The letter M

     The most important thing that starts with M in our family is Daddy's name. For safety and privacy I'm obviously not going to tell you what it is. What I will tell you about is how awesome he is.
     The first thing that got my attention was how bold and, confident he is. He and I first met when he came with his best friend (now lovingly called Uncle Squeals by our boys) to a movie night at my apartment. I had previously canned an awesome batch of peaches. I had dished myself a bowl and sat down to eat and, watch the movie when he said "Are those peaches?" I replied "yes" rather hesitantly all the while thinking in my head "why do you ask?" His response was "May I have some?"
      Of course not wanting to be rude I said yes got up and, dished him a bowl too. Upon handing the bowl to him he flashed me the most handsome crooked smile I've ever seen and, said "You can sit by me if you want." So I did which actually surprised us both. I later found out he was totally joking and didn't expect me to take him up on it. I'm so very glad I did though.
      M is handsome, funny, and super smart. He is outdoorsy and, much more active then what I'm used to. Because, of this he constantly encourages me to do and be better at these weaknesses. He is an excellent chef and, a wonderful father. Sometimes, he is so good at playing with the boys that I wonder who is really the kid.  He is very laid back. In fact his motto is "Just let it happen." Meaning don't stress about life just go with the flow of things. M is also very hardworking. He would do absolutely anything to make sure our family is happy and safe. To sum it up M is a terrific guy and I feel so lucky that he has chosen to be with me throughout this journey called Life.

The letter L

      I hate being Late. It is my biggest pet peeve. I know it sometimes happens things come up last minute, traffic and other problems occur. Ultimately though, I'll do whatever it takes to be on time to appointments and meetings. If, I know I'm going to be late I most definitely call. In fact I've gotten to where I wake up way early if I have plans simply because, I've learned the days that I seem to have plans, for some reason are also the days that it tends to take the boys at least twice as long to do anything. It must just be Murphy's Law at work.
      M is a  Light weight. No I'm not referring to drinking. I'm literally talking he doesn't weigh much. He is 5'6 and weighs 120 on a good day. When he went to MEPS for processing he barely passed the height and weight requirements. We constantly tease and make jokes about his weight. Don't get me wrong though I love him just the way he is.
     We are super loving. We say I love you all the time. Kisses and hugs are frequent at our house. Despite the fact that we've been married four years, had several fights and, two kids we still act like newlyweds. He is and forever will be the love of my life. As a result of all of this our boys are learning to be super loving too. They are always hugging and kissing on us and other family members. I hope that we can be the example to them of what a good marriage looks like.
      We are members of  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We know there is a God in Heaven that He lives and love us. We know that the Savior atoned for our sins and, that because of this we can live again with our Heavenly Father. We know that God still hears and, answers prayers. We know that Joseph Smith did indeed pray and see the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove; and that he is a Prophet of God. We know that revelation still exists and, occurs daily. We know that each person is entitled to personal revelation. We know that Thomas S. Monson is God's Prophet on the earth today. Finally, we know that by making and keeping sacred covenants we can be a family forever and, return to our Father's presence to have eternal happiness. As a family we invite you that if you don't already know these truths for yourself to begin reading the Book of Mormon and praying to the Lord to know if it is true. If you don't have a Book of Mormon leave a comment and I will send you one. These truths and many others that the church teaches have brought so much happiness to our lives. We are certain it will do the same for you and your family.

The letter J

     We Joke a lot at our house. We love comedians. Our favorites are Dane Cook, Christopher Titus and most recently Jeff Dunham. Most of our inside jokes tend to be the punch lines twisted to match real life scenarios. M's dream job is to be a comedian. I personally think he would do AMAZING at it. But, alas he has a bit of stage fright when it comes to this because it is something he wants so very much. Who knows maybe one day he'll work for Wise Guys but for now we'll stick with the military. Not as funny perhaps but tons more stable.  

      P and Q love Jumping. Whether it be on the bed, stairs, couches or floors. I feel like a say a million times a day "get down" or "stop jumping on that." (The one saying my parents would be most proud of is "Knock it off my house is not a jungle gym.") I have a favorite children's book line that says Sometimes that Mother felt like she was living in a zoo. Well lately I feel like that mother and the boys seem to be monkeys. Let's just hope this momma doesn't have to call the doctor anytime soon for the monkeys that keep jumping the bed. (sorry couldn't help myself)

      I feel this next word deserves the background story. I talk to M about all of the posts on our blog before I write them up. Most of the time he has great insight into what I should really say. So this was our conversation last night after laughing at realization that I'd forgotten the letter J.

M: You should do the word Juggling.

C: Juggling? What on earth are you talking about?

M: Think about it. Mom's juggle stuff all the time, Cleaning, Cooking, Kids stuff, for us lately the    move, plus you kinda manage my schedule.

C: I guess you're right. Ok juggling it is.

M: Besides after missing the letter you should at least make this post entertaining to make up for it.   

     Thanks to M, I have realized the job of a parent seems to be a Juggling act. As mom's we take care of the housework, kids, bills and, anything else that might pop up at home. Though I've yet to experience all of it Mil Spouses juggle even more. They juggle trainings, deployments, TDY's, PCS's, and so much more. Fathers do just as much juggling. Men go to work, come home and help with homework, yard work, bills and of course anything else that keeps the family happy. Perhaps this is why multitasking has come about. Because without it we'd fail at juggling it all. 

     This blog has become a type of Journal for me. I used to dread blogging but I have to admit the more I blog the more I love it. I've decided if I never have a million readers I'll at least be happy that the story of my life is written down. Don't get me wrong I LOVE that more people are starting to read it and comment. So keep reading and commenting cause you the reader really are the reason I keep typing all the time.  

Laughing at Myself

Dear Crew,
I was laying in bed last night going over the events of the day and planning out tomorrow when it hit me. I have forgotten the letter J. I'm not quite sure how it happened or why. None the less it has happened. I feel silly and slightly like an illiterate redneck (which I promise you I am not). So as a result I'll be doing three posts today. The first one an apology for appearing to not truthfully know the Abc's, One for J to make up missing it and the last one for L to keep on track with the letters. Once again I'm sorry and hopefully these silly mistakes won't happen again. However, if  they do we are fully prepared to land the plan and handle the problems accordingly. Now back to your regularly schedule Flight.

The letter K

       I'd like to think that overall we are a Kind family. We try to help those around us. We donate when we can. We follow the golden rule. We're certainly not the best at it but, I think over all our friends now we're always there for them.

       We have Kids. Two wonderful, smart, mischievous, occasionally bickering boys. Sometimes, they drive us crazy (today being one of those days) but, we love them. I couldn't imagine what life would be like without them. I'm so very excited to watch P and Q grow; I can't wait for all the memories we'll make together as a family.

        Most people call it spinach but, for the sake of this post I'm going to refer to it as Kale. I love it. My most favorite recipe Stuffed shells has kale in it. I would put in pretty much everything if I could. The very best though is when it is steamed and has vinegar on it. Yummy, and it's healthy too! 

        We have a new restaurant that we absolutely love it's called The Karaoke Cafe. If you live in Utah and you haven't tried it you really should. It might help some that we know the owners, it really is such a great place though.Best part is it's a family friendly joint and there is NO alcohol. You pay a little bit of money to get in the door that covers your drink andm all the songs you can sing. They've even got some kids songs. Next time we go I'll have to record P singing. He loves that place and, absolutely hates when it's not his turn to sing. (He gets that from Dad) Even, if you don't like to sing go eat a yummy burger and listen to other people try to sing.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

 

                       I'm one of the silly Mom's that dresses her kids in red and spends the day making all of the food heart shaped. That's right it was heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. They will be having PB&J's cut into the shape a heart for lunch. Dinner will be Pizza which (as you hopefully guessed) will be formed into a heart. Cheesy? Perhaps, but it's been fun to watch them be excited about their food for once. We have spent the morning making homemade valentines with crayons and construction paper for Daddy & Uncle Squeals. We made cookies last night (with frosting). With any luck, I'll find a cute kids movie about valentines to watch tonight. Hope you and yours are doing something great for this lovely day!

             Happy Valentines Day From The Flight Crew!!

The letter I

       I am very Imperfect, as I'm sure most people on the planet are.Earlier, in the year I set some goals to help me improve. I'll have you know that it has not been easy. However, I do feel like I'm making progress with each of my goals (especially with laundry mountain). Gordon B. Hinckley once said "You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove to be the greatest investment that you will ever make." This is certainly starting to feel like the truth. 
       We are all Important. Recently, I watched "The Help". It was such a great movie. The one thing that stuck with me is how we all have a story to tell. It also reinforced something I had always known but never really heard put so simply: "You is smart, You is kind, You is important." This is so true of all people especially, children. 
       It always amazes me how Impressionable kids are. I am quickly learning that anything and, everything can and, most likely will be repeated. Sometimes this is cute, other times not so much. In fact, most of the time it tends to be downright embarrassing. Hopefully, in the end my children will have learned the important thing that they are SO loved.
       Some behaviors are not really learned at home though and they tend to be Inappropriate. Lately we have struggled with three things at our house. They are coloring on the wall, pinching, and being bossy. Though I'm not proud I'm hoping it is just a stage that will pass quickly. Any suggestions on how to rid the house of theses and other such things would be greatly appreciated.

The letter H

      We're a very Happy bunch most of the time. M's favorite saying is Just let it happen. Basically it means go with the flow and love it.
       Though it is starting to get harder both of the boys tend to be very Helpful. They love to vaccum and unload the dishwasher. However, their most favorite thing to help with is carrying the warm laundry over to the couch to be folded. The only real fight I have when asking them to help is when cleaning up toys.
       I've become very good at making Homemade food. We went through nine months of unemployment this last year. Within that time frame it became cheaper for me to make our bread rather than buy it. Also with the help of the internet I've learned how to make lots of our favorite restaurant foods from scratch. We have grown so used to having homemade food that it's really what we tend to prefer these days. With the help of my new bread maker it's becoming a much easier thing to do. :)
       It seems to me that the three boys in the house are always Hungry. We'll eat a meal and easily 30 minutes later one of them will be perusing the cupboards for something else. I'm more of a late night snacker though. Because of this we're getting better about trying to have healthy foods in the house. So that when we all get the munchies rather than eating our beloved gummy bears we eat an apple or some carrots. It must be starting to sink in to P's head.While at the grocery store he'd been so good that he earned a treat and, my smart boy picked out a green apple as his reward. 

The letter G

        M and I are both Gamers. As result P is starting to be one too. Not to worry I do limit how much all of us play. We mainly play PC games. My game of choice is WOW (World of Warcraft), M's game is League of Legends, P's game is Plants vs. Zombies. I won't go in to much more about this cause I don't want to bore you but, let it be known we're one of those gamer families out there.

       I love Ghost shows. My favorite is Ghost hunters. If I were ever actually confronted with a real ghost I'd probably be the biggest chicken ever. For now though i love my paranormal shows.

        As a parent I feel I'm quite fluent in Gibberish. My children have been speaking it since about six months. I used to absolutely love to hear them babble on in conversation. Now, however I'm starting to wish they'd speak English just a little bit more. Especially since these days the gibberish tends to be most prominent when they are in a bad mood.

      We love Gummy stuff. Whether it be gummy bears, worms or whatever else the food industry can come up with. I don't know if it's the strange flavors or the texture. It is just the best junk food known to man. We also can never seem to have enough at our house.

       I've said it before and I'll say at least a thousand more times we have Good kids.I'm not sure how they have so much patients, kindness, love, and concern in them but I'm so very glad they do. These are good boys now I just need them to stay this way.

       In case you missed it in the last post my favorite color is Green. Just to recap my wedding was green and pink the bathroom is green, and some kitchen items are green. Not sure why I just love the color green.

The letter F

       I love Frogs. I love them so much that all of our bathroom set has frogs on it (towel's bathmats, toothbrush holder etc.). Some of our kitchen stuff is green too. In fact, even though I didn't make the connection at the time our wedding colors were green and pink lol. I'm not sure what it is about the jumpy green guys but I love em.

       The other thing I love is Fires. Hubby loves to go camping and since he knows that I enjoy a fire he normally will build a bonfire. It makes for a nice combo he can be all outdoorsy while I enjoy the fire.

       Obviously the word Family describes us. We both come from large families and we enjoy spending time with both sides. I'm excited for the boys to get older and really be able to play with all of the cousins. On the other hand it is SO much fun to have time with just our small little family. We love playing board games together or watching a movie. The best ever though is when there is some down time to just go the park and let the boys run wild while we all spend time together.

       We are very Fun loving. If he wasn't going in to the AF some days I swear he could be a comedian. He is always cracking jokes and making people laugh. P and Q quite funny too. They always say or do silly things. In fact, you can tell that P's imagination is really starting to take off. The other day while I was making lunch he picked up his plate (that has three different sections for food) and said "Look Mom, it's a smiley face." I love our small funny family. 

The letter E

       We have very Energetic boys. I know some of it comes from the age but I also know that some of it comes from who their Daddy is. M tends to be very Excited about things. It would appear that this is something he has passed on to our kids. They are up almost every morning at 7 and they don't seem to stop still bed time. Some days it is fun however, every mother knows that other days it just makes you want to pull your hair out.It seems throughout the day I am loved on multiple times. 

      The boys are very Embracing. They love to give hugs and kisses. They tend to want to cuddle alot too. I love that they are such Momma's boys. I just hope they don't turn into teenage boys who think it's uncool to give their mom a hug.  

     Lately there seems to be an Echo or perhaps a parrot in our house. Everything M and I say tends to be repeated by P especially if we are chastising Q for something. This is a phase that I cannot wait to see go away.