Week 24!

Another week down. I am a little bit late writing this post. I usually try to do them on Fridays but this Friday was beyond busy. So much has changed this week. I am more stressed and excited and nervous than I have been in a LONG time. No he's not coming home right now. Although I will have these same feelings then as well. These are always the feelings I get when we are starting a new chapter in our lives.

This week I:

• Watched my nephews. The boys LOVED their sleepover. We made a huge pallet on the living room floor and they stayed up watching movies and eating popcorn!
• Went out to lunch with my twin and all 4 of our boys. They had a BLAST!
• Got growled at by some weird little kid at McDonald's. This was after he yelled at me and said he was gonna have his mom have the manager kick us out. All for me telling him to leave my kids alone who were 5+ years younger than him. KIDS THESE DAYS!!! If I'd done any of this when I was their age I would have gotten my ass beat! My kids still would!
• Had Twin Time!!! We went and saw the host and went to lunch. With a TINY bit of shopping thrown in there!
• Found out we were approved for the MAP program. Which means I can get a job now. Which also means I have to dye my hair back normal :/
• Volunteered at my kids school. 
• Met with our MAP counselor. So glad to finally have a plan and know what we need to start doing. 
• Lost 3 pounds!!!
• Sent out another care package. Really hoping he loves this one!
• Mowed the lawn! I really hate mowing the first time of the season. But it had to be done. And I'm not gonna waste money on hiring someone else to do something I can do. Especially now that my new landlord (aka my MIL) is not a super crazy lawn Nazi like my last one. Yes they were good landlords but OMG, the yard had to be mowed and weed-eated at LEAST once a week. I'd rather do it every 10 days or so but NOPE! That wasn't good enough. Here, it is. So that's another plus of moving!
• Got new books for the 3 of us! LOVE that my boys got my love of reading!!!
• Started a consequence jar. I'll make another post about that later :)
• Got sucked in to Inferno... Love the Chronicles of Nick Series!
• Read 4 chapters of The Hunger Games with my boys. 

All in all its been a really good week. Super crazy. Super busy. Lots of changes to come! So- wish me luck int he job hunt! Hopefully it doesn't take me TOO long to find something!

And of course pictures of our week :)

Sneak Peek at this weeks box 

I really hate that they have video games at McDonald's but at least they were sharing. And they mostly played on the playground. 

Movie Time!

2 down 2 to go

Finally All Out!!!

Happiness

Their solution to not being allowed to take their drinks in the living room... Smart Boys!

Care Package #16: Ping Pong Champ!

Yes, I know I skipped #15. For some odd reason he hasn't received that one yet. Damn mail! But after talking to him this week I did find out the got this box! It was one that he has asked for so he was excited that it had finally arrived!

I guess at his post they have a ping pong table. They also have paddles and I'm assuming balls too. But he says the paddles suck and you can't put a back spin on them. Asked me to send 3 decent paddles, 12 balls and some paddle covers. So off to Academy we went. I got him the Stiga Charger paddles. The guy that worked there said they were decent. And of course being the over-achiever that I am, I just bought a case of balls. They were only the 1 star balls since the 3 start didn't come in a case. If he asks for nicer balls I'll send him some more. But he didn't seem to care about the ball so that's what he got. But of course Academy didn't have the paddle cases. I'm gonna have to order those off Amazon.

I swear any time he asks for ANYTHING I just hear "THEME! BRITTANY THERE IS A THEME!!!" I know he could care less about my themes and would be just as happy if I threw stuff in a box. But making care packages lets me be creative and I really enjoy making them. I think it's funny when he asks me what I sent and I wont tell him. It's like Christmas or a birthday. They are a surprise! I think that's half the fun.

So in this box I sent:

• 3 ping pong paddles
• A case of balls
• A hub man for his computer. We saw this in the checkout line at Walmart and my boys thought it was cool and Daddy needed one. I know he had a USB hub last deployment so I figured it couldn't hurt. 
• Some flavored Cracker Jacks... again impulse purchase in line at Walmart. 
• Some Quench gum. Supposedly is energy gum. I just thought it was cool. Impulse purchase at Academy. Are you seeing a trend here?
• Gatorade Energy chews. These were the blue ones which you cant find at Walmart in the small pack. At least not at my Walmart so when I saw them I HAD to have them. Don't even know if he likes them but I keep sending them. Maybe one day he will actually tell me what he thinks of them?
• Blueberry breakfast bars. He loves having choices for breakfast.
• And some Teddy grahams. 
• Some individual packages of kleenex. Needed a space filler. 

In the picture it shows some drinks. Those did not fit in this box. I think I've tried to send them a few times and they always get taken out. Guess they just aren't top priority. 

Hubs, hunting & housing!

WOAH! So much has happened today. I feel like it's been a complete whirlwind!!! Well first off for those of you that don't know my husband is Cherokee Indian. And the Cherokees have a mortgage assistance program that helps you with the down payment and closing costs of buying a house. We've been working with them and have been in limbo for about 8 weeks now. And today I got the news that we have been approved! Woo! What a relief! This means that we can finally meet with a counselor and repair any credit issues we may have and can work on getting the loan.
This news also means that I am cleared to start looking for a job. We were told when we first started that since I was just getting out of college to go ahead and hold off on getting a job until we were approved. And me getting a job now shows financial responsibility as they say. I have so many different feelings about this. One I am more than excited because I can finally use my degree. Plus it will bring in more money and we can get to where we want to be in life. But I am also nervous. I don't even know where to begin with finding this type of job. Good thing I went to a career school I guess. Hopefully that will help. I'm also nervous that I won't be any good at it. I haven't had a job I cared about in a long time, if ever. I'd really much rather stay home with my kiddos and do what I want, when I want. But that's not really feasible. My hubs wants to start his own business when he gets home, which will mean I need a good steady income to fall back on and rely on. And I want him to be able to follow his dreams. Especially since, if we're being honest as sad as it is, I haven't had any real dreams of my own in a long time. I'm not against going to work. And who knows. I may actually end up enjoying it. I'm also kind of sad. I'm sad I have to get rid of my purple and teal hair. But it's something that must be done. I know people are going to judge me with it. And although I really don't care what people think about my hair I am not willing to put my family's security ahead of it. It's just not that important to me. I am also kind of bummed that I won't be able to just hang out and have a super fun summer with my boys like I had planned. But again, other things are more important.
So all in all this is a very exciting new phase for my family. We are all very excited about it and ready to face all the challenges and triumphs that may come along with this.

Week 23!

Well another week has come and gone... obviously. The beginning of this week really drug on. It was so slow going and I thought this week would never end. But the last few days have just flown by. This week was actually a REALLY busy week. Another crazy week in our life without Daddy. But hey busy is good, right?

So this week I:

• Went on a date with the cutest boys ever. We went to see GI Joe and out to dinner. It was actually a ton of fun. I think we are gonna start having a date night every other week. 
• Got the garage all cleaned out so I can FINALLY park my car in there. We were having some crazy storms, and if I got hail damage on my car when I COULD have parked in the garage, I know my husband would kill me when he got home. So I finally got it all cleaned out. Still a bit of organizing to do, but at least I can easily get my car in there. And I'm actually LOVING parking in the garage. Never have before. 
• Got my countdown & chalkboard all hung. I've REALLY been missing doing those. 
• Got the craft room mostly done. FINALLY got the board game shelf in there and the decor hung. Just gotta get the desk outta there now. But, no where to store it before taking it to the dump since I'm parking in the garage now. So it's gotta stay right where it is. 
• Friar tucked my hair... 2 days. I really liked it. Super easy & it actually looked like I did something to my hair. Now just gotta perfect it. 
• Camped out in the living room with my boys. 
• Got my hair dyed again. Got teal & purple in it this time. And a TON more color. Hubby hates it, so I guess it's a good thing he's not here. But I like it. When he asked WHY I did it, I said Mostly just cuz I can. I wanna do some wild and crazy stuff before I have to go back to work. I've always wanted some crazy hair for a bit and I can finally do that. 
• Finally figured out how I am going to organize my pantry. I think I spent like 50 hours on that alone this week. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But, I spent so much time on it I even started dreaming about it. But now it's figured out, and I can move on to other things. Like organizing our command center... 
• Read a few chapters of the Hunger Games with my boys. Well actually I think we only read 1. It's been a crazy week... like I said. 
• FINALLY finished the book I've been reading for a few months now. And gonna start reading Perks of being a wallflower today. I'm pretty excited. The movie looks great so surely the book is even better... that's usually how it goes. 
• Made 2 more care packages. One hubs asked for, so I had to add extra stuff and theme it of course. And the other is for Cinco de Mayo. It didn't turn out as fun as I wanted but oh well. He'll still enjoy it. 
• Talked to the hubs a few times. I've actually been able to talk to him more so it has been wonderful. I don't get to talk to him but for about 20 minutes (if that) at a time but I'll take it. 
• Read Rhyming with Dust Bunnies. OMG such a cute book! 

And that's pretty much our week in a nutshell. Like I said super busy. Mostly a really good week. And as always another week down means another week closer to seeing him again. So I'm all for it. 

And as always, some pics of our week:

About to go to bed after friar tucking my hair!

And in the AM... Like I said, looks like I actually spent time on it.

Date Night!

Camping out in the living room. 

YAAAYYY!!! I can finally get my car in there!

Not a great pic, but he'res the purple, just peek-a-boos where the pink was.

And the teal. Again not a great pic. and these are actually mostly peek-a-boos too. I pulled the top layer of bangs back so you could see the color. 

Care Package #14 Bath Time!

Well I talked to the hubs today. And he said that he got this box yesterday. Took over 2 weeks to get there but I'm just glad he finally has it. But this will be the ONLY bath time box I send unless he says otherwise since he has just about everything he uses there. So, here is the 14th box I've sent.

The saying on the box is:
Splish Splash. You need a bath. We love and miss your stinky ass.

In this box I included:

• Baby wipes: I bought the One and Done ones. I think by Huggies. They are thicker and textured. 
• 2 packs of travel Q-tips
• A set of nail clippers. He is CONSTANTLY losing them. 
• New shower shoes. I found them at Ross and hubs HATES flip flops but I loved these. Plus they actually have arch support so hopefully he likes them. 
• A new toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• The Dial for men shampoo, conditioner, body wash combo. The less stuff he has to carry the better.
• MIO... of course
• A loofa
• Deodorant
• A new travel electric razor... they are his favorite
• Batteries for the new razor and whatever else he may need them for. 
• His favorite face wash
• And not pictured in the pic of the stuff but you can see it in the box is a Renuzit extra strength air freshener. 
• And of course can't forget the rubber duckies. 

I actually enjoyed making this box. It was the first one I've sent that didn't have food in it.

Today...

Today I just want to hear his voice.
Today I just want to see his smiling face.
Today I just want to feel his arms around me.
Today I just want to kiss him instead of his picture.
Today I just want his smell back in the house.
Today I just want to trip over his big shoes.
Today I just want to hear his laughter.
Today I just want him to pick on me.
Today I just want to clean up after him.
Today I just want to have him next to me.
Today I just want my countdown to be over.
Today I just want to quit worrying.
Today I just want him home. With me. Where he belongs.


But instead...

Today I will go to bed alone.
Today I will deal with the silence.
Today my heart will ache a little bit more.
Today I will mark another day off my countdown.
Today I will be more proud of him than I ever thought possible.
Today I will try to hold back the tears.
Today I will worry.
Today I will do my best to make him proud.
Today I will make another care package to make things just a little bit easier for him.
Today I will kiss his picture goodnight.
Today I will tuck the kids into bed.
Today I will say I'm fine.
Today I will pick up the pieces.
Today I will tell him I love him online.
Today I will tell him I miss him.
Today I will reassure my children that their Daddy loves and misses them very much
Today I will pray for his safety.
Today I will keep driving on. Just like every other day because
Today I will remind myself that another day gone means another day closer to him being home.

Care Package #13: The Gamer Box

Although Dick has not told me he got this box, He's REALLY bad about that, I was talking to his friend today about them needing stuff, and he mentioned something that was in this box. And since this was the ONLY time I've sent that, I know he's received this. So here is another box I absolutely LOVED making!

THE GAMER BOX!!!

Dick bought a TV and Xbox 360 for while they were over there. He wanted another game and 2 controllers so of course all I thought was THEME THEME THEME!!! I searched high and low for ideas on this box and didn't find anything. So I started googling xbox pictures. And I came across some funny achievements (like left the house). That inspired the decor for this box. I found a blank achievement template (don't remember where... OOPS) and used ribbet.com for the editing. The font I used was Arial Narrow. I couldn't find a free download of the font Microsoft uses so I figured it was close enough.

In this box I included:

• 2 Wired Xbox 360 controllers
• 2 Xbox 360 games: MLB 2012 and Forza (the newer one whatever that is)
• MIO
• Beef Jerky
• The JackLinks Jack Pack that have the cheese, pretzels and slim jim things. That's how I knew he'd gotten this box.
• Homemade cookies
• Silly sting
• Butterfinger Pretzels
• Combos
• A hilarious card I found at Target. 

Pretty much I thought, if he's gonna be sittin around all day playing video games what kind of stuff would he want? BUT right around the time he got this box (either shortly before or after, not sure) he broke his xbox power cord. SO I don't even know if he's gotten to play these. But I got him a new power cord out this week. Had to go to 4 different stores to find it. That boy better know I love him!

And here's the box:

And here is the template I used to make the achievements. I just printed them out on white card stock, cut them out and glued them to the green card stock.

Week 22!

Can't believe it's Friday again already! These weeks are REALLY gettin away from me! Had another good & busy week this week! I'm really enjoying staying busy lately. So much so that I actually went out and applied for a job today! WHAT? Yes, I was surprised too. I keep talking myself into and out of working. I think I'd like to work again not only because it'd keep me busy but a little extra money can't hurt either. BUT. I'm really nervous about it too. I'm nervous because I haven't worked in a year and a half and haven't applies anywhere in almost 4 years. But I'm really nervous that if I start working again I wont be able to talk to my hubs. And that is the LAST thing I want. So- if you have worked while your man/woman was deployed how'd you do it?

Anyways onto what I did this week.

• Made 2... Yes 2 care packages for the hubs. That boys is spoiled rotten. But if he asks for it he gets it. Posts on those to come soon. 
• Had a day with my twin. It was fun as always but we actually ran some much needed errands. We also went to see The Call. OMG so good! Super intense but not really scary. And I'm a big baby when it comes to scary. So if you haven't seen it... CHECK IT OUT!!!
• Got our tags renewed. Had to sit there for OVER 2 hours. It was crazy busy. But had to be done. 
• Got a lot done around the house. It was much needed. Especially with the funk I had been in. Feels so good to be motivated again and be productive again. If you are in a funk deployment or otherwise, my advise it to just get up and start moving. Being productive and getting stuff done may just be the push you need. 
• Read 4 chapters of The Hunger Games. Se start the actual arena part tonight. We are all excited for that!
• Volunteered at the kiddos school today. Look at me! Being an achiever mom & all!
• Like I already said... applied for a job! We'll see how that goes!
• Talked to my hubs 4 (?) times. Not real long any of the times but a one minute conversation can make my entire week. 
• Got mostly caught up on all my shows. While catching up on laundry and care packages. I don't really sit around and watch TV. I mostly do it while doing other stuff. And I was up to 3 weeks behind on some. So it felt good to be mostly caught up.
• Planned & shopped for next weeks care packages. Yes. Plural. He's getting 2 again. I swear that boys asks for something and all I hear is THEME!
• And got a new purse. I have the best hubs. He never tells me know! Of course, that might be different if I asked for stuff for myself very often or had expensive tastes. 
• Read a few more chapters of Baby Proof. Really trying to finish up this book!

Well that's about it for us this week. Nothing much exciting. And I was a slacker on pics. I took pics of the care packages... which I can't share yet. And a pic of my new purse. So here it is :) Super cute, right? I LOVE Ross!

5 MONTHS DOWN!!!

WOW!!! Another month has come & gone! This was a pretty tough month for me. I found out news about the extension and honestly it hit me like a ton of bricks. I put on my happy face but I just wasn't feeling it. So for 2 weeks while the boys were at school I moped around the house. But I am glad to say I am out of that funk and back in my happy place! Just taking everything one day at a time. That's all you really can do.

This month I:

• Sent out 5 (I think) care packages. I know it was at least 4 though. I send at least one out a week. 
• Talked to the hubs 5 or 6 times. Always makes my day/week. Just talking to him, knowing he's okay and that he's thinking of us too makes everything so much easier. 
• Watched The Hunger Games with my boys. And we decided to start reading those books too. They are loving them as much as I am right now. I love that my boys like the same stuff I do. And I LOVE that they love reading as much as I do. At least they got one good trait from me. 
• Gained a pound. Jumping off the wagon for those 2 weeks really did a number on my weight loss. But I am back on track now and that is all that matters.
• Started Turbo Jam. I absolutely love it. OMG it's a freakin workout but the moves are simple so I can actually follow along. I am not very coordinated. 
• Went to the casino and to a concert with my mom & twin. That was a SUPER fun day! I freakin loved it!
• Went & saw Safe Haven. (At least I THINK that was this month) Super good movie. And what better way to spend twin time than watching a chick flick?
• Spent at least one day a week with my twin. I know I've said this before but I couldn't do this without her. Once I start gettin bummed, I realize I get to see her tomorrow and have a fun day and it helps me make it through yet another week missing my love. 
• Had another girl's night. We went bowling, out to the bar, then back to my house from drinks & girl talk. It was a blast. I LOVE girl's nights!
• Volunteered at my kiddos school. Also decided that I was gonna start volunteering every other Friday. I'm gonna be an achiever mom. And it'll get me outta the house. 
• Went to the Aquarium & out to lunch with my boys and my MIL. And planned ANOTHER box. I think I'm working on like 6 of them right now. I can't even store everything I have in my care package cabinet. 
• Spent Easter with my fam. It was fun as always. 
• Got more flowers from my hubs. Just because he's freakin awesome. I sure do love that man!
• Went to the circus with my boys, twin & nephews. A guy at my weight watchers meeting gave us free tickets (how nice is that?). It was a lot of fun. Crazy busy but still fun!
• And I helped my MIL out at her house.

This was actually a really busy month. Which is good. Helps the time fly by. Hoping this next month is just as busy. We are ALMOST half way to seeing him again. Whether it be him coming home or for R&R. I just keep reminding myself we're almost halfway there. That's all that matters. 

Care Package #12: Happy Easter

Talked to Dick on Friday and he said he got like 7 boxes from me. So guess a lot of the boxes I have sent finally caught up with him. I will probably hold off til later this week or next week to post the next one. Make sure he's had time to get it but I figured it was probably safe to go ahead and post this one. Especially since that holiday is already over. So here is care package #12

HAPPY EASTER!

In this box I put:

• Muffins that I made in an egg shaped tin. And they puffed up when I cooked them so they looked like eggs. I loved it! 
• MIO... as usual. Although after talking to him Friday he did ask me to send some other stuff to try out because he feels like the MIO is getting wasted because they use so much of it in each bottle and then lose it in their truck.
• Swimsuit issue of sports illustrated
• Plastic eggs filled with candy
• 2 movies
• Egg shaped glasses. Found in the dollar aisle at Target. I knew he HAD to have them. Then I got some for me & the boys for Easter too. Pics of that to come :)
• Neon glo puddy in an egg shaped tub. 
• Candy
• Easter cakes

I mostly just tried to fill it as if it was an Easter basket. Obviously it all had to lay flat but I still think it turned out cute.

April

Well it's a new month and that means a new set of goals. Also need to see just how I did in March.

March goals:

• Finish the book I'm on, & try to read HP to the boys at least 3 times a week... Still haven't finished. We had Spring break this month and I haven't read since before that so yeah still not done. And we switched over to The Hunger Games and have been doing really well on that. So 50/50 on this one :)
• Lose another 8 pounds. Sucked on this one. Only lost 2 lbs. But that's what happens when you dive head first off the wagon. But I'm okay with it. I'm back on track and moving on.
• Finish the house... Mostly done. A few things left to hang. Gonna get that done by this weekend. 
• Blog each week... Got this one done too 
• Work out at least once a week. Hey its better than once a month right? Well I've worked out like 4 times this month. Mostly within the last week but it averages out to be once a week so WIN on this one. 
• Continue to be more patient... Did pretty well on this one. Was a stressful couple of weeks but still better than I had been. 
• Send out 3 care packages. He told me to send less so I'm thinkin one every 10 days should be good... I think I sent out like 5? I know way more than 3. He changed his mind on me sending less often so score on that!
• Be more active, even if its just cleaning more, or going bowling with the boys, just SOMETHING where I'm not sittin around as much... 2 weeks I was a lazy bum. 2 weeks I did really good. So I'm gonna say I did this one pretty well too. 
• Be on the computer LESS. I tend to get sucked in when he's gone. :/ Nope. Didnt get this one done. But I'm still workin on it. 

And new goals for April:

• Volunteer twice a month at the boys school.
• Finish the book I'm on and read Hunger Games at least 3 times a week. 
• Lose 5 pounds.
• Finish the last few things in the house.
• Blog each week.
• Send out one care package a week.
• Continue to be more patient.
• Work out twice a week.
• Get out of the house more. 

That's it. Nothing too exciting. They are all attainable. Maybe if I can meet all my goals for a month I'll reach a lil higher :)

Week 21

WOW!!!! We are already 21 weeks down?!?!?! That is just crazy to me! Time is just flying by. But that's a good thing! This was a REALLY busy week! Not a ton of fun but still really busy!

This week I:

• Went to my MIL's house and helped her 2 days. 
• Ran errands.
• Volunteered at the walkathon at my boys school. Got to work it with my twin so that was actually a TON of fun!
• Got out and danced to the Macarena and Cha Cha Slide. Totally showed those kids what was up. Plus only slightly embarrassed my oldest. Win!
• Had lunch with the twin :)
• Made it back to weight watchers. Up from 3 weeks ago but down from last week. I kinda dived head first off the wagon when I found out about the extension. But I'm back on it now and that's all that really matters :)
• Read 5 chapters of The Hunger Games with my boys. They are loving it too.
• Watched The Hunger Games with my boys. 
• Worked out 3 days. Love love love Turbo Jam. Just ordered the set!
• Made & sent hubs a box just like every other week. Hopefully he loves it :)
• Talked to the hubs for a bit on Friday. Always makes my week a ton better when I hear from him. 

Again, it was a busy week. Not necessarily a fun week but busy. And busy is very important during a deployment. And as always a few pics from our week 

Week 20

Well, I'm a wee bit late posting this. The boys were out for Spring Break last week and it was crazy. We had a lot of fun though. Had a lot of lazy days and I got to spend a day with each boy individually while the other went to my mom's house for a day of fun with her. Its been way too long since I've got to spend time one on one with my boys so I REALLY enjoyed it!

This week I:

• Went to the Casey James concert. And saw Corey Crowder there too. They were both BEYOND amazing. If you haven't heard them I would recommend checking them out. LOVED it!
• Went to the Aquarium with my MIL and my boys. Then out to eat at BWW. Haven't been there since hubs left so it was kinda bittersweet but we still had a lot of fun. The Aquarium was beyond packed so we didn't even get to see everything but the boys had a lot of fun so that's all that really matters.
• Got a call from my hubs Friday. First phone call that I've really felt like I didn't know what to say. But I was also in the car with my MIL and boys talking so it was kinda weird. 
• Made another care package. Loving this one! Can't wait to post about it. 
• Went out to eat and to the Casino with my mom & twin before the concert. Had a lot of fun! Lost the money I went in with but played for like 4 hours & had fun so I'm good with it. 
• Didn't even weigh in. I'm scurred. But I'm pulling myself back up on the wagon so this week will be MUCH better. 
• Watched the Hunger Games with my boys. They really enjoyed it & I hadn't seen it since hubs took me when it was still in theaters so I was happy to watch it too. 
• Was completely LAZY! I laid around and watched tv a lot with my boys. Sometimes that's just what you need. I enjoyed the time of doing NOTHING and got the time to relax. It's helped me pull myself out of my rut and get back in the happy mindset.
• Came up with another awesome care package idea. I'm super stoked about it & I think hubs is gonna love it!!!

That's about it for our week. It was fun, it was lazy, it was just what we needed. 

And as always some pics of our week: