Letter to My Munchkin

(Sorry if this letter is a little disjointed or choppy. . .I wrote it while exhausted, and still don't have the energy to go back through and edit it at the moment, ha ha. I wanted to post it yesterday, but didn't finish it until late last night and so I put off posting it until today. . . .)

Dearest Munchkin,

Happy 3rd Birthday!!! It really doesn’t seem like that much time has passed since I first laid eyes on you and instantly fell in love.

This morning we celebrated your birthday with Daddy over Skype--which was lots of fun! You opened your presents and then we sang “Happy Birthday” or “The Cake Song” as you decided to call it (you asked us to sing it to you periodically while you ate your frosting--along with a little bit of the actual cake--after we’d finish singing you’d blow on your cake as though you were blowing out your candle again, ha ha!), then you blew out your candle like a pro, and it was time to eat cake! Your cake was a layered yellow cake with chocolate frosting and tons of sprinkles (you were so excited about the sprinkles!). Daddy had cake too and Uncle Tony even dropped by Daddy’s room for a few minutes to get some cake and to wish you a happy birthday. =) You had fun playing with your new train set and trying to figure out what the pieces of your doctor’s ‘kit’ were for while Daddy watched. It was definitely a fun morning and I think we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit!

This past year has been an interesting one to say the least. The “Terrible Two’s” hit with full force not long after you turned two and it’s been a battle of wills ever since. You’ve also gone from a vocabulary consisting of about 5 words to speaking in broken sentences 90 miles an hour. You say some of the funniest things and make me wonder where you come up with this stuff.

Along those same lines, your imagination has really blossomed this year. You are always imagining that your ‘friends’ (Bob the Builder, Thomas the Engine, the bear, skunk, robot, shark, t-rex, etc.) are either playing with you, joining us for a meal,or chasing you while trying to bite you.

You finally started sleeping through the night. There are still occasions where you wake up and need some help going back to sleep, but those are a rarity now (for which Mommy has been very grateful, ha ha).

This was the first year that you really got a chance to play in the snow, and you had a BLAST...so did I--it was a lot of fun running around and playing in the winter wonderland with you.

This year has been different from your first two, because this year it’s mostly just been you and me. We said goodbye to Daddy on New Year’s Day this year and he headed back to Afghanistan for a year. I was worried about how you might react to Daddy’s absence, but as always you have been a little trooper and have been so brave while Daddy’s been away.

I wasn’t sure how you were going to react when Daddy came home for 15 days of R&R at the end of May, but God answered my prayers and the reunion was more beautiful than I could have imagined. I hadn’t told you that Daddy was coming home, but once we’d arrived at the airport you started saying, “Daddy? Daddy?” I think you may have recognized it as the place where we’d last seen him. . . . It came as quite a surprise to me all the same though. Once we’d made it into the airport and had gone up the escalators we could see Daddy’s camouflage uniform at the end of the long passageway and you immediately started saying, “Daddy! Daddy!” Daddy spotted us also and we met somewhere in the middle where you instantly went to him and wanted to hug him and hold his hand.

On the way home from the airport you kept opening your arms out wide and saying, “Hunk” (which translated as: “hug”)--you were so happy to have Daddy home you didn’t want to let him go! Also on the way home that day you put three words together for the first time--you’d been playing with Daddy’s sunglasses and kept taking the head strap thingy off and then saying, “I did it!”

Ever since that day your vocabulary and communication skills started to take off and improve by leaps and bounds--which has been incredible to look back on and see how far you’ve come. Now you are speaking in long sentences (they don’t always make sense, but usually they do....) and using big words like: “obstacles” and “telescope”.

Back in August you tripped while playing a game of tag/chase with Grandma and you hit your right cheek on the edge of your wooden rocking chair--which left a gash about a half inch long which required a trip to the hospital. . . . The doctor said you could get 1 or 2 stitches, or we could have it glued. We chose the glue to ease any further ‘trauma’ on you. Just like the first time you gashed your head open, once you’d gotten past the initial pain from it (about 5-10 of crying) you were back to your normal self and wanted to bounce around. You were so well behaved for the doctors and sat so still for them. I was proud of you for being so brave!

As I said before, this year has been interesting to say the least! I am looking forward to this coming year--especially knowing that Daddy will be coming home soon to share it with us! I just can’t wait to see the way you light up when you realize Daddy is home! Soon My Baby. . .soon.

Mommy loves you and can’t wait to see what this new year holds!

Love always,
Mommy

The Year in Review--Munchkin Turned Three Today!

 Whew, am I behind or what? Well, here's my attempt to get 'back in the blogging groove', here is this year's month by month picture progression of the Munchkin.

December 2011
The Munchkin has had a fascination with the horses from the start...not sure if he remembered anything about being around Ice or Titan before we moved to Hawaii--or if it's just in his blood (hehe), but he's never been afraid of them.

January 2012
Deer-in-the-headlights look. Ha ha.

February 2012
He loves to be outside. =)

March 2012
Such a Goofball.

April 2012
Wearing Daddy's hat.

May 2012
"Look Mommy--a plane!"

June 2012
Oh how he loves that tricycle.

July 2012
His face has changed so much this past year!

August 2012
Yet again, he tripped and hit his face on a toy...I'm thinking I should put him in a padded room with only stuffed animals for toys.

September 2012
Still fascinated with the horses. ;)

October 2012
He's looking more and more like a little boy and less like a toddler.

November 2012
We were able to Skype with Daddy this morning while opening presents and eating cake! So much fun! =)

 That's it for now. I'll try to post again soon, but we are in the midst of preparing to head back to Hawaii currently....

 

Book Review: Short-Straw Bride

This is the last book review I am going to do for a while as I am in the process of preparing for my return to Hawaii--I've been meaning to write a 'normal' post, but it's been taking me a while to actually find time to sit down and get it done...hopefully soon though.

After I had requested a copy of Short-Straw Bride to review I thought to myself, “Oh goodness--what have I gotten myself into? It’s a romance...it’s probably going to be off-the-wall cheesy.” (What can I say? I’m a realist...over-cheesiness just isn’t my thing, ha ha.) The book’s description still sounded intriguing though, so I was looking forward to reading it despite my apprehension.

I started reading it the same day it arrived, and less than 24 hours later I’d finished it. That was the fastest I’ve read a book since before my son was born, I think.... In brief, Short-Straw Bride was truly a fun book to read! I loved every minute of it and discovered--much to my relief--that it wasn’t really all that cheesy. In fact, it was one of the most ‘sensible’ romances I’ve ever read--while still being romantic nonetheless.

Short-Straw Bride is about Meredith, a young woman who delivers a warning to someone she was indebted to and through a chain of events end up having to marry him. It being a hasty marriage of obligation neither is sure of the others’ feelings and  have to adjust to being suddenly married. There is more to the story, but I don’t want to give anything away. :)

The author, Karen Whitemeyer, has the talent for writing a story that really draws you in and takes hold of you while you read it! I definitely found myself growing attached to the characters in the story and was excited to see the story unfold as I continued to read.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a fun read!

A big ‘Thank You’ to Bethany House for providing a free copy of Short-Straw Bride for me to read in return for an honest review!

Book Review: Fearless

Fearless is a book much like Outlaw Platoon in that it is a story about one of our military heroes--and that the story contained within it's pages is one that is unequivocally incredible. It is the inspiring true story of Navy SEAL Adam Brown, a man who made some bad decisions early on in his life, but rose above those choices and continued to fight--and conquer--his personal demons to become a man truly worth looking up to. It is a book about second chances, patriotism, love that never gave up, and--most of all--faith. Adam Brown’s extraordinary life was an incredible--albeit difficult--journey from utter hopelessness to a life that was filled with purpose.

Right from the start this book pulls you in and makes it very hard to have to put it down to attend to other things. I remember laughing out loud at one point in the beginning of the book when the author, Eric Blehm, was illustrating what Brown had been like as a toddler--the similarity to my own son and the understanding of how his mother must have felt each time he did something outlandish gave me some common ground with the story and drew me deeper into it’s pages. Brown’s never-quit attitude (despite seemingly impossible odds on more than one occasion) made me examine my own attitudes when faced with not-anywhere-near-as-impossible of odds.

I don’t want to give anything away, but the title of the book truly sum’s up Brown’s life in a single word--from the start of his life to his final breath--he truly was fearless. Brown overcame adversity time and time again that others would have never dared to challenge. His deep convictions and unwillingness to quit despite the odds being stacked against him on many different occasions led to his becoming a part of the legendary SEAL Team Six.

Eric Blehm did a fabulous job in retelling Brown’s story. His style of writing and story telling truly draws you in and helps you envision the events he retold as you read them. May Brown’s story never be forgotten, and to GOD be the glory!

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group kindly provided me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Fearless for free, please click on this link: Fearless Chapter 1.

To watch the book trailer on YouTube, please click here: Fearless Book Trailer.

Unplanned Absence

So, I really didn't mean to be away from here for so long--yet again--truly!! I have frequently thought about posting since my last post--does that count for anything? No? Awww, shucks.

I'm working on another book review at the moment and that made me realize how much I've been neglecting my poor blog lately. One of these days I hope to be better organized and be able to fit everything in that I want to get done.

Well, anyhow, in the case that anyone is still reading this I guess I should give a brief update. . . .

My hubby came home for his mid tour leave at the very end of May and was here 'til mid-June--which meant he was able to be home for his birthday! WOOHOO! =D It was such a blessing having him home for that time and saying goodbye again was almost as hard as the first time, though this time it was a little different because instead of saying goodbye for a year we were only having to say goodbye for about six months. It was awesome that his R&R was moved up. . .it had originally been set to be in September, so when it got changed around I wasn't going to complain. ;) Especially after April 19th. . .even though my head knew that my beloved husband was okay, my heart needed to be reassured of that. . .I needed to be able to touch him and know that he was truly okay.

We went to Gatlinburg, TN for a week while my hubby was home. . .it was where we first 'officially' met back in 2005 after having been pen-pals through his first deployment to Afghanistan, so there is a lot of sentimental value in that area for us. =) We spent our time there exploring the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and driving through the mountains. I wish I could say that I got some fantastic pictures of the gorgeous vistas while we were there, but sadly the only lens I had that could capture the scope of them happened to be my kit lens and it would suffice it to say that they were of pretty poor quality. I truly despise that lens--with a passion--and have been doing quite a bit of research as to what lens I am going to replace it with. . .stay tuned for more on that in another post.

The Munchkin has been getting bigger and is becoming more and more verbal. He started picking up the pace while his daddy was home (he was SO excited to see his daddy at the airport--which was such a huge relief as I wasn't sure how he would react after not having seen him for so long), ha ha. He is starting to form sentences now, and though quite often he still says quite a bit of what he's saying in 'his' language, he is starting to use real words more and more. It is fun to be able to understand more of what is going on in his head now. . .he is so smart. Too smart for his own good. =p

Thankfully we passed the half-way mark of my 'he should be home by now' deployment countdown yesterday. It felt good to see that the number of days left now are smaller than the number of days we've already been apart. =) That is such a BIG milestone!!!!

I guess I should post a couple of pictures now since it's been awhile. . .ha ha. =)

One of the better pictures from our trip to TN.

The day after my hubby got home. =)

Near the base of the Clingman's Dome trailhead.

Our last full day together for a while. . .such a bittersweet day.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back more frequently now.

Book Review: SEAL of GOD

SEAL of GOD is a book about the author’s journey from a cocky, arrogant, and self-centered young Navy SEAL who underwent a massive change when he accepted Christ as his Savior. A good chunk of the book details the time when Williams’ was in BUD/S (the initial SEAL training), and gave a pretty detailed behind-the-scenes glimpse into what SEAL ‘hopefuls’ go through to be able to hold the coveted title of: Navy SEAL. The book gives an honest look at the attitudes and actions the author, Chad Williams, allowed to rule him from very early on in his life--up until the dramatic change that took place one night at a revival meeting. The story doesn’t end there though as Williams still had time left to serve in the SEALs before his contract was up, and the book tells how his new-found faith affected the remainder of his time in the SEALs, and (briefly) where God has led him since his enlistment contract was finished.

When I first started reading the book my thoughts were along the lines of: “Who did this guy think he was? Did he think he was invincible or something? What an IDIOT.” Reading about his reckless behaviors truly made me sad knowing it was his way of trying to fill the void in his life during his time of running from God. Like so many others--‘the next biggest thrill’ was always tantalizingly there--promising him fulfillment, but always leaving Williams still so frustratingly empty. That being said, it was incredible to ‘witness’ the change in his life, attitudes, and overall mentality that took place literally instantly after he realized the truth of the Gospel and accepted Christ as his Savior. The book was pretty well written--and several parts were actually quite humorous--overall, it was a fascinating look into the difficult process of becoming a SEAL and the transformation of one of those heroic men into a SEAL of God.

Earlier today I was listening to Remedy Drive’s song “All Along”, and the song struck me as a rather fitting illustration of Chad Williams’ journey to Christ, so I will end this review with the lyrics. The lyrics are as follows (please note: I do not claim to own any rights to the lyrics--I am simply including them here as an illustration):

"It's not everything it seems - the world and it's dreams

Slipping like water through my hands tonight

All the things I thought would fill me up inside

Left me empty here - and now I know why

All along I was looking for something else

You're something else

All along I was looking for something more

You're so much more 

I finally found what I could never see before

You've always been the one that I was looking for

All of my castles in the sand - washed away again

And I'm back where I began tonight

The only thing that can ever fill me up

Has been right in front of me all the time"

Thank you Tyndale House Publishers for providing a free copy of SEAL of GOD for me to review!

A Piece of My Heart

I've put this off long enough. . . . I thought of not writing about it at all as writing makes it more real, but I can't pretend that it didn't happen, so here goes. . . .

Going into a deployment there is always the knowledge that something could happen, but there is also the overlying optimism that nothing will. Tragically, real life doesn't always go the way we think it should. . . . April 19th was one of those times.

If any of you were watching the news anytime during or after the afternoon of the 19th, then you probably know that a Blackhawk helicopter went down in Afghanistan while performing a rescue operation. The next two and a half days passed in a blur as we (the wives and families of our aviation brigade--we knew it was within our brigade, but didn't know any other details) held our breath and waited for any news about what had happened. Thankfully, I knew my husband was safe because I had been talking to him when it happened. A couple of my fellow wives and friends knew that their husband's were safe as well--having also just talked to them. However, that news was bittersweet as we waited to learn the identities of the men we had lost--wondering just how close to home the news was going to hit. . . . We were horrified when we realized just how close to home it was.

When the news slowly started to come in, it was one heartbreaking blow after another. The men who are just names to most who have watched the news or read the articles, are so much more than that to us--they were our friends, and indeed a part of our family. They were part of my husband's company and a couple were close friends.

Let me just say right now that I am incredibly grateful to have had two of my fellow military wives to lean on during that time of waiting and wondering. We were able to provide support to each other during that time and it was good to know that we weren't each alone in our fears. I am very thankful that God provided me with my 'battle-buddies'. . .having other wives to talk to who understood exactly what I was going through (and I them) really did help--especially since all three of us relocated for the deployment and were far away from other military families who could relate in ways that civilians cannot (not bashing civilian friends, just saying there is a difference in understanding when you are in the midst of a similar situation yourself [or have been in the past] vs. being on the outside looking in. . . .).

It's hard to believe that come this Saturday, a month will have already passed since we suffered this heavy loss to our company. My heart still aches for the families whose lives have been forever changed--as well as for my husband and for the others in his company and the entire aviation brigade overall.

Please remember to pray for the families of our fallen heroes: CW2 Nick Johnson, CW2 Don Viray, SPC Dean Shaffer, and SPC Chris Workman. The past 3 1/2 weeks have without a doubt been some of the most difficult in their lives. . . . Please also pray for my husband and the others in his company as the loss of their brothers is understandably hard. God is at work through this tragedy though. . .as we have seen the evidence of His workings.

Also, please pray for the wives and families of our remaining deployed soldiers. . .I know I speak for more than myself when I say that the events of April 19th really shook us up in some ways and truly broke our hearts at the loss of our friends and extended family.

Thank you.

Wordless Wednesday

Penny--Then & Now

I was looking through some of the first pictures I have of Penny-Cat, and decided I would share a quick before and after of her. She didn't turn out anything like we thought she would when we first took her in as a 'foster'--though the lady who asked us to foster her apparently really had no intentions of it being a foster, but more of a free kitten kind of thing. Ah, well, we love our Penny girl, so it all worked out okay.

Anyhow, here are her before and after shots. =)

This was taken within a couple days of our getting her. . .she was about 8 weeks old here.

This was taken back in February. See how much she's changed? Ha ha! Sadly, I don't have any recent full-body shots of her to show how dark and tabby-ish she is on her back and tail. . . .

By the way, apparently my previous post was my 100th post! Craziness!

Emotional Overload

You may not remember, but last year I asked my readers to be praying for a homeless man we were ministering to back in Hawaii. . . . Well, that man, Raymond, became a dear friend of ours and I have been trying to keep in touch with him since we left via snail mail and a care package filled with snacks, food for his beloved dog, Coby, and Raymond's favorite cookie: OREOS! =)

In the package I sent stationary, pens, and stamps so he would have a way to write us back and let us know how him and Coby were doing. So, imagine my absolute joy to find a letter from him waiting in my mailbox this past Friday! I couldn't wait to hear how he was doing, so I opened it and started reading it as we walked back up the driveway. . .A couple of pages into the letter I discovered the reason why Raymond had written that particular letter: Coby had been hit by a car, left for dead on the side of the road, and died in Raymond's arms shortly thereafter. My heart broke when I realized that Coby was gone and Raymond had lost his best friend. I started crying right there on the driveway. You have to realize that Coby was almost quite literally ALL that Raymond had--and now he is gone. Raymond and Coby were completely devoted to one another. . .you only had to take one look at Coby to know how much he adored Raymond and vice versa. It always made us feel better knowing that he had Coby, because we knew they had each other.

Raymond said he knew he needed to tell us what had happened. . .he knew how much we loved Coby right along with him. He blames himself for the circumstances surrounding Coby's death and is so incredibly heartbroken--and understandably so. Please pray for Raymond that he would feel God's peace and that he would indeed turn to God even more so in his grief than before. . . . My heart is broken for him knowing how much this loss has affected him--and knowing that his beloved Coby is gone.

Please pray for me as well. . .the grief of Coby's loss is like the cherry on top of a whole lot of family drama that has been causing quite a bit of stress for me. I've been so exhausted emotionally ever since I read the letter about Coby. . .along with other events from the past couple of days just piling up on top of everything else. Please pray that I would have wisdom and strength and that I would be able to show God's grace and love to Raymond and my family.

The last few days haven't all been negative though. . .on Friday evening I received a delivery of a beautiful bouquet of red roses and Calla Lillies from my wonderful hubby! Thank you Baby!! =) It was perfect timing--and a wonderful 'pick-me-up' in the aftermath of Raymond's letter.

Anyhow, all that to say: please remember Raymond in your prayers--he really needs them right now! Thanks everyone!

Valentine's Day Care Package

Sooooo, I'm over a month late in posting this, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it anyhow. . . .

This is a breakdown of the package Munchkin and I sent to the hubby for Valentine's Day. It ended up taking me longer to get everything finished and then actually get to the Post Office, so I was really concerned that it was going to arrive late. We were shocked when it actually arrived at the end of the week (on the 11th!) since I'd only mailed it out on the Monday before. I was definitely praising God for that blessing!!

So, not only did it arrive on time for Valentine's Day, but we also got to 'be there' via Skype to watch my hubby open it--so much fun!!! I'd had a blast getting everything together and giggling over things that I thought would make him smile. . .it was a huge plus actually getting to see it happen. =)

Many of my ideas came from Pinterest (anyone who has NOT been on that site needs to check it out STAT! It is addicting though. . .so many good ideas on it--though I should warn you that there are also some rather inappropriate images that get pinned on there occasionally as well. =( Ugh.), and I will be including the links to the tutorials for those under their respective pictures.

Okay, now on to the contents of the box. . . .

Love Bugs! Aren't they cute? I even made a 'Baby Lovebug' so the Munchkin could be included! =) This is one of the Pinterest crafts, to see the tutorial, click here.

The only thing I had to prevent them from getting crushed in the box was this index card box.

I made little blank cards out of white cardstock to have something to put in the little mailbox I was sending (pictures below), then I stamped on them with my cute, Valentine's Day stamps.

On the other side I wrote romantic quotes. ;-)

Then I used these cute, itty-bitty clothes pins that I got from Michael's to keep them 'sealed' after I folded them.

I searched high and low for this mailbox!!! Most stores only had the cardboard ones. . .I was rather particular about getting an aluminum one. . .couldn't have it getting crushed now could I? :-p

These sealed the personal mini-love notes that I put in the mailbox (they are actually little clothes pins not quite as small as the ones with hearts above, but still quite small though you can't really tell that from the photo). These were inspired by something quite similar on Pinterest, but they are too simple to require a tutorial, so I never even clicked on the picture, ha ha.

This was a LOT of fun, but also a lot of work, lol. Not that I don't have at least 52 things that I love about my hubby, I was just trying to make each one completely different from the rest and not be redundant with similar things. This was a Pinterest inspired project. There are many variations of it, here a links to a couple of them: the one I followed  and another good one.

A glimpse of one of the things I love about my hubby! ;-)

And another. ;-p Ha ha!

Pictures and videos I wanted to send to him along with a playlist of love songs I'd chosen just for him (and another playlist just of other random songs I thought he might enjoy). I had originally meant to video Munchkin and myself with a 'special Valentine's Day message', but we ran out of time, so I didn't. :-/

Lyrics from Josh Turner's "The Longer the Waiting (the Sweeter the Kiss)".

I figured, "Hey, he's red!" Ha ha!

Amigurumi Hearts--Munchkin is still talking about these whenever he sees me crocheting anything. . .he has had an obsession with hearts ever since I made these! These were another Pinterest find, you can see the tutorial here.

What is Valentine's Day without candles? The can was a random idea that I had one day for making a tea light holder. . .I used a nail and punched holes out to form hearts: two large and two (?) small. It took FOREVER. Note to self: next time, glue it to the floor and use a nail gun.

I HAD to send Hugs and Kisses. :-D

Maybe I should have sent a toothbrush and toothpaste with the box. . . .

The steamy love letter. Mwahahahah! Okay, seriously, I still blush every time I think about this.
*ETA: By "steamy" I don't mean inappropriate. . .just more 'lovey-dovey' than what I normally write in my regular letters.*

The contents of this box will remain known only to my hubby and me. :-p

I had no idea you could 'wrap' a box on the inside until I saw the amazingly creative care packages that other military S.O.s had made while searching for ideas on what to do. It was a lot of fun to do and I think my hubby really enjoyed seeing something other than the inside of a brown box for once, ha ha.

I didn't want the thumb drive to get lost and wanted to make sure my hubby saw it, so I taped it to one of the flaps. :-p

So, there you have it. We don't normally do much of anything for Valentine's Day, but I decided I was going to make this year special. My hubby surprised me by e-mailing my printer a list of "100 Reasons Why I Love You" (the day BEFORE my package to him arrived--proof that our hearts and brains are still connected even so far apart!!) so it would be printed and waiting for me to find (I LOVE it when he does that with random notes and stuff!). He was so sweet--it made me get all choked up more than once. I'm going to treasure that list forever and always!!! I'm so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband!

Even though we couldn't spend this past Valentine's Day together, it was still pretty amazing I think! I'm not sure how we are going to 'out-do' it next year. . . . I'll have to start coming up with ideas soon, ha ha.

How did you celebrate Valentine's Day this year or in years past?