Boo!

Have you ever wanted to have a picture of your child's face when you jump out from around a corner and scare her? I did and now I do. {giggle}

Paralyzed

I'm just here to ramble...

Gene and I talk every once in a while about how much we miss each other. It is hard to describe. We both agree that it can be paralyzing.

I grieve the days because they aren't like they are supposed to be. I am tired. The day to day activities aren't bad... I have gotten used to that... but the emotional exhaustion doesn't end.

I pray that the deployments don't hurt my children emotionally. Am I able to be the parent they need?

Do they know how much their Dad misses them? How it must be so difficult for him to miss the simple things in life like both of them having their front teeth gone at the same time, tucking them in bed, or being at parent teacher conferences.

I wish I was stronger and didn't let things like holidays and birthdays bring me down. Thinking about how much I miss Gene and thinking about things like this can be paralyzing.

I am working really hard at adopting a new frame of mind... only positive. Well, only positive went out the window today.

Tomorrow I'll wake up and thank God for another day. I'll be thankful that Gene is a soldier. We have a beautiful little home with great neighbors. We have been able to see a lot of the United States. My husband has a career that he can be proud of ... we are proud of him.

Tomorrow I will lift up my children and give them only positive attention and love. Tonight, I am paralyzed.

making learning pretty

My light bulb came on!

I can make a cute chip board book with Greta's high-frequency words.

Greta loves girly, frilly, pretty things but she doesn't love sitting down to learn her high-frequency words. So far, so good. She has already studied her words and enjoyed everything in the book.

Here are some pics of the book. I left a couple of pages blank in the back for additional work... maybe math facts.

Halloween Ribbon Wreath

You know those green plastic ring thingys that come on potted Mums? I think they are meant to keep them standing upright and not drooping when they grow too big. I always thought they would be useful for something, so I saved a few from last years Mums.

Viola! One of them became part of my Halloween decorations.

Here's how:

I cut the middle out of the ring thingy.

Then I cut and melted the ends of ribbon from approximately four spools -each piece was about seven inches and I had more than I could count.

After that, I tied them on and scrunch them together.

BTW - that's not a real crow, just part of my Halloween fun.

Great Friends

As we move from place to place during our Army career we are lucky enough to make some life long friends. Some of those friends become adopted family... by choice! This past week our wonderful friends/adopted family from Kansas came to visit.

It was a wonderful visit. It was like we hadn't been away for a couple of years. There wasn't any uncomfortable moments or tension. Just laughs and love. I can't tell you how good it felt to have Margaret and Larry make the trip from Kansas to here. We seldom get visitors. It is the plight of the military family. So, when we do get a visitor it makes us feel special. During the visit I kept on thinking "they love us, they really love us."

The girls ate up the undivided attention. Every little thing they did was gushed over. The individual piano recitals, the books being read, and the little hands being held by adoptive grandparents.

Gigi doesn't do well with goodbyes and usually tries to high-tail it out of the whole uncomfortable business. She barely hugged Margaret and Larry when we left the hotel. When we started pulling out of the hotel parking lot I heard Gigi's small sad voice say "I'm going to miss them." Me too.

But then the girls and I went and ate cheeseburgers and felt so much better. {giggle}

As promised...

here is a pic of the tote that was made with a repurposed $2 curtain from Goodwill and a freebie bag.

Reduce Reuse Recycle Totes

This one wasn't my genius idea. I found it on another blog but I still want to share the outcome. It is such a great way to add some spice to your freebies.

Take one of your plain old totes that you get for free. I didn't have one on hand because I used to send mine to Goodwill, but not any longer. So, I asked my neighbor if she had one that she wouldn't care if I messed it up. I wasn't sure how this experiment would turn out.

You measure the width and height of your freebie tote. Turn your tote inside out (it will become the liner) and sew the new cover on the outside. My measurements were a bit fluid but after a nip and tuck here and a well placed pleat, it worked out.

I did return it to its rightful owner. Now I am making some for myself. I will post another one that I made from material that I found in Goodwill. By material, I mean a curtain I bought for $2 and cut apart.

These are so easy and adorable. Plus, we are really trying to be more environmentally aware so it feels good to make something useful out of something I might not keep around.