If you have never done this, do yourself and your kids a favor, go out and buy a 2 liter of Coke, a pack of Mentos and have a little fun!

I can't believe that 9 years ago this guy weighed in at just over 6 pounds and was sick and in the NICU.  Look at him now ~ happy, healthy and full of energy!  Boy 2 has been such a blessing to our family.  He is fun loving, funny, super sweet, has a kind heart and is the smartest kid on the block! I'm so glad I was chosen to be his Mom, he makes me look GOOD!  ;o)  

Last year Boy 2 wanted Jungle Jim to come to his party, however, Jungle Jim's daughter has a birthday the same day as Boy 2 and as it should be, her birthday trumped Boy 2's birthday.  This year, I called Jungle Jim again hoping that he could come to Boy 2's birthday party ---- that is when Jungle Jim told me HE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA!!!!  WHAT?!?!  NO!!!!  This would be our last chance to have JJ to come to a party, I begged a little, reminded him of last year and really just wouldn't shut-up until he caved and said yes, he would make the trip from Dallas.  Thank you Jungle Jim!  :o)

If you have been following me for a while you know I like to have at home birthday parties and we like to go big!  This party was no exception even though 3 days later we started packing out for our move to Korea.  I did give myself a break and had someone else make the cake (and had Jungle Jim do all the entertaining).  If you live in the Killeen/Fort Hood area and are in need of a cake B & N Creations are cakes sent from heaven.  Not only do their cakes look amazing, but they taste AMAZING too!

This year Girl & her friend helped make the party food!

Jungle Jim puts on an amazingly educational birthday party!  He is very thorough when teaching the kids about each reptile.  He teaches them how to hold them, feed them, what is special and unique about each one.  And he is SO GOOD with the kids (and adults).  The birthday child gets special attention and always gets to hold/feed first.  If you live in the Dallas area this is a once in a lifetime birthday party you don't want to miss out on! 

     
I'm not sure if you remember or not but on New Year's Day the kids and I hiked Chalk Ridge Falls in Belton and had a GREAT time! So when Hubby wanted to go for a hike a couple of weeks ago we knew just where to take him. Boy 1 opted out of this trip and hung with his 'boys' instead and even though we missed him terribly we still had a great time. The younger kids wanted to take Hubby on the same route we had gone before so we took off and started walking by the river.

The kids wanted to show Hubby the rock bridge we made on New Year's Day and check it out...it was still there!

As we continued down the path we ran across some folks swimming, we would have loved to have joined them, but we brought no swimsuits! Arghhh....

However that didn't stop us....we just stripped down to our undies and jumped in!

We played in the water for over an hour just swimming, playing around and catching frogs and FISH with our bare hands....OK, so GIRL is the only one that actually caught fish with her bare hands but we like to think of it as a group effort.  In the end we came home with 2 new frogs and a few new fish. 

Once we were done playing in the water the kids wanted to show Hubby the CAVE.  Once we arrived at the cave we found THOUSANDS, and THOUSANDS of these bad boys:

It was SO FREAKY!  There were literally THOUSANDS of them....

All in all it was a great day!  We hiked, we laughed, we played we swam, and some of us freaked out when it came to the spiders.  What made it all better is that Hubby was here to enjoy this day with us.  :o)

With PCS season upon us and today actually being the FIRST of many pack out days for us I thought today was a good day to share my thoughts with you....

I try really hard not to stress over moves, the more we move the easier this gets.  I don't start 'prepacking' weeks early; I only do so a few days early.  I make sure the kids are out of the house.  I oversee the movers.  I have them wrap my antiques. Ziplock bags are my friend. I have ask movers to repack things.  I don't let them bump my furniture into the walls!  I tell them (in a nice way) the way I like things packed and labeled!  I have asked movers to leave my house. I ask them nicely NOT TO DUMP drawers or toy bins into boxes.  I expect things NOT to be perfect when I arrive to my destination.  I also expect to find the remote to my TV in the box labeled Christmas (if I did not ATTACH the remote to the TV - which I ALWAYS do now), and my bedside lamp in the box marked garage.  I've learned after 11 Army moves that these things just happen.  I've also learned that having a good bottle of wine on hand always helps at the end of a pack day!

When I ask my military sister wives  (haha...you like that don't you?!) what they always do when PCSing I got some GREAT advice!  See what they have to say -  

Be ready for the date to change! ~ Jenna  Good advice from my sweet friend Jenna! I've heard of this happening MANY times, it hasn't necessarily happened to me, but I have friends that their entire PCS got changed, date, location and all! 
Hide the stuff you don't want them to pack!!! ~ Monica  Again, more solid advice!  The stories we hear! The worst that has ever happened to me is that our soap ~ an open bar of soap was packed, along with everything else in the shower.  Why anyone would toss a used bar of soap in a box is beyond me.  I know many people who have had their garbage, dog food, baby formula and PASSPORTS packed.  Make sure you separated your things people!  Oh and watch your pets, I have heard of a cat being packed as well!    Can you imagine unpacking that box?  "Oh, that's where Sponge Bob went!"
Avoid good-byes.  ~ Liz  This is something us Military Wives do well.  We choose to say see you later, if we even stop by to see you off at all.  It's just too hard sometimes.
Be prepared to lose money.  ~ Beverly  This is a given. Although the military gives you a moving allowance, it is NEVER enough (especially once you have kids!). 
Remember to make it an adventure!  ~ Kelly  This is GREAT advice!  Don't want to move to a destination the military is sending you?  SUCK IT UP....call the chamber of commerce and ask if they have a list of "top things to do" in the area.  Make it fun!  If you can't find something to do, MAKE something to do! 
Take a deep breath ~ Tracy  (AND have a glass of wine.)
Make sure you reserve on post lodging the day you find out you are moving! ~ Shayna  Because if you are moving in peak moving season and you don't make a reservation go ahead and take your tent with you because you will be camping!
Pack your underwear yourself!  ~ Lisa  Bahahaha!!
Have plenty of wine on hand!  ~ Pam  Pam IS a girl after my own heart!
Expect the unexpected! ~ Carey-Leigh And then some!
Feed the movers well and let them know you will tip generously if/when they do a good job. ~ Lori Just like a kids, rewards work wonders!
Empty your trash! ~ Lori Because if you don't, you just might see it in your new house!  
Ziplock all the magnets from the fridge, Polly pockets, pens and pencils. ~ Tori  I also ziplock all my curtain hardware and tiebacks, silverware, really anything that belongs together that could get lost or misplaced!
Prepare yourself for lost or damaged household goods.  ~ Michelle  And if it doesn't happen consider yourself blessed.
Disassemble your own furniture, bag up the screws, nuts/bolts and allen wrenches and pack those along with your screw drivers, pliers, drills and bits in a Green Bay Packer tool box and put it in your trunk so that you have everything you need to assemble it at the end. Movers are absolutely worthless at this. ~ LeAnn  I don't know about the Green Bay Packer tool box, but everything else seems right on. 
Send your kids off to visit family ~ Charlotte  If only it were that easy....  :o)
Know what your furniture looked like before it left...take photos and really read the bill of lading (lost stuff because of that!) & never let them fully unpack unless you want them to see al your "unmentionables!" ~ Roxanne  I tell them seeing my unmentionables IS their tip!  Haha!
Don't be afraid to ask the movers to take note of a few things. I have some unusual, fragile art pieces that I can’t'/don’t want to replace. I asked our last guys "I know this looks like a silly ____ but it is SO important to me. Please wrap this up really well for me?" smillllleeee! It is worth it.. Very few losses in all of our moves. Never filed a claim. ~ Tracy  Kindness typically wins in the end!
Count all your kids! ~ Diane I thought we lost something on the last move!
Save every TV remote, taping it to the TV doesn't count, it will be gone by the time your HHG arrive. ~ Rachel
Hey Rachel, maybe we have some of your remotes ~ tonight as we were going through them we found 2 extra!
Ask your packers to make box #1 your hardware box. Put all hardware, screws (labeled of course), remotes, etc... in this one box. The German's do that on this side of the pond, but the American's don't. Put those "do not pack" items in the trunk of your car. Because just putting them in a room with a SIGN that says "do not pack" isn't always good enough. ~ Heidi 
I would say take a little mini-vacation right before the movers come, just to see a favorite sight, and take lots of pictures. Make sure you download them & send to a family member/friend before you get on the plane with the camera. And either label your camera with your email address and a note about a hefty reward, or bring a camera you don't mind losing on the plane...  ~ From my SMARTASS friend Kim.  SO what if I did this ONCE.  :o)  Bite me.
Realize it is going to be crazy for a little while, but in the end it will be fine. ~ Tim AMEN.  It will all be worth it when you wake up from that moving hangover in a few short weeks!
Have lots of cold beer...shot of "Jack" and know when to stay clear of "Household 6". ~ Randi  Rand-i (as I lovingly call him) is correct!  He just needs to add - have plenty of wine on hand to serve to Household 6
DO NOT feed the packers pizza! and prepare yourself for those 10 pounds that we always gain! HA! ~ Wanda  Really?  I always feed them pizza. 
Go visit someone and let your husband do it.... ~ Suzy  And I do believe this is the best piece of advice any of my friends had to offer!


And so it begins:

He's back!  The world is right again.  The kids are happy, I'm happy, life is good....

For a few days anyway......We have done this reintegration thing 3 times.  This time is our 4th time.  I thought we had it down pat.  I was wrong.  Hubby came home and all was good for 4 whole days.  Then it hit, the rough patch came and it threw me for a loop.  What the heck?  We are old hats at this. Typically we don't even fight, and we especially don't fight  4 days after Hubby gets home from war.  What is going on in my perfect little world?  I am crushed, not only were we fighting, but it was so bad I was ready to send him back to Afghanistan and I'm serious.  Girl was so upset that when I went to tuck her in she was crying and begging me to stop fighting with her Daddy - she didn't sleep much that night and neither did I.  What were we fighting about you ask? Stupid shit.  Seriously.  Stupid S H I T.  He felt like I did too much while he was gone and that I was too controlling (HELLO - I've been the only adult here for a year, yes, I'm controlling and while you were away did you forget I am Type A?).  I hated that he came home and went straight to work on the house - cleaning out stuff and trying to take charge when all I wanted him to do was sit back and hang out with me and the kids.  I wanted him to have a little down time, relax and have fun!  I wanted to stare at him, touch him and savor the moments.   What is wrong with him I thought - why doesn't he want to spend every second with his family?  I was hurt and crushed and quite honestly I wasn't being very nice about it. 

That is when I had to take a look at myself and remember a few things:
1. - He is the boss at work. When he tells the children what to do, they look at me to make sure it is OK and then I give them the nod.  This can't be a good feeling for him.   
2. - He has been living by himself for 1 year.  Seriously, think about that.  He has lived by himself for 1 year, and then he is thrown back into this crazy life of 4 kids, a wife and a dog.  Even though it is good stuff can you imagine?  He can never get away.  Someone is always hanging on him demanding his attention because he is like a new toy to us.  We can't get enough of him.  We want to love on him, ask questions and just be near him - CONSTANTLY.  Geezs, if I were him I would fake going to work!  No joke!
3. - He rarely had to report to people.  Now all of a sudden I'm asking him all kinds of questions, telling him he needs to be here for this,  and there for that, don't forget that so and so needs this....  and I'm constantly asking him where he is going what he is doing, blah, blah, blah....this has got to make him insane.
4. - Not only is reintegration hard, but let's throw an overseas move on top of it, just because we can.  I'll be surprised if we are still married after all is said and done.  (I'm just joking, back off ladies, I still love and adore him! ;-)
 5. INTJ.  He is an INTJ on the Meyers Briggs Personality test....I'm an ESFJ.  If you know anything about Meyers Briggs, you will know that an ESFJ is a bit much for an INTJ at any given moment, not to mention during reintegration.  My emotions and feelings are hanging right out there on my sleeve, on his sleeve, really on anyone's sleeve that will listen. INTJ's well, not so much.   

So why do I tell you all this?  For those young military wives that think they are alone in this, you are not. I'm a (cough)  "seasoned" wife and  I've been around this block a few times and it is different every single time!  We all have our ups and downs.  Life is hard no matter who you are or what path you are on.  You just need to keep your shoulders back, chin up and move forward!  (A good friend told me this just today!) I'm in it for the long haul and if that means I need to take a look at myself and change a few things then that is what I am willing to do.  I am SO honored and SO proud to live this Army life with the love of my life ~ even when the road gets bumpy.....

Remember that feeling you would get when you were a kid of something happening that was so exciting that you couldn't sleep the night before? For me it was the night before Six Flags each year.  I remember one particular sleep over at a friend's house in JR High, we stayed up all night doing each other's make-up (and when I say doing each other's make up, it wasn't pretty - boy I wish I had pictures of that!) and then we were up, dressed, ready to go and waiting outside HOURS before my sister-in-law was to pick us up.  Ahh, I have that feeling again!  Something so exciting is happening that I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest.  After a long year apart Hubby is on his way home.  The excitement is almost more than I can bear.  

Along with all that excitement comes so many more feelings, thoughts and questions that run through my head....Here is a sample of what goes through my head as my spouse returns from war: 

*What will I wear to the reunion?
*Will he still think I am beautiful, I mean this deployment has taken it out of me, I have more wrinkles than I could ever imagine, I'm not at my perfect weight, I can't seem to get rid of those dark circles under my eyes, and THANK GOD for hair color!
*Oh gosh, the house has to be perfect...."Don't walk on the floors!"
*Crap, I have to clean off the desktop of our computer - he can't stand all my files being right out in the open.
*What will the kids wear?
*How will he adjust to being in such a rambunctious house after living in a chew all by himself for over a year?
*I really need to get the tires on his jeep rotated.
*I wonder how much he has changed. 
*I hope I haven't changed too much.
*What will I fix for dinner on his first night here?
*Will things between us be weird?
*Will he mess with the A/C? I hope he remembers how cold I like to keep the house.
*OH CRAP, I can't remember his favorite soda....Diet Coke, or Diet Cherry Coke?
*WHY can't I find Singha in this God forsaken town?!?!?  That is all the man has asked for!
*Will we mold back together as parents and have a united front as we once did?
*Will the kids play us against each other?
*Why do my children seem so calm when I feel like I could have a panic attack at any moment?  Is something wrong with them, or me?
*I just said "my children" - oh no, what does that mean?  Am I too independant?
*Why am I sitting at this computer when I should be cleaning?
*I'm used to living alone, being the boss, how is he going to fit back into our family?
*I really need to fill those picture frames hanging on the wall.
*I really need a manicure and pedicure, but I don't think I will have time.
*OH, I really need to shave my legs.
*Will the kids like him more than they like me?
*Will he be happy to be home or will he want to run away?
*Will I be happy to have him home or will I want to run away?
*Will friends and family understand that we need and want family time without having people tugging at us from all different directions?
*Will he still love me?

Isn't that crazy?! I can't believe I (and so many other spouses) put myself through this, but each and every time Hubby deploys for extended periods of time I go through these feelings of happiness, excitement, uneasiness and straight up fear!   I know everything will be fine. It may or may not be a tough adjustment (every deployment is different), but I know we will make it through another reintegration cycle.  As it says at the top of my blog, we are....
Army Family, Army Strong.  

Rainbow trout is one of our favorite freshwater fish.  When we lived in Colorado Hubby would fish for these often so I was thrilled when I ran across these bad boys at HEB the other day.  I like cooking them in foil packets on the grill.  This is a super-easy and super-fast dinner!  

Rainbow Trout
Lemon Pepper
Garlic Salt
Creole Seasoning
Butter
Lemon wedge

Cut a piece of foil big enough to make a packet out.  Put fish on foil and sprinkle inside and outside of fish with all seasonings.  (I have no idea how much, just sprinkle.)  Add 3 -4 pats of butter, 1 on the inside of the fish and  2-3 on outside.  Roll foil packets up  and seal well.

Like this: 
Place on preheated grill (about 400 degrees) and cook on each side for 8-10.

Fish should be nice and flaky.
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to cooked fish.

A coule of weeks ago my friend Tracy found a recipe for Jelly Bean Martini's and instantly thought of me (hummm....).  She read the recipe to me (thinking I would retain what she had read out loud - ha!) and she even went out and bought some of the ingredients.  Tonight she brought over the ingredients had she bought - at this point I ask for the recipe to which she replied, "Oh, I left it somewhere, but no worries, we can look it up online." HA! That was a flop, so we decided to make up our own version of a recipe she found in some magazine that I can't remember the name of  - (it was either Women's World or Women's Day or maybe even Maximum - who knows!). So, she had Citrus Vodka, Ginger Ale & marshmallow bunny Peeps. I had colored sugars & Jelly Beans. We remember something else was in the recipe, but for the life of us we couldn't remember exactly what it was, but we think it was Grand Marnier and since I had that in my liquor cabinet that is what we used.

I must say our concoction was pretty freaking FABULOUS!

2 oz Citrus Vodka
1 oz Grand Marnier
1-2 oz Ginger Ale
8 Jelly Beans
Colorful Sugar Rim
Peeps Bunny

~Sugar the rim as pictured
~Put Jelly Beans in the bottom of your martini glass
~Shake Vodka & Grand Marnier in a Martini shaker till nice and cold. Pour into prepared Martini Glass, add a splash of cold Ginger Ale, add a Peeps Bunny to the glass and serve! 

Happy Easter! 

Last week I was talking to my brother over Facebook when I nonchalantly said, "I'm not even going to bother getting it fixed, I move to Korea in less than three months."  As I typed those 4 words, LESS. THAN. THREE. MONTHS I had an internal freak out.  Are you kidding me?  LESS. THAN. THREE. MONTHS.  That part isn't the real kicker, the kicker is all the thing I have to do BEFORE we move that have nothing to do with the move itself.   Not to mention that we don't have family orders yet.  Hubby has them for himself, but we are waiting for our family command sponsorship to come through, and if you think I'm sending him away for two years without our family, think again!  HEY KOREA, USFK, anyone out there listening?!?!  I would REALLY like to have our family orders IN HAND so I can finish up what needs to be done on this end!!  Fort Hood  sent the request over a month ago!!   I've got work to do over here and my time is dwindling.  Did I mention that I'm a planner?  (Yes, I do realize I should just be happy that I know this far out where we are moving to next.)

I need orders in hand to:  book travel, book moving companies (we will have 3 different pack outs), get Boy 1's drivers license since we have to report to Korea 6 Days before his 16th birthday....they tell me that if I have ORDERS WITH HIS NAME on them he should be able to get his driver's license BEFORE he turns 16, but I'm still waiting for those orders.  Hello people in high places in Korea...  I know I can wait for Hubby to get some of this done, but I would really like to get it done before he gets back (because I am good wife - stop laughing!  :)  so we can spend the last 6 weeks of our time here at Hood doing all the things that need to be done as a commander is changing out of command Not to mention that he will have just come back from a war zone and will need a tiny bit of a break before he moves overseas again...

Let me break it down for you:
4 weeks till Hubby comes home
9 weeks till Hubby's Change of Command
11 weeks till we clear Fort Hood
13 weeks till we are in South Korea
 
 And SO MANY THINGS in between.  Breathe.  Just breathe.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, all things that are happening are good it is just that my head is just swirling! 

(And yes, I do realize we will not be IN Korea in less than 3 months, but our household goods will be packed and shipped in less than 3 months.)