AAHH it's September!!!

August seemed to fly by! I guess we got so busy the days were just a blur! And here I am, September 1st, with a have done goal list for August!!! And SO much to do for September! 

Our big happenings in August were:

Jacob started football

Grace Started Cheer

Jacob started 5th grade, I know! I can't believe I have a fifth grader either!

Grace started 3rd grade!

And Bekah started Pre-K!!! She was, and is, the most excited about school!

The yucky 2 hour glucose test for me :(

We went for a mini road trip to Port St. Joe

See, it doesn't seem like it was that bad! But I guess when most of those things happen every day, they add up!

September brings:

My 28 week check up!

Football, Cheer, & school continue!

Packers coming to pack us 2 days

Packers Loading everything up and taking off on day 3

Our Goodbye BBQ with our fab friends

House cleaning, I saved money to hire a lady to do it!

Carpet & windows get cleaned

We turn in keys!

We go to 2 more football games

We hit the road! Heading for CO

We stop and see some great sites on the road

We find a house, hopefully, quickly in CO

Head to Idaho for some family & friend fun!!!

Head back to CO and move in!

Yeah, so September looks a LITTLE bit crazier!!! 

Here are my August goals: 

~ Clean out my room & closet- I did a little, but need to go start over and getter done!

~ make 2 Goodwill runs- Made 1! - Have a start to another load, need to finish and drop off

~Do my visit teaching- DONE

~Explore 2 new places in FL- 1 DONE, plans for other in place!

~Do at least one act of service- My month went by to fast! :(

~Stick to Budget!- Trying!- Did okay, could do better, but with the start of everything, most of which required something if not money also, it was hard!

~Pre-clean house for move- Yeah, I just sucked at this one.

~cook out of pantry- doing- Did great! And the next two weeks we will use a lot more of our unopened items, freezer items and fridge items, we shouldn't have to give or through away much!

 

There you have it!  So some of these will be finished in the next week or two! Along with my September goals, which I have no choice but to finish as most pertain to moving!!!

 

How was your month in review?

Road Trip!

We decided to go for a short road trip to a local state park that I kept hearing was so beautiful, and it was!

So here are our pictures, or a few, from Port St. Joe! (We should have gone earlier in the day so we would have had more day light, but after Jake's football game we were heat tired!)

 Port St. Joe Park is out on a peninsula, and there is a great big rock wave break wall, we enjoyed climbing and playing on the rocks for a few minutes!

 Bekah & Dustin on the rocks

 Me a week shy of 7 months!

 All along the beach, ocean side, there were marked turtle nests, the area is known for them, and not to far from one was this little, dead turtle, who didn't make it out to the water. Sad, but neat to see.

 Grace & Bekah taking a break from shell hunting!

 Sunset!

 Me, once again, just shy of 7 months

 Our cute family with the sunset behind us!

 Dustin & I, taken by Gracie

 Gracie with the sunset

Driving along the road there are spots of trees, and there were two deer right on the side of the road. All out on the peninsula of Port St Joe! 

It really was a beautiful place. We ran out of day light and didn't get to go a little further to see a few light houses, but we had a great time together! Glad we got to do it before move!

Football Season!!!

Yes, it is Football Season, an official season here in the south. (They take their football seriously here in Northern Florida at least!) So we spend 5 nights a week at practice with games on Saturday. Grace has Cheer practice 2 times a week and cheers at Jake's games. Today we had clear skies, beautiful outside really, if it weren't for the 97 degrees that is! We survived though! (Jake was soaked through and so was Grace!)

 Jacob, #36, Blocking

 Shutting down the other side!

 Go Eagles!

 Our personal sidelines Cheerleader! Bekah is just to cute!

 Having fun!

  Doing stunts.

 Jake did awesome out there! The guy he was shutting down on the other team was NOT happy with him!

(In the 4th quarter he through Jake down he was so mad! No one was hurt, it was a little funny.)

 

So it was a fun day for Football!

Here are a few pictures I took of Grace after they did the team pictures the other day.

Gracie & her beat friend for the past 2 years, Mallory!

And I found a small ball pan I wanted to test for a better Micky Mouse head/hat type cake. 

I know, I need to smooth it out better, but this was just a test for us to enjoy. Cute huh!

And there you go!

Dates, Days, and so much more!!!

Moving Day is fast approaching! We had a guy from the moving company come do a walk through to see how much we had, how many boxes they needed to bring and all that jazz. We now have dates when they will be coming to pack our stuff!!! 

In 13 days they start packing! 

 In 17 days they load it all up!

In 22 days we leave! 

In 20 days we will be looking at houses in person!

In 26 days we will be visiting Idaho!

In 35 days we will hopefully be moving into a new place!

In 37 days the kids will have another first day of school!

And in, hopefully a little less than, 89 days we will have a new baby girl! 

The next month is going to be crazy busy and exciting and fun, hopefully fun anyway! 

So in the next 17 days I will be super busy! I have forgotten how much pre-moving stuff I need to do before  they come pack us up! And then the cleaning! I am so glad we aren't doing it ALL this time! I think I would lose my mind! Dustin says I am more of a worrier now than I use to be, I think, and am hoping anyway, that it is just my pregnancy hormones that keep sending me into a panic every few days when I think about all there is to do! Once I look at my plan, where it is all broken down, it isn't so bad. Just lots to do!!!

We can't wait for our mini vacation in Idaho! To get to see everyone and spend time with everyone! It will be SO nice!!! 

First day of School!!!

To say Bekah was excited for this day to come would be a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!! It has been all she could talk about for a few days now. And then after dinner I was getting the lunch boxes out to make sure I had everything ready, and she keep asking, 'So in the morning, after I go to sleep, its school for me?!' And other similar questions! She was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement!!! Then it was time to get clothes ready and find shoes ect. so we wouldn't have to this morning, more excitement! 

Then my wonderful husband gave each of the kids a Father's blessing and we had a nice talk about everything that would be happening, first day of school, move, new school and house, new baby, ect... and how it is okay for them to feel nervous, and how they can pray for the Holy Ghost to help them feel better at any time. And that they can talk to us about any of it. It was a nice night. We also told them each how proud we are of them, and pointed out some good things/traits they each have and how that will help them through all this. (I will post that with below the pictures for each one!)

SO, Bekah being so excited, couldn't go to sleep last night! I was up getting lunches ready and making them a surprise treat for lunch, cookies, and she came out at least 4 times cause she just couldn't stay in bed! I got up early to make a big breakfast for them to help them get going on the first day of school, and Bekah was up right after me! (She didn't get much sleep she was so excited!!!) Pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and of course, they hardly ate any! (I use to make breakfast every morning, and all they wanted was cereal, so I stopped. Then the few times I do make it, they hardly eat any! And they wonder why I don't make it more often!!!)

I couldn't do anything fast enough for Bekah! Lunch made, hair done, nothing! She wanted to leave!!! After we got all ready, read scriptures and did prayer, we still had time to kill! 

 My cute kids!!!

 My 5th grader! A natural born leader, a good example to everyone, a hard worker and a big helper! He is a fantastic football player. Does well in school, and is always so fun.

 My 3rd grader! Grace is a smart, sweet, kind girl. Talented in many different areas. She excels in school, she is in the Gifted Program! She is athletic, and so fun!

 And our sweet Pre-Schooler, Bekah! She is so fun! She is smart and likes to try everything! She is so much fun to do things with and watch as she has new experiences and learns new things!

We are SO proud of our great kids!!!

The big kids got on the bus just fine, and then poor Bekah had to WAIT till we could leave! I thought she would just die of anticipation!

(Not the best picture, I took it with my phone, trying to be sneaky!) 

Bekah waiting to LEAVE! I turned on the TV to a cartoon while I got ready to go, hoping it would calm her down a little! She sat, ready to go, while watching! 

We FINALLY got to go to her Pre-school! She couldn't wait! I was turning off the lights in the kitchen and she was waiting by the door, giving me the 'COME ON!' look! It was funny!

Bekah at school! Look at that grin! Makes my heart sing! 

And now that the moment is past, I miss her! (A whole 45 minutes later!)

I don't know what I am going to do with my self! I have almost a month of quite time until we move. Then I will have a month and half of quite time until this baby comes! I think I will be doing some cleaning and packing to get ready for the move! (I just can't do any down on the floor scrubbing, since I can't get 'down', or back up!) 

What are you doing with your 'free time'?

Its that time again! FOOTBALL!!! (& diaper guitars!)

Jacob had his pre-season scrimmage today! He was looking good! I think it will be a great season, we are sad to be moving half way into it! 

 Gracie watching the game!

(She doesn't start cheering till next weekend at the regular season games.)

 Jake playing defense

 Going for a block. He is #36

 Bekah watching the game

 Jacob playing offense. He is the fullback. Here he is doing a fake-out.

 Bekah taking a picture of Daddy & Grace, being silly.

 Grace taking a picture of Daddy & Bekah

Jacob after the game! He is a Niceville Eagle! GO EAGLES!!!

(He is soaking wet and tired!)

He did great! Can't wait to see him play again next week!

OKAY! Diaper Guitar??? Yes you read right! I thought I would try something new, instead of the normal diaper cake I make for baby shower gifts. And since my friend plays the guitar and loves music, I thought I would try a diaper guitar! Here it is!

 K- so I started by cutting out a cardboard piece the size and shape I wanted, then I put down a hooded bath towel I made and wrapped it around the cardboard. Then took receiving blankets to make my sides. Then I added individually rolled diapers to fill in.

 I then tied around the outside with yarn to help hold its shape. Added some clothes and bibs to the middle to make the inside, or hole, of the guitar. Added the 'arm' which is cardboard with a blanket wrapped around it and socks on the end for shape and look.

Finished by adding ribbon around the sided for look and durability. And tied two 'guitar pick' binkies to it.

Not just like I wanted, but not bad. I will change a few things next time I do one, but it was fun to make and funner to give than just a pack of diapers and some clothes! It includes: 1 hooded towel, 5 onesies, 2 pants, 3 bibs, 2 pairs of socks, 4 receiving blankets, 2 binkies, one bag size 2 diapers and half a bag size 1 diapers.

What do you think?

Thoughts and feelings...

Last night as I was laying in bed thinking how we only have about 31 days left here in Florida these thoughts and feelings came to me...

We love to travel! To visit and live in amazing places, meet amazing people and have all new experiences. We love to go to new places and find all the fun, adventurous things there are to do there. To explore and find favorite little hidden treasures. We love to meet new people, make new friends, some of whom we know Heavenly Father guided into our lives for a reason, friends we will forever be close to. We love to learn the history of places and the past and present cultures of the area. Try new traditions. The Army lets us do this and so much more. 

EVERY place we have been has been perfect for our family. We have always meet amazing people and loved each location. And we have been very lucky in our assignments! I mean, who would have thought that two Idaho kids, who rarely traveled out of state would be seeing the world. I was a cowgirl who only wanted to stay in the country, the mountains. I never even thought of leaving Idaho. Two Idahoans who now have two Hawaiians, one Alaskan and soon one Coloradoan for children!

This past assignment has been wonderful for our family. We have been spoiled and got to have Dustin home EVERY night and EVERY weekend for the past 2 years! (I like to think we earned it after a 6 month and a 15 month deployment, not to mention the 12 years of normal travelings of an EOD tech.) I don't know what I am going to do without him always home! He helps with everything around the house. He is an amazing husband and father! I am so thankful for all the time we have had together these past years, even if we didn't always get along! ~ This may sound weird to a lot of you. Let me explain a normal month for an EOD tech: out of 4 weeks he is home about 2 weeks, not all at once, spread between trips. Out of 4 weekends we get 2 whole, if we are lucky, together. He has not been able to have a church calling at church for about 7 years before we moved here, nor was I able to sign up to feed the missionaries, ever, because I could never count on him being home since he was either on call or gone. And I won't even get started on holidays! So having him home for everything these past 2 years is a major blessing. ~ NOW having said this, we really do enjoy the military life. It has been a blessing in many ways. We do love all sides of it, even if it isn't always fun. It isn't the life for everyone! BUT we are going to miss this life here in Florida. The 'normal' life! I know that I have often taken Dustin for granted these past 2 years. It is easy to forget things aren't always this way when you are living in the moment. So I will take this moment to say how much I am thankful for him and all he does for us. He is the BEST husband, takes such good care of us, even when I am a grouchy turd. He is such a great father! I love watching him with the kids. They adore him. I am so glad we had this time for them to really get to spend time with him and build those bonds. 

While we are looking forward to our next adventure, and all that it brings, we are sad to leave this 'normal' life we have had for 2 years. We are once again sad to leave our wonderful friends. But we know the Lord has so much in store for us in this coming adventure. (New places to explore, new baby, new friends, and some not so great stuff like an upcoming deployment.) ALL an adventure! 

And thus are my thoughts and feelings. Maybe if I feel a little sad now, it won't hit me so hard when we are actually leaving. Hey, I can hope!

Goals!

After a friend posted some of her goals, in all areas- personal, family, finances, ect... on her face book I decided I wanted to do something similar, were others could see and hopefully it would make me follow through a little better. So I have a section on the right hand side titled Current Goals. Here are the ones I am working on right now:

Daily

(Could be doing WAY better!) Most of these are things I got out of the habit of doing when I was so sick, I need to get back in the habit of it!

~ Read scriptures

~morning prayer

~Straighten main house areas - getting done

~Make bed- half & half (meaning half the time)

Weekly

~Read one Ensign talk

~Clean out/Straighten one area of the house (Deep clean)

~Write & Mail one note or letter to someone- DONE

~FB message one person a positive note

~Post on blog- Done

August

~ Clean out my room & closet (Deep clean)

~ make 2 Goodwill runs- Made 1!

~Do my visit teaching

~Explore 2 new places in FL before we leave (I know the ones, just got to go! I have been waiting for a time with Dustin, might have to just go with the kids.)

~Do at least one act of service

~Stick to Budget!- (I have a STRICT budget set up to help save lots for the move and pay things off...) Trying!

~Pre-clean house for move (Wash walls, floor boards, clean couches/chair, deep clean table & chairs in all groves, ...)

~cook out of pantry- Doing

 

So, that along with the happenings of life, (getting ready for school which starts next Monday, Football, Cheer, Cub scouts...) is what we are up to!