3 and 30!

As of February 9th I've entered a new era .... the 30's!   I feel as though I've made it to the next level of maturity! It's definitely an age I never though I'd reach!  It just seemed like everyone else that was 30 was so mature! I still feel so young... but I guess I do have three kids! Wow. Amazing. I'm finally here!

Our beautiful and darling Carley just turned 3 on February 10th. I am so blessed to have her in my life.
She's finally at the age where she's having little conversations with her dolls (especially her Jesse doll from Toy Story, thank you Dages family) and she loves to have her hair fixed and be pretty!  When she was between 1 and 2 I couldn't tell if she was going to be a girly girl.. or a tom boy. She can definitely have fun with the boys... but prefers to be pretty and play with girly things! :o)She loves to help clean, put away dishes and help cook.  Her new thing is also fixing Mommy's hair!   We are planning a day out to go shopping and maybe catch a movie together one day this week!

Daddy picked out these adorable pink and white Cowgirl boots. 

We will still be having a party next Satuerday, due to Stetson having swine flu we had to delay.


Colton had to be in every picture too :o) CUTENESS!

But at this point Carley was trying to push him out and smile at the same time... guess they thought it was funny. ......

Showing off her new boots.....

Finally ALL THREE..........           Colton (4) Carley (3) Stetson (17 mo.)

 our snow day in Texas.....

 

why DID you join the Army? My thoughts on deployment, army life and love!

 Our last goodbye.......

We are four months in, with four months left until R & R, and then four months left after that!   I miss him more than you can imagine.

I have to say, when I married my husband five years ago, I thought we would be together always. We didn't think any two people could be more in love than we were.  We spent every waking moment together.  If you lived near us at the time, you would have witnessed that. If Sean was in the woods cutting fire wood, I was with him- if he was building a fence or clearing property, I was there with him! When I was nine months pregnant, I was in the back of the truck helping him throw logs, just so we could talk (or not talk). We enjoyed being in each other’s presence, no matter what the circumstance.  Sean got a job working on bridges for about six months before we joined the Army.   I would take both kids with me to San Francisco to stay in some raunchy hotel.. just so we could be there when he got off work each night. There were weeks that I didn't go; however, and we hated it.   I never imagined we would be apart for this long, and especially, this far apart. Some may ask, “Why on earth did they decide to join the army with two children and one on the way, knowing that our country was at war and most soldiers have gone or will go to Iraq?”  Well, we ask ourselves the same question at times, but the second that thought creeps into my mind… I'm reminded.  We had been praying about where our life was heading and what the Lord wanted us to do. We knew that He had a bigger plan and that we needed to make a change. Yes, most would think we didn't have the best of living arrangements, but we can both truly say we were happy and loving life and wouldn't change the past.  We lived on a homestead and ran our home off a generator…. (another story).  We believe though our experiences and after much prayer, the Lord gave Sean wisdom in this decision.  My heart followed in agreement because it was His Will. We were able to sell everything we owned, including our horses, our home, horse trailer, vehicle, and everything we didn't need, just in the nick of time.  Our double wide home was trucking down the road three days before Sean left for basic training.  Well, here I am in Texas at an army base-  the girl who once thought men in war movies were crazy for leaving their women, is now in the middle of the biggest state in the U.S. while her husband fights the war in Iraq for our freedom.  He is half a world away and I am 1800 miles from family. I can tell you this... that my husband misses and wishes he could be with his family as much as anyone.  He did one of the most amazing and selfless things a man can do... he trusted God and put HIM first.. he didn't do this to be macho.. or because he wanted to go fight and shoot guns ... he simply followed God's plan to provide for his family and serve his country at the same time, and he's also trusted God to take care of his wife and children.   I already know that God is using him in more ways than we even know right now.  He's never been one that liked to be in rough crowds... around profanity, etc. He never drank, never smoked, never cursed..he is a living testimony and example of Christ's love. No, he's not perfect...none of us are.... but I will say he loves Jesus and loves his family more than anything!  And do you know that of all the people we talk to in the military they say "the army WILL change him" ? (hmm... they must not know Sean) and to this day.. he still does none of the above! He is the same today as he was 18 months ago. You may be thinking, “Oh just wait... he still has eight months left”.  But the same God that got him where he is, will get him home.   I still love and miss my husband as much today as I did the day he left.  I never doubt why God has our family in this situation.  Each passing day, the Lord  continues to grow our love for each other and for Him.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  He's given me an unexplainable amount of peace! I used to hate being home alone... and now being alone doesn't bother me at all.  I know who protects us.. I know who loves us.. I know that with God all things are possible and that with His help, I can handle anything that comes my way and so can Sean! We still don't know all the reasons why, but so far I've met some amazing Army wives in Texas and around the world. I've learned something from each one of them.  You've been an amazing support system, and I thank Jesus for all of you! I hope and pray that I can pass that on as well!  We have found a loving church, we're enjoying the Texas sun, and my children are growing and learning about Jesus every day!  Thank you Jesus for my amazing life and my amazing husband, I have far more than I deserve!

I ended up bragging about my husband just a tad... but I got to say I'm a PROUD ARMY WIFE!
I miss you Honey, I love you more than you know, and I long for the day you come back into my arms. You are my best friend, my hero, and my true love! :)

 Luke 9
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

how to sew a simple bible cover....

This isn't exactly what I had in mind, I could have added some pockets and fancied it up a little but I'll show you what I did and you can be creative and add to it!  

I laid my bible open over the fabric to measure and I cute approximatly 1 1/2  away from it all the way around.
You will cut one piece of fibric, one piece of fusable badding and one piece of the outside fabric.

 Cut two, two inch wide straps about 10 inches long, fold and tucking all raw edges. Finished strap should measure 1 inch wide.
Pin them on each end after you have ironed your lining fabric on to the fusible badding.
sew together a about a two inch wide strap with your button hole.  You'll want to hold it around the end of your bible to get the right length, but you'll also be able to adjust that by where you place your button, which you'll do last!
 After you pin everything down lay your outside (blue) fabric face down over all your straps and lining.
Sew all the way around leaving a four to five inch opening. This is where you stick your hand in and turn it, right sides out!  After you turned it right side out and pushed out all your corners you fold in the opening as neatly as you can and stitch shut.

After sewing the button onto the front I made two more straps one inch wide (folding ends inside neatly)
I just sewed each end with a zigzag stitch. There you have straps to hold down the book covers.

This would have been cute with some quilting stitches and an applique on the front or you could embroider someones name.

Sewing a purse from a Uniform!

well, I've been sewing purses now since last fall.  I finally got to try something other than an ACU.
This is a Coast Guard Brag bag.   I love using used uniforms and making someone in that family a purse that their son/husband has actually worn!  This one in particular was worn by Andrew Gordon one of my husband's best friends. I'm very close with his mother and had so much joy making this for her!  If you know her.. please don't tell her that this is in the mail!  I wish pretty badly that I could give it to her in person as I know it will bring her tears of happiness.  For her son is so dear to her heart and she misses him when he's gone. They live all the way in Placerville, CA and he's stationed at Cape May, NJ!  Can't get much farther apart than that and still be in the US.

I didn't have any ribbon , so I settled for ric rac and I think it added just the right touch of femininity.

I'm going to try and make a matching Bible Case cover for his dad.  Can't leave him out :)

Carley making pizza

she kind of just jumped in helping mommy and forgot to put on her new apron!

but if you've never tasted Hewitt Pizza... this is what your missing!  The dough turned out perfect and we made
it so simple.. Organic Marinara sauce with cheese and pepperoni! Doesn't get any easier than this.

1 1/2 cups water
2 TBS Yeast
1 TBS Salt
3 TBS Sugar
1/2 cup Oil


this made exactly enough for one pizza and a few breadsticks.  Perfect for a small family... we even enough for breakfast the next morning!

nice and soft.....perfect for spreading

she LOVES to help in the kitchen every chance she gets! yay!

waiting patiently for a snack.

15 months... and moving on!

(click to enlarge)

My babies are growing up... Stetson will be 16 months on the 8th of January.  I found these three pictures of each of them .. they were all here on my blog.. so if I looked through all my cds I maybe could have found more similar looking ones.. but I've been wanting to do a comparison picture for a long time.. still want to do one of them all as infants too.. especially for my wall at home.   Man do they grow up fast!  OH so CUTE!

Christmas at the KINGS

We definitely made the best of our Christmas.  Daddy watched from Iraq through skype! We were so happy he had Christmas Eve day off and got to watch everything!  The kids were very excited to share their excitement with him. We love and miss you so much Daddy... see you soon!

These are somewhat of a random order.. (click pics to enlarge)

My friend Ladoshie came to wrap gifts with me and make enchiladas

her first big girl doll!

Love his new bike from Grandma Brandy!

Excited!

My munchkin!

Christmas Eve Morning.....

Christmas Cookies

Happy to Celebrate Jesus' Birthday!

matching aprons

her first LONG Pjs...

Happy Birthday Jesus

they love each others toy... glad they can all share

Looking so much older lately!

I attempted to use the tri-pod

The kids were just as excited about making Jesus a cake and cookies as they were to open their gifts!  One day they are going to awesome little cooks!  (as long as mommy keeps letting them make messes) :)