So very true...

I have always loved the saying, friends come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. I have found in my own life this is very true. Over the last 10 years especially living the life of a military wife and moving a lot it has really become apparent to me. I have to say I noticed it even in college. But, I love reading this and knowing that even if friendships fade or disapear, it is okay, there is a reason. It helps me not to get down on myself and to be frustrated. My mom had sent me a copy of this and I am glad she did so I can now pass it on....

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person..

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.

They may seem like a godsend and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.

They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

I decked the halls!

Here are some photos of our house after the decorating transformation...I had a lot of fun going through my boxes of stuff and was shocked at some of the goodies I had acquired over the years and forgot about...the two trees on the hall table....totally forgot I found those last year on clearance in the Lancaster target when I got home from NC. Yeah! I was able to also throw out some things I had bought when we didn't get to to decorate and tried to make the house festive by shopping at the Edwards BX. All in all I am loving having my house decorated and my things in use for one year! My goal for after Christmas shopping this year is to focus on teacher gifts for next year, wrapping items and a new taller (pre-lit requested by Brandon) tree for the living room. Maybe I can score one half off! Just wanted to share my photos!

Big tree in living room...

Little tree upstairs in kids bonus room
Stockings! We don't have a fireplace, so this was the next best spot!
Erin was loving the tree last night before bed....
Oh I love that face...she around the whole train and checked out each ornament with such interest.
My ice cube snowman....I love him!
Front door with my new tree I just got at Target and awesome wreath my mom made me!
Me and my tree!
The dining room...
Entrance way...

Getting things done...

Today we plan to decorate! This will be the first time in 10 years of marriage that we will be home for Christmas. Every other year we have travelled to someone's house. One time when we lived in Abilene I worked on Christmas and the next day we flew home...we have only put a tree up twice...so this is a big deal and I am actually super excited. I am excited to see all my things out and enjoy them for once. I am also super excited to have Christmas at home also because of the children....what fun ages??? I am beyond thrilled to share this time with them. They are at wonderful ages. I am so excited about the things I have gotten them for Christmas too...what fun!!!

We are also heading off to church today...Zachary asked first thing this AM to go. So glad he is finally enjoying it and we can do this as a family. I like the new church we are going to and feel like this is a good fit for us.

I am busy with more ebaying of things I saved up for this time of year to put on auction...love ebay! :)

I finished a great book this morning I was reading for my book club, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Loved it...check out the link below if you are interested. I highly recommend it!

http://kathrynstockett.com/book/

I head to book club Monday night...it is through the play group I have joined here and hopefully will be good. Hosting play group here Wednesday morning...hoping Erin has fun with it. We haven't been able to go to a ton of the events with our schedule conflicting with their event times....hoping we can do better now.

Zach is going in for his hearing test Tuesday AM, so hopefully that will go well and we can follow up with the ENT and get things done for this poor child. I am so tired of him being sick....not for me, but for him. He is doing really well in so many areas right now and I hate to see the set backs occur with missing school and his activities. He is really doing well right now and I am thrilled to see my little boy learning, growing and thriving.

I got my Christmas cards ordered last night and now I have to write my letter...I still need to do a ton of scrapbooking, but I am making progress. I hope to get into a groove with that with the new year.

I am working on my new year resolution list too...need to make some changes and goals for the new year!!!

So...I am off to church and then decorating!!!

Thanksgiving!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving...I have so much to be thankful for and I am truly blessed! We had a great trip to Arizona...always wonderful to spend time out there and to get to see my mom and dad. I love the Arizona desert and miss it a lot.

We got there with a sick Zach...he had another ear infection on Friday...did great though on the flight and was in a great mood...up at 5 AM ready to go Saturday to see his grandparents. :) Erin arrived and had a good first day, but then woke up Sunday sick...she continued down hill and by Monday we had to postpone our trip to Tucson. I didn't want to get my friend or her daughter sick and didn't think Erin was up to the trip. We headed down Tuesday and had a great time, despite Erin being less than her usual happy self. We went to the Zoo, the campus and had dinner with Kelly, Dave and Leeah. I love getting to see my friend and to be in Tucson. What a great treat for me!

Miss Erin didn't really come back to being herself until yesterday, so it was hard to do a lot with her...but we had fun, a great Thanksgiving meal and just enjoyed my parents. I wanted to post some photos on here too...here you go!

Miller's Law

Murphey's Law should be renamed...Miller's Law. It never fails. We were all excited and ready for our big trip...Zach woke up screaming at 10:40 last night...mind you he does cry out in sleep often...usually it is nothing more than a vivid dream and he is actually still asleep. Last night we went up because he was screaming...we tried to get him to talk to us and he was making no sense. I finally got Brandon to leave the room and woke Zach up...after 35 minutes of trying to get him to tell me what was wrong he said it was his ear. UGH! We were just at the ENT last week. Poor child is right back to how we were when he was about 12 months old...started getting ear infections every few weeks...clear up, right back. He was upset and I brought him down to my room to sleep with me. He was very restless all night and woke up still in pain and with a fever. We got him in to the clinic...amazing and a blessing. He had a bad infection in his right ear...always the right ear it seems. Erin got checked to, just to be safe. She hates the doctor and was so upset she threw up on me, herself and the doctor. Really? I didn't need that. Got Zach on his medicine and taking Motrin...hoping that he will feel well tomorrow for the flight. I am scared to take him, but told by the doctor he would be okay...fingers crossed prayers said.

So....we are off unless anything else, knocking on wood, occurs. Prayers and best wishes welcome.

Surprise...

Well we have been secretly trying to make a Thanksgiving trip come together and work out for us and it finally has...The kids are out of school all week around here and we were not sure what to do....had some ideas, but so many friends will be out of town...I had such bad luck last year with the whole almost slicing my thumb off and cooking dinner that I never really got to eat...So we worked on another idea and it is all worked out now...leave approved for Brandon...someone to watch the house, mail, dog (thank you Bryan)...transportation...airline tickets at a good price...and getting to see the people we want...sadly I think we shocked them a bit, hopefully made them excited too...

We are taking an impromptu trip to Arizona. We will get to see my parents, but also get to do some other things...visit my best friend from college, Kelly and her husband and daughter (Leeah is 2 weeks younger than Erin and I think they will have a blast together). We are actually going to stay with Kelly in Tucson, so that will be so much fun! See friends and people of interest to Brandon too of course...but selfishly I am super excited to see my friend. :) I am hoping to get to Sedona too, but we will have to see how things play out.

My mom and dad both haven't felt well as of late. I won't go into details, but they have had a rough fall for sure. I was sad to think of them spending Thanksgiving and Christmas alone in a condo in Scottsdale. No matter how many times I invited them here they said no and they were fine there. But I really wanted to see them and have some time with them, even if it is quick, last minute and possibly not perfect planning. I hope they are happy we are "dropping in" and that the visit is a good one for everyone. I love Arizona and I am always happy to go back and especially to have some time in Tucson...it is like a big comfortable leather chair...just always fits and feels right.

So that is my news...Sometimes you have to grab life by the reins and have some fun, do something you want and even unexpected...I am learning to live in the moment more and this is a big step in that direction.

Busy Day!

Today is a busy, busy day for me...I am taking Erin to school, then off to volunteer at Zach's school at the book fair for 2 hours, eat lunch with him, run 2 quick errands and then pick up Erin from school...try to get her to nap, pick up Zach, drive to New Braunfels for speech and OT and then back home to make and eat dinner. Pizza tonight? :) Than I have a date with the little one to go back to school for literacy night at his school, check out the book fair and get some good books...should be fun.

I feel like the next few days are all like this around here. Craziness. Thursday is pretty much the same way, back to back commitments all day long and speech/OT at the end.

I have a very long to do list still and it feels like none of it is getting done right now. I need to get my butt in gear and just carve out some time to get things done!!!! I have Christmas presents to wrap and hide...scrapbooking that needs to get done because I am so very behind. Stuff to put on ebay, take to good will and to the thrift store...

I am off to get dressed and get Erin ready...I will have to get to my list later....

Hoping for a good day with Zach and that Erin enjoys school today.

Another weekend in the books...

This weekend was good. We should have had a date Friday, but the new sitter we had highly recommended to us, came down with the flu. Worked out since Erin had been sick all week with a stomach bug, low grade fever, coughing and a yeast infection. Wasn't a fun week for miss Erin, but as always she smiles and laughs the majority of the day and is a snuggle sweet baby. :)

I went on a fun shopping trip with my new friend Kristine on Saturday. She is new in town also...her husband just retired from the Army...she has 2 kids, 6 and 4, both boys. And best of all, she is fun!!! She and I get along really well and she is just very down to earth. So glad we met...we had a fun day shopping at the San Marcos outlets. My dear Kiel gave me my 30% off at All Gap stores...yeah!!! It was super fun to shop with someone! did I mention that they have a Kate Spade outlet there. Last trip I went to Coach, but didn't know they had Kate...ah Kate....what a fun, fun store!

We had a fun day gabbing, shopping and then stopped for lunch. All in all a fun day. Brandon then went and played poker with friends that night and won some money to offset my outlet damage! He had fun too and arrived late...I had a slumber party with Zach since I was alone.

We headed back to church today....went well for the first 40 minutes, then Zach started to be a turkey. He continued that trend today and it wasn't a great day for us or for him...oh well. I guess we all have bad days, but it is frustrating none the less.

I headed out to Walmart tonight, alone. I hate going with my kids to Walmart, much less going at all. Not my favorite store, but open late and has most of what I need in one spot...still blah! People there are so bizarre too...oh the things I saw.

Busy week...volunteering at Zach's school a few days for the book fair...planing to take him one night...trying to tie up loose ends for the Thanksgiving break...and getting household things done...Brandon did some honey do items today, which was nice!!!

Trying to get my scrap booking caught up...I am over a year behind on both kids books. I did 10 pages on Zach's book the other day while I was home with a sick Erin. So progress is being made. Finished the Nicholas Sparks book, Last Song...as always he writes a good book. Starting the Help for a book club next...hear it is good. Lots and lots on my to do list right now...

Veteran's Day...

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them...May we take the time to remember and honor all of the veterans who have served our country and given so much.

Today it is nice to have my family home around me and to enjoy us all being a family. Erin came down to our room around 7:30 (well Brandon went and got her after we heard her upstairs). Zachary joined us about 15 minutes later...we were all snuggled in the bed with Sally at the bottom of the bed too. It was so nice to sit there with my children snuggled around me, my husband, my dog...all of us. It did not go unnoticed for long that we are so very blessed to share this moment together. I know that many families on this day don't have that and it made it a little bittersweet.

I am so thankful to be married to a man whose career has lead me to a life I would have never envisioned for myself. A life that has taught me so much. I have learned about sacrifice, bravery, being selfless, self sufficient and become a member of this amazing family that is the military. I don't think growing up I would have ever imagined this as my life or that I would actually have grown to love it. To me it is now very normal. I am so proud to be a small part of this amazing world.

Today I hope we all can take some time to think about the people that have put themselves in harms way for the safety of so many. The countless men and woman that have so bravely fought and defended our nation and our freedom. Many who have suffered so much to give us so much. My dad's father served in WW II when my dad was a small boy. My dad is a Vietnam veteran who served in the 82nd airborne. My husband has deployed during the war on terror 4 times. I am proud of these great men for their service and thankful they came home safely.

So today I plan to take the time to honor those who have given so much for our country and I also plan to just enjoy....all the wonderful things I have that their bravery has given me. To all of our country's great Veterans and the ones I personally love, Happy Veterans Day and THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you have done!

Weekend Windup...

We had a good weekend around here. We got some things done that needed to be done and had some fun too!

Saturday was Zach's last soccer game...we are ready to be done with it for a while. We did some shopping, mostly I did returning, but found a great shopping center that I will go back to for sure. Zach and I went to a birthday party for the boy down the street and met some nice people. Sunday we decided to do something we haven't done in a really long time. We went to church as a family. We had been talking it up with Zach forever in hopes we would get a good response from him and we would be able to get him to enjoy it, not just suffer through. Tried a Catholic Church by our house. Very nice and had a great separate children's room, not a cry room...a full up room with pews and kneelers, but separate...worked out really well for us with two little ones. Zach loved it and thanked us after..."Thanks for taking me to church, can we go again next weekend?" Okay that is what we wanted and it was worth the wait. :) Glad to be back in that groove and able to find a church close to the house that fits our families needs finally. Yeah!

We then had a nice night with an old friend. Brandon's best friend from college Bryan came over for dinner and hang out for a while. Bryan and Brandon were in ROTC at U of A and roommates...I actually was set up on my blind date with Bryan and that is how I met Brandon. years later when we were sent to Abilene we found Bryan and his wife Renee (also from U of A) would be there...Renee and I became great friends and we had the luck to live near them for about 3 years...we got spoiled though and have missed them a lot!!!! It was great to see Bryan and a bit bittersweet for me to not have Renee and her 3 beautiful kids here. I think our oldest boys who are about 7 months apart, would love each other and be great pals. Bryan will be around until March doing PIT training...next assignment instructor at Columbus. It will be great to see him more and hopefully we can talk Renee into a visit out here too and see her!

I had a great day today too....Took Sally to the vet for a complete check up and for her to get all her shots up to date...she is in excellent health I was told and that was great to hear. She is now nine and still looks and acts like a puppy most days. She is super sweet and really a huge part of our family and life...we got her the first year of marriage and she has been a wonderful companion to all of us. Sadly she has to go on senior food now...that made me sad for some reason...I guess reality of her age and I don't want to think about it.

After that I met up with my friend Kristine here who is great...she has 2 boys, 6 and 4....she brought the 4 year old to an art place i found a while back...we had Erin and Tommy do some art, got McDonalds and headed back to her house for some chatting and kid play...fun! We are planning a shopping trip this weekend I think...she is a lot of fun. Brandon and I are fingers crossed, going on a date Friday with a new sitter...should be fun and hopefully it will work out. :)

Here are photos from the weekend of the kids ready for church and Bryan hanging out...Erin enjoyed bringing him things...super funny. She actually chose those glasses on her own and wore them to church. Oh Erin!

Zach and his Children's Bible...he reads it all the time and took it to church to check the stories.

Erin ready for her outing....
Posing...
Erin in her ballerina outfit bringing Bryan tons of crap to hold...this was all night for poor Bryan...
The boys in conversation...