playing catch up lol man life flies by sometimes.
FREE FRIDAY:
What am I supposed to do with my life? Part of me wants to go to school but I'm having difficulties getting exactly what I want to do done. Then I had the idea to go back to work full time so I could make some more money for us to save up but then I'd sacrifice spending time with my kids. *sigh* why is everything so difficult to figure out? Why can't someone just tell me "Hey this is what you're supposed to do and it will work out great in the end?!" I've been praying about it a lot and now i'm contemplating doing a free program out here by the Red Cross for a dental assistant. More importantly and more soundly I think I'm going to apply to be a substitute so i'll be able to make some money, get out of the house, but still focus on my children which is so important to me. That's on the agenda for this week... pick up an application for substituting.
I do know that I want to really do everything I can while on island. I have a bucket list (oki edition) that is seemingly getting larger and larger. First up on the agenda... WWII Museum with hubs and then we're also taking the kids to the Children's Zoo & Museum :) I can't wait for that!!!
STORY TIME SATURDAY:
Hmm what's story worthy this week? For some reason I'm having a "blank" but whatever. This weekend was crazy busy between birthday parties, church and Easter celebrations plus the unwanted presence of a lingering migraine combined with a bad stomach issue. Needless to say not much cleaning got done this weekend. I am so thankful though for my husband. Last night before bed (and then again this morning) he told me "Please don't clean up tomorrow, just relax. I'll help you when I get home because I don't want you stressed out." Ummmm hello i freaking love you!! You're amazing!!! I obviously can't NOT clean so i'm picking up odd/end things but i'm not going to scrub the house like I normally would on a Monday. He's such an amazing husband and I'm so thankful for him.
SCRIPTURE SUNDAY:
Far too often than not people are seen celebrating Easter without knowing the true meaning of it. If it wasn't for Friday when God gave his Son for our transgressions then we would never HAVE Easter sunday. I am continually overwhelmed by the generosity, unconditional love and overflowing nurturing that God shows us. Yes we all have bad days but God never gives us more than we can handle and He never leaves our side. God is great and HE IS RISEN!!!
MOMMY MONDAY:
On the mommy front... Sophia's now 7 months old :( She is not crawling yet but I'm learning she does everything at her own pace and doesn't care if her brother did it sooner or not haha. She scoots backwards a lot though. She had some yummy bread from Mac Grill and you'd have to ask her designated aunties what they snuck to her at the Easter celebration because well, obviously they were snuggling her the whole time.
T had a lot of firsts this weekend. He had his first trip to the bowling alley (celebrating a friend's son's bday) and he can carry a 6lb ball!!! Umm weird!! lol He loved it despite not really understanding that he had to wait his turn haha. He also got to hit his first pinata at our friend's Easter celebration. He loved that for sure. Come on what little boy doesn't like hitting something and NOT getting in trouble. And on the "bad mommy" front T kept trying to have a sip of people's beer at the Easter party. I was raised in Texas and have a lax view on parenting to a degree. I finally said he could have a little sip because i knew he wouldn't like it... WRONG!!! He said "Mmmmm more more wa wa wa wa" (wa wa=water but he calls everything water lol). I told my husband and he started laughing. I love watching our children grow up and seeing all the things they have to show us about life.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Thankful Thursday:2
super thankful for the FREE healthcare/benefits we get as military dependents. My 2 yr old son has been to the dentist 3 times already (12 months, 18 months and 2 yrs old).
i've had 2 children for 'free' and all health issues have been handled accordingly. idc what anyone says about how crappy they think the military healthcare is, with the right attitude on it it's a great thing!!
i've had 2 children for 'free' and all health issues have been handled accordingly. idc what anyone says about how crappy they think the military healthcare is, with the right attitude on it it's a great thing!!
Wifey Wednesday:2
As a wife I am in charge of the finances (bill paying, savings accounts, transferring money, budgeting, etc. whatever you'd like to call it) so part of my task is to save us as much money as possible. I coupon like it's my job, literally...
Couponing 101
Resources:
- Personal Services Center
- Commissary
- Stateside Friends/Family
- Coupon Groups (Facebook)
- Coupon Databases (www.afullcup.com)
- Google (internet printable coupons)
- Coupon Swaps
Step 1 – Meal Plan
1.Make a dated list of how many meals you want/need for a given time period (1 week, 1 payday, 1 month, etc.)
2.Write all “events” interfering with your ability or need to cook dinner during said dates. (birthdays, going aways, shop functions, date nights, etc.)
Example:
Monday May 1
- BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies
Tuesday May 2
- Date Night
Wednesday May 3
- Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread
Step 2 – Create Grocery List
1.Compare your meal plan to what is in your cabinet/fridge.
Example:
Monday you are having BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies. For this meal you’d need 2 chicken breasts, some BBQ sauce, some butter, some macaroni from a box and some steamed veggies. If you look in your pantry and see that you have Macaroni as well as BBQ Sauce and then you look in your fridge and see that you have veggies and butter all you would need to make this meal are 2 chicken breasts. So on your grocery list you would write “2 chicken breasts” and that would finalize your items for that meal.
1.Once you have created your list for your dinner meals fill in any blanks for items you know you’ll need for breakfasts and lunches.
Step 3 – Match Coupons to Grocery List
1.Go through your coupons and pull the coupons for items you have listed on your grocery list. Keep in mind what items are frequently used in your household.
Example:
Wednesday you’re having Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread. Let’s say you have everything EXCEPT spaghetti sauce. You find a coupon for $1.00 off two cans of spaghetti, but your meal plan list only calls for 1 can of spaghetti. In this scenario I would buy 2 cans (making sure to annotate on my grocery list that I have restrictions on this coupon meaning I must buy 2 of this item). I know that we eat Spaghetti at least once a pay period so this will save me from having to buy more Spaghetti sauce next pay period and essentially saves me money in the long run.
1.Once you have pulled all coupons for your list an easy way to help you shop is to highlight the certain items you have a coupon for.
Example:
Spaghetti Sauce (Ragu x2)
In this case I underlined. However, the highlighted items (underlined items) are items you have coupons for. The words in parentheses are letting you know the restrictions for said coupon. In this case, you need to buy 2 jars of Ragu.
This also comes in handy when you get to the commissary and realize they are out of an item you had a coupon for. Rather than being embarrassed at the checkout you can simply search for this specific item’s coupon and remove it from your bag of savings.
Good To Know
- MANUFACTURER coupons and MILITARY coupons are the only coupons can be used at the military commissary and the px/bx.
- All coupons can be used until 6 months past expiration when you are military stationed OCONUS.
Example:
A coupon expiring January 31, 2011 does not expire in Okinawa until July 31, 2011.
- If you have some items on your list that you cannot find coupons to match up for have fun with Google. Simply type in “Velveeta Mac n cheese internet printable coupon” and see what it brings up. It’s always worth a try if it will save you money!
Shopping Sales!!!
1.Pick up the sale ads located at your commissary and/or BX/PX.
2.Note any great sale items listed that you know your family can benefit from.
3.Search your coupons and see how low you can get the price.
Example:
The commissary has a sale right now on Schick Hydro Razor 3 for $4. I have a $4 off coupon for any Schick Hydro Razor. Essentially this makes that item FREE! Does my husband need a razor right now? No! Will he sometime in the future? Yes! Stock up on items that you will readily need in the future!!
Couponing 101
Resources:
- Personal Services Center
- Commissary
- Stateside Friends/Family
- Coupon Groups (Facebook)
- Coupon Databases (www.afullcup.com)
- Google (internet printable coupons)
- Coupon Swaps
Step 1 – Meal Plan
1.Make a dated list of how many meals you want/need for a given time period (1 week, 1 payday, 1 month, etc.)
2.Write all “events” interfering with your ability or need to cook dinner during said dates. (birthdays, going aways, shop functions, date nights, etc.)
Example:
Monday May 1
- BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies
Tuesday May 2
- Date Night
Wednesday May 3
- Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread
Step 2 – Create Grocery List
1.Compare your meal plan to what is in your cabinet/fridge.
Example:
Monday you are having BBQ Chicken, Macaroni & Veggies. For this meal you’d need 2 chicken breasts, some BBQ sauce, some butter, some macaroni from a box and some steamed veggies. If you look in your pantry and see that you have Macaroni as well as BBQ Sauce and then you look in your fridge and see that you have veggies and butter all you would need to make this meal are 2 chicken breasts. So on your grocery list you would write “2 chicken breasts” and that would finalize your items for that meal.
1.Once you have created your list for your dinner meals fill in any blanks for items you know you’ll need for breakfasts and lunches.
Step 3 – Match Coupons to Grocery List
1.Go through your coupons and pull the coupons for items you have listed on your grocery list. Keep in mind what items are frequently used in your household.
Example:
Wednesday you’re having Spaghetti, Salad & Garlic Bread. Let’s say you have everything EXCEPT spaghetti sauce. You find a coupon for $1.00 off two cans of spaghetti, but your meal plan list only calls for 1 can of spaghetti. In this scenario I would buy 2 cans (making sure to annotate on my grocery list that I have restrictions on this coupon meaning I must buy 2 of this item). I know that we eat Spaghetti at least once a pay period so this will save me from having to buy more Spaghetti sauce next pay period and essentially saves me money in the long run.
1.Once you have pulled all coupons for your list an easy way to help you shop is to highlight the certain items you have a coupon for.
Example:
Spaghetti Sauce (Ragu x2)
In this case I underlined. However, the highlighted items (underlined items) are items you have coupons for. The words in parentheses are letting you know the restrictions for said coupon. In this case, you need to buy 2 jars of Ragu.
This also comes in handy when you get to the commissary and realize they are out of an item you had a coupon for. Rather than being embarrassed at the checkout you can simply search for this specific item’s coupon and remove it from your bag of savings.
Good To Know
- MANUFACTURER coupons and MILITARY coupons are the only coupons can be used at the military commissary and the px/bx.
- All coupons can be used until 6 months past expiration when you are military stationed OCONUS.
Example:
A coupon expiring January 31, 2011 does not expire in Okinawa until July 31, 2011.
- If you have some items on your list that you cannot find coupons to match up for have fun with Google. Simply type in “Velveeta Mac n cheese internet printable coupon” and see what it brings up. It’s always worth a try if it will save you money!
Shopping Sales!!!
1.Pick up the sale ads located at your commissary and/or BX/PX.
2.Note any great sale items listed that you know your family can benefit from.
3.Search your coupons and see how low you can get the price.
Example:
The commissary has a sale right now on Schick Hydro Razor 3 for $4. I have a $4 off coupon for any Schick Hydro Razor. Essentially this makes that item FREE! Does my husband need a razor right now? No! Will he sometime in the future? Yes! Stock up on items that you will readily need in the future!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Playing catch up...
Scripture Sunday. On Sundays i'll either talk about the daily devotional i'm doing on my own, a structured devotional i'm doing with a friend or our church service.
Today i'll focus on the devotional i do with a friend. we're studying the women of the bible. We just studied Ruth and man I did NOT even know that story despite being in a Lutheran School my entire life (minus 2 yrs at public high school) and then a Baptist University.
It's amazing to me the strength and faith that Ruth had. She is such an example to us all. If we're truly loyal to our God then we will reap great benefits from Him. How amazing is that?
I highly suggest going and reading Ruth 1-4... it's super short and an easy read. Such an awe-inspiring story.
Mommy Monday:2
Mommy - 1 Sophia - 0 :) Sophia hates anything green. At least to eat. She will gag and gag if you give her sweet peas or green beans. Thinking on my "mommy toes" I mixed her sweet peas with her carrots and she ate it all up :) Score for mommy!!!
I hear stories like this all the time from other moms. What tricks have you learned how to do for your little ones to make life a little bit easier?
T is lovin sitting on the potty. Almost as much as he loves wiping and flushing. However, the big thing missing... he doesn't potty on the potty... Hubs is getting a little worried but i'm sure he'll do fine. Hubs thinks he's going to never understand to actually potty but I managed to convince him to give him another 2 weeks or so of "sitting" before we really start the whole potty training thing. I know I'll have to dedicate an entire weekend to every 15 min potty breaks and I want to make sure he's ready and not scared because I definitely don't want to push his training back.
Any of you potty training? What are some tips you have? What was successful for your little ones?
Tourist Tuesday:2
The magnificent Coco's. Really, Coco Ichibanya. It's actually Indian food seeing as it's curry. I've heard great reviews of their salad and their sesame salad dressing although I've never had one. I'm personally a "stick to what i know tastes good" kind of gal. The chicken cutlet (think chicken tenders almost but so much better... it's like a breaded breast of chicken) is AMAZING as well as the chicken stew (think shredded chicken in your curry. It's always served with rice and i HAVE to have some Naan bread with mine as well. Add some cheese on top of your curry and/or your naan bread and you have a delicious treat.
I took my parents here when they came to visit. They were addicted. I think we ate here 4 or 5 times in the 13 days they were here. You can make it very spicy or leave it bland. There's mild, regular and then spice levels 1-10. I typically go with a 2 and hubs gets a 2 or sometimes a 4 but we do have those friends that get a 10 which astonishes me.
You can dress up your curry with whatever you like... boiled eggs, veggies, cheese, ginger, etc.
Everyone who's come to Okinawa always talks about Coco's. I'm happy to say California has FINALLY invested in one stateside so now you don't have to move overseas for 3 yrs to fill that yummy craving. If you know someone in Okinawa you can always ask them to pick up a box of Curry for you and make your own coco's at home.
Homemade coco's: Heat up the curry on the stove, make some white rice (sticky rice is best but not mandatory) and get the tyson's breaded chicken and pop it in the oven then combine it all and top it with some cheese and voila a delicious homemade treat. It's definitely good but not as amazing as when you buy it from the store.
Coco's is so well-known they actually SELL their spoons!! Yes spoons!! And they sell keychains now as well with pics of their "fav" items like the chicken cutlet curry and the naan bread.
There are almost 1200 Coco's in Japan alone. There's 4 in Hawaii and 1 in Los Angeles. China has 15, Taiwan has 9, South Korea has 8, Thailand has 10 and Hong Kong has 1. They were established in 1982 and have a reported 68.5 billion yen (ending in fiscal year may 2009) of sales. That's insane!!! They provide menus in different languages to help customers better understand what they're ordering and honestly are some of the kindest waitstaff i've ever met. Always greeting you with a hello and bidding you a'do with a thank you!!
Definitely kid friendly and great kids meals for kids as well!!
So if you're ever in any of the above locations i highly recommend stopping and trying Coco's. It's definitely worth it!!
http://www.ichibanya.co.jp/english/index.html
Today i'll focus on the devotional i do with a friend. we're studying the women of the bible. We just studied Ruth and man I did NOT even know that story despite being in a Lutheran School my entire life (minus 2 yrs at public high school) and then a Baptist University.
It's amazing to me the strength and faith that Ruth had. She is such an example to us all. If we're truly loyal to our God then we will reap great benefits from Him. How amazing is that?
I highly suggest going and reading Ruth 1-4... it's super short and an easy read. Such an awe-inspiring story.
Mommy Monday:2
Mommy - 1 Sophia - 0 :) Sophia hates anything green. At least to eat. She will gag and gag if you give her sweet peas or green beans. Thinking on my "mommy toes" I mixed her sweet peas with her carrots and she ate it all up :) Score for mommy!!!
I hear stories like this all the time from other moms. What tricks have you learned how to do for your little ones to make life a little bit easier?
T is lovin sitting on the potty. Almost as much as he loves wiping and flushing. However, the big thing missing... he doesn't potty on the potty... Hubs is getting a little worried but i'm sure he'll do fine. Hubs thinks he's going to never understand to actually potty but I managed to convince him to give him another 2 weeks or so of "sitting" before we really start the whole potty training thing. I know I'll have to dedicate an entire weekend to every 15 min potty breaks and I want to make sure he's ready and not scared because I definitely don't want to push his training back.
Any of you potty training? What are some tips you have? What was successful for your little ones?
Tourist Tuesday:2
The magnificent Coco's. Really, Coco Ichibanya. It's actually Indian food seeing as it's curry. I've heard great reviews of their salad and their sesame salad dressing although I've never had one. I'm personally a "stick to what i know tastes good" kind of gal. The chicken cutlet (think chicken tenders almost but so much better... it's like a breaded breast of chicken) is AMAZING as well as the chicken stew (think shredded chicken in your curry. It's always served with rice and i HAVE to have some Naan bread with mine as well. Add some cheese on top of your curry and/or your naan bread and you have a delicious treat.
I took my parents here when they came to visit. They were addicted. I think we ate here 4 or 5 times in the 13 days they were here. You can make it very spicy or leave it bland. There's mild, regular and then spice levels 1-10. I typically go with a 2 and hubs gets a 2 or sometimes a 4 but we do have those friends that get a 10 which astonishes me.
You can dress up your curry with whatever you like... boiled eggs, veggies, cheese, ginger, etc.
Everyone who's come to Okinawa always talks about Coco's. I'm happy to say California has FINALLY invested in one stateside so now you don't have to move overseas for 3 yrs to fill that yummy craving. If you know someone in Okinawa you can always ask them to pick up a box of Curry for you and make your own coco's at home.
Homemade coco's: Heat up the curry on the stove, make some white rice (sticky rice is best but not mandatory) and get the tyson's breaded chicken and pop it in the oven then combine it all and top it with some cheese and voila a delicious homemade treat. It's definitely good but not as amazing as when you buy it from the store.
Coco's is so well-known they actually SELL their spoons!! Yes spoons!! And they sell keychains now as well with pics of their "fav" items like the chicken cutlet curry and the naan bread.
There are almost 1200 Coco's in Japan alone. There's 4 in Hawaii and 1 in Los Angeles. China has 15, Taiwan has 9, South Korea has 8, Thailand has 10 and Hong Kong has 1. They were established in 1982 and have a reported 68.5 billion yen (ending in fiscal year may 2009) of sales. That's insane!!! They provide menus in different languages to help customers better understand what they're ordering and honestly are some of the kindest waitstaff i've ever met. Always greeting you with a hello and bidding you a'do with a thank you!!
Definitely kid friendly and great kids meals for kids as well!!
So if you're ever in any of the above locations i highly recommend stopping and trying Coco's. It's definitely worth it!!
http://www.ichibanya.co.jp/english/index.html
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Free Friday & Storytime Saturday
I guess if you wanted to be funny it COULD be Forgetful friday since i was soooo busy yesterday I didn't get a chance to write in my blog. I promise I'll try my best to upkeep the blog as much as I can
Free Friday is basically where I'm free to write about whatever I want. Anything. No real structure.
So for this Friday I'm going to discuss something I've learned this past week. It's definitely something i've been taught/told my whole life but it was one of those "i had to be ready to understand it" type things.
I love my kids. I love my husband. I also love all my friends and family (not immediate family...but them too haha hence the first 2 sentences). However, at the end of the day I go to bed with my husband after I lay my kids down to sleep. That needs to be my priority. 100% of the time. I like to be there for others. I like to be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a person to make them laugh, a loyal friend in tough times, etc. but at the end of the day my focus should be my family and myself. (aside from God, He's always #1)
I have found too often in life I'm constantly giving and giving trying to be a great person to everyone around me and far too often then not I get dropped on my butt because I'm being taken advantage of, i'm not appreciated, or other typical reasons in this situation. This past week it became loud and clear to me that I need to focus on myself and my family. If I don't think something's the best idea for myself or my kids I've got to learn to stand up and say "i'm sorry, but no." That's so hard for me to do. (unless it's like dangerous/life threatening, i mean come on people i do have common sense sheesh!) But really I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES my husband has said these very words to me and finally after 3+ years it sank in. I guess you could say i had an "ah-ha" moment.
Proverbs 11:29
He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise.
Storytime Saturday is a day where I'll share a story from the previous week. I have SO many stories from this week so I'll try and pick just one or two.
First, my daughter is almost 7 months old. The girl is the smiliest little baby I've ever seen. She loves to watch all the toddlers play but she is so stinking funny because she REFUSES to sit up. We will "practice" sitting up and she'll just put her head between her legs and laugh. She'd rather lay down then actually sit up. I had a friend come over and she was practicing with her and couldn't stop laughing at how squirmy she got determined to be able to lay down instead of having to "work" to sit up. Haha. I have a feeling though it won't be this way for too much longer. She seems so anxious to play with the toddlers that once she's mobile I have a feeling it will be the constant "waaaaaaahhhh" (insert "uh oh i stepped on sissy" look on my son's face) haha oh man the joys of parenting it's NEVER a dull moment.
Speaking of my son, whew where to start. His isn't so much funny I suppose but it's a story nonetheless. Friday my husband had off of work so we took our son to school as usual and ran some errands with our daughter. We picked up our son around 10 am to go to an Easter Egg Hunt with my husbands unit. Of course our son was *THAT* child who was running around picking up the easter eggs that were "hidden" (they weren't cleared to do that yet we were still waiting on everyone to show up) and CHUNKING them down a HUGE hill that was deemed "no hiding eggs here" for safety reasons. *sigh* Later that afternoon we took him back to school strictly because they had a Party Animal party scheduled for that afternoon. That was seriously the coolest thing ever. Adults were dressed like a kangaroo, lion, fox, etc. they had people on stilts and the two guys leading the "show" were hilarious. Coincidence, one of the guy's names was Tommy. Well Tommy happened to be the funny one always getting into "trouble" during the act so people kept yelling "No Tommy" or "Oh Tommy" and T kept thinking they were talking about him. At one point Tommy was hiding (the guy from the show) and the other man said "Where's Tommy?" and T's whole class pointed to T and goes "right here" hahaha I love toddlers. They're so smart but still learning so much. Anyways, our son definitely got wise and realized all the kids were watching the show and that meant all the "cool toys" were free so he made his own agenda and took full advantage haha.
I hope y'all all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully I can write Sunday's blog tomorrow. I'll try my hardest but then again it's duty recovery day, haircut day and much more so who knows!!
Free Friday is basically where I'm free to write about whatever I want. Anything. No real structure.
So for this Friday I'm going to discuss something I've learned this past week. It's definitely something i've been taught/told my whole life but it was one of those "i had to be ready to understand it" type things.
I love my kids. I love my husband. I also love all my friends and family (not immediate family...but them too haha hence the first 2 sentences). However, at the end of the day I go to bed with my husband after I lay my kids down to sleep. That needs to be my priority. 100% of the time. I like to be there for others. I like to be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a person to make them laugh, a loyal friend in tough times, etc. but at the end of the day my focus should be my family and myself. (aside from God, He's always #1)
I have found too often in life I'm constantly giving and giving trying to be a great person to everyone around me and far too often then not I get dropped on my butt because I'm being taken advantage of, i'm not appreciated, or other typical reasons in this situation. This past week it became loud and clear to me that I need to focus on myself and my family. If I don't think something's the best idea for myself or my kids I've got to learn to stand up and say "i'm sorry, but no." That's so hard for me to do. (unless it's like dangerous/life threatening, i mean come on people i do have common sense sheesh!) But really I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES my husband has said these very words to me and finally after 3+ years it sank in. I guess you could say i had an "ah-ha" moment.
Proverbs 11:29
He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise.
Storytime Saturday is a day where I'll share a story from the previous week. I have SO many stories from this week so I'll try and pick just one or two.
First, my daughter is almost 7 months old. The girl is the smiliest little baby I've ever seen. She loves to watch all the toddlers play but she is so stinking funny because she REFUSES to sit up. We will "practice" sitting up and she'll just put her head between her legs and laugh. She'd rather lay down then actually sit up. I had a friend come over and she was practicing with her and couldn't stop laughing at how squirmy she got determined to be able to lay down instead of having to "work" to sit up. Haha. I have a feeling though it won't be this way for too much longer. She seems so anxious to play with the toddlers that once she's mobile I have a feeling it will be the constant "waaaaaaahhhh" (insert "uh oh i stepped on sissy" look on my son's face) haha oh man the joys of parenting it's NEVER a dull moment.
Speaking of my son, whew where to start. His isn't so much funny I suppose but it's a story nonetheless. Friday my husband had off of work so we took our son to school as usual and ran some errands with our daughter. We picked up our son around 10 am to go to an Easter Egg Hunt with my husbands unit. Of course our son was *THAT* child who was running around picking up the easter eggs that were "hidden" (they weren't cleared to do that yet we were still waiting on everyone to show up) and CHUNKING them down a HUGE hill that was deemed "no hiding eggs here" for safety reasons. *sigh* Later that afternoon we took him back to school strictly because they had a Party Animal party scheduled for that afternoon. That was seriously the coolest thing ever. Adults were dressed like a kangaroo, lion, fox, etc. they had people on stilts and the two guys leading the "show" were hilarious. Coincidence, one of the guy's names was Tommy. Well Tommy happened to be the funny one always getting into "trouble" during the act so people kept yelling "No Tommy" or "Oh Tommy" and T kept thinking they were talking about him. At one point Tommy was hiding (the guy from the show) and the other man said "Where's Tommy?" and T's whole class pointed to T and goes "right here" hahaha I love toddlers. They're so smart but still learning so much. Anyways, our son definitely got wise and realized all the kids were watching the show and that meant all the "cool toys" were free so he made his own agenda and took full advantage haha.
I hope y'all all have a wonderful weekend. Hopefully I can write Sunday's blog tomorrow. I'll try my hardest but then again it's duty recovery day, haircut day and much more so who knows!!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Thankful Thursday
You guessed it, Thursday's will be structured as "Thankful Thursdays."
Today I'm thankful for the ability to be a stay at home mom/wife. I consider myself blessed to not HAVE to "work" [note the quotations because staying home is a full time job] everyday (although if i wanted to I could).
I love that I can lounge around the house all day and do NOTHING if i really want to. I love that I can reorganize my house umpteen times and my husband doesn't get annoyed. I love having dinner ready on the table when he walks in. I love walks with my daughter. I love going to school functions for my son and seeing his face every time he sees me walk in. I love that I can meet up with friends and discuss parenting, social life, coupons and more. I love that I can do devotions everyday at any time of day. I love that I can watch my children grow and see the new things they learn. I love that I can call my family/friends stateside everyday if I want/need to because i don't have to worry about "times".
i love being a stay at home mommy/wife.
Today I'm thankful for the ability to be a stay at home mom/wife. I consider myself blessed to not HAVE to "work" [note the quotations because staying home is a full time job] everyday (although if i wanted to I could).
I love that I can lounge around the house all day and do NOTHING if i really want to. I love that I can reorganize my house umpteen times and my husband doesn't get annoyed. I love having dinner ready on the table when he walks in. I love walks with my daughter. I love going to school functions for my son and seeing his face every time he sees me walk in. I love that I can meet up with friends and discuss parenting, social life, coupons and more. I love that I can do devotions everyday at any time of day. I love that I can watch my children grow and see the new things they learn. I love that I can call my family/friends stateside everyday if I want/need to because i don't have to worry about "times".
i love being a stay at home mommy/wife.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Wifey Wednesday
My next structured blog will be wifely wednesday. You guessed it... i'll discuss something to do with being a wife.
Today, i'm going to talk about "date nights".
I feel like it's very important to have a date night with your husband. For my husband and I we strive to have one at least once a month. A night with no kids where we can hang out and enjoy each other's company and focus on each other as people rather than just a mom or dad. Of course, like any parent, we still end up talking about our kids but we do try our hardest to minimize that and really focus on each other.
Date nights can be as simple as staying in and playing a game together or as complex as a nice dressed up dinner out some where followed by a fun evening of adult activities.
The main importance of this to us is that we don't want our lives to be ruled by our children. I hear far too often that "oh you have kids, man your life is over!" Um, no! That's not the case. Our children are blessings and we feel so blessed that God chose us to have them. We both feel as though our lives jumped into more meaning when we had children and has been a rollercoaster of adventrues, fun and laughter.
It's so easy to get caught up in the "daily grind." Ya know, the cleaning, diaper changing, bottle making, bathtimes, etc. That by the end of the day you can sometimes neglect the importance of your spouse outside of just their parenting skills. These date nights give us a chance to learn new things about each other, discuss issues in our marriage and just enjoy each other.
At the end of the day we both know that our children will grow up and someday move out of the house and start families of their own. Then what? What if i've only viewed my husband as a father? His 18+ years of parenting aren't over but they aren't as demanded as they once were. So what if then I realize "hey, i don't even know you anymore and you're more like a roommate?" This is what we try and avoid by having scheduled "date nights" together. We want to keep the romance alive and truly grow together as one.
I encourage you to try and indulge yourself in a date night. Even if you have no one to watch the kids set one night aside a month that you and your husband stay up late after hte kids go to bed and just ENJOY EACH OTHER!! It's so important and I guarantee that early morning the next day will be so worth it when you see your marriage growing stronger and closer with each day.
I Peter 4:8
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
John 13:34
So now i am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other
Today, i'm going to talk about "date nights".
I feel like it's very important to have a date night with your husband. For my husband and I we strive to have one at least once a month. A night with no kids where we can hang out and enjoy each other's company and focus on each other as people rather than just a mom or dad. Of course, like any parent, we still end up talking about our kids but we do try our hardest to minimize that and really focus on each other.
Date nights can be as simple as staying in and playing a game together or as complex as a nice dressed up dinner out some where followed by a fun evening of adult activities.
The main importance of this to us is that we don't want our lives to be ruled by our children. I hear far too often that "oh you have kids, man your life is over!" Um, no! That's not the case. Our children are blessings and we feel so blessed that God chose us to have them. We both feel as though our lives jumped into more meaning when we had children and has been a rollercoaster of adventrues, fun and laughter.
It's so easy to get caught up in the "daily grind." Ya know, the cleaning, diaper changing, bottle making, bathtimes, etc. That by the end of the day you can sometimes neglect the importance of your spouse outside of just their parenting skills. These date nights give us a chance to learn new things about each other, discuss issues in our marriage and just enjoy each other.
At the end of the day we both know that our children will grow up and someday move out of the house and start families of their own. Then what? What if i've only viewed my husband as a father? His 18+ years of parenting aren't over but they aren't as demanded as they once were. So what if then I realize "hey, i don't even know you anymore and you're more like a roommate?" This is what we try and avoid by having scheduled "date nights" together. We want to keep the romance alive and truly grow together as one.
I encourage you to try and indulge yourself in a date night. Even if you have no one to watch the kids set one night aside a month that you and your husband stay up late after hte kids go to bed and just ENJOY EACH OTHER!! It's so important and I guarantee that early morning the next day will be so worth it when you see your marriage growing stronger and closer with each day.
I Peter 4:8
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
John 13:34
So now i am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other
Monday, April 11, 2011
Tourist Tuesday
Tourist Tuesday is going to be my next structured blog. While I technically "live" in Japan I do still consider myself a tourist. Each Tuesday I will talk about something unique to Japan.
Today I'm going to talk about Forest Adventure Park.
http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/10/okinawa-hai-rea.html
My husband and I did this together last weekend for our anniversary. We had a blast!! The cost is 3,500 yen (roughly 35 US dollars) per person. You can go in groups or by yourself. I highly suggest making reservations. We went on a Saturday and made reservations despite there only being 2 of us.
When we got there at around 11:30 we were promplty greeted by the staff. They made sure I was tall enough (i had about a half an inch to an inch of grace per THEIR height chart...despite the fact their website says 4'6" so please be aware you could get there and not be able to make it since i'm 4'9" so i easily should have passed but yet i was very close to not passing). We gave them our money and they made sure we all had the proper shoes on. Once that was done we drove and parked in the designated areas for their park. A shuttle bus was waiting for us in the parking lot to take us over to the course.
Once we reached the course we had to walk 200m to the main cabin. *this is the last bathroom available so be sure and go try* While there we got a locker for 100 yen deposit (which you got back) to put all our belongings in. You can keep your phones/cameras/sunglasses/etc. on you but if you lose them or break them it's at your discretion. Since hubs had never done ziplines before and I had no pockets we opted to miss out on the awesome pictures (this time because we plan on going back) and just enjoy the course and each other.
They then put your harnesses on you and show you how to attach them to the ziplines correctly. You go through a mock course that has a rope you walk across followed by a very short zipline. A staff member assures you are doing everything correctly and then you're off.
You're free to go as fast as you please or as slow as you please through the course. (please be aware of other groups though) I think we saw staff member maybe twice throughout the whole course. Hubs and I had a blast. We did at least 10 ziplines with fun obstacle courses in between.
About halfway through they have a section of "free drinks". You're allowed to have one. The downfall, it's all soda. (at least when we went through) so you may want to bring some water!!
The best part is at the end where they have a number of different obstacle courses to go through and what's called the "Tarzan" swing. They attach you to a rope and you jump (freefall) for approximately 2-3 seconds before the zipline catches you and then you fly into a rope net that you then climb up. A lot of peope were hesitant to do this but i saw children, women & marines doing it. It's easily the best part of the whole course.
We then turned in all our gear and got our belongings and headed down the 200m to find a shuttle bus waiting for us to take us to our parking spot. The saturday we went was a tad bit busy so we didn't get to our car until 2pm but I have heard others say that they've made it through in an hr and a half.
If you live on Okinawa (or ever come to visit) I highly suggest going here. It's only about 20 minutes north of Camp Foster on the 58 and is a great adventure for single marines, couples, families with older kids, etc.
I cannot wait to go back. Like i posted above, we don't have any pictures of *this* trip but next time we will definitely be taking some photos.
Today I'm going to talk about Forest Adventure Park.
http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/10/okinawa-hai-rea.html
My husband and I did this together last weekend for our anniversary. We had a blast!! The cost is 3,500 yen (roughly 35 US dollars) per person. You can go in groups or by yourself. I highly suggest making reservations. We went on a Saturday and made reservations despite there only being 2 of us.
When we got there at around 11:30 we were promplty greeted by the staff. They made sure I was tall enough (i had about a half an inch to an inch of grace per THEIR height chart...despite the fact their website says 4'6" so please be aware you could get there and not be able to make it since i'm 4'9" so i easily should have passed but yet i was very close to not passing). We gave them our money and they made sure we all had the proper shoes on. Once that was done we drove and parked in the designated areas for their park. A shuttle bus was waiting for us in the parking lot to take us over to the course.
Once we reached the course we had to walk 200m to the main cabin. *this is the last bathroom available so be sure and go try* While there we got a locker for 100 yen deposit (which you got back) to put all our belongings in. You can keep your phones/cameras/sunglasses/etc. on you but if you lose them or break them it's at your discretion. Since hubs had never done ziplines before and I had no pockets we opted to miss out on the awesome pictures (this time because we plan on going back) and just enjoy the course and each other.
They then put your harnesses on you and show you how to attach them to the ziplines correctly. You go through a mock course that has a rope you walk across followed by a very short zipline. A staff member assures you are doing everything correctly and then you're off.
You're free to go as fast as you please or as slow as you please through the course. (please be aware of other groups though) I think we saw staff member maybe twice throughout the whole course. Hubs and I had a blast. We did at least 10 ziplines with fun obstacle courses in between.
About halfway through they have a section of "free drinks". You're allowed to have one. The downfall, it's all soda. (at least when we went through) so you may want to bring some water!!
The best part is at the end where they have a number of different obstacle courses to go through and what's called the "Tarzan" swing. They attach you to a rope and you jump (freefall) for approximately 2-3 seconds before the zipline catches you and then you fly into a rope net that you then climb up. A lot of peope were hesitant to do this but i saw children, women & marines doing it. It's easily the best part of the whole course.
We then turned in all our gear and got our belongings and headed down the 200m to find a shuttle bus waiting for us to take us to our parking spot. The saturday we went was a tad bit busy so we didn't get to our car until 2pm but I have heard others say that they've made it through in an hr and a half.
If you live on Okinawa (or ever come to visit) I highly suggest going here. It's only about 20 minutes north of Camp Foster on the 58 and is a great adventure for single marines, couples, families with older kids, etc.
I cannot wait to go back. Like i posted above, we don't have any pictures of *this* trip but next time we will definitely be taking some photos.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Mommy Monday
I'm going to try and make my blog a bit more structured. Mondays will now be known as "mommy mondays" and i'll discuss something to do with being a mommy.
Today i'm going to tackle that awesome issue of "your parenting vs my parenting."
It seems far too often than not, mommy's everywhere are feeling as though their parenting style is being questioned, demeaned or bashed.
I think being a mother is a very hard job. It's constantly under scrutinazation and everyone seems to know the "best way" to handle it. Personally, I coud careless if you breast feed or formula feed, cloth diaper or disposable diaper, attachment parent or structurally parent, selective vaccinate or by the "book" vaccinate, co-sleep or straight to the crib, stay at home moms or working moms, extended bf or stop at a yr, organic vs regular food, homemade baby food vs store bought, circumcised or not circumcised, pierced ears or no pierced ears, etc.
In my opinion, if I am not the one doing it and your child is healthy and taken care of and not in any danger then so be it. Parent however you like. What works for some parents doesn't always work for another. What works for one child doesn't always work for another.
So why is it that so many mothers are so quick to jump on other mothers and their parenting skills? Why can't we all just realize that this is a trial and error job and we're all trying the best we can (or at least i hope we are)?
I don't know of one single parent (although there's probably some out there) who truly wants BAD for their child. Everyone's trying their hardest to do the best for and by their child. I can understand people having strong convictions on their parenting and really feeling as though "this is the best way" but keep in mind "this is the best way FOR ME AND MY CHILD" that does NOT mean it's the best way for Susie and her little son Bobby.
I can't think of one mother who's so confident in being a "perfect mother" that she's never ONCE questioned if she was doing everything right or should she have waited on that or taken that bottle away sooner, etc. Mothers are their own biggest critics. There's constant doubts and struggles on "is this right?" going on within their own head...so why must some women be so destructive in their "advice?"
I think my biggest issue with it is if being a mother was a science we'd all be perfect at it, but NO ONE is perfect at it and it's hard enough to not feel down on yourself sometimes let alone when others are constantly going "Oh my gosh, people who bottle feed are so lazy." or "wow, she doesn't care about her child she just pricks them with all kinds of vaccinations."
I am very aware that it's possible to share your opinions and not come off as a judgemental person. Recently, a FB status was brought up about cloth diapering vs disposable diapers. The person writing the status made a comment about how she's so glad she uses cloth diapers and that they're such good parents. Is she wrong for being proud of her decision? Of course not. But her wording to others, who may not cloth diaper, could come off as though she seems to judge or assume parents who don't cloth diaper are not good parents.
There's many topics in society that are touchy. I think parenting is one of them. Some women can just ignore others comments while others it may be that straw that breaks their back that day and it could set off a whirlwind of emotions.
I challenge you this. Anytime you start to judge someone else's parenting or you hear someone else judging someone's parenting, STOP! Ask yourself these specific questions...
Number 1: Is this parenting decision effecting me and/or my child?
Number 2: Is the child's needs being met emotionally, mentally & physically?
Number 3: Is this child safe?
Number 4: Is the mother/father doing this out of love?
More than likely probably 9 times out of 10 your answers will be no, yes, yes, yes. If not, then obviously you should reevaluate and talk with that mother/father and explain your concern. Otherwise, just let them try their best at parenting just as you do.
At the end of the day our children will grow up and move out of our house. If our foundation for friendships is "who parents the same as me" we're going to realize sooner rather than later that "hey i don't even like this person now that my kid is in school. we have nothing in common." Base your friendships off true values and morals that you find important in a friend. Embrace your parenting and be slow to judge others parenting. Be aware of others feelings because i'm confident to say at some point in time you probably weren't the most confident parent. We're all learning.
Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." (New International Version)
Today i'm going to tackle that awesome issue of "your parenting vs my parenting."
It seems far too often than not, mommy's everywhere are feeling as though their parenting style is being questioned, demeaned or bashed.
I think being a mother is a very hard job. It's constantly under scrutinazation and everyone seems to know the "best way" to handle it. Personally, I coud careless if you breast feed or formula feed, cloth diaper or disposable diaper, attachment parent or structurally parent, selective vaccinate or by the "book" vaccinate, co-sleep or straight to the crib, stay at home moms or working moms, extended bf or stop at a yr, organic vs regular food, homemade baby food vs store bought, circumcised or not circumcised, pierced ears or no pierced ears, etc.
In my opinion, if I am not the one doing it and your child is healthy and taken care of and not in any danger then so be it. Parent however you like. What works for some parents doesn't always work for another. What works for one child doesn't always work for another.
So why is it that so many mothers are so quick to jump on other mothers and their parenting skills? Why can't we all just realize that this is a trial and error job and we're all trying the best we can (or at least i hope we are)?
I don't know of one single parent (although there's probably some out there) who truly wants BAD for their child. Everyone's trying their hardest to do the best for and by their child. I can understand people having strong convictions on their parenting and really feeling as though "this is the best way" but keep in mind "this is the best way FOR ME AND MY CHILD" that does NOT mean it's the best way for Susie and her little son Bobby.
I can't think of one mother who's so confident in being a "perfect mother" that she's never ONCE questioned if she was doing everything right or should she have waited on that or taken that bottle away sooner, etc. Mothers are their own biggest critics. There's constant doubts and struggles on "is this right?" going on within their own head...so why must some women be so destructive in their "advice?"
I think my biggest issue with it is if being a mother was a science we'd all be perfect at it, but NO ONE is perfect at it and it's hard enough to not feel down on yourself sometimes let alone when others are constantly going "Oh my gosh, people who bottle feed are so lazy." or "wow, she doesn't care about her child she just pricks them with all kinds of vaccinations."
I am very aware that it's possible to share your opinions and not come off as a judgemental person. Recently, a FB status was brought up about cloth diapering vs disposable diapers. The person writing the status made a comment about how she's so glad she uses cloth diapers and that they're such good parents. Is she wrong for being proud of her decision? Of course not. But her wording to others, who may not cloth diaper, could come off as though she seems to judge or assume parents who don't cloth diaper are not good parents.
There's many topics in society that are touchy. I think parenting is one of them. Some women can just ignore others comments while others it may be that straw that breaks their back that day and it could set off a whirlwind of emotions.
I challenge you this. Anytime you start to judge someone else's parenting or you hear someone else judging someone's parenting, STOP! Ask yourself these specific questions...
Number 1: Is this parenting decision effecting me and/or my child?
Number 2: Is the child's needs being met emotionally, mentally & physically?
Number 3: Is this child safe?
Number 4: Is the mother/father doing this out of love?
More than likely probably 9 times out of 10 your answers will be no, yes, yes, yes. If not, then obviously you should reevaluate and talk with that mother/father and explain your concern. Otherwise, just let them try their best at parenting just as you do.
At the end of the day our children will grow up and move out of our house. If our foundation for friendships is "who parents the same as me" we're going to realize sooner rather than later that "hey i don't even like this person now that my kid is in school. we have nothing in common." Base your friendships off true values and morals that you find important in a friend. Embrace your parenting and be slow to judge others parenting. Be aware of others feelings because i'm confident to say at some point in time you probably weren't the most confident parent. We're all learning.
Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." (New International Version)
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