5th day in a row

It has been raining basically non-stop for 5 days now. It's incredible. I love it. We have not been doing anything but lots of snuggling and movie watching. I can't believe T.J. leaves in 10 days. It seems like we are really not doing anything because we just want to spend every single second together.
If anyone doesn't believe that God flooded the earth after 40 days of rain, you should come to Florida and see how much rain there is after 5 days. The kids are starting to go a little stir-crazy. I finally let Brena out yesterday, and what does she do? She jumps in the lake, yep she jumped in. Crazy girl.

12 years!

Happy Anniversary honey! 12 years ago today I was barely 19 and T.J. was 18. We were married on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I can't believe how much I love this guy. I can't believe how much we have been through together. I can't believe the things we have coming up to go through together, but not together (does that make sense?), but I know we will be able to handle it. T.J. will be missing Thanksgiving (probably), Christmas, all birthdays and our 13-year anniversary. Because of the change of plans that have happened in the last few weeks, I have to take a rain check on our trip and I'm trying to be ok with that. But, I'll really be looking forward to it next year! After a year apart, we will really deserve it!!

Wicked

Last night T.J. took me to Wicked. I am so happy that T.J. enjoys going to these plays with me. If you don't know what it is - it's the Broadway musical of what happened in Oz before Dorothy dropped in. It's a story about Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda/Glinda (the good witch). It was SO good. I love going to musicals and we have seen a few. We saw Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, and The Phantom of the Opera all in San Diego. This ranks up there with the all of them. It had some really funny parts too. My favorite part was the ending, but I can't tell you what it is, I don't want to spoil anything for you!

I love the logo for the play.

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week has been crazy. I am the room Mom for Tyler's class and it was Teacher Appreciation week with something going on every day. I finally finished the teacher's quilt and today we gave her the gifts today. I really liked this quilt. I wanted to keep it, but that's how I feel about all my quilts. It measures 70x53. I am a bad quilter - I never named this one.

Sad Day

It's so hard to say good-bye. I think I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. I thought that because I was not moving, no one else should either. I will miss you Kendra! I will always be indebted to you for all you taught me! Good luck in all you do.

Not the best picture of us - but hey, it was early in the morning and you had just gone to bed when I came ringing your door bell! I hope you get to catch up on some sleep.

Belle Dress

I don't know how I am so blessed with such an awesome family. My sweet mother-in-law heard that Brena has been whining for a Belle dress. She has all the other Disney princess dresses - except Belle. So Carol made Brena a Belle dress! It is gorgeous! Needless to say - Brena was in HEAVEN when she opened the package. And Carol didn't want Tyler to feel left out, so she stuck in a toy for Tyler - how sweet is that? Thanks Grandma!!

Hurry Tyler and open it - what's in the package??

Patiently waiting for Daddy to cut the tape.

Green quilt

I haven't been able to sleep well in a week. I am so tired, but the good news is I finished the quilt top for Tyler's teacher. It doesn't have a name yet, poor baby.

Yes, things changed. TJ will be going to Maine and I will go visit with the kids, but we will not be moving to Maine. I was dead set that I was moving to Maine in June and back here next May. But the more we thought about it, we (I - because TJ already knew this) decided it was best for the kids and I to just stay put. I think I mentioned that the base in Maine is being closed down, and the squadrons are all getting moved down here to J'ville. So after TJ's deployment, he will come back here. I have the best church family here, they are awesome and a huge support to me and I didn't want to leave that. Tyler will stay at the same school. I didn't ever want to settle down this early. I wanted to move every 3 or so years. But I guess the economy changed that plan. They shouldn't advertise "Join the NAVY and see the world" anymore!

Foil lining

I don't think there is any silver lining in having your husband gone from you for a year. So I'll call this a foil lining. I have been digging in my heels on this, I still am not 100% sure I wanted to do this, but T.J. was 110% sure and kept wooing me with granite counter tops, wood flooring, 4.5% interest rate, etc. So I took the plunge and did it. The building on our house will begin next month and we will close on it on July 26! I will be doing all the closing by myself. I don't even know when T.J. will see the house. I hope he likes the colors I choose :)




We will have no houses behind us. We are at the very end of the cul-de-sac. I don't think you could ask for more. And oh yeah, it's our first home so we get that $8,000 next year on our taxes. That swayed me a little too. And T.J. talked the NAVY into coming and packing us up and moving us too, which is a huge relief. I'll post more pictures as the house goes up.

Thanks

Thanks guys for all the nice thoughts. I am still very sad, mad, crying, upset... Still wondering why this happened to us, and wondering where that "silver lining" is. It seems like things are getting worse than I originally thought. I don't know what in the world is going on with our lives, but once everything is figured out, I'll let you know.

I usually get what I want....

I have to say that in my 31 years of life, I have always gotten what I wanted. I know that might sound...umm...spoiled. But it's true. I am not used to not getting what I want. So, for the first time in my life I am not getting what I want and I am really, mad, or sad, or upset - not sure the right word for it. So two weeks ago we were told we were moving to Hawaii. I am sure y'all know how excited we all were. This morning we were told that because Obama cut 10 billion from the military, they are not sending families to Hawaii as of now. So we are now moving to Maine on June 2 or something like that. Yes, Maine. Then we will be moving back down to Jacksonville in a year from now...does that make any sense??? How in the heck does that save them any money? And TJ will be leaving for deployment (6 months) in November this year. So TJ's poor single (but engaged) classmate who wanted to go to Maine is now going to HI in our place. I guess things can change again, but it's not likely. At least I can be cold...

Church egg hunt

We went to the church egg hunt this morning. We had a yummy pot luck brunch too. The kids had a blast on the jumpies and finding lots of eggs. We are really going to miss our Jacksonville church family!

Easter

The Easter Bunny came last night. Our Easter Bunny comes on Friday night before Easter because that's how I was raised and I have continued that tradition on to my kids. We don't want them to be thinking about candy and the Easter Bunny on Sunday morning. We want them focused on the real reason we celebrate Easter. We have talked about this a lot this past week and now Brena is saying in her prayers at night "bless Jesus to not be resurrected again." Or she will just bless Jesus to get better. It's funny what kids think in their little heads.

The Easter Bunny hides the kids' baskets, so they have to go searching for them. Tyler's was too easy to find and Brena needed lots of help. I hope everyone has a blessed Easter.

$50 Weekly Menu

I am back on track after the trip last week and some crazy days the week before that. It feels good to be back on schedule and to be getting lots of stuff for free! Total spent this week $49.94.
Commissary trip: $32.45 total saved $12.50 - 29% savings - this is extremely good for the commissary because everything is already so cheap there.

Publix: $17.49 - total saved $47.19! - 73% savings

Here's what I got:
Commissary:
2 lbs brown sugar
jolly time micro popcorn - free + .41cents in overage
graham cracker crumbs
glucerna cereal - free + $1.50 overage
m&m's
sunflower seeds
pace salsa - free + $1.68 overage
18 eggs
2lbs margarine
Kraft provolone cheese
yoplait kids yogurt 6 pack
(2) 16 oz tubs whipped topping
hash browns
bacon
italian sausage
2 lbs broccoli
2 lbs strawberries
onions
cucumber
green onions
2.2 lbs grapes
Publix:
2 boxes duncan hines brownies
4 boxes duncan hines cake mixes
2 lbs Land O' Lakes butter
4 boxes wheat thins artisan crackers - free
2 kraft salad dressings - free
3 bricks of philly cream cheese
2 tubs spreadable philly cream cheese
2 vanilla instant puddings
5 lbs sugar
5 lbs flour
2 packs halls cough drops - free
(3) 16 oz tubs sour cream
What we ate (not too exciting this week):
Sunday: we were travelling
Monday: Taco Salad
Tuesday: Potato soup
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Chinese Lemon Chicken
Friday: Out to eat
Saturday: Date night - kids eating pizza

Potato soup

I have a few potato soup recipes that I really like. But, I think this one might be my favorite. I got this from my mother-in-law, it's something T.J. grew up eating. The kids gobbled it down too.

Potato Soup:
6 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
2 leeks, washed and cut into bite-size pieces - didn't have any, so didn't use any
5 cups water
2 onions, chopped
pepper
1 carrot, pared and sliced
1 tablespoon salt
4 bouillon cubes - used chicken kind
1/3 cup butter
(1) 13 oz. can evaporate milk
chopped chives - didn't have any so didn't use any
sausage (optional) I prefer it without - so the first night we ate it we didn't have sausage in it. The second night we ate it we put some sausage in it.
Put all ingredients except evaporated milk and chives in Crockpot. Cover and cook on low 10 to 12 hours. (High:3-4 hours.) If desired, mash potatoes with mashed before serving. Serve topped with chopped chives.
You can also cook this on top of the stove. You'll need more water-just see how much when you add the veggies.

Virginia trip

Tyler was on Spring Break last week. A good friend of ours who we have known for 10 years now lives up in Virginia. I took the kids up to visit, T.J. couldn't go. It's a 10-hour drive through 5 states, but the kids did great. I was a little worried they would be screaming and fighting. It was a wonderful trip. We saw some sites around Virginia Beach. Then on Saturday we went up to Yorktown and were planning on going to Jamestown as well, but we ran out of time. I wanted to go to Williamsburg too - I guess we need to go back! So we just spent the day in Yorktown. We took the kids to the Yorktown Battlefield where they loved running up and down the hills, or rolling down the hills. I thought Brena was going to break her neck one time. It was a beautiful day. They had a really fun museum we went to where the kids got to see some cannons being fired off and a real farm from back in that time period. The kids really enjoyed helping the lady with her garden. Thanks Andrea for a wonderful trip!