i don't have a title.

I know, I haven't done my thirty day challenge. I just haven't gotten around to taking a picture of a picture to do the spectacular post I want to do. I want it to be right.

I have to start with I have become attached to the series Army Wives. I saw an episode once and I thought in my head: there is no way that those women would be friends in real life. Because let's be realistic, most wives of officers tend to have this attitude of "I'm better than you, my husband is an officer". This isn't always the case, but let's just say in three years an officers wife hasn't said hello to me. But, since I've started the series from episode one, season one, I know why they're all friends. You'll have to watch to find out :)
Anyway, to the point of the story. I am so incredibly consumed with knowing what happens next. We have Netflix and it's on the instant queue.
For no reason I just typed an entire paragraph about that show. I'm sorry.

Side note: If I have to repeat myself one more time today, there's going to be issues.
We don't run around like banshees with our heads cut off, there's no need for all the screaming, we don't touch things that don't belong to us, leave your brother alone, we don't stand in our chairs, we don't throw toys, please sit down and relax. Repeating myself is exhausting.

Codi graduated from WLC! We were very proud of him.
So, we get there. Let me tell you, some Army wives like to keep it classy. And when I say classy, I mean - "Hey, I'm going to the Dollar Store, this outfit should work." I'm sorry, but at an event, I would not be wearing my tennis shoes, jeans and the baggiest shirt I own and my kids most certainly will not look like they've been playing in dirt before walking in the doors. How embarrassing would it be if Codi's platoon sergeant came and said hello dressed in that manner? Plenty embarrassing. For him and for me. Awwkkwaarrdddd.
Anyway, our camera sucks and the pictures I took of Codi didn't turn out. It's SUCKS. It makes me so mad. So, you'll have to use your imagination :)

(the dark green blobs are Codi.)

My Loves.

My Boys

Monkey and Daddy

(ignore my horrible looking face)

absoultely lazy.

I'm almost done with my challenge. And I feel like when I am, my blog won't have much substance. Eh. There is A LOT I would love to say, but for the sake of keeping peace I won't... For the record, I had an entire vague paragraph typed up and I held the back space button until it was gone.
Anyway.... On with my days.

`Day 28 - A picture of something you’re afraid of.
I have two.
The first is a practical fear that I'm sure many women with children have. Failing at being a mother. I am terrified that one day I will look back and see mistake after mistake and seeing that I have failed my children. I'm trying my best to raise good mannered and kind hearted children. I'm just trying to raise good people.

Second. I'm sure it's a fear of ANY military wife. Actually, it scares me so much I'm almost too afraid to say something and I have a huge knot in my throat and my stomach is turning. You know, I'm so afraid that I might jinx our family or something. I know that sounds silly. But that's how afraid I am. That's how afraid I was when Codi was on deployment and I wouldn't hear from him for a few days. Those were the longest days.
Have you ever seen the move The Messenger? You know those guys who go to the front door wearing greens? I am beyond terrified of that. I don't want a folded a flag. I am beyond terrified of losing my husband to war and of having men I don't know knocking on my door and someone handing me and my children a folded flag. It's scary and it's sad. How could I go on without my other half? How could I raise my children alone?

That is my biggest fear for any military spouse or mother of a soldier.  My heart aches and my stomach turns for all of them who have had men wearing their greens knock at their door with horrible news- past, present, future.
I am thankful for their service.


Ek. I'm crying. So, now on for some smiles.
And I'm sorry if you are too.


`Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.
This picture is the back ground on my cellphone. Emma is the best big sister. I hope she's half the big sister to Declan when they're growing up that Elisabeth was to me growing up. Emma gives me the best unsolicited moments to take pictures of. She's a lover. And she loves her brother. This picture makes me smile every time I see it. Which is a lot since I'm constantly on my phone.

twenty seven

`Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.

I pick two family members, so take that thirty day challenge- which I'm almost done with!
I forgot all about my twenty first birthday. This is my mama, my brother and his freedom beard. I got the chance to know my brother while Codi was deployed. I went home and my brother was home. I hadn't lived with my brother since I was 13. So. To get to know him when we were both adults was an experience I am incredibly grateful for. He is the best Uncle to The Gremlin and the giver of The Dingo- Rinny, whom we love, she completes our family. He's the best brother anyone could ever have. I don't know if he knows that. But he should, because it's true. And the best uncle. He's the best uncle too, and I hope he knows that.
And then there's my mama. I love her. She's the very best. I regret the way I was for such a long time every day. But I am glad that it brought us closer together. She's the best mama and the best Grammy. I've done a post on her- so you'll have to go read that :)

It was nice to be around both of them while Codi was gone- although it was not nice he was gone. If he had to be away, I'm glad I was able to be with them. Make sense?

The Boot Campaign

I found something absolutely amazing on Facebook. I stumbled across it thanks to the Sons of Anarchy page. And I couldn't be more glad that I did.
The Boot Campaign.
Check them out and like them. Spread the word. Everyone should know about this.
I'm still working on a way (in my head of course) on getting people to partake in this. I just think it's awesome. Maybe it's because I'm an Army wife. Or maybe I feel incredibly patriotic. Or both.
Regardless of the reason, I'm doing my (little) part in getting people to know about this, because I think everyone should know.

SO. GO CHECK OUT: The Boot Campaign! Do it now.

books and a punch.

`Day 26 - A picture of someone that means a lot to you.

Gosh, this picture is forever old and set in good ol' Seattle, right before Codi's deployment.
Which reminds me, we really need family pictures done. Too bad we don't live closer to home. Elisabeth Smith Lifestyle Photography is the only person I'll trust with my memories!
Codi is my best friend. We have two of the most beautiful, intelligent and practically perfect in every way children and have survived a year long deployment.
I love him.

 

 

Now for the title of my blog for the day. Books and a punch. That pretty much summed up my day. That and a very moody, defiant, bossy little girl. Who luckily, only acted that way at home. When we were out and about she was perfect. 

SO. We had to go to the library because for some reason we don't own a printer. I'm still coming up with a reason for that. Now. In public, when people see me strolling their way with a double stroller, toddler in front, car seat in back, they avoid me like the plague. I'm a walking version of the Black Death. Unless they're old people. Old people love us. 

We strolled into the library and you should have seen the look this woman shot me. It was a glare that said, "You're bringing THEM in the LIBRARY?!" I just smiled. Like I always do when people are rude. Emma loved the library. She was quiet. She picked an Elmo Hugs book and I managed to find another Elmo book plus some poetry books to read to her. Then we made our way to the computer area. I printed what I needed to and then got two books for myself. There were so many I wanted to get. But I only have the attention span for two books. That and I never have time to read. I got a book I've read- The Blackbird House, Alice Hoffman. She's my favorite author. Then, I got a book of substance where I would learn something. I picked it straight from the nonfiction section, in the history department-(side note: I LOVE history. I would have gotten a history degree, but let's be realistic, where would I use it? Maybe one day I'll go back to school for history)- 'Hidden Power, Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our Recent History'. It's pretty good. So far I've read about Edith and Woodrow Wilson and The Roosevelts (Eleanor and Franklin). And I was quite surprised, mainly by FDR and Eleanor. Next up are the Trumans followed by the Kennedys.

I plan on reading a fiction and nonfiction book every time I go to the library. I have my eye set on a Jodi Picoult book and a book about Benjamin Franklin.
Back to the point- I got incredibly side tracked, if you're still reading, I apologize-
Emma was perfect in the library. She didn't scream or throw a fit. She sat quietly in her stroller and only dropped her books twice. She let the lady check her books out and didn't have a cow, she even said "thank you" and "bye".  The library was a success. And we got invited to story time on Tuesday mornings. At least I think it's Tuesdays, now that I think about it, I'm not sure.

 

Now. On to the punch.
We went to the park after the library since it's right across the street and we had the time. At first we were the only people there. Which I prefer, so Emma can play without older kids running around. But today, another couple showed up with their son (around Emma's age) and the mom was wearing her baby, as if it were a backpack. Which sort of annoys me, it reminds me of putting dogs in bags and that's not natural, but to each their own. Emma got so excited when that boy ran onto the playground. She chased after him yelling "WAIT!" and "BACK!". And finally, that boy turned around and I really thought he was going to play with her. Nope.
He punched her.
Right in the stomach.
She just looked at him. Then as my brother would say, she just "walked it off".

But his parents did not let that slide. Which I admit, I was afraid they were going to be like "Oh, boys will be boys" and what not. But they didn't. He got in trouble for hitting someone and then for hitting a girl. I just wish they would have apologized to me for it. We can't have everything though. They then left the playground. Emma finished playing like it never happened.

Now- I'm blogging and getting ready to read since both the babies are snug in their beds. I should have cleaned but reading is way more fun :-)

bananas and bbq sauce.

I swear, this will be the last post today. But, it will have pictures galore. Grey's Anatomy is finally a new episode and that is completely irrelevant  but I needed the world to know my excitement.
Anyway. Tonight I baked homemade banana nut muffins with my monkey :-)

(sifting the dry ingredients)

(she did it all by herself)

(this is the amount of mix emma put in her muffin cup)

(all done)

(emma approved!)

Then we made dinner. YUM! I've been getting tired of the same old, same old. But my husband and toddler can be picky eaters. But good news, they're getting better. Anyway, thanks to Picky Palate, I found a very tasty dinner- BBQ Ranch, Chicken & Cheddar pizza rolls.

1 Roll of Pillsbury pizza dough (in a can)
1/4 cup Ranch dressing
2 cups shredded BBQ chicken-- we had plain chicken last night, so I just shredded it and added some Sweet Baby Ray's
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh cilantro-- I only used a tablespoon or two.

` Preheat oven to 350
` Open can of dough and press into rectangle (heads up: watch out for holes)
` Spread or drizzle Ranch over dough and top evenly with chicken, cilantro and cheese.
` Starting at the long end, roll dough into a log shape.
` Using a SHARP (if you don't take that seriously like me, it's a pain in the ass) knife cut 1 inch pieces and place onto a greased baking sheet
` Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!

jumping for sunshine and water.

I've got a lot today. So, I'm going to start with my challenge. And I'm almost done :-)
Day 25 - A picture of your day.

My kids have the worst allergies since we live in Louisiana now. For the past week and a half, I've been wiping snot from baby noses. It's incredibly gross. I hate snot. I hate boogers. And I hate the nose sucker and the horrible sound it makes. I'm waiting for the day where they wake up and there's no snot or crusty noses.


Now on with some fun stuff! And LOTS of pictures.

Whomever invented the Jumperoo was a freaking GENIUS! Declan has been pretty picky about how he has to be. He has to be sitting in the up right position or standing. And I couldn't get anything done. It was a rather big challenge. But now. Now he has a Jumperoo and he goes bat shit insane in his. He has even taken to falling asleep in there, and it's pretty cute. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to see him so happy and content.

(sleepy boy)

(i don't care what you say, he's the happiest baby in the world)

Today it was a beautiful and sunny 73 degrees, so I put together Emma's water table. And that girl went crazy. She played and played. She drank the water. Tried to make me drink the water. And then tried to make the dog drink the water. Needless to say, Rinny and I passed on that idea. 

(please ignore our very trashy looking yard that needs mowed)

 

(my monkey<3)

(drinking the water, it was "yummy")

 

(she moved the tower so she could do it better)

I need to get this off my chest. I was attacked by an ant hill of predators. The exterminator came yesterday and sprayed for ants. Well, he did a crap job. I was sitting coloring with chalk on the sidewalk, and my foot got in what I thought was dirt. It  wasn't. It was an ant hill. So, I panicked. I started stepping on them and what did they do? I'll tell you what they didn't do, they didn't die. They started crawling on my toes and BITING me. I got the hose and sprayed down the sidewalk for a good five minutes thinking that would take care of the little boogers. Do you think that worked? Sure didn't. These ants were on steroids and out for revenge! It was horrible. Now my toes itch :(

While outside, we played with the dingo. Rinny. She is so obsessed with tennis balls it's absurd. Now. I wouldn't mind if she didn't bring me 1/4 of a ball and expected me to play with her. But she does, so I do. We love her. 

(Rinniford P. Wellington Mann the III)

(See what I mean, it's not even a whole ball)

twenty four.

`Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a little biter about where I am. See that map. See Alexandria and Lake Charles? I live in the middle of those two points, near Texas. Make sense? Now, I live near NOTHING. I miss Washington. I miss the trees. I miss the weather. I miss driving an hour to Seattle, about 20 minutes to my favorite place- Tolmie State Park, or 10 minutes to ANYTHING for that matter. I miss Indiana for the pure fact I miss my family. My daughter misses her Grammy, her "Sbeth" (Aunt Elisabeth) and her Joe. And even Hendricks County had some civilization. Sorry Indiana, I do not miss your weather!
For the record, I wouldn't mind living here if I didn't have to drive to Alexandria or Lake Charles to do it. And if it wasn't so damn hot.
If I could change something I would totally change where we live. I wish we lived closer to home. I wish we didn't live in this house where something is constantly going wrong. I wish I could do something about it.
But-- the Army doesn't care what I want or what I think.

So, I'm going to make the best out of our undetermined length of stay here in the bayou.
Sigh. Very big sigh. A very, very, very big sigh.


But on a side note. Our air conditioner has been fixed. Thank Jeebus!
Now, my hands and feet don't sweat and we aren't cranky from being so hot.
Bring on the weather Louisiana!

fell behind.

1) A picture that makes you sad and (2) A picture of your favorite book

i'm on my phone, so you'll have to excuse the lack of capitilization. m
my first picture is our house. i hate our house. our landlords are first class idiots and every month there is something wrong. last month the plumbing was so bad every time we ran the washer water came out of the wall hook up and we couldn't do laundry for like three weeks. this month it's the air conditioner. it doesn't work. now, ordinarily that shouldn't matter in march but it's been in the 80s thi week. and it's horrible. i hate this house. so, the picture makes me sad :-(

east of eden. my favorite book. in a very close second is the river king by alice hoffman, which i read every year. but east of eden is a classic. love it.

 

If you're ever in the Fort Polk, Louisiana area watch out for a super big "see you next Tuesday" of a nurse at BJACH, the on post community hospital. She doesn't wear a sign, but she should. Actually, that should be her punishment for sucking so bad. It should say, "Look out, I'm going to make you feel like the worst mother on the planet and be incredibly rude." Because that is exactly what she did. I gave her the benefit of the doubt because maybe she was having a bad day. You know what she did? She proved to me that she was just a big ......


Declan got some antibiotics and is still sleeping. Which is just what he needs after such a rough night.
I wish I was still sleeping.

twenty one.

`Day 21 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

I will go shark diving. I would love to be so experienced that I could do it without a cage.
And I'm very jealous my brother is going.

five dollars and the state bird.

Codi is doing WLC, a school necessary for promotion, and has to work Monday-Saturday. So, instead of staying at the house I took the kiddos to the closest zoo. The Alexandria Zoo. It's an absurd drive, nothing for about an hour or so. Both ways. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I had someone to talk to other than Emma. I can only talk about the trees and the sky for so long.
Anyway. The Alexandria Zoo was the BEST five dollars I've ever spent. Yes, it only cost FIVE DOLLARS for all three of us to get in. Children under three are free. Adults are five big ones.
It's not a big zoo. Not by any means. No big animals, elephants, giraffes, things of that nature. But they have tons and tons of small exhibits. And a rather large Louisiana habitat. Which had a raccoon and an oppossum. Along with some of the biggest 'gators and crocodiles I've ever seen. I'm rather surprised small children aren't a part of their meal program.

While checking out their Bald Eagle exhibit I discovered something magical about Louisiana. They breed a special kind of stupid here.
10yr old boy: "I know what that is." (With a very proud sounding voice I might add)
Father: "Oh yeah, what is it?"
10yr old STUPID boy: "A bald eagle. The state bird of Louisiana."
Just as stupid father: "Yeah, you're right. Good job."
NEWS FLASH-- HE'S NOT RIGHT. AND THAT WASN'T A GOOD JOB.
Keep in mind if you walk about five feet there's a pelican exhibit. Wanna take a guess what the state bird of Louisiana is?

My children will never attend a school in the state of Louisiana.


On with our day. Emma loved it. Declan enjoyed his ride in his stroller and napped. And I had a nice time with my babies. Even though it was a freaking hot 80degrees outside. It's March. And I don't think that's a normal temperature for the month of March.

 

I would like to end with the fact that I left our air conditioner on all day because I knew it it would be hot and I wanted the house to be cool when I came home. 

When I came home I opened the front door and was welcomed by a gush of hot air.
My house was hotter inside than it was out. 

I'm fairly certain it's broken. Kind of coldish air comes out. But not cold air-conditioned air.
My hands and feet are sweating. It's gross.

I hate this house.

far behind!

I'm three days behind for no real reason. I haven't been really busy except Emma has allergies. and the first day of her allergy episode was sort of like a "man cold". You know, it's not that bad but they mope around more than necessary and sort of whine about the little things :-)

`Day 18 - A picture of someone who has taught you many of things in life.
(insert family photo here)

Many people have taught me MANY, MANY things. I wish I had a picture of everyone in my family. Because each one of them is responsible for teaching me things and helped make the person I am today. I love and cherish them all. We aren't that great, but we're all we've got.

`Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
I TOTALLY WISH I HAD ONE OF THESE. BUT I DON'T :(

`Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel.

One day I WILL visit Greece. 

I feel bad.

after laying in bed watching top chef i started to feel a little bit guilty i didn't do my picture of the day thing. so, here i am blogging via my samsung epic (you're welcome sprint). and i don't feel like dealing with the upper and lower case crap.
anyway, my day challenge was a picture of something that has made an impact on your life recentlly.
let me tell you about the us army. it's a HUGE pain in my tuckus. i would like them to put us in one spot, without a deployment and somewhere without bugs on steriods. like siberia bfe fort polk, louisiana.
however, it pays the bills and gives us a chance to do and see things we wouldn't be able to if codi had a 9-5 type of job.