first night that I have been out since I had gotten pregnant, so it was a big night for me! I couldn't have asked for anything better!

We then headed out to play! It was such a blast! I LOVE the quarter and dollar machines (they seem to love me back most of the time too). I had a lot of fun at one machine in particular - I won about $250!!! I am sure that may not be a huge win to many people, but woooweee! That was huge to me!!! I love it when those things start making all of those 'winning noises' and the credits just keep coming!

Sunday was my actual birthday and let me tell you - it was one heck of an awesome morning!!! I can't even express how wonderful it was! I woke up to all three of my children in my bed : ) Ayden said ''Mom, Mom! We have something for you!". He and Jackson brought me the SWEETEST card - it was one where they recorded their voices and at the end of the message it played "Isn't She Lovely". I cried... then cried some more! (Marsha had watched the kids the night before so she took them out to do a couple of special things for their Momma : ) After opening my card Ayden said "Mom, we made something for you! Come here! Come here!". I went out to the kitchen and there was the most beautiful CHOCOLATE frosted birthday cake : ) My oh my ~ I felt so so very special. It was the best morning ever!!! I don't need anything, but when someone takes the time to do something special like put a message in a card or bake a cake, it means the WORLD to me! I must say, I was a little down because Tim wasn't here to share the day with us, but our children made it the BEST DAY EVER!!!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

Did you all have a great Valentine's Day??? Ours was nice and peaceful ~ I spent the day with 3 out of my 4 Valentine's. I was definitely missing my hubs! Another holiday down in the deployment world. Thank goodness I have three awesome kiddos to keep me busy so I do not have time to dwell on it too much ; )
We spent the day hanging out and the boys played with their toys that Tim and I got them for the day. I am just not big on the whole candy thing. I'm such a drag, huh! The way I see it ~ (A) they eat it and get completely hyper and crazy, (B) it's NOT good for them, (C) it creates those lovely things called cavities and (D) it just doesn't last! Eat it and poop it out and it's done. Yes yes, I know... gross, right?! But hey, it's true ; ) Sooo... instead of spending ridiculous amounts on those heart boxes full of chocolates, I just got them ONE mini version and a toy that they have been wanting ''soooooo bad'', hehe! I think it turned out pretty well ~ they were super excited!

Oh the joys of Chick Hicks from Disney's Cars (Jackson has been into Lightening McQueen for a couple of years now) to the fabulous Air Hogs! I tell you what ~ you put one of those remote controlled helicopters in a room full of guys ~ you couldn't tell who is more excited to play... the 6 year old or the 24-50 year olds ; )

Sooooo... one thing that made me CRINGE at the checkout when I was paying for it was the PRICE for one of those 'Hoops & Yoyo' cards!!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I just picked out a couple for the boys because they LOVE LOVE LOVE them... they open the card and giggle for hours! I was thinking, ummm, no more than $3 to $4 for one of them... oh no ~ EIGHT DOLLARS for ONE card! WHAT?!? That is just not right! Craziness! The ways these companies make their money.

Overall our day was great... missing one special guy of course ; ) Hope yours was full of love as ours was!

Chuck E Cheese's as my first outing?!?

2010-02-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago (or a little longer) we joined our close friends for Ashlyn's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Now, if you're like me ~ I try to STAY AWAY from that crazy place! This Momma can't stand it - well except for their pizza... I find it very yummy. We went to celebrate her birthday, she is one very special gal!

Now, what makes this outing a bit interesting is the fact that I hadn't gone ANYWHERE with my new set of THREE kiddos by myself. The thought of going to the store with all of them was terrifying! I would immediately get images in my head of being at Walmart - the baby carseat on the cart, one child running off to the next aisle and the other pitching a fit. Immediately after that thought - I would go into straight panick! Needless to say, I stayed inside for quite awhile after Addison was born, hehe.

So I conquered that fear with a bang! I skipped the quick and easy places and went straight for the big BOOM. CHUCK E. CHEESE'S. We met Tricia, Daniel and the kiddos and hung out with their family for awhile. They are such good friends of mine ~ they are my family. I think that just being around them and spending time with them totally took my mind off of my huge fear. It was also fun because it was their first time of meeting Miss Addison! So that was awesome too!

Tricia & Addison

The Birthday Girl

My & My Clan ~ Ayden wasn't too fond of taking pictures with ol' Chuck

Jackson playing Ski Ball ~ that ball went in every which direction! I ducked everytime he 'rolled' it, haha!

Ayden playing away ~ he's such a big boy now.

We had a lot of fun! It is ALWAYS refreshing being around the Webb Fam ~ I love them to pieces!

As far as Chuck E's place ~ we're going to take a year long break ; )

Randomness

2010-02-10T10:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't been very productive lately. I am normally obsessed with keeping all dishes out of the sink, all toys picked up (at least out of the living room), all laundry put away, but lately, I have been slacking BIG TIME. Man, I am just plain tired. It has been so cold and soooo cloudy day after day here in Kansas land, so that definitely doesn't help one little bit. My Mom came from Oklahoma to help me after I had my surgery and when she went home I just didn't do much of anything but sink into our routine and do just that.

Well - Valentine's Day is just a few days away and I haven't gotten one thing done to prepare for it! We need to do Ayden's Valentine's cards for his friends at school ~ he had the choice to pick out those cartoon styles at the store OR do these super cute handmade cards that I found online. He chose the handmade cards this morning. Sooo... I have some work to do, haha! Yesterday after my post op appointment, we went to the store and looked for Valentine's cards to send to Tim. Yep, I'm slacking - he's going to get his package a teeny bit late, oops! I found the sweetest cards, I hate having to choose just ONE! So I got him a couple ; )

Last night after the kids went to bed I decided to watch a movie - 'Couple's Retreat'. It was soooo good!!! I highly recommend it to everyone! It also really teaches some things about relationships and how you really need to nurture your own. It was a sweet sweet movie. I really wish that Tim was able to lay on the couch and cuddle with me while watching it... I thought about him throughout the ENTIRE movie. My heart has been aching for my husband - more so than usual lately. That makes it a little tough.

Anyhoo.... this is just a random post ~ about not a whole lot, but now that the sun is shining and I feel like I'm coming back around I'll be doing more around here and I'll have a lot more to talk about! ; )

It's Official

2010-01-31T03:02:00.000-05:00

I went in to have surgery yesterday ~ these fallopian tubes of mine have been taken off and fused shut. We have been blessed with three beautiful and amazing children. Ayden, our first is 6 1/2 years old and is so bright, strong-willed and loves to teach his siblings something new each and everyday. Jackson, our 2nd is 3... almost 4, watches and repeats everything Ayden does and is quite the nurturing big brother to our little girl. Addison is our 10 week old, sweet little girl that has completed our family. Tim and I are so proud of each one of them.

After this last pregnancy, I knew (and my doctors insisted) that it should be my last. It got really hard at the end, very very painful. I have severe fibromyalgia along with a very crooked spine, arthritis in my spine and bone spurs in my lower back... which a growing baby affects each part. I felt every bit of it. I was practically screaming "I am done after this one!", haha! I was going to get it done right after I had Addison, but then found out the recovery time and the pain of having it done and decided not to. Since Tim is deployed and I have two little boys at home already, I needed my recovery to be as speedy as possible... I also needed to let my body heal from just having a baby and not add a little surgery in there as well. So I went ahead and skipped having them 'tied' and then Tim came home for R&R (two week break) a few weeks after Addison was born. Well... after those two weeks with Tim, I decided I HAVE to get 'fixed' so I do not have the stress and worry about getting pregnant when he comes home again in August. That would be a nightmare.

I must say, it totally cracks me up about how people are, it just really does. Not many people could understand why I would do such a thing while Tim was away. I can't even tell you how many people said "Why don't you just wait until your husband gets home to do something like that". Hmmm, well... if you really want to know and to be bluntly honest, when my husband gets home we're going to be making up for some lost time as any other couple would who have been apart for a year. I don't want to be making phone calls to family a few weeks after he returns saying "I'm pregnant! Grandchild #4 is on the way!". No thank you. So, I did it.

Although, the day of the surgery, I got a bit emotional... okay okay, I got REALLY emotional. I was going in to have something that allows me to conceive and grow a precious new life inside of me, cut out and fused shut. Putting aside the sickness, aches and pains, pregnancy is something that is so beautiful and is so miraculous. I am very thankful that God blessed me in allowing my body to do such a thing.

Sooo... now that I am done having kids ~ I am going to really start focusing on turning this 'Mommy-Bod' into the new 'Hot Hot Hot Mama Bod'!

Addison ~ 9 Weeks

2010-01-24T02:48:00.000-05:00

Our sweet little girl is growing so much! It really does seem like yesterday when I was in labor for 17 hours... the complete chaos when she was in the NICU... and the joyous day that I brought her home.

Nine weeks have passed and Addison Elizabeth grows more and more beautifully each and every single day...

I'm Here! I'm Here!

2010-01-24T02:32:00.000-05:00

So... I start a new blog, post a couple of times and then VANISH! Shame on me! Well, I suppose I should do some answering up on why I dissapeared for over a month. Hmmm, where do I start???

My wonderful husband came home for his R&R mid December (he has been in Afghanistan since August-ish). Seeing his face when we drove up to the airport was one of the best feelings that I have had in awhile (besides meeting Addison of course). I had been suffering from some major post partum depression about one-two weeks after I had her, so he was JUST what I needed! What we all needed actually. It was the best thing that a mother can hear... her children so so so happily playing and laughing with their Daddy, my husband. And my oh my, my heart broke and melted watching Tim meet Addison for the very first time. Yes, Tim met his daughter in the back seat of our van at the Kansas City Airport. The things that families do endure throughout a deployment. Throughout his two week stay, this little girl had him wrapped around her little finger. It was beautiful watching him with her - Addison would stare at her Daddy constantly. He got her very first 'real' smiles. As jealous as I was, I was truely thankful. He was so happy - he started asking her "Are you Daddy's little princess" and she would grin from ear to ear!!! Each and every single time!!! Wow... and then our sweet little boys. I would stand back on watch them with tears in my eyes - they have not been that happy since the day that Tim had left. They were bouncing off of the walls saying "Hey Dad! Hey Dad!" over and over. They played around the house, played in the snow and built different train tracks with their new Geo Trax with their Daddy. We were so so fortunate to have Tim home for Christmas as well. It was the BEST Christmas that we have ever had together by far. I enjoyed every minute with him - every single second. I missed his warmth, his scent, his hugs, his kisses, his humor, his smiles, his goofiness, his everything. I missed him. I do miss him. Oh I miss him so much. He is gone now, but his hoody is tucked in between our pillows - he wore that last before he left. I sleep with it every night. I won't wash it - I will not wash it until the next time he wears it.

Here are some of the moments we had with him during the best two weeks of 2009!

Right after picking him up from the airport... it felt soooo wonderful having him HOME

Daddy and his baby girl sleeping

Can't you see the JOY in their faces

Our three babies

After Santa dropped in...

Playing in the snow after the BLIZZARD!

I absolutely LOVE seeing THIS looking out my window....

Our New Years was AMAZING. The BEST we have had yet! Seriously. I am not just saying that either. My Mom came in town to visit so she could see us all around Christmas and also to see Tim (as well as being here for when he departed because the 'goodbyes' are never easy... she was there for me when I DEFINITELY needed my Momma). We debated on going out and celebrating the evening with some friends, but we just really didn't want to leave our kids at home just to go drink. We had everything that means the most to us right at home - we decided to enjoy just that. We hung out and a bit of champagne, listened to music and put Ayden's new fish bowl together for his Sea Monsters that he grew (everyone should have some sea monsters!). Jackson was zonked by midnight, but Ayden is a champ! We all huddled around together and counted down to 2010! We watched everyone shoot off fireworks from our window and then I realized that we still had some of our own from the 4th! We grabbed the bag and Ayden, Tim and I went outside and shot them off! It was sooooo much fun!

Working on the Sea Monsters

Ayden is watching the countdown (he had his eye on that clock!!!) & Jackson was a sleepyhead on the couch

Our Beautiful Family 2010

Tim and I with Ayden

Daddy & Addison 2010

Sneaking a picture with Jackson

Me and my big boy!

Mommy's little girl

Shooting off fireworks!!!

Tim and I - 2010

Our sweet boy freeeeezin!

Wow ~ that was a great night!

The two weeks went by way too fast... that's for sure. Tim headed back and made it safely. We all miss him soooo much. Since he has been gone... each and every one of us has been sick. It all started two weeks ago. Ayden came home from school with a cough and a fever... a few days later it was Jackson... then once Ayden was better I came down with it. I took the boys in and they ended up with bronchitis and and double ear infections. I ended up with a temp of 103 - I realized I had a fever when Addison was screaming, Jackson was crying and the boys were fighting and then all of a sudden I sat on the floor watching them and I started crying myself, haha! It wasn't funny at the time (believe me), but I can laugh about it now. Now, our poor Addison is sick : ( She has a stuffy nose and a nasty cough. She will be going into the doctor's office first thing in the morning!

Now that was quite the update, don't ya think???

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year as our family did!

Cutesy Learning Magnets

2009-12-10T00:05:00.000-05:00

A little while ago, I started on a project. The day after I took a peek at Ashlee's blog 'Pretty Partridge' I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to gather the supplies for these A-dorable learning magnets that she made. Okay okay, so it wasn't just a quick trip. It is ~~never~~ not always a quick trip when I burst through the glass doors of Hobby Lobby. Can you really blame me though? They have sooo much stuff there! As I walk through ~~each and every isle~~ the isles that have my project materials in, I glance at the other crafty gadgets and papers and about 10 project ideas pop into my head after looking at each item at once! Hey, I say it's GREAT to keep our adult imaginations rolling since they seem to fade as we get older.

Back to these magnets. They are SUPER EASY to make! I have gotten many compliments on the ones that I made. For step by step instructions, go here ~ DIY magnets.

Here are the magnets that I put together. It was so much fun picking out fun paper to do these in!

Here are some of the materials that you will need...

You will also need some fun paper, modge podge, a brush to apply the modge podge, a hole punch that is the same size as your wooden circles and a hot glue gun. Ashlee gives some great instructions ~ you won't have a thing to worry about!

They are FUN, EASY and are quite the KNOCKOUT when you add them to the fridge! Kids love them too!!! I think I might make some as Christmas gifts this year : )

Brother & Sisterly Love

2009-12-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

Each night as Ayden and Jackson get into bed and snuggled up under their blankets I bring our sweet Addison in their room to say goodnight and say our nightly prayer. They take turns holding their baby sister and cuddling with her. As a Mom, this fills my heart with such happiness seeing all three of my children showing their love for one another. I have always wanted three children and as I would think about the idea, I would imagine Christmases - all three kids waking up super early, gathered around our tree waiting to open presents. I would also imagine all three kids playing together, filling our home with chaos and joy. God has blessed Tim and I so greatly. I am so thankful for Ayden, Jackson, Addison and Tim. I cannot wait until Tim can share this amazing experience with me as a parent.

Aren't they just GREAT?!?!!

Can you say CRAZY?

2009-12-08T12:31:00.000-05:00

Yay! My very first post on my brand new blog! I am so excited ~ I am going to be blogging about my crazy life with my awesomely crazy kids, my crafts and projects (I always start a few at one time so I end up spinning in circles taking forever at completing them all, but... oh well) and just whatever pops in this crazy head of mine ; ) Yep, it's CRAZY around here ~ but I love it that way.

This morning I have been trying new things on here, like... changing my background four times, trying to add a post footer thing, but it didn't work. The background did, but definitely not on the footer, haha! I messed up a code and just changed the background one more time to get it back to normal. Yep! Go me!

In the middle of it all ~ Jackson thinks he needs to wash the bottles (with the sprayer in the sink)... use your imagination on how that ended up! I must say... it's pretty darn cute that this kid loves to clean so much. THEN... I get a call from Ayden's teacher (with Ayden by her side). Yep, he's at it again. Not listening. I have been having the same problem with him at home. While I am telling him to do something - he just STARES. That's what he's doing to his teacher. And his bus driver. Lovely. I got a note from the bus driver about how he was standing, laying on the floor and whatever else on the bus. Well, apparently he has gotten a couple of more of these notes ~ hmmmm... I wonder where they are at?! If he gets ONE more note - he can't ride the bus. WHOA! This Momma will be extremely upset about that one. While all of this is going on....

The countdown for Tim's return home IS ON!!! Approximately one more week!!! Actually, the reality of him coming home hasn't really set in for me yet - oh, maybe because I am adjusting to being a Momma of 3 kiddos. I think that the boys are super excited though. I am wondering if that's the reason for Ayden's behavior. I mean, wow, this kid has had a LOT of change in his life, you know? Dad's deployed, the different changes with school and going to Kindergarten, new baby sister, Dad's coming home for a couple of weeks - unfortunately not to stay... yet. It gets quite emotional for me at times and I have a big understanding of it all... but a six year old? Don't get me wrong, he is one smart kid (too smart if you ask me, hehe)... but wow. I'm definitely looking for some ideas to calm his behavior down. I'm going to break open the book "Dare to Discipline" by Dr. James Dobson.

I have heard amazing things about this book ~ I actually got it a couple of years ago and never opened it. I will definitely let you know how it goes.

So... mother nature decided to give us some snow. We have about three inches right now, but by tomorrow, we should have around eight. Why didn't I just go to the store yesterday? I need a few things... very important things from the store... like food. So far my biggest fear is getting out and going to Walmart with ALL THREE KIDS. Doesn't that SOUND scary?!? It sure does to me!!!

I will let you know how THAT goes, haha!

(I bet you I won't be laughing when I get done though)