three.years.old.

Austin, 2 February 2007

Oh, Bubba. I cannot believe you will be three years old next Tuesday...
I have tried to bottle up and remember every moment for the past three years; I fear that I have already forgotten so much.
You're sound asleep in your bed right now, and I just might have to go climb in next to you. You'll be a big boy soon... and I only have a few days left to remember you as a two year old.

Daddy, Cade, and I love you, so very much. I pray you always remember that...

overflows...

her cup overflows. but her arms are too full to wipe the mess clean,
too full to see the blessings in the dark mess that flow out of the overturned mug.
as she shuffles two small boys away from danger, the burning liquid pools on the counter, and eventually, drips cold and stale to the floor.

in around two handfuls of days, a set of wings will take three excited travellers
on a journey across the pond and will gently land in the crooked letter state, or maybe beside the peach trees, or possibly near sweet caroline.
from there, four wheels or another set of wings will carry the three tired travellers to sweet home.

two boys will fill the arms of parents of grand nature. a village extending a hand. a momma greatly humbled. the same weary momma, now with empty arms, will journey back to her working husband and the home they've built together.

for a handful of weeks,
a guilt stricken momma will try to focus on the plan, sipping from a cup that holds its contents but stings her lips with bitter heat. the plan is to empty the overflowing boxes of stuff that are stuffed in the room that holds things. the plan is to fill the cabinets and the closets with a home for every stuff, and every stuff in that home. the plan is to write down the knowledge of what comes next...when to shop, when to rest, when to empty her arms and clean up a mess. she'll fill the blocks of days with a consistent amount of work and play, so she's always prepared and mostly refreshed. the lost momma will try to find her way through the small handful of hours, and days, a few weeks without her little ones to guide her way.

as time trudges along, the guilt will wash away as two small boys build memories of adventures with the parents of grand nature, as the weariness subsides, and the light begins to shine through. the air will turn crisp as she breathes in deeper than before. with the arms of her village stretched out across the pond, she find the strength to fill her arms again...
she will make the journey back to sweet home, scoop her two small boys up, and together they'll fly back to the home that she created with her husband across the pond.

and the rested momma will gently lay a folded cloth on the counter... this time she wants to soak up every last drop of blessings and savor every precious sip that doesn't overflow onto the cloth...



This post linked to Tuesdays Unwrapped.

the walls are flat.

When we moved out of the old apartment, I was surprised at how dirty, smudged, and sticky our walls were. And I was a lot thankful that I didn't have to paint over that.

We've lived in this apartment for less than a month.
The first 3 feet of wall in Austin's room are already dirty and smudged.

I'm tempted to paint but won't.
Because I'd have to use the colors and paint that housing approves...
And the paint that housing approves is flat...

I've always painted walls with a satin or semi gloss finish...
It resists dirt and smudges and wipes off a little easier.

I don't like flat walls.

2010 Blizzard Bloghop

The Household6 Diva is hosting a Blizzard Bloghop!

Not headed to Nashville for Blissdom? Then you don't want to miss this!
For whatever reasons you might be "snowed in" from Blissdom, the Blizzard Bloghop is your chance to meet and greet without the fuss, without juggling, and without the hassle of planning a weekend away from your family.

All you need to do is to type up an introduction and on February 4th, visit The Household6 Diva to link up!
Then at your convienence that weekend, grab your laptop, a glass of sweet tea, and that cozy chair in the corner. Prop your feet up and surf around to meet some new bloggy friends!

There might even be a giveaway involved...
Visit The Household6 Diva for more information.

Oh, Where is my hairbrush?

We cleared the inspection on the old apartment yesterday and our storage room is full of stuff that we just threw in boxes, loaded up in the car, and unloaded into storage. It's a total mess and completely unorganized.

And I'm ok with that.
Really I am...

What I'm not ok with is the fact that I can't find our bedroom curtains. Because I can't find our bedroom curtains, we have a sheet stuck in the window to block the view. And because there's a sheet stuck in our window, we can't tilt it at night to let the air circulate (no central heat and air. just radiators. makes for opening windows completely neccessary, even when its snowing outside). Because we can't tilt the bedroom window, we tilt the bathroom window.
I wake up at 4 AM to Cade crying because he can't figure out how to climb back into his bed, and on my way back to bed, I realize the glass of water I drank before bed was a bad idea... Did I mention its been snowing? Yeah... I'm not ok with ice cold toilet seats...especially at 4 AM.

I'm also not ok with not knowing where the lids to our pots and pans are.
And the fact that we have a Culligan water cooler taking a break in a corner of our storage room...

But what I'm really not ok with is Cade using my favorite hairbrush to clean the toilet... and giggling while he's doing it...
I have another hairbrush, but of course, it's nowhere to be found. For 3 days, I "brushed" my hair with a clip. Then would pull it back in a wadded up mess on my head, because that's about all I could do.

I also am no ok with the fact that the fire proof safe is hidden somewhere in that mess of a storage room too. And our passports are in it.. And I need our passports... (Why do I need our passports? Well, we're going on a trip... More later...)

Then my sweet hubby came home from work yesterday with a new hairbrush for me.
Have I ever told you how much I love this man?

And do you know where we put the suitcases?



*The title of this post is a VeggieTales song. When I threw the other one away, this song immediately came to mind and has been stuck in my head for days... Enjoy the video below, and I hope it sticks in your head too...

Sleepy Heads...

This sleepy head is 15 months old (today, actually!) and is now sleeping in a big boy bed...

We turned the top bunk of the boys' bunk beds upside down (so it nearly sits on the floor), and he had no problem snuggling in and falling fast asleep.

Yesterday morning, he slept late...until nearly 9 AM. Austin was at the kitchen table eating waffles, and Cade came toddling through the living room into the kitchen. It caught me by surprise, but man, that sweet surprise was just what I was needing...

This sleepy head had a bit of a rough night. Mommy and Daddy moved all his toys to the hallway and gated him in, hoping that sleep would come easier.

I'm guessing he didn't like his new empty room, because he declared his unhappiness quite loudly. He finally got quiet...Then I noticed this on the way to our bedroom...

When morning came, Austin called to me to open his gate and we snuggled with a book in our bed for a few minutes, then got up and started our day...

Mornin', y'all.

Love around our home

I find love around our home...


hanging on the wall;

evidence that four people grace this house every day.


piled in the corner,

begging to be read one more time before they're put back in the bin...


hiding behind the door;

understanding that there's more important things to do.


stacked in the cabinet;

diapers are a labor of love, might as well enjoy the labor...

fuzzi bunz are a thing i love and could not do without.


standing in the way;

ikea trains abandoned for the next in house adventure.


thrown on the floor;

a gentle, bittersweet reminder of routine and commitment: tomorrow will come.


looking out the window;

I breathe a little deeper as I drink my morning coffee, forcing me to carry on, nudging me to never forget how precious each moment is...

Wordless Wednesday

For more Worldless Wednesday posts, click over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Dove Body Wash.

I was sorting coupons tonight after the boys went to bed and thinking up a post about Eczema and Dove body wash.
Then I heard Austin still up and went to check on him...

The first time it happened, I had a sense of humor about it. I was actually thankful for the clean floors.
Tonight, it was half a bottle of Dove Body Wash- all over floor, the walls, and several toys.
Our honey colored floors were thickly coated in white soap. I gathered towels and wash cloths and a bowl of water to clean the floors up. It took four rinses to get most of it up and even now, the floors are still sticky and slippery in his room.

I'm frustrated.

He's told to stay in bed at bedtime.
He's told to leave the soap/shampoo alone.
He's told to stay out of the bathroom.
He's told to leave doors alone, don't touch them, don't open them.

He's told to do a lot of things. And he chooses to not listen to his momma and his daddy. He does what he wants and we've told him, "No." until we're blue in the face, we've spanked until I'm too tired to spank anymore.

I'm lost.

Before I cleaned up the floor, I made him sit in the corner of his room. I cleaned up his floor, and told him to get in bed. I spanked his hand and told him, "No. Don't play with soap. Don't get out of bed." He wailed.
Now, I can hear him playing with toys- out of bed.

Praying for listening ears and obeying hearts and minds this week.


Oh, and the eczema and Dove body wash post I was going to write? Here's the jist of it.
Don't use body washes geared towards kids. Swap to Dove. Your children's dry, winter skin will thank you, even if your children don't listen to you!

Where'd it go?

Today I finally got a new baby gate for the kitchen doorway. And when I went to install it, I realized our doorway is too wide... It's sitting in the closet now until we can get an extension...

My husband broke his wedding ring yesterday messing around with guys at work. I'm not kidding when I say that he split his tungsten ring in half. We replaced it today, with another tungsten ring.

We also dropped the cell phone in the parking lot at the mall today. We went back a few mintues later, only to realize that it had already been run over by someone's tires. We bought a new cell phone today...

In just a few short hours, we spent all our "extra" money for the rest of the month. There's enough money left over to finish our bills for the month, and to make a quick trip to the commissary.

The good news?
At least this month, I can tell you exactly where all our money went.

Need a button?

My friend, Ann, made my blog a button!
Want to grab it?
It's in my sidebar, or I'll make it easy and post it here too!




<center><a href="http://greenenoughforme.com"><img border="0" src="http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/ad23/greenenough4me/green1.jpg"/></a></center>

I'm snuggled under a blanket on the couch with a laptop and my Bible. It's supposed to be naptime, but Austin is playing quite LOUDLY in his room. It's a foggy, cold day here, and there's lots of snow on the ground...perfect day for catching up on my Bible in 90 Days reading!
Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Monkey & Monster

One's a monkey...

And the other one is a monster...

And together they're two peas in a pod!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Catching up...

It's Monday. Time to check in with Mom's Toolbox and see where all the Bible in 90 Days readers are!

Since we started moving last week, I've been slacking in my Bible reading. I will even admit that for the first few nights in our new apartment, I'd forgotten my Bible on the counter in the old one.
I'm stuck on Day 7, so I have a lot of catching up to do. My plan is to start my routine again today, and try to read at least half of the next day's chapters.

For those first 6 days, reading went smoothly and it was very easy to find an hour to sit down and read. I enjoyed it.
I'm ready to get back to that. I'm ready to find that time and that peace again.

I will finish this. It might not be exactly on time and I'm ok with that.
Hopefully, I can keep reading a little more every day and catch up with everyone in a few days.

The boys are still napping. I think I will take advantage of that and shut down the computer... Time to read...

I'm praying for encouragement and time management this week.

strawberry shampoo

When I became a parent, I quickly learned that you can't do everything all at once. You only have 2 hands and most of the time you need 7, and 3 more sets of eyes. Not to mention the 2 pairs of extra legs that would certainly come in handy. I love the days where things just fall into place and I can clean up throughout our day and finish laundry and keep the boys in their usual routine. I love the days where I don't have a thing to do in the few minutes before David gets home from work, so I dig for the matches and light a sweet smelling candle to greet him when he walks through the door. Those are awesome days.

But these days? Well, these days, I'm easily distracted. I'm busy packing boxes, throwing clothes into bags, slapping peanut butter on bagels, finding missing trains & Monkeys & pacys, and hauling everything but the kitchen sink out the front door to our new apartment.

Tonight, as I was busy chatting on the phone with a friend, I noticed a sweet smell filling our house. It smelled like strawberries and reminded me so much of those days just a few weeks ago when life was a little less full of boxes, muddy floors, and hallways that echo.
Then I heard the giggles. Austin found his shampoo in the bathroom cabinet...and decided to take advantage of his distracted Mommy...

Austin was just giving me the push I needed to return to those days. My floors are squeaky clean. My children are clean. And my house smells like I've been burning strawberry candles all day long.

Life is good.

Still moving...

Today went well. I've gotten most of the house packed. A few things left out on the counters and we've not yet ventured into our bedroom, which was essentially a storage room too.
I'm taking a break from moving tonight to prep for Gumbo.
David has some buddies helping move some things, and so it's my job to feed them.
Gumbo is fairly easy and makes a lot... it's just kind of time consuming to make, so I always start a day ahead.
I am thrilled that we have phone and internet so soon. David went down there today and they swapped our plan. It gave us immediate access to the internet and phone, whereas the other would have given a 10-14 day waiting period. And now we'll pay a flat monthly rate, and we won't be charged per minute to call the states now. Yay!

The end is not in sight yet, but we're getting there. Tomorrow will be a big help.

I'll leave you with the oddest thing I said today...
"Get your feet out of the potty!"


Uh huh.
I promise, I said that. To Austin.
Don't worry, I have more stories. Some with pictures.
Just give me a few days to locate the camera card their on.
Oh, and RAMMER JAMMER, YELLOW HAMMER! Roll Tide Roll!!

Moving Out & Hanging Out

Who's to say
What's impossible?
Well, they forgot
This world keeps spinning.
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything.
And as the surface breaks, reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same.
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There's no stoppin' curiosity...

Who's to say
I can't do everything?
Well, I can try.
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem.

~Jack Johnson, Upside Down (Curious George soundtrack)

Oh, this moving stuff is hard.
I updated Twitter and Facebook the other night with this string of words...

"Thrilled. Thankful. Stressed. Excited. Hopeful. Worried. Confused. Thankful. Tired. Full. Empty. Panicky. Confident. Crazy. Scattered. Loved."

And the next morning, I updated with this after my husband and I argued, and I was seriously considering moving back into the old apartment...

"This move is NOT worth this; it shouldn't be this hard. Completey frustrated...."

My mind races when I lay down in bed at night. Moving has taken me back to the days of deployment when there's a million and one things to do, and not enough hands or hours to do them.

But now it's different. I'm not alone.
My husband is home. When my mind is refusing to let me fall asleep, he snuggles up close and snores in my ear...
And that is such a comfort in all this stress.

We slept our first night in the new apartment last night.
I'm getting used to climbing up four flights of stairs.
The view from the fourth floor is amazing...especially in the morning, and with coffee!
I love having our own washer and dryer.
I love having 3 bedrooms.

The pre-inspection went well this morning. I was told we could clean the apartment * and professionally repaint the walls ourselves, or that we could pay $150 to have the contractors repaint the apartment [and then because contractors were in the apartment, they would be responsible for cleaning]... We're going over our budget to find $150 tonight. I think that's totally worth it.
Now that my mind is no longer worried about having to paint and clean, I'll gladly cross those few things off my list and move on... or out, in this case.
*That's the Household6Diva's Clearing Government Housing list. The government has very strict cleaning standards.

We're hanging out at the old apartment today. Cade is sleeping in his crib (the pack n play is at the new one). Austin passed out on the couch about 6 minutes into Curious George. David is at work. And I'm sipping a Vanilla Latte and blogging.... because I don't have anything better to do right now.....

Finally, 3 bedrooms....

This apartment is the first home David and I have had together.
When we first moved in, the cabinets were bare, the drawers were empty, and we didn't have enough clothes to fill the closets.
In the two years and a few months we've lived here, we've filled this apartment with more than it can hold. The drawers are stuffed with junk. The cabinets and closets have overflowed into plastic bins.
When Cade came into the world 14 months ago and David was deployed, this 2 bedroom apartment seemed to work. Once David came home and we all settled in, this apartment seemed small and cramped.

It's been months since we first started the process to move into a 3 bedroom apartment: months of people not wanting to do their job, months of trying to process paperwork, months of being told there wasn't a 3 bedroom apartment open, months of trying really hard to be patient and content with what did have.

Yesterday afternoon, I recieved a phone call from our military housing office. The lady with a thick German accent on the other end of the phone told me that we could pick up the keys to our 3 bedroom apartment tomorrow morning.
I cannot tell you how excited I am for everybody in this household to have a little more space to call their own. Cade's crib will no longer be in Mommy and Daddy's room. Mommy will be able to fold clothes on her bed during naptime because there won't be a little one sleeping in there. Austin will have his own space. If he wants to play in his room all by himself, he can. This new apartment also has a washer and dryer in it. That's a luxury here in Germany, as most of the buildings on post have community laundry rooms in the basement.

We're calling tomorrow to shut off our internet and phone to have it switched to the new apartment. It will be a week or two before we'll have internet and phone again.
I have yet to pack a single box. I do not know what I will do about childcare for the boys. I do not know how we will get all our furniture up several flights of stairs.
I just know that it will get done. Our final inspection on the old apartment will be Jan. 25 so we have plenty of time.
And that I cannot wait for the first night in our new apartment...

If you have a second, say a prayer for us this week.
I am caught up to Day #5 with my Bible in 90 Days reading. I will continue to keep up as much as possible.
I will be breaking my "no coke in the house during the week" rule, but with good reason...

We're moving.
See you soon.

I hope y'all have an amazing first week of the New Year!

14 meals from my pantry...

This will be my first attempt at menu planning. With all the #pantry buzz on Twitter and many people planning to eat from their pantry during the month of January, I've kind of been inspired to plan our meals with what we have. We'll hopefully be moving this week/weekend to a bigger apartment across the street so I'd love to have near empty cabinets! One less thing to move...
(Side Note: I'm a little stressed about moving. Simply because there could or could not be an apartment available on Wednesday. Don't even ask me if I've started packing...)
My husband is a picky eater, as well as Austin. Our meals are normally basic anyway, but these are really basic.
I went to the store last week and spent $75 on everything from food to toilet paper. So this probably isn't a true "eat from the pantry" plan but it is what's in our pantry!

chicken & pasta casserole
roast, carrots, & potatoes
hamburger steak, butter beans, (homemade but frozen) mac and cheese
panfried chicken, fried okra, corn on the cob
hamburgers x 2 nights-
---w/ baked fries & peas
---w/ broccoli
fish tacos (with homemade tortillas)
pinto beans and rice
beef and bean burritos (homemade refried beans)
talerina
chicken parmesan, green beans (noodles if I use Ramen noodles...)
eggs, hash browns, bacon (maybe homemade biscuits)
swedish meatballs
Spaghetti (Should I use the Ramen noodles I have? or buy noodles?)

With those 14 meals, I still have 2 lbs of ground beef, a frozen sweet potato casserole, a handful of canned veggies/soups and 2 bags of dried pinto beans. I could make several more meals from what I still have on hand.
For lunch, I have 2 boxes of mac and cheese (I'll probably throw in some peas.), spinach and cheese quesadillas, PB&J, carrots, and whatever fruit looks good.
My grocery list has 4 items on it so far: hamburger buns, rice, cheese, baby carrots, fruit, and egg noodles.


I think this is a good start for me and menu planning. My hopes are that we eat the meals listed, including leftovers and that we don't eat out until after these meals are gone... It'll be our reward for eating what we have on hand. I feel like the meals are easy enough that if we are able to move, I'll still be able to cook.

Let's see if I really stick to this.

Are you ready to eat out of your pantry for the month of January? Want to see what everybody else has planned?
Click over to Life as Mom to see everybody's progress with the challenge so far and add your own.

$10 and Reading...

10 dollars will buy you a little piece of "property" on the world wide web...
Green Enough For Me can now be found at
http://www.greenenoughforme.com!
It kinda makes me smile. Best 10 dollars I've spent in a while...

(http://www.green-enough.blogspot.com will still direct to my blog, but greenenoughforme.com is way cooler!!)


And if you're reading your Bible in 90 days, this is me keeping you accountable for Day #2!!
I've been surprised at how easy it is to find the time and that after I've read the days selection, I've wanted to keep reading.


Hope you're having a wonderful day!!

New Year, New Goals.

This is my 100th post! How exciting for my New Year's post to be my 100th!!


The year 2009 brought David home from Iraq. We were able to spend the entire month of June in the U.S. of A. Cade stuck his toes in Alabama red clay for the first time.
The year 2009 gave us time together as a family of four. It's been the longest span of time we've had together since the day David and I met four years ago.
Speaking of the day we met, David and I met on December 31, 2005. On January 1, 2006, I stood in an airport with his family and said our first goodbye. I had no. clue. how goodbyes and hellos the future would hold for us.
It's been an amazing journey, and I am so excited to start this new year with him by my side.

In 2010,
I will read through the entire Bible in 90 days. Today was day 1 and I was surprised at how easy it was to make the time to read the first sixteen chapters of Genesis. I am looking forward to the next 90 days.
I will continue daily quiet time for Bible reading and/or devotions, once the 90 day program is up.
I will get up [most] every morning before the boys. I will shower. I will put real clothes on every morning... no more wearing PJs all day, unless we're sick or declare a special day a PJ day.
I will lose weight. I don't know how much... I'm not a fan of numbers. But I do have several pairs of favorite jeans that don't fit right now. I would like for them to fit.
I will eat healthy. This will involve not buying junk food. I think we will have 2 nights a month where we make a good dessert. But other than that, I am just going to cut out all the sugary, full of fat stuff.
I will exercise at least 4 times a week. I'm not sure how or when... Perhaps I'll start getting up early to run. Or maybe we'll start taking walks with the stroller. I have a DVD for exercising while your children play- I might need to dust that one off.
I will abide by the Coca-Cola Rule. It will be enforced or I'll have to just give Cokes up all together. On the weekends, I will limit my Cokes to no more than three.
I will learn more about Blogging.
I will teach myself a little more about HTML.
I will find a main blog design I really like, and leave it that way for more than a few months! Working on this now! Still need to work on my side bar!
I will comment on Blogs with more meaningful comments.
I will learn to be a patient mother. I want to discipline my children with love, instead of impatience and frustration.
I will be more motivated in our household. I want to always be prepared with a welcoming, clean, and organized home.
I will learn to use coupons.
I will plan our meals a little better, in hopes of saving a little time and money.
I will make a weekly schedule. I want to include pre-school activities for Austin and crafts for both of the boys. I want our days to be purposeful, and not just full of free-play.
I will learn to be a better wife. I want to learn to communicate better with my husband. I want to find a little independance again; I am just as capable of taking the trash out as he is... [Training and deployment will come at some point, I need to be ready....]
I will let my bangs grow out, and will never cut them again. I will leave my hair long, and will cut some layers in it. I will do it because I like it, and I will not give in to "needing a change." I never like the change when I cut my hair.


I'm sure I could continue on, but that's where I'll leave it for now.
I look forward to sharing this new year with each of you!
Happy Twenty-Ten!