Moment Of Appreciation

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving yesterday. We had a nice day. Gratitude is a way of life for us that we honor daily. It’s more than just being thankful; it’s about being in the present moment and living an abundant life. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up thinking about past mistakes made by yourself or others, measuring up to someone else’s standards, or trying to do everything perfectly, but when you validate and honor your own life, you realize the choices you made, the changes you have been through, and the gifts you have in the present moment and all those other things really don’t matter.

I feel that the truest form of wisdom is in the heart of the riches and growth of the blessings in your own life. By recognizing and following your heart it allows you to hone in the beauty around and know what makes your heart sing! This is true HAPPINESS!! I don’t live life according to the standards of others. I believe that all things are possible for everyone and you can have all your heart desires, and achieve all the success you want as long as you are true to yourself, and appreciate where you have been and where you are now.

Most importantly, when you’re confident in yourself and your own life-that joy reflects in the lives of others because there is no need to compare yourself to others. Everyone has victories both big and small and it’s wonderful to recognize those accomplishments and show gratitude.

Shhhh.. It's A Secret

I’m going to let you in on an inside joke with us. But, first I have some questions. These may be odd questions, but I have to ask…

Do you know how to whistle?

Can you whistle a tune?

Well, for me, I can only whistle a very basic tune. Your probably thinking, who cares..

What’s the big deal?

Well, to give you a bit of history and perspective on why a whistle can have so much significance (and hopefully a good laugh) you have to understand my husband’s side of the family (this is for those of you who do not know).

My husband is the oldest of his siblings. He grew up in the same household with his brother, but also has 2 step-brothers and a sister. When they all go shopping together (total of 7 people-siblings and parents) they have this “thing” they do when they get separated so they can locate each other and go on about their shopping or whatever. This “thing” is a whistle.

The first time I went to the store with them as a group, it was quite embarrassing to be around all them whistling when someone wandered off, but interesting enough, it worked! Over time, I, of course, accepted this and my husband willing taught our son the whistle.

Now to really understand you need to hear the sound.. So click on the link below (its safe), then click download, then open to hear it. You may want to listen to it a couple of time! LOL.

(click me to hear the whistle)

That was Jayce by the way… OK back to my story.

The whistle sounds easy enough, huh? And, if you practice you could probably get it.

Well, for me it’s not that easy. I can never get it. My husband and I have been together for nearly 16 years and I can’t do it. I’m always the odd one out!! Before we get ready to visit his family, we practice and practice, it turns into this joke and of course the boys make fun of me.

So one day I proposed that we come up with a new whistle, which did not work out so well considering I cannot whistle that much anyway. BJ and Jayce continued to tease me, so I suggested again that we have a new sound; it goes something like this.

(click me to hear the new sound)

Jayce starts laughing hysterically at me and said, “Yeah, right mom. We’re not a family of seagulls!”

This has been an ongoing inside joke with us and always brings a smile when I hear them do their “thing” in the store. Occasionally Jayce will do the other “seagull” sound to be silly. And it really does sound comical hearing it echo down the aisle in a store! LOL!!!

Ok. I admit it. We’re a little goofy.

Hot Fix For A Cold Day

It’s been cold the past couple of days so yesterday I decided to cook a spicy Louisiana southern meal for dinner. Gumbo. It was the first time I had ever made it and it turned out perfect. I love spicy foods and it was just the thing needed on a bitter day. Afterwards, Jayce and Lana fell asleep and I couldn’t help taking their picture. They always look so cute and cozy together! I just love my kiddo’s!

Pics Of Lana

I just wanted to make a quick post and share some photos of Lana.

Jayce & Grandma's Spyro Fun!

Wow, I can’t believe it is almost Thanksgiving.. Where has the time gone? I’ve been thinking a great deal about family. It just hit me this morning that this year will be the first year that I will not spend either Thanksgiving or Christmas with my mom. Even all the years that we have been living away from our family members, my mom has always been with us to celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving. Boy ol’ boy, Jayce is really going to miss his grandma’s pumpkin pie and their annual event of “Spyro”, which consist of staying up all night and day for the duration of his grandma’s visit and playing SPYRO on PS2. Jayce always says he has the greatest grandma in the world because he has not met too many grandmas that like to play Spyro for all eternity—which is no joke because this has been going on for the last 10 years. What is really funny is Spryo just released or will release their 10th anniversary game this year. LOL!! Below is a picture of Jayce and one of his grandma's (my mom) playing Spryro. We lived in North Carolina at the time.

The picture below is of Jayce acting like one of the characters in the game. He's shaking his bootie because on the game they would call this particular section bootie-land due to when Spyro would flame the bad guys, they would shake their booties and run. Jayce and my mom would crack up and then Jayce would pretend he was shaking his bootie like in the picture below.

We always hold a special place in our hearts for family. The most difficult aspect of living a “military life” is not always having the opportunity to be close to family. Even though we don’t always get to spend the holidays with family, we make the most of the day all the same with just us. We eat tons of food, play games or throw around the football, relax, have many laughs, eat more food, and take a power nap to give us some energy of putting up the Christmas tree, which has always been a tradition to decorate it on Thanksgiving. *hint*hint, to Will.. He needs to get the decorations totes accessible for us because Thanksgiving Day is approaching soon.

As a child, my family would all gather at my grandmother’s house and there would always be so many people coming and going. Besides all the great food and company, my family would go outside and play football. I know there are many video’s of us, which I would love to watch again someday. I can remember being the player that hiked the ball, and a few times I scored a touchdown. Sometimes it would be really cold or snowing, and other times we would be wearing shorts-that’s crazy Oklahoma weather for ya! All in all, it was some good-times!! Speaking of football and Oklahoma, I’ll end this post with this picture of my Uncle Dave and my mom. This picture was taken at my grandma’s house many years ago (1988).

My Little G.I. Jane

As promised, here is the video of Lana showing off her infamous army crawl… I took a video of her about a week ago; she is now going up on her knees and rocking back and forth. But, that video was a bit shaky and I could never get it to upload. Therefore, I took another short video of her so here it is.. I hope it brings you many smiles.

Where Has The Time Gone?

Time passes by so quickly, all of a sudden, my little boy is turning into a man. It’s so hard to imagine that sometime in the near future Jayce will be in high school and then off to college. As a child, Jayce was always a pleasure to be near, and to this day he still warms my heart with his thoughtfulness, gratitude, and happiness. I have high expectations for his future that I think he will live up to without question. Even though I see him growing daily as a person in so many ways; spiritually, physically, emotionally, and becoming wiser each moment, I cannot believe that adulthood is approaching so quickly.

It was not too long ago when this picture was taken. Jayce was so much fun!! And, throughout all these years has given us so many reasons to smile. I keep this picture in our bathroom because it was a father-son moment of Jayce pretending to shave, but now this picture has much more significance because Jayce is shaving himself!!

Can you believe it? Jayce has started getting facial hair and we decided it was time for him to begin shaving. So his dad helped him get started…

Of course his dad is giving him all the fatherly advice and pointers of shaving so he does not nick his skin.

Jayce has now mastered shaving his face, and is giving me a look of- Oh. My. Gosh. Because he knows that his mom is going to post this on her blog!! ~LOL

Almost finished....

What a HANDSOME YOUNG MAN my boy is becoming!!! I love you Jayce.

Gangsta Style

I'm a gangsta!

Nooo.. Just kidding! I'm too cute to be a gangsta!

Smokey was nearby so I took this picture of her.

Champion In The Making

Yesterday, late afternoon, we went to the football field so that BJ and Jayce could run some plays. Jayce asked me to record him so that he could critique himself. Shortly after, a friend of Jayce’s came over and started playing. We had a good time. I’ve included a couple of videos for you to have the opportunity of viewing a CHAMPION IN THE MAKING!!

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Bakers Man

This morning during breakfast I took a video of Lana playing patty cake! She is so cute. She started the patty cake thing actively this past week and will also clap when she gets excited about something! Now, I just need to get a video of her showing off her infamous army crawl-Coming soon… Until then, I hope you find this video as risible as I did.

Birthday Wishes

I wanted to dedicate this post to our godson, Connor, who is now 1 year old!!! We met our dear friends Brian and Christina while we lived in Virginia this last go around. I cannot express enough how much we care and respect them. Both Will and I will do our very best as godparents for this little guy and always be there for him. Thank you Brian and Christina, for bestowing that honor upon us!! Our prayers and thoughts are always with each of you! Happy Birthday Connor-May your day be filled with delight and lots of yummy cake!

Christina emailed me some pictures of the many birthday parties he had throughout the states, so I thought I would share a few of them-with her permission, of course. Enjoy…

So adorable!
Connor and Brian
Like father, like son! GO PATRIOTS!


What an awesome cake!! Very creative... LOVE it!

Be Sure To Vote-2008

Dumpster Diving

This morning I had to run some errands so Lana and I headed out the door, after locking the door, I decided to take some trash to the big dumpster. I was holding Lana in my arms and I went to use the foot release that opens the lid, and it did not work.

Oh, Yuck!

I did not want to touch the lid. So, I was trying desperately to minimize how much I was going to touch this dumpster. As I was using the very tips of my fingers to open the lid as quickly as I could and drop the trash in, my keys went in the dumpster, all the way to the bottom!

Oh, Gross!

Of course, my house is locked so I decided to ask one of my neighbor’s f0r assistance, and have her hold the baby while I figure out a way to get my keys. I go over to our outside storage and grab a shovel. I walk back over to the dumpster, which is as tall as me, and I’m looking at this trash dumpster with repugnance. I was feeling utterly mortified with the idea of having to dig for my keys.

At this point, my neighbor offers for me to get a stool that is on her porch to help so I’m not eye level with all the nasty bugs flying around. I proceed over to her house to grab this stool, and as I’m walking back towards the trash dumpster, I see a maintenance guy driving by. I stop him and he gets out of the vehicle and informs me that he does not speak English. It’s almost like I’m playing charades with him because I’m acting like I’m driving a car and trying to show him that my keys were in the bottom of the dumpster. He grabs another garden tool from his truck and is trying to help me get the keys.

After a couple of minutes another person comes outside and asks if everything is ok. She walks over to us and gets up on the stool and says, “What the hell, I have not had a shower yet!” Then she dives head first into the dumpster and grabs my keys!!!

OH MY GOODNESS!

No Kidding-she went head first!! I could not believe it, but I was so glad that it was not me!!

I went back to my house and cleaned up before leaving and felt so thankful that someone came to my rescue!!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!