A Post With No Title

Today was Caitlin's last day of school. Man, am I relieved--I no longer have to drive clear across town 2 times a day to take her to and pick her up from school. As most of you know, we chose to put her in Belmar Elementary this year, simply because we had a contract on a house in the Belmar area in August of 2008. Thinking we'd go ahead and get her started in the school near the house that was soon to be ours, we chose to take her out of the district we are currently in. Needless to say, that contract fell through and we've been stuck driving back and forth to Belmar ever since.
*deep sigh*

This next year, however, Caitlin and Christian (seriously, I can't believe my sweet boy is going to start kindergarten!!) will hopefully be attending a brand new school in CISD. I am fairly certain the new school will be finished by the end of August, but I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch. It will just be awesome to drive .5 miles to their school--and did I mention I can see it from our front porch?
Yay!
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In other news, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. John was off for the majority of it, and we enjoyed a nice afternoon at Medi Park lake. We packed a super yummy picnic lunch--thanks to Mimi, Pappaw, and Grandma Duke--and had a great time feeding the ducks and fishing. Caitlin was the only one to catch a fish, and she was so proud!

It was Christian's weekend to spend the night with Mimi and Pappaw, and while he was there, he discovered his inner super hero. Can we say Captain Underpants? :)
All 3 C's also found a love of all things slimy and disgusting--AKA: snails. Ewwwww. Mimi referred to is as the Great Snail Roundup of 2009. No matter what you call it, I call it amazingly nasty.
Momma definitely does NOT have a love of snails. Plain and simple.
Bleh.

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And finally, I am sad to say that I will no longer be drinking Red Bull.
Yes, yes....I know some of you are laughing right now, but it's totally true. I just can't. Not after hearing a news report on Air 1 the other morning while driving Caitlin to school.
Apparently Red Bull was tested (in some other state, but I'm not taking chances) and found to contain traces of cocaine.
Seriously. It's a tragedy for me. Ahhhhh, how I've loved Red Bull.
No more hyperactivity---you're welcome Misty. :)

~Mel

Wordless Wednesday

~Mel

Deal Or No Deal

Ok, so the title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with what's going to be written...just thought I'd throw you all off. Deal or No Deal is actually what I'm watching right now.
Haha
Dorky, I know. I totally agree.

Anywho...

This post has a lot of randomness in store, so buckle your seatbelts and hold on tight.

First of all, I got to do something the other day that I haven't EVER done. I took Caitlin, my sweet and sassy 10 year old, out on a mommy/daughter date. It's been a long time coming (I just hate it that this is our 1st, but with 2 smaller kids it's been hard to just get us alone and out of the house). We went to the mall, shopped around in Justice, and found some cute clothes for her. She also helped me pick out a ton of stuff at Bath and Body Works. Man, I am so totally in love with that place--everything smells SO GOOD.

*Can I just insert here that the clothing choices for today's tweens (ages 9-12) are just rediculous?!? Most of the shirts are too tight, too low cut, too see through, etc. Don't even get me started on the shorts. Holy cow, the majority are way too short!*

Sorry, back to orginal post now.

So after the mall, we went to get pedicures. I haven't had one since I was in Melanie's wedding, so I felt a little splurge was not a big deal. Caitlin used to get her nails painted all the time, but she has never enjoyed a pedicure. We went and had a blast! The ladies who pampered us were so sweet, and they painted our toenails so beautifully. I can't wait to take Caitlin with me again. It might have to be a regular thing. :)
Speaking of Caitlin---here is a pic of her new haircut and her braces. She's done so well with the braces thus far. Not that she's a big fan of them, but I'm sure she'll thank us when she's older. Here's hoping anyway.
I tell you what, Caitlin is such a sweety pie. She really makes my life so much easier--and a thousand times better! I am so thankful to be her momma. If only they were all this easygoing...

And finally, I am including a pic of something we received in the mail today.
This letter contains John's official orders for the Army National Guard.
It tells when/where/how he will be leaving, and it's all starting to really sink in. My husband has quite the challenge ahead, but I know without a doubt he will be GREAT at it. Every time I see a new piece of information or stack of paperwork, I realize it's creeping up on us.
Wow.
No turning back now (not that there was EVER a chance for that, but you know...)

~Mel

This Momma

I rarely write about me on here, unless it relates to someone else in our family (like a trip we took, game we played, etc.). I prefer to talk about my sweet babies and wonderful hubby, but today is different. For some strange reason, I feel the need to talk about me---to blog about what I'm up to these days.

I just recently had a birthday, and being 28 isn't as bad as some say. Ok, I've never actually heard anyone say 28 is bad, but whatever. Anyway, I feel more like 35 at times, but I'll enjoy the 20's while I still can. I don't really have big plans for this year--other than spending multiple weeks at a time being a single mom while John is off being a soldier, but those aren't really MY big plans.

I still work out 5-6 times a week, and it has actually become something I love doing. Not only does it give me and John some "alone time" (well, as much alone time as we can get with a gym full of people working out), it makes me feel better about myself. I can eat a donut and not freak out about it afterward.
Not that I've eaten a donut lately...seriously. Now white chocolate chips out of the freezer...that's another story.
*Ahem*
Ok, so back to working out. I have had to become more independent with my weightlifting since John went back on shift. It's been a challenge, but I'm doing much better. I have also started running again. Now by running, I mean 4-6 miles at a time. It takes about an hour to run 6 miles, so I enjoy listening to worship music on my ipod. It's good quality "me-and-the-Lord" time, that's for sure. I am running every other day, so it equals out to about 12-15 miles a week. I'm actually training to run a half marathon on September 12th here in Amarillo (for those of you who don't know, that's 13.2 miles). I have missed the last few 5K's and it's been very frustrating. I love to run long distances, so this will be a huge milestone in my life if I can make it through. Besides the training factor, running is helping me get into the swimsuit mindset.
Can you believe it's almost summer?!?
Bleh.

Like I said before, I'm working on learning to cook, adopting better eating habits, and adding more organic things to my diet. My latest loves: 1) garbanzo beans--a great source of protein!, 2) steel cut oats, and 3) Horizon organic vanilla yogurt with uncooked rolled oats and flaxseed meal mixed in. Holy cow it's good!
Holy cow....har har har....that would be even more funny to you if you could see that the container of yogurt has a huge cow on the front of it.
Where was I??

Oh yes. More about me. Let's see....
I am going to be volunteering at Caroline's Mother's Day Out program in the fall--one day a week. That way Caroline can go for 1/2 price all month long, and I have something to pass the time when my significant other isn't here to keep me entertained. I thought about taking an online course too, but we'll see if that pans out.

I've repainted just about every room in this house in just the past week. Don't really know what came over me, but I like the way it all looks now.

Sewing, although it's a love of mine, has not been in my schedule in MONTHS. I'm not sure if it's laziness or burn out, but something got ahold of me. Maybe some day I'll get the urge to make an apron or sew another dress for Caroline. Until then...

I still play my violin. Although it's no longer in front of others, it's still fun. God enjoys it, I just know. That's all that matters really.

Ok, so I think I've come to the end of this "About Momma" session. I hope you enjoyed it---but if not, too bad. My blog, my topics. Ha!

~Mel

Breakfast Haskell Style

As most of you know, breakfast is our favorite meal. Breakfast items will actually make appearances at lunch and dinner too, just because we can't get enough of them.

I'm gonna share with you all just what it is that keeps my kids coming back for more (besides the traditional bacon and eggs).
First, we have some yummy choices for oatmeal. I got most of these ideas from MckMama (http://www.mycharmingkids.net/) , so I must give credit where credit is due. Here are the choices (click on the pic to make it bigger so you can read the labels):

Steel cut oats are awesome if you have never tried them. They have a very unique texture, and it took Caitlin several attempts to be fully okay with eating them. She prefers just the traditional rolled oats, and that's fine with me. I will eat anything, and the 2 smaller C's could really care less what it looks like. I cook the steel cut/rolled oats either on the stove or in a small crock pot. Nothing says "Good morning!" quite like a crock pot full of yummy hot goodness!

I like to add this to the oats:

That's right. Agave nectar and brown sugar really do make it taste awesome! Some people put just plain ol' maple syrup in theirs, but I think agave nectar has a better taste. I also believe it's better for you. It comes in light or amber color, and we like both.


Now as you can see from the picture, I also use flaxseed meal. It adds sort of a nutty flavor to the oatmeal, and of course we all know it's good for the body. :) I add flaxseed meal to pretty much everything I can--like yogurt, applesauce, and other hot cereals. I'm certain there are millions of ways (ok, probably not millions, but more than what I've figured out) to use flaxseed meal, and I hope to expand my use of it.


My family also totally digs the Red Mill 10 grain pancake and waffle mix. My gosh, it has a great flavor and cooks up nicely in my George Foreman waffle maker (if only I got paid for all of the plugs on my blog for different foods/appliances...). Of course, I add the flaxseed meal to this mix, and let me tell you---we are a very "regular" bunch around here. Haha
The kids could care less what Momma puts in their stuff, as long as it tastes good. We use agave nectar on our waffles too, just in case you were wondering (and I know you were!).


And here you see my 2 smaller C's enjoying a nice hot bowl of steel cut oats:

For those of you who live in Amarillo, you can find all of the above mixes and extras at Drug Emporium or Natural Grocers. Love those places!

I am also really working on sticking with organic items. It's hard in today's world to make EVERYTHING organic, but I want to make healthier choices for me and my babies. Bob's Red Mill (the brand of oats and such we use) does have an organic line, and I am going to start buying that once we are totally out of the above bags. It's not that much more expensive either.

I promised John that I'd work on cooking more when he's away at boot camp. We'll see if that works out or not. :) Seriously though, I'm starting somewhere, right? No regular sugary cereal for this clan!

~Mel

Sometimes I Just Don't Wanna

There are some days/weeks that I just don't wanna blog. I have nothing interesting to say, no pics to post, and I feel just blah about the whole thing.
Since finding out that John will be heading to boot camp in August, we've stepped up the effort given toward projects around the house. I want to make sure that this house is in tip top shape, and all I have to concentrate on is mowing the lawn, paying the bills, and loving on the kiddos. Just the thought of spending that much time without my spouse is...well...weird. The most time we've EVER spent apart was 2 weeks, and that was rough. I'm not worried this time around, though, because I'm certain I can handle it.

As far as the house projects go, we're almost finished. It has been mainly painting, but that's a chore I'm here to tell ya! I think it's fun--John hates it. Each to his own I guess huh. :)

Alrighty, that's all I have for this evening. I'm sure someone will say something cute or witty in the next few days, so rest assured I'm not on some kind of "blogging break" or anything like that.
Oh yeah--can you believe summer is just around the corner? Jeez. Time flies when you're having fun!

Mel

Go Guard

Life as we know it is about to drastically change. This past Friday (the 8th), John enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard!
While it came as a complete shock to most family members and friends, John has actually been working on this since last October. He wanted to keep it hush-hush until all of the details were lined out and he had been sworn in. The kids and I got to watch him take his oath---it was very cool. Caitlin and Christian are great with the whole thing. In fact, Christian now goes around telling everyone that "his daddy is a soldier now."
Too cute!
I'm going to try to answer as many questions as possible in this post, but if there's one I miss, just comment and let me know, ok?

Here's how the next 6 months are going to look:
John will go to boot camp in South Carolina in early August. He'll be gone for 9-10 weeks. After boot camp, he will be home through the holidays. During that time, we will be doing as much as we can as a family. In January of 2010, he'll go to OCS (Officer Candidate School) in Georgia for roughly 8 weeks. During that time, he will be picking his specialty based on where he ranks in his class. Two of the specialties he's interested in are: 1) physician's assistant--anything medical, 2) helicopter pilot--not sure if that's an option really though. After OCS, he will come back home and be with us until we figure out where he will be training for his specialty.
It's really up in the air as to whether or not we will live here or have to move wherever his training is held. Not that that's a huge deal killer, but we do like the fact that we live very near both sets of parents/grandparents. It would be very hard to move, but then again we are willing to go where we are called to be.
Yes, John will be keeping his Fire Captain position through the whole thing. When he comes back during the holidays, he will go back on shift just like normal. It's nice to know that the fire department will work with military schedules (not that they really have a choice-ha!).
Knowing that this is something John has wanted to do his whole life, I'm excited to watch it all come together, piece by piece. I support him 100%! It's not going to be super easy, but we have plenty of family and friends to help us through this, especially the times when we are separated for weeks. There have been several times in the past 11 years that he's tried to join some branch of the armed forces, but for one reason or another it didn't work out. I think it's awesome that he was patient and waited until he had a college degree before trying again--that way he can go in as an officer.
We didn't make these massive decisions lightly. We trust that the Lord has a wonderful plan for John's life, and this is a step in the right direction for our family. Being completely at peace with this has been so freeing.
I will share more as I know more. This is all so new and interesting to me!

Mel

Sneaking (With An Edit Note At Bottom)

Oh Caroline. Where do I begin with trying to explain what a wonderful, fun-loving, beautiful, and ornery little 2 year old she is?
*deep sigh*
Caitlin and Christian were extremely good 2 year olds. They were polite, kind, easygoing, and still baby-ish in ways.
Not my Caroline.
It seems that she is the a epitome of a "terrible 2." The attitude she throws around here is enough to send me off the edge on some days. She's so very opinionated--so much so that I find myself staring into space and ignoring about half of the comments that come out of that child's mouth.
All of this said in love, of course.

Caroline has started a bad trend. Since putting her in her toddler bed (she loves it by the way, and she will normally stay put in it all night once she's laid down), mornings have gotten a bit crazy around here.
She LOVES to get up at the crack of dawn--after Daddy has gone to work--and explore the house. She's so brave, in fact, that she goes downstairs, turns on lights, and wanders around.
Thank heavens for locked patio/front doors.
Anywho....
This morning, I woke up at 8am. The house was quiet, Christian was sleeping next to me, and all seemed well (mind you, the kids went to bed about 2 hours later than normal last night, so I figured they were all still wiped out).
Then I see Caroline's darling little face in my doorway.
With red lipstick ALL over her mouth and cheeks.
I think my heart stopped for about 5 seconds.

*another very deep sigh*

I scooped her up, she handed me the tube of lipstick, and I marched her downstairs to assess the damage.
Thankfully she had just put it on herself and didn't try to help me redecorate the house in a nice shade of redish-raisin. She apologized profusely, and even threw the line in there of, "No spankin' Momma, no spankin'."
I then noticed that she had a different pair of panties on her bum than what she went to bed in (we still wear pullups to bed to avoid unnecessary laundry for Momma). I asked her about the new panties, and she directed me to the bathroom. She went to the trash can and pulled out her pullup--it was full of poo--that she had taken off. Apparently she was feeling "icky" in it, decided to take it off, then sit on the potty to finish the job. There were remains of poo all over the potty rim, but I couldn't possibly get mad at that.
At least she tried, right?
I love my Caroline Sunshine to pieces, but I really hope that the trend of orneryness doesn't get worse!

*NOTE* I understand that some things I post on my blog may bother some readers. Due to this fact, I am choosing to take advice and either re-word, edit, or completely delete some posts. In the future, however, I hope that what I write will be taken as it is meant--non-offensive and strictly from my heart and life. I don't want to have to make my blog private, but if that's what it takes to be able to share openly, I will do so. Thank you.

Mel

Wordless Wednesday

Mel

The Great Clothing Debate

I remember the days of my youth when I didn't really care about my clothes (let me insert here that my mom would already be making a comment about this--YES, I hated tags in ALL clothing, but what I'm referring to here is styles). I would wear the same pair of jeans over and over again, a t-shirt was as good as anything, and it didn't matter if I had matching jewelry or accessories.

Being a woman is HARD, I'm here to tell ya! So much to think about in the clothing realm.
Let's just tackle jeans first, shall we?

The choices are out-of-this-world:
low rise
flare
low rise with a tad bit of flare
mid rise
high rise (definitely Mom jeans, and I'm just not ready for them)
skinny leg (John makes soooo much fun of these)
boot cut
hipsters
super low rise (the kind that shows your undies even when you aren't bent over cleaning up a mess off the floor)
ultimate low rise (not even going there folks)
bell bottom
curvy
wide leg
long and lean
trouser fit (these are awesome, by the way. You can dress them up or down)


Whew! The list above probably doesn't even cover them all, but you get the idea. How hard is it to just walk into a store and find a pair that fits right every time??? Not only that, but you might be a size 8 in Gap, a size 10 in J Crew, and a size 12 in Old Navy . I just want a good pair of nice fitting jeans that: 1) doesn't make me feel too much like a bloated manatee, 2) shows my curves but doesn't over accentuate them, 3) allows me to breathe while still being fashionable, and 4) doesn't give me a complex or a huge fear that my mid-section is hanging out over the top or bulging just below the button.
It's a complicated world. I'm sure that the clothing companies get a kick out of all of us poor women that never know what true size we are in ANYTHING.
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Jogging suits--AKA velour hoodies with matching pants.
Love them.
They are, by far, the most comfortable outfits known to man (well, women actually). Nothing binding, pinching, irritating, overaccentuating, or fattening about them. They fit right, sit right, and are just marvelous. They come with a hoodie that can be added for extra warmth, but the outfit doesn't die without it. Totally a flexible getup.

The only draw back? Not totally the most sexy outfits.
Ask me how I know this.
Ok, I'll tell you.
I ordered a dark blue velour jogging suit from OldNavy.com several months ago, mainly to have something comfortable to wear while traveling. After all, it went with every shirt in my closet. I thought it was a great idea! As soon as it arrived in the mail, I ran upstairs, tried it on, and came back down to "present myself" to John for his opinion. With a big smile on my face (I thought it looked smashing by the way), I said, "Ta-da! What do you think, honey?"
His response?
"Ummmm...that's nice dear. Just add a string of pearls and you'll be ready for Sunday brunch."
Oh jeez. Really? Thanks alot.
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Then, of course, I walk the fine line of what's age appropriate and what's not.
What should a "mom" wear, and what's allowed for ANY woman.
Being a fairly young mom, I don't want to: 1) have anything in my closet that my 10 year old would want to borrow, 2) have revealing clothing that my 5 year old would be embarrassed of, 3) have an issue with shirts or pants being too tight, 4) constantly wear things that make my husband want to cry in mourning from the loss of his hot bride. :)

Too tight.
Too loose.
Too short.
Too long.
Too low.
Too high.
*deep sigh*

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Don't even get me started on jewelry and accessories.
Which belt looks best with which pair of jeans? How tall are "heels that are too tall?"
Is it ok to wear a bright green necklace with a yellow shirt, just for some added pizazz?

Does anyone use the word pizazz anymore?????

I most definitely don't have this all figured out, but I want to say that I am a good student and very teachable. I love to watch What Not To Wear on TLC. They have great tips and tricks for every body type, age, life stage, etc. It really is hard, though, to figure out which stores have the best clothing for MY body....not some 15 year old with narrow hips that has yet to birth a child.

No bitterness here, really.

When and IF I ever figure this all out, I'll be sure to write a post letting you all know about it.
And if you figure it out before me, clue me in, would ya?
Thanks.

Mel