Happy Birthday to me!

I turned 34 today - good grief!  I can hardly believe I'm that old :)  TJ sent me these delicious treats - but he told me that he had ordered them and I needed to go pick them up - haha!  Then as I was leaving the store the cashier told me "Ma'am - your husband said I'd know when you walked in to pick these up because your tall and gorgeous"  Awww, he's so sweet!

  I have an awesome church family that loves me too!  They threw me a birthday party and it was fun to be with friends that night.

 The kids played lots of Wii and Brena was super happy about something!

Birthday Dinner

The kids and I went down to The Landing to get some dinner for my birthday.  We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant right on the water.  It was a perfect January night in Jacksonville!

 There was a group of people doing jump ropes, so Brena being the socialite she is walked right over and asked if she could join in.  She jumped for a long time.  I tried it, but uh - things aren't the same as they used to be when I jump!

Deployment #4 blues, ugh

It's late on a Friday night.  I just held a little girl who cried for almost an hour because she misses her daddy.  Man, I miss him too.  I wish I could just cry like that and have someone hold me.  Instead, I just get to cry by myself.  We are not even 2 months into this deployment yet...we're close to the two month mark, but we're not there yet.  It doesn't make sense to say that it's gone fast, but it has.  But, in the same thought, it seems to have been going so slow.  I hate all the things that come up that I really, really need Tj around for.  I do however have a very strong testimony of home teachers.  I've had to call him more than once.  This last time was on Sunday.  My kitchen faucet all of a sudden decided it didn't want to turn off when I would push the handle down.  So, I had water gushing out the faucet.  He came over right away.  He said he didn't know how to fix a faucet - or figure out what was wrong with it, but he would try.  I prayed and prayed he could fix it.  45 minutes later - he fixed it completely.  To say I was grateful would be an understatement. 

The worst thing by far has been a few weeks ago when I was rear-ended at a stop sign.  It was a miserable experience that I do not care to remember.  I'm still having neck pain 2 weeks later from that.  I wanted to call my husband so bad when that happened, but I couldn't.  It happened on a Saturday and I wasn't even able to get a hold of him to tell him about it until the following Monday.  I hate that.  I hate that I can't just call him when I need to, or want to.  I just want a neck rub from him, that would be wonderful.

I don't want to think about what can happen in the next 4+ months...

Pinewood Derby

 Tyler had his first ever Pinewood Derby!  We were so excited to see how his car did.  I know he wanted it to do well, but he just sat in the background waiting to see what would happen while all the other boys couldn't help but crowd around the track.

 Setting up the cars

 Tyler's car was coming in first every single time.  It was not even close how much his car was beating the others!

 Then on one of the last races something happened and a scout leader leaned down to pick Tyler's car up from the track as it was still racing - missed it, but knocked the wheel and the car went flying off the track.  When they would try to race it after that, it couldn't even keep up with the other cars.  All the dads realized something was very wrong.  They looked it over and the wheel got cracked.  I was so upset and when I finally told TJ what had happened I was surprised at how upset he was - almost like I shouldn't have told him what happened he was so upset. 

 They ended up giving him 2nd place over all which was nice.  But, poor Tyler was upset he didn't win - which he should have!

Green Smoothie!

Since Tj has left, I have changed the way we eat around here.  I don't know why, but I'm starting to be really turned off by meat.  I don't want to be a vegetarian, but I'm just not liking meat much.  We have been eating a lot of quinoa - which I LOVE - the kids are still getting used to it.  We also drink A LOT of green smoothies.  Brena loves them, Tyler's still getting used to them.  Who knows what will happen when Tj gets home, I know he will turn his nose up to a lot of the stuff we eat!  Here is our favorite green smoothie recipe:
Throw in blender:
1 cup almond milk (we like vanilla)
1 frozen banana
1 TBS chia seeds
1/2 - 1 TBS almond butter
2 handfuls organic spinach leaves
Blend until creamy!  I will sometimes add a few ice cubes to make it thicker.  Also, for beginners you might need to add a touch of agave nectar or honey for just a touch of sweetness!  So healthy and good for you!

Pinewood Derby Car...part 1

Before TJ left on deployment he worked really hard getting Tyler's car ready for the pinwood derby, so I wouldn't have to worry about it!  I was really grateful he did that.  The only thing he didn't get done was the painting and the wheels.  So, we took that baby to Colorado and turned that job over to papa :)

Papa also took the time to help Tyler pass off some of his other stuff in his scout handbook.  They made a beautiful bird house.  It didn't fit in the suitcase, so we had to leave it in Colorado.

 I know Tyler had lots of fun working with papa!

 The finished product.  Thanks papa!