I'm sorry, hurry up and WHAT NOW?!?!

I love being married to my soldier.  He is everything I could want in a man and everything the Army could want in a soldier.  He is a phenomenal husband, father, friend, and soldier.  But I HATE waiting for him to come home from deployment.

These last 8 months have been hard.  The kids are getting older and they are understanding more of why Daddy isn't home and that he won't be home for a long time.  They know that Mom is in charge now, she's good cop and bad cop, but more often then not, they see the bad cop.  It is difficult to find that balance between good cop and bad cop.  I try every day to see things from a different perspective, especially when the littles act out.  I try to look at the situation and think, "It's because they miss Daddy.  They are testing their boundaries, they are seeing how far they can push me."  But I hate that that is the excuse.  I miss Daddy too, but I'm not going around acting like a crazy mad woman, hitting people, throwing tantrums and being rude to every one.

Thankfully, this deployment is coming to an end and very soon at that.  These last 8 months went by very fast, but these last couple of weeks have been dragging on and on and on.  It is so hard to sit back and wait. This last week I was busy every day.  We had the Holiday Shoppe at the school where the kids all came and shopped for gifts for their family.  It is a really fun time for them and they all loved it.  At the end of each day I was so exhausted I ended up falling asleep super early.  But now, I have nothing to do! What do I do?  I could clean the house and do the laundry, but that only takes so long and then after that I've got nothing left.  I've got lunch with some girlfriends on Monday, but after that, nothing.  NOTHING!

Needless to say, I'm getting restless and I just want my husband home.  It will be a weight lifted off my shoulders and the littles will (crossing my fingers) go back to being themselves again.   Plus, I could totally use a Mommy's Night Out.  I've been missing my Mommy time for the last 8 months.  Don't get me wrong, I've been missing my Husband time too.  Lord knows I could go for an all day cuddle-fest.  But Mommy needs some adult interaction, preferably with some wine in the mix.

Okay, now that I have ranted, I will go back to watching my awesome reality television!

Goodnight all!

It's December and that means...

Time for Fancy Projects!

Last night I was up late creating a cute advent calendar for the kids.  I got the idea from iHeartOrganizing!  I love the website. Jen always has some great ideas for organizing and family fun!  I used her idea for a holiday countdown, and created a variation of my own. 

First, I went to Hobby Lobby.  By the way, do not go there on a Friday (it was also payday), after school (which is 3:30), and expect it to be not crowded.  Holy CRAP!  There were so many people there.  I suspect it was because there was a 50% off sale on all Christmas decor.  I was nuts to think it would be slow there. 

I got a cute wooden box.

You can find these online here. 

First I painted it all white.  A little accident happened after it dried.  Oops! I forgot to leave the top propped open a little so it wouldn't stick to the box.  When I went to pry it open I ended up ripping off the top, the front edge and side edge.  Thankfully there was a part still attached to the hinges and one of the other sides.  So I scrambled through the house to find some Krazy glue.  When I found it 10 expletives and 20 minutes later,  I was able to glue it all back together. YAY!

After the scary party was over, I then painted on red stripes to the top of the box.  I just used regular scotch tape to tape off the lines.  No, I did not measure, I did it all by eye. 

After that was dry I tried to use a stencil and paint on letters that spelled "Advent Calendar"  Unfortunately, that did not work out as I had hoped.  Grr.  So I had to hand paint the rest of it on.  Yes, the A looks funny.  Sue me!

This is what it looks like when I finished it.  I think it looks cute no matter how cracked out the letters look.  ;)

From there I made cards for each day and wrote down activities for the littles to do each day.  

I used a lot of the ideas from iHeartOrganizing, but I added in a few of my own.  One, in particular, is my favorite.  

They don't know when Daddy is going to be home.  All they know is that he is coming home this month.  We have talked about different scenarios to surprise them.  

1. Surprise them at school during class. (that can only happen if he gets home during school hours)

2. Surprise them at the park after school. (again depends on the time he gets home)

3. Waking them up super early and having them see what Santa brought them for an early Christmas present. 

4. Having them see this card before knowing Daddy is home. 

Any of these will be great, I'm just hoping we can pull it off.  Thankfully I have amazing friends that are willing to help out with each scenario.  

The other project I did turned out fantastic.  I LOVE IT! I have seen it about a billion and 13 times on Pinterest, so I thought I would finally do it. 

Super cute Wreath wrapped in red and ivory yarn with cute felt rosettes and holly!

It is now hanging on our front door. We have never had a hanging wreath on our front door. I am loving this one! 

One last thing the littles and I did for a few good times and a bunch of laughs was made chocolate mustaches on a stick!

Needless to say it was a lot of fun!  And they tasted delish! I love dark chocolate mustaches in the evening! tee hee.

I hope everyone is having a great December so far.  I know it has only just begun, but it's never too late to have a great time!