Time Out!

Remember playing tag at recess and someone calling, "Time Out! Start Over!"? Well, that was me today. It wasn't because I'm stressed or overdoing anything. It was simply that God was saying, "Okay... Time Out...Start Over." It is so freeing to know that I can start brand new and all the junk before just blows away like ashes after a fire.

"for the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes." Proverbs 24:16

 

Yes, I fall completely to the ground, flat on my face. But you know what? I'm not going to stay there. God will pick me up. And I am so glad I don't just keep stumbling along down the same dark path, unable to be free.

 

 

Today I took time to refocus. I used today to stop and enjoy the moment. I really wanted to enjoy my kids. I needed to refocus my heart and push out anything getting in between of my time with God. I needed to invite peace into my home. I wanted a time out to restart this life and live it how God has called me to live it.

 

 I have a few things that I want to do with the girls that God has laid on my heart. I think I got so busy doing things for them that I forgot to teach them along the way. I forgot to take the time to show them our purpose on Earth.

 

So, today I was inspired to just spend some quality time with the girls. Here is what we did today:

A chef must always cook in her tutu!  :)

 

 

Kaylee Jo has really enjoyed cooking lately. 

 

 

 

This afternoon we got out some material, needles, and

thread and made some doll clothes.

 

 

Kaylee Jo is measuring here.

 

Kinadie is working on threading her needle.

 

We ended the night with a horse story, a book about sharing, and some bible lessons about how to honor and respect God's name. It is thrown around so much at school that the girls have heard it and so it was perfect that our lesson was about respecting God's name. It was also a lesson in capitalizing first names.

 

I pray that I can wake with the same peaceful heart. I pray that new visions for teaching my children will be shown. I pray that they love the Lord with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind, and all their strength because I so long to do the same.

 

 "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."  -Deuteronomy 6:6-7

 



Being an Army wife means a busy life!

I wouldn't have it any other way. Being busy just means that the time goes by faster. I have no idea where September went. Don't get me wrong. I never take advantage of each day. We definitely live it to the fullest!

We had a great visit with my dad's friend "Whip" and his wife. Friends since high school, I don't think they have missed a beat. He makes the best pork loin ever! While we were visiting I took the girls to shop around at Bass Pro Shop. They were having a kids fun day there and the girls had a lot of fun playing games. Best of all, they got a lesson in gun safety and got to shoot their first gun. It sure did bring back memories of Dad taking us deer hunting when we were little. I think Brittney could shoot those coke cans with her eyes closed! Ha! And she was probably only Kaylee Jo's age at that time!

Me and Mark Whipple (Dad's friend)



 



 Come on, Jessie the Kid! I was even able to sign up for a gift card and ...yes!! They drew my name! I tell ya! I am on a roll of these drawings!

 

At home I was reading up on schools in Germany. I am one of those who wants to be immersed in their  culture and learn everything I can. In Germany the kids go to "Kinder" from age 3-5. Their first year of school in actually 1st grade and it is a very big deal. Families gather at the school from grandparents to aunts and uncles to help their little one celebrate the first day of school. The children are also given a gift called a Schultuete. They are filled with gifts, candy, and lots of school supplies. It dates back to the early 19th century. I thought the kids would just LOVE these so I made them some small ones and surprised them after school.

 

 

Oh yeah, we also had some yummy treats. These are harder to make than they look! They are supposed to be apples with little worms coming out. Those will need to be perfected! lol

 



 

We have also done some dancing and the girls really enjoy this. Dance class is something I hope to get them involved in over in Germany. Kinadie has also been playing soccer at recess. We'll probably be looking for a soccer team for her as well. She brings her ball to school every day.

 

On a sad note, my 100 year old great-grandmother, Grannie Holt, passed away. I am only sad because I will miss her. I am happy because she lived a long life and really did live it to the fullest. She made the best beans and corn bread. Everyone loved her peach cobbler and in her memory I made some stew to help me get through the cold week we had. It really was comfort food.

 I will miss her house with the orange carpet and space heaters. It was there before that part of Abilene was actually part of Abilene. I remember sleeping with her in her bed and listening to the sound of the train. She never seemed afraid of anything. Maybe it was because she knew that Grandaddy was there in spirit watching over her. She always talked about him. I heard stories of him working cattle and how cold the winters were in South Dakota. They both loved to dance. Grannie danced well into her 90s. Nothing could get her down. She was never afraid to speak her mind. She was usually watching CMT when I would go to visit her, yet when Tanya Tucker came on she would change the channel! Ha ha! She loved all of her grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids. She was loved by so many. I will never forget the times with her and can't wait to see her again someday.

 

 

 

The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of fun. We made a trip to Canyon Lake for a Brown family reunion. We had almost everyone on the Brown side there. I think there were around 70 people there. I am so glad I got to meet a lot of these people. We have a good group and loved the memories that were made.

 

I had read about military members being able to get free tickets to Sea World so I got tickets for the girls and surprised them while we were there. I get teary-eyed at the Shamu show. Its my favorite part. The girls loves the seal and walrus show. Kinadie liked the penguins. Kara's favorite part was the roller coaster. I thought she'd be scared but when I looked over at her, she had both hands in the air! "Whooo Hooo!"

 

 

Finally, this last weekend we were able to make it to The State Fair of Texas. I took Kinadie first when she was 18 months old. This time our mission was to try all the fair food. Boy did we!

 

This was the deep fried Thanksgiving dinner. I wasn't too impressed. It was good but it wasn't unusual. It tasted like stuffing.

 

 

You can never go wrong with a Fletcher's foot long corny dog!!! Yum!!

 

 

The girls begged me for some Strawberry Blue Bell. Gosh we will miss that ice cream.

 I'm sure we'll be seeking out the Gelato though!

 

 

Cotton candy is the best fair treat. I couldn't resist. This was the favorite all around.

 

 

Shortly after the cotton candy picture was taken, Kaylee Jo passed out! We were laughing so hard! Too much sugar for her!

 

 

This is what was left of the deep fried frito pie. It was a good one!

 

 

Here is Mom's husband, Kevin eating some of the Mexican Fried Firecrackers. They were new to the fair menu and I believe this one was a keeper. I may have to recreate these for Kris. He would have loved them.

 

 

Here we have the Deep Fried Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the Deep Fried Ranch Doritos Peperoni Pizza. The cookie dough was too sweet and dough-y for me. I like my cookie dough really cold. The pizza was the most random thing! It taste like a bunch of crunched up chips on top of pepperoni pizza. The flavors didn't blend. I could taste each one separate.

 

 

This was the Deep Fried Nutella and the Deep Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. The Nutella was good. It was served with sliced bananas but needed more fresh fruit. I may have to make some bite size pieces of that. Mom loved the PB and J. If I wasn't so full I would have liked it more. I will have to try this again on an empty stomach. We also tried a Deep Fried Millionaire Pie caramel apple and candy apple. That was my first and last candy apple! Too sticky for me! My top pick was the Firecrackers. They also had a Cuban Roll, Deep Fried Oreo, Fried Twinkie, Fried Butter, Fried Beer,  Red Velvet Funnel Cake, fried pumpkin pie, fried pecan pie, and probably lots of other things that I missed. Some of it is pretty silly! Ugh, it's kinda sickening looking at this stuff now! Ha! I'm sure you want to try it though, too, right? lol

 

Now back to being busy. But this time its going to be here at the house. I have lots to clean and organize. Gotta find my running shoes to get back to my exercise! Gotta get all ready! Not much time, people!!! 78 days!!!

 

Last Week of Summer

Well, I survived a summer alone with three girls, and is it just me or did this summer seem to FLY by way to fast? It is bittersweet for me because as I will miss the time alone with just me and my girls, I so long for the day that Kris will come off that plane!! We are now at 138 days!! I am beyond excited!!

Meet the Teacher was tonight for Kinadie and Kara. Kinadie's second grade teacher is Mrs. Bond and Kara's Kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Anderson. We were also excited to find out that a friend of Kara's will be in the same class with her. Kinadie was given a bouncy ball to let her know that they will be having "A BALL" being in second grade, and Kara's teacher gave Kara some jitter glitter to sprinkle on herself for the first day jitters. I'm not sure we will be needing it as Kara has said that she is so ready to go back to school! We'd have gotten a picture of Kinadie and her teacher but there were just so many people there! We'll have to get one on the first day of school.



To celebrate the end of summer we decided to go out to eat. Red Lobster was always my favorite growing up so we went and had cherry cokes, shared the popcorn shrimp and of course the Chocolate Wave Cake a la mode! It was so yummy and there was nothing left to take home! I'll have to remember that we 4 girls can all share the popcorn shrimp for next time! Yummy!







 

 



As we were leaving they wanted to take some pictures. We turned the corner and the girls spotted some roses. I'd have to say that roses are their favorite flower. So we stopped to smell the roses. Perfect ending to a wonderful summer!



Hello Again

So it's been a while since I've been here. I have some requests to blog from those that want to keep up. I have been busier than I would have liked but for a good reason. Getting my degree is behind me. Getting a job is not. I am working toward taking a test to teach in DoD schools. This will be the start of my career adventures. In the meantime I have been taking every opportunity to be with children and expand my experience. I am currently caring for babies through my church and hanging out with my girls during the rest of the week. Caring for babies and being a stay at home mom are the two jobs I love most! I have also been man of the house and let me tell you how glad I am that I will be quitting that job come January!

If you don't know, Kris is in South Korea and has been there since this last January. I am so glad to tell you that the count down is on and we are more than half way done with 157 more days left!! That may sound like a lot of days to you but I have lots of things to get done before he transitions home. Time will fly by for sure. We recently got word that he will be reporting to Germany for his next duty station. I think he grabbed this up by his finger nails because we weren't real sure this was going to be the outcome. More specifically we will be going to Smith Barracks in Baumholder, Germany. I am so excited! Let me just share why.

 

 

There are so many countries that border Germany. I can only imagine all the people there are and all the things there are to do and see. Baumholder is really close to Idar-Oberstein in western Germany. It is mostly country land from what I can tell. I will sure be on the look out for any local farms.

 

The girls are mostly excited. I know that missing family is on their minds. One thing I have yet to tell Kinadie is that there is a parakeet farm. Kinadie loves any kind of animal! There are also nature hikes, canoe trips and trolley rides to take advantage of.

 

 



Housing over there will most likely be apartment type. So no pets. Which means I need to find homes for two dogs, three chickens, and a gerbil! Any takers? ;o) It will probably be a while before we will be able to get one of these apartments. I know in Hawaii we were in a hotel for several weeks. This time I know more and I will definitely be looking for a map of the post to get around for those first few weeks. Keeping three girls cooped up in a room will be no fun but I will be eager to get them out to experience this whole new world.

 

 

As for now, we are planning for Kinadie and Kara to go to a new school. They have to wear uniforms so I will be shopping next weekend for some polo shirts and jumper dresses. I turn 30 and Kris turns 33 in 13 days so the girls have been making plans for us. I'm sure it involves a lot of sugar! I told them they won't let 30 year olds have their birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese. Ugh, if I have to go there one more time! Kaylee Jo gets to go to work with me during the days I work during the week. It gives us some much needed time out of the house. Kris will be surprised how much they have grown. Kinadie still doesn't have her two front teeth. They have come down a little but not as much as the dentist has hoped. We'll give it another three months to break through the gums though. Kris is kept busy doing chaplain assistant work during the week but is having a hard time filling his time on the weekend. This makes him miss us even more and makes it really hard for him to be there with out us. Please keep us and specifically him in your prayers. I have his mailing address if any of you would like it. Packages and letters from home mean so much.

 

Gute Nacht! :o)