A perfect life?

Well, my favorite time of year is here!! Autumn!! I love it, the cool air, the changing leaves and lots of walks through the farm fields of Germany. I love seeing the bright orange and red pumpkins that decorate the houses here and, the old, brick barns along the backroads piled full of pumpkins. In my perfect world I would wake early, spend time in prayer, prepare a scumptous breakfast for my family, ensure the radiators are pumping out enough heat and have my favorite candles filling the room with just the right ambiance. I would have plenty of time to scrub my kids faces and sticky hands before dressing them in matching outfits that I picked out and they love. We would be jovial as we packed in the car and drove to work/daycare singing our favorite songs. After the day was over I would bring my mini mees home to a dinner that I had thoughtfully planned and prepared the night before so that I can spend time with my children while it is cooking. My house would be emmaculate and decorated in all forms of fall decor. Which was tidily packed away until needed. The whole family would decorate together and we would all enjoy each others company. We would spend time reading books cuddled up in a blanket drinking hot chocolate or coffee! Home would be a tranquil place of rest and relaxation. I would get my children washed up and in the bed at an early hour so that I could spend time with my husband watching football or chatting about politics or plannning our future. Him and I would them retire to bed at a decent hour!!

HOWEVER,

I find that I live in a world where I struggle to rise by 0600 so that I have just enough time to get myself dressed, wake the girls up, argue about what they are willing to wear and try to convince them to eat a bowl of cereal or oatmeal while I pack lunches and gather homework. We get out of the house to the car, now arguing about who is going to get in first. No one can agree on music so, I turn it off. One child is trying to wipe boogers on the other and both are screaming because the other is trying to look out the others window. I drop off my munchkins at daycare with a peck on the cheek and quick bye. After work, I gather my herd and we start the drive home, which is usually peaceful. We pull into the drive and of course the girls only have eyes for dad! I follow them in the house where they have dropped bookbags, lunchboxes, and coats before they walked to their room. I'm already thinking about what I'm going to try to get going for dinner. The girls beg for a movie. Trying to be a good mother, I suggest reading a book or playing a game of hide-and-seek or coloring pictures. They try for about 10 minutes then they are arguing over the coloring book or crayons, so, wore-out, I put a movie in. The girls then veg out hanging upside down on the couch. I prepare dinner and call everyone to the table. This takes another 15 minutes to get everyone assembled. Hannah sits down and immediately points out everything she doesn't like. I insist she try everything and then it falls silent for about 10 minutes.

After dinner we start to clean kitchen, shower kids, get laundry started, try to clean one room in the house, attempt to do homework, read to the kids and get them in bed by 8:00pm. At this point, I'm too tired to think straight. I know that I should get dinner prepped for tomorrow night, and pick out the girls clothes tonight so that tomorrow morning will be smoother. I still see toys strown throughout the house, toothpaste stuck in the sink, dirty clothes....everywhere! Have I done devotions today??? I thought about it but did I actually do it? I shower, while my husband goes to lay down in bed. I come in read my Bible then fall asleep while praying. WAKE UP, did I blow the candles out? Fade back to sleep.

It is exhausting and it is hard most of the time but, it is still a good life!! We have lots of really good days mixed in. Days that I forgo homework, or forgo cleaning so that we can get in a game of chase, or go for one of those treasured walks. I do love my life...of course I do wonder how I will manage when number three gets here. Everyone tells me that that is when chaos enters the house! HA! Chaos entered mine a long time ago. I still burn my ambiance filling candles that I love, and with the help of a maid that comes every other week, I manage to keep the house under control. Rob usually packs all the lunches for the following day so that alleviates some work in the morning. I do my devotions and I pray in the shower so that I don't fall asleep. Bedtime is closer to 10:00pm or a little after. All in all, i wouldn't change my life for anything.

From the Mouth of Babes II

Hannah: "Mommy, do you want me to take the baby out of your stomach?"
Me: "I think we should let a doctor do that."
Hannah: " Well I have one of those things the doctor puts in his ears."

Heading to my bedroom behind Rebekah who was heading to her bedroom.
Rebekah: "Stop following me mommy."

After Rob answered a question that Hannah had asked me.
Hannah: "I wasn't talking to you dad, I was talking to mommy."

Hannah: "Do you know what you do when there is smoke on an airplane mommy?"
Me: "What do you do?"
Hannah: "You crawl on the floor til you get to the door."
Me: "where did you learn that?"
Hannah: "It was on the back of the picture on the airplane."

After swatting Rebekah's bottom for drawing on the couch.
"I don't like that mommy."

Compassion International

My newest heart throb. I have a close friend in the military that I have known for 4 years now. She has always been an advocate for Compassion International. I personally thought sponsoring a kid would be cool but never thought passed that. Then, a couple of Sundays ago, my friend spoke at our chapel concerning Compassion. She has been sponsoring a little girl for 5 years now and has even gone to the Philippines to visit her. I was so moved by her story that I went home and looked up Compassion online. It took a while to cifer through all the information and for me to find all the answers to my burning questions, like how much of my monthly pledge goes to the child? how do I know it is going to the child? can I correspond with the child? What is the child getting out of this? Am I the only one sponsoring this child? All of my questions were answered just as I had hoped and so I made the plunge of $38 a month to sponsor a child. I got to pick the child that I wanted. I sorted through all the children by who had been waiting for a sponsor the longest. This is indicated by a red heart on their picture. My little girl had been waiting for a sponsor for over 6 months. She lives is Columbia and she will turn 6 the 30th of July. Her name is Michell. Hannah was very drawn to the little girl as well, she actually did the picking. I have been so excited every day waiting for my sponsorship package to come in the mail with ALL of her information. So, what does $38 dollars a month buy her? Well, she gets one healthy meal a day, medical attention, a Bible in her language, which is Spanish, and additional help at school. I also write letters to her, and send her small paper things that fit in an 8.5 X 11in envelope. She gets stickers and coloring books and bandaids from me. My little girl lives in a house with a dirt floor and plastic roof. It is only her and her mommy. Mommy works for $80 a month. There is also a blog where all those that sponsor children get together and discuss our kids. I plan to be Michell's sponsor until she leaves the program at 18. So, now you know my new passion in life. Check out the website at your leisure.
www.compassion.com

Dealing with Fear

Fear is one of the most paralyzing things that influence a person's life. I have had my battle with this emotion off and on for the past 10 years. Fear of leaving home, fear of not passing tech school, fear of not being able to learn my new job, fear of getting married, fear of deploying to the desert, fear of being pregnant, fear of giving birth, fear of being deployed again, fear of SIDS, fear of my baby choking, fear of them falling, fear of them drowning, etc the cycle never stops. After much prayer I have started to win the battle again. Now, fear rears its ugly head again. A couple weeks ago I started bleeding, and for anyone 12 weeks pregnant that is a bad thing. I tried to maintain composure, tried not to fear what could be happening. I went to the doctor and happily found out that the baby was fine. However, my placenta was attaching itself to my cervix...bad. I was put on bed rest and told to take it easy or I would wind up in the hospital. So, I battled with fear again. I was scared of almost everything because the most simple thing like walking around the house would start the bleeding again. I did spend time in prayer and instead of God telling me that I would be healed, He opened my eyes to the opportunity that laid in front of me. I am able for almost 4 weeks to spend everyday with my girls. They don't have to go to preschool, they get to stay with me. We love it. We have breakfast together, do color pages together and then I watch them while they play. I've never had the opportunity to have this much uninterrupted time with them. I don't know what the future holds for our family, but right now I don't think about it. I enjoy the day I have with my girls and take advantage of loving them!

Life Happenings

This past Tuesday my husband re-enlisted for another 4 years in the military, this will take him to 19 years. WOW! In 6 years he will be eligible for retirement. YAY! I still have 10 years left, bummer. Anyway, here are a couple pictures of the re-enlistment. Rob was re-enlisted by LtCol Ricky Wyatt, his boss.

Pics are here!!

Ladies and gentlemen,

The pics are here of Grand Canaria! Despite a stomach virus that lasted several days, I had a wonderful time. The weater was in the high 70s so of course that meant, bathing suit weather!!

This first picture was taken in a touristy village about 15 minutes from our hotel. It was most beautiful and bordered the ocean.

This second picture was taken at the same village in front of the harbor! The water was amazing. Crystal clear, I hated myself for not having the forethought to bring a change of clothes. I would have jumped in sure as the world is round. Gorgeous!!

My third picture is of the water!! I couldn't leave you not knowing how beautiful water can be. Honestly, despite the rocks, wouldn't you want to jump in?

Ok, normally I don't go around grabbing people's rears. Unless of course it is my husband who I find irresistable at times, or my own if my wallowing in self-pity over my weight, or one of my two daughters. Usually then it's not a grab but a smack or a pinch if we're playing. I can't claim drunken debauchery either because it was 1000 in the morning. Anyway, the onlookers found it funny and despite the language barrier, they knew understood what I was doing and let loose with a hearty laugh. Would I do it again??? uh, yeah!

This is a picture of our crazy German driver, Peter. He is a fellow crew member who runs the radar on the AWACS. He has been stationed at Geilenkirchen for 24 years. Our trip started out rough as, like a lot of German males, he tried the intimidation when we met. If you know me, you know that doesn't work and it was abruptly thrown full force back in his face. By the end of the trip we got along jovily and agreed to fly again together.

Here is a picture of the a town from a couple miles away. We were starting our journey up into the mountains. Grand Canaria use to be an active volcano and is now extinct, hence the very rough terrain.

Here is proof that there are aliens among us. Actually, we found a spot where TOO much alcohol had been consumed. The ground was littered with broken bear bottles and shotgun shells. So, redneck doesn't only apply to the stereotyped backwoods American. But also to Spaniards!

Here is me being free! Yes, I did observe that my pants had come unzipped but, since I'm not showing anything of real importance I posted this pic anyway!!

Here is me posing on an overlook. It was about a 7 story drop from where I was sitting and though you can't tell in the picture, my hands were sweating and my feet hurt because I'm scared of heights!!

Here is the pool behind our hotel where we spent most of our free time. Very pretty! Yes, I do know the guy in the picture, he was too lazy to move.

Here is an interesting picture! Notice the huge crack in the rock?
Here is a sample of the local flora!! Very nice.

Grand Canarias

Lead on O' King Eternal, the Day of March has come!!!

Hello to everyone in the regular world today! I'm enjoying the beautiful Grand Canarias today! We are staying in a beautiful hotel right on the coast! Suprisingly, the island is lacking in beauty. Being nothing but an extinct volcano, the landscape leaves something to be desired. Grand Canarias is very mountainous in areas, and no trees, (except palm and bananas). Bananas is the only export of this small island and the major industry is tourism. The one exceptional beauty is the water. I swear, there is a undiscovered shade of blue here in the water. So, clear, yet so blue!! The beaches are black sand, instead of the revered white. Still, it brings its own charm, beauty that sprung out of destruction. You can visit the actual vocanic sight. A large crater sits in Las Palmas. It has already been overgrown with vegetation. Mostly shrubbery that you would picture in a desert environment. Sitting close to the equator, Grand Canarias has a stable climate of around 70 degrees F. It does vary, but even in Feb/Mar, I'm wearing shorts and a tank top comfortably.
So, aside from the island what have I done. The first night we (my crew) stayed out to 4am. Enjoying the ocean, the food and the some, (the alcohol). It's amazing on a crew like this the camraderie that ensues. We layed out on the beach and tried to identify constellations. Some went for a swim. I did not as, I don't particularly care for water.
Around 4am we headed back to the hotel. Where several crew members decided to strip down to their skivvies and jump in the pool. I was being harassed sorely for being a stick in the mud the whole night. I fear water so I try to stay away. However, a burly Canadian decided that I needed a swim. Now, don't worry, clothes were left in tact. However, in one swift motion I was over his shoulder and as he says, "politely escorted" into the water. I wasn't angry, I knew I had it coming. What I didn't expect was for the security guard coming up rather abruptly and watch as we all crawled out of the pool apologetically. He took room numbers and sent us on our way. I trying to be the smart alec gave him the room number to our crew's pilot. How he figured out that that wasn't my room number I don't know. The next day, however, I had a 75 euro miscellaneous charge on my room.
Yesterday we toured the entire island, lots of driving and pictures. Unfortunately, I left my camera USB cable at home so you will have to wait a week to see pictures!! Today, after I finish my way too expensive coffee, I'm going to the beach!! Enjoy one and all. I will post later. Please forgive all misspelled words and gramatical errors as I'm typing rather fast and will not be checking over it until later in the day!! Love to all that read this!