Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

- This week I did not run out of bug spray so I did not use what every resourceful mom uses to kill ants... Windex! lol

- I did not take my stressful week out on my husband, who of course has a much more stress-filled week that I do. I mean it's not like I am in a war zone or anything! Sheesh! I would never get snippy with him(and yes he finally called me back... we talked for TWO hours yesterday!)

- I did NOT eat pizza for dinner, then for lunch AND dinner the next day. Nope. Not I said the fly.

- I most certainly did NOT keep my kids up an hour after their bedtime just to go get free root beer floats at Sonic.

- And I of course I would never tease them and tell them that root beer floats had onions in them since they had never had them before. And I did not feel kinda bad when they almost started crying and whining that they didn't want to eat onions LOL (Don't worry... they got their non-onion-filled floats and loved them)

- I have NOT taken over 1,000 pictures in one week with my new T1i. That would be In. Sane.

- And I would never drizzle chocolate syrup on my cereal. Just because I'm a grown-up and I can. Nope.

;)

A Few Random Late Night Realizations

1. A big swimming pool is AWESOME in the summer heat. It has kept my big kids busy all day long! Just strap on their floaties and they go to town! I think we swam for 7 hours today. I even got in for a while when Bitty was napping. It keeps the kids from being bored and I am a HUGE fan of outdoor play. It gets the kids away from the TV and allows them for physical play along with the use of their imagination! Today the pool was everything from a volcano to a stage to a far off land to a baptismal font. (Yes, my kids proceeded to baptize each other. LOL)

2. I really really really miss just looking at my husband. I miss just watching GI Joe go about his things he does everyday. Get dressed. Shave. Play with the kids. Put his boots and dogtags on. Smile at me. I just miss being able to look at him. Yes I have pictures, lots and LOTS of pictures, but they aren't the same. I just am missing the guy like crazy.

3. Red onion and sausage pizza at midnight after a long day of swimming and missing your husband is really really very extremely good!

You Wanna Know What Sucks....

...when you haven't talked to your husband in 9 days and then he finally calls at 3:30am, when you have THREE sleeping children in your bed because of an earlier thunderstorm, and you can't talk because you are utterly exhausted, and so he says he will try and call back, and he does 15 hours later, but you are in the car on base, so you have to put him on speaker phone, and you are on your way to Sonic for free root beer float night with the kids, and so you talk to him while ordering through the drive-in and eating said root beer float, and then he talks to the kids after you get home while you are tucking them in and finally, finally finally, when it is your turn to talk, without any interruptions, the cell phone dies.

Yeah, that sucks.

Why Is It...

....that big crazy thunderstorms happen at like 5am? Late enough that my kids have slept a while and aren't in that deep-deep sleep anymore? But way too early to get up? And then I have 3 kids crying, in my bed, and I cannot go back to sleep at all due to the nursing a fussy baby and telling my 4 year old to stop moving around.

...that my husband always calls at the most inopertune time, like when all the kids are on crack and a tornado seriously ripped through my living room and it was apparently covered in peanut butter?

...that cars always break down, kids always get the stomach flu and unexpected bills arise always when my husband is deployed?

...that I always forget to take the trash can down to the curb on trash day only when it is REALLY full?

...that all the kids grow into new size clothes at the same exact time?

...that we run out of every cleaner and toiletry and paper product at the exact same time also?

...that I always forget to bring my cell phone in the bathroom with me while I am taking a shower until I am already sopping wet, so then I have to get out and leave wet footprints through my bedroom?

...that on days where I really need the extra sleep and Bitty is actually sleeping well I have deployment insomnia?

Status Update

Wow I hadn't realized it had been almost a week since I had blogged! I suppose "real" life has caught up with me. I have been actively trying to spend more time with the kids doing fun stuff, rather than studying, homework, housework, etc. So we have been playing outside a lot, riding bikes and going places.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had an awesome chapel service at the local lake, where about 10 people were baptized. It was so stormy, but God showed His awesomeness again, and allowed the clouds to part for a few hours so the serivce could go on as planned. Even the Chaplain said during the sermon that he was "one of little faith" because he didn;t think we would be able to have the outdoor service with all the severe weather. But it was so beautiful, special and meaningful. And we even had a chance to go swimming in the lake after that for a couple hours. The kids loved it... even Bitty! Poor guy is so chubby he was too big for his brand new 6 month swimsuit and rash guard. So I had to go buy him a TWELVE MONTH one! The boy is only 3 months old! :) And of course I forgot the camera. I know. I have already scolded myself lol!

Then on Monday, the pools on Post opened for the season so we were one of the first families there! We all had a great time! I was suprised at how calm and easy it was with 3 kids by myself sans GI Joe. It was nice because my friend and her 2 kids were there also, so it was nice having another adult there to supervise during potty breaks, nursing Bitty breaks, changing Bitty breaks, etc etc etc.

So I suppose my status is:
-Spending more time with kids(Which will hopefully equal a tan for my pasty legs)
-Algebra OVER! I pulled an A! YEAH!(Now I just need to pass Govt 2...)
-GI Joe doing good. (He needs me to send him large paint brushes to clean his weapon??? lol)
-Kids doing well and getting bigger by the day
-House getting cleaned as soon as I am done with this post because my mom is visiting tomorrow! MUST HAVE HOUSE SPOTLESS. LOL :)

Sheep or Goat?

Happy Sunday to you all... it was especially happy for me since Bitty actually SLEPT last night, PRASE GOD!! lol 6.5 hours straight. But of course deployment insomnia struck AGAIN and I was up until 1:45am. I literally laid in bed staring at the ceiling for 2 hours. Oh how I wish I had the flexibility to kick myself in the head because my newborn was sleeping soundly and I could not fall asleep! Oh well. I eventually got about 7 hours of broken sleep. That's all I need to function lol.

I attend a non-denominational Chapel service on Post here. Which let me tell you, is AWESOME. I was raised Lutheran, but now I consider myself just a plain ol' Christian. I am a lover and follower of Jesus, not a denomination or "religion." (Oh how I dislike that term...)

But Chapel today was great! It started off by us arriving 10 minutes early. YES! Score one for the temporarily-single Mommy of 3 young kids! In the parking lost was a big white bus AKA Soldier-Mover. When i got inside the Chapel, I saw about 30 soldiers dressed in ACUs(Army Combat Uniforms) sitting in the pews. A lot of them looked younger, and most were lower ranking. I wondered why they were there... maybe a break from a field exercise for service? I dunno.

During the service the Chaplain asked who were newcomers and who was about to be deployed. Well all these soldiers raised their hands that they were about to go to Iraq. We as a congregation, prayed for them. The sermon was about Matthew 25:31-46.

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

He posed the question... which are we? A sheep or a goat? Are we REAL Christians or just fakes? Or have we turned our back on God and tried to run away? Or have we just never really known God?

Then the worship team started singing. And those soldiers started praying. And weeping. They came upto the alter by the dozens. Kneeling at the foot of the cross. Laying all their worries and fears at his feet.

I had goosebumps.

The sight of these young soldiers, brave and honorable, about to march off to war, afraid of what the future holds for them, now kneeling to our King and giving their fears and uncertainties to Him, was just overwhelming to me and many of the other Army wives in attendance.

They made their choice. Today, those soldiers made a decision.

They want to be sheep.

I want to be a sheep.

Some Roses are Red, Some Roses are Orange...

I got a package in the mail today from GI Joe. It was my Mother's Day gift, arriving slightly belated. It was 2 dozen orange roses. Beautiful really(except for the fact he also bought me chocolates which turned into one ooey gooey mess in the box in the FedEx truck in the hot Texas sun all day... and if you read my Not Me Monday post, you also know that I came about this close to still eating them lol) and after I rearranged them, they looked great. I used to be a florist way back in my pre-mommyhood days. I knew those random skills would eventually come in handy. As I placed them on the dining table and admire their beautiful orange color, I started wondering...What do orange roses mean?

I know that red signifies romance, yellow is friendship, but what is orange?

So I did some research and here now, for your reading pleasure... everything you ever wanted to know, and more, about various rose colors and what they symbolize.

Rose Colors: The Definitive Reference Guide - From 1-800-Flowers.com

RED-This rose's color symbolizes one thing above all else--love. For hundreds of years people have chosen one color of roses above all others to convey their most heartfelt feelings (experts believe that the red rose first became a symbol of love around 1800). When the message you want to send is "I love you," it's always red roses. So for occasions like Valentine's Day and a wedding anniversary, there is simply no other option.

WHITE-If you're looking for a flower that's the right fit for a bride at her wedding, the right rose colors are white. The same reason the bride wears white is the same reason the roses are white. This flower symbolizes purity above all else. Keeping with this, white is also the appropriate color rose for a confirmation or any occasion celebrating a new beginning.

YELLOW-Yellow is perhaps the color rose with the most diverse history of meanings. Over the centuries, they have been given to convey everything from "welcome home" to jealousy, of all things. Today, however, rose colors in any and all shades of yellow embody friendship more than anything else. Best friends, new friends, old friends--they will all understand your message of everlasting friendship when you send yellow roses.

ORANGE-If you're fired up about something or someone, orange color roses will let them know. Enthusiasm and desire are the primary meanings of orange roses. And while colors like red and white may symbolize everlasting love and pure love, respectively, it's orange that says burning love. However, as with most rose colors, there are other occasions where orange is the right fit; Halloween, for example, and to express feelings of admiration or pride in another.

PURPLE-Purple, or lavender, color roses are just right for love at first sight. Purple has long been associated with passion, luxury, and even magic, which makes this rose's color just right for expressing all the enchantment that only new love delivers. Additionally, purple represents royalty, so if you want to make someone feel like a queen, there may be no better rose.

PINK-While yellow may be the color rose with the most diverse history of meanings--though today, they primarily mean friendship--it's playful pink roses that have the most diverse meanings today. Admiration, appreciation, joy, thanks--roses in any shades of pink say it all. There is a happiness conveyed by pink rose colors that is simply undeniable and always appropriate.

PEACH-While appearing only subtly different from orange roses, peach color roses send an entirely different meaning. Typically, peach colored roses are sent to communicate appreciation, sincerity and gratitude. They're ideal for business gifts or as gifts for Teacher's Day, for example.

So, GI Joe has a hunk-a-hunk of burning love for me, does he? How many more months do we have left of this deployment??? He better hurry his little booty on home to me ;)

And I love the *disclaimer* they place at the bottom of the page:

Remember: when you send roses, you're not just sending flowers. You're sending a message, and the rose color your choose can greatly and easily impact your message. We hope our guide will help you send the exact message you want your flowers to convey.

Ah, words to live by...

A Conversation with GI Joe

I got to talk to GI Joe today online. It was nice because lately he has been going on all sorts of missions that occupy a lot of his time, and then in his downtime, he is always so exhausted. So it was really nice to "hear" from him today.

As we were about ready to sign off, I reminded him that today used to be our special day. 11 years ago, we were talking on the phone late at night(shhh don't tell my parents I was up late talking to him lol). He asked me to be his girlfriend. So cute huh? I remember it like it was yesterday, yet it seems so long ago at the same time. Funny how that happens.

Well, GI Joe then said, no, it was ME who asked him out. Oh uh-uh. I did no such thing! I am a lady, for goodness sakes! ;) The conversation then went like this:

GI Joe: Well, you are the one that called me first.
Me: Well yeah, but not that conversation, you had called me.
Gi Joe: Well the first time we talked, you called me.
Me: Well yeah, I got your number from M(my BFF.) I thought you were cute. So sue me. lol
GI Joe: Nah, I'm married to you. That wouldn't work.
GI Joe: You stalked me.
Me: Oh I did, did I? So you like stalkers?
GI Joe: Only the pretty ones.

♥

God's To-Do List

I am such a daydreamer... a thinker, a planner, a wisher. I remember many night my very best friend M and I would stay up late as kids planning our futures together. We would go to college and share an apartment. We would have the cutest bathroom and paint the walls to look like the outdoors. We planned to get married at the same time, have our kids at the same time, do everything together. (By the way she just called and told me TONIGHT that she is getting married!!! I told her maybe she can have her first kid when I have my 4th, so we could still experience that together lol) Many many hours we would plan various things. Plan how I would get the nerve up to call GI Joe and talk to him for the first time. Think about how we wanted to create our next silly home video. We would get so excited about just the thoughts of these things, that sometimes the actual doing came second. Sometimes we were too tired from creating our screenplay that halfway through filming, we decided we were done and we were on to planning the next thing.

I also LOVE to fill up my time and my calendar with things to do while GI Joe is gone. I have meetings, playgroups, activities, school, appointments, bible study, scrapbooking club, bunco, and everything else you could imagine. It makes the deployment just fly by for me. It also drains me and exhausts me. Brings me to my breaking limit even. But even while I am doing all of these "things," more opportunities to get involved arise. More ministry options, more volunteers needed to do this and provide that. And I just yearn to say yes to everything.

But sometimes I just need to sit back and say no. Maybe no, not never, but at least no, not right now.

God has really been teaching me that I need to really try to focus on what He should have me do, and not what my selfish wishes are. What things does He want me to have on my to-do list today.

But MarriedtotheArmy, how do I know what God wants me to do? Does God even care about what small things I do in my day to day life?

YES He cares. Just ask Him to show you. Ask Him to lead you down HIS path. You will be amazed at just what He lays on your heart and what opportunities are presented to you.

Very recently I have taken up a new ministry opportunity. I am very excited about what God has in store for me. I am very sincerely praying that I have a genuine humble heart and want to do His will and follow His plan. He has been working so incredibly in my life over these past 2 years that I am so eager with anticipation to see what is in store next.

I am going to keep focused of following God's will in my life. Praying and seeing what He wants me to write on my to-do list everyday. What is essential and what is frivolous. What is nourishing and what is draining.

And don't get so wrapped up in the details. Don't worry so much about the planning of every little thing. Sometimes God wants to surprise us. Follow His to-do list and not our own. After all, He is our Father, He knows what's best for us. :)

Day in the Life of this Army Wife...

I had a plan for the day. I made a list. A timeline, if you will. And boy was it a busy one. I managed to get almost everything done I wanted to, but whew. What a day. Anyone who says military wives have it easy is just a silly billy!

0600-0830 Feed Bitty Boy every 30 minutes while trying to get last few possible minutes of sleep.
0831 Get up from bed and find The Boy and The Girl making a huge mess in her room. Tell them to clean up.
0832-0845 Change Bitty's hugely poopy diaper. Wash hands. make cinnamon sugar toast for older, crazier children.
0845-0915 Feed and rock Bitty to sleep. He is fussy and still tired.
0915-0945 Check email, myspace, twitter etc. while savoring a few nice cups of coffee. Mommy time finally.
0945-1000 Separate laundry, throw a load in the wash.
1000-1020 Iron kids clothes for bluebonnet pictures and my clothes for the day. Get big kids dressed.
1021-1045 My Mom calls... talk to her about my crazy week and crazy kids. Crazy kids talk to Grandma about their crazy Mommy. Crazy crazy crazy.
1045-1100 Get diaper bag ready for the day. Pump a bottle. Thaw a bag of frozen breastmilk for another bottle.
1102-1108 Shower, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. (I have this down to a science now... it's called Mommy of 3 Hyperspeed)
1109-1115 Wake Bitty up, change his clothes and diaper. Put him in carseat. Out the door.
1125-1132 McDonalds drive thru to grab Happy Meals for kids.
1145 Bluebonnet Pics... well worth the effort!

1200-1225 Drop kids off at AWESOME Super Saturday daycare on Post. LOVE it! 16 hours FREE per month when your hubby is deployed!
1240 Arrive at Olive Garden with my BFFs. Stuff myself silly with delicious food.
1310 Find wierd conjoined twin cherry w/ two stems in my cherry coke. Take picture of it and send to Twitter.
1410 Leave Olive Garden and arrive at mall.
1420-1445 Get relaxing super quick pedi at local crappy-but-it'll-have-to-do pedi place
1450-1500 Try on ginormous nursing bras at Motherhood. 38F?? GEESH!
1503 Realize we are late for hair appointments. Begin mad dash through Dillards and food court.

1507-1825 Get hair cut and highlighted. I am a blonde again!! And yes... it took over THREE hours!(Meanwhile in that time I had to have my BFF go and pick up my kids or else I would have been way late. GOD BLESS HER!!)
1835 BFF and I realize we do not want to cook dinner and clean up horrible mess that our crazy kids will undoubtedly make. Deployments suck. McDs gets our business yet again. Yeah two Happy Meals in one day. So what?! Come over here and say that to my face! :)
2012 All kids start having horrible meltdowns and we start packing up to head home.
2013 GI Joe calls in the middle of the chaos. His sixth sense for knowing when the worst time to call is very keen. He has the "Unagi" that our beloved Friend Ross speaks about.
2014 Tell GI Joe to call back in 15 minutes. He promises to do so. Mmmhmmm, well see...
2025 Arrive home. Tell big kids to get ready for bed.
2030 Tuck kids in bed. Feed Bitty.
2055 GI Joe calls back. 40 minutes... not 15 minutes, but not bad either. :)
2125 Get off the phone with GI Joe, Put Bitty to bed.

Nice conversation with my husband. Three kids in bed sleeping. Currently in comfy PJs and slippers. All is well with the world.

I'm Back from Deployment because My Hubby Deployed... Huh, Wha??

Ok so it only took me 11 months to blog again... not bad for a mom of three small kids? Ah yes, you caught that did you? THREE army brats now. Yes, we are planning to start our own Brigade, basic training begins in the womb. So now we have The Girl, The Boy, and The Bitty Boy. If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart. Awwwww.....

Well, what's the reason you are blogging again MarriedToTheArmy? Well it's because GI Joe has left on a long adventure to the Nether Lands. No, not Holland... Iraq. He is on his third tour there now and has left me as Rear Detachment Commander of our growing triple-stack of Brats. So now that I am Mommy and Daddy, and a full-time college student(don't ask...) I have sooooo much time to blog! *Insert snarky sarcasm here* Really it's just because I always have Deployment Insomnia. I figure I'm up til the butt crack of dawn anyway, so I might as well blog about it!

So hopefully from now on there will be at least weekly posts from me chronicling the comical and chaotic daily occurrences that take place here at Camp Camouflage. I am sure this year has so much in store for me. God is always in control and the Army definitely makes sure you always know that. Even though the fear of my husband being in a war zone could literally cripple me, I give it to God. Daily. Hourly. I know He has so much He is going to teach me this year. I can't wait. We Army wives have it hard, yes that is true. But God has called us each to this life. And he gave us this gift of separation. And yes you read right... GIFT of separation. No it isn't because I LIKE being apart from my husband and taking out the trash and killing bugs, it's because it's a time where God can work on us individually. Where we are carried by him. How then would we ever know what God is capable of if we never are brought through the fire? How would we ever realize that the only set of footprints in the sand were not our own. Only because we simply could not walk any longer on our own two feet. Deployments FORCE us to rely on something. The Army teaches us our families to be strong. THERE'S STRONG AND THEN THERE IS ARMY STRONG. I know you all have seen the cheesy commercials that still manage to make me cry. Deployments are an in-your-face reminder that we CANNOT go through this life without God. Try and you will fail. You will crumble when life's pressures come barreling down. I speak from experience. God is solid. More solid than you and I are. Even more solid than my GI Joe's 6 pack abs ;) Only on HIS solid rock I stand, because ALL OTHER ground is sinking sand.

So it back and enjoy the show... you'll laugh, I'll cry, we'll all revel in God's awesomeness... it'll be a hoot! :)