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Time to Move, AGAIN

Hello everyone! 
Happy Memorial Day! 
I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time now but I just haven’t gotten around to sitting down to share with all of you that we are moving, AGAIN! 
Yep, after moving to Fort Leavenworth, KS, just north of Kansas City, last summer, it is time to for us to move on. Our stuff is currently all packed up waiting to be picked up tomorrow so we’ll be living without our stuff for quite some time. We knew we’d only be in Kansas for a year but I don’t know if I am ever truly ready for our life to be packed up into boxes and taken away. 
Even with that said, we are SUPER excited about where we are headed to next!! 
We’ve been wanting to go for years now, in fact, we were suppose to go here 8 years ago but had to change things up, so I am thankful we have another opportunity to go where we are going. 
Are you ready to find out where we are going? 
Well, we are going to….
GERMANY!!! 
 Yep, Germany!! 
We are so excited to have this opportunity to go live in Europe and experience the culture and travel any and everywhere! 
The girls are excited as well, do they know exactly how different life will be in Germany, no, but it will so awesome to have the experience in their young life and hopefully we’ll make amazing memories together as a family. 
We have been practicing our German using an app on our phones and Miss P is picking it up so quickly! I can’t wait to see how both of the girls progress with their German once we are immersed in the middle of German life. 
We will be moving to Kaiserslautern, Germany. 
 We will be located in the south western side of Germany. We will be only about 4 hrs from Paris as well as Switzerland. 
We can’t wait to travel to other countries and explore all the little villages around us in Germany.
And I truly CANNOT wait for all the Christmas Markets!! I already told Travis don’t expect us to be home any weekend near Christmas because we are going to be off to a market any chance we get! 
We officially head to Germany just after July 4th so if you don’t already, follow me on Instagram because I am sure I will be in picture overload mode for a while! lol
Also, stayed tuned for even more exciting news! 
Hopefully, that news will be shared in the next few weeks too. I just need to narrow down some of the details! 🙂

May 27, 2019 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- July 2018

This is the last week of August and I am JUST now getting around to sharing our family adventures from July. Things have been crazy this month with getting our household goods, finally, and unpacking, girls starting school, Travis starting his schooling for Major and much more, that sitting down to look through pictures and write this post was way on the back burner. 
 Enough about all that. Let me finally share what we were up to in July before it really IS August. lol
 Since the girls were still in TN with our parents the beginning of the month, we were able to continue to have our date days/nights and do anything we wanted. haha We began the month by doing a little golfing at Top Golf. I am terrible but this place is still super fun to go to if you have one in your area.
 Having no kids with us didn’t stop us from still enjoying the fourth of July. Shortly before the fireworks began, we left our hotel to get some dessert and then parked on the top level of the mall parking garage to watch the fireworks. So many people in the neighborhoods around there were doing crazy large fireworks so we watched those until it was time to watch the ones that the local baseball team was putting on after their game ended.

 No kids= TONS of exploring of Kansas City and the surrounding areas. We found this cute old street car, that was part of the original system back in the day and I had to take some shots of it. 
Then there is a knitting group that knit all these colorful covers for everything, and I do mean everything, at the last stop of the current tram system. So colorful and happy!

 We explored the area near Union Station a lot and walked the sky bridge to get to other areas.
 We visited the WWI Museum one afternoon. This museum is pretty cool and I recommend adding it to your must see list if you ever visit Kansas City. The views of the city from the museum were gorgeous as well.

 The evening after we visited the WWI Museum, we finally got a call that we got a house on post. To say we were excited was an understatement since it was already mid July and we’d been in a hotel for three weeks.
Here are some shot of new abode for the next year that we will be living in KS.
 The weekend that we got the house, we drove to Ill. to pick up the girls from my parents. They learned to swim while they were in TN over the summer so we had to take advantage of the hotel pool so they could show us their new skills. We were both really impressed!

 On our way home from picking up the girls, we stopped in St. Louis at the City Museum. This place is insane and another must visit place if you have kids and are visiting the St. Louis area. There are mazes, slides, a Ferris Wheel on the roof, and so much more to climb all over and through to explore!
 A few days after we got the girls back and they were settled, we ventured back down to Kansas City to go to Lego Land and the aquarium. 
The girls had fun building things and checking out all the giant Lego structures throughout.
 The aquarium is attached to Lego Land so once we were done there we hopped over to the aquarium for some more fun. I love to see how excited the girls get when they see different animals/fish/creatures.
 We then ventured out into Kansas City to take the girls on the Tram system for what we would call their first train ride. They were so excited to ride the tram. We had just missed one so we had to wait a few minutes until the next one arrived so we went in to explore Union Station and the big T-Rex outside.
 It took ages to get our stuff but that didn’t stop me from trying to make the outside of our house feel more homey. We hung our American flag, I placed my flowers pots out, put my small garden flag out as well and then placed mulch in the garden to make this place feel a little more like ours. 
I’ve since added some pretty yellow flowers to go with roses in the garden, we’ve hung fun lights on the porch, and we have some comfy chairs to sit on and relax out there. It is still not our old screened in porch but I like it.
 These two kitties got pretty spoiled being in a small hotel room with just Travis and I for a few weeks so they still liked to cuddle with us every chance they got.

 When you don’t have furniture, and have no idea when it even MAY be arriving, you get creative! We had this extra blow up mattress with us so we blew it up and propped it up to be like a couch. We had our tiny tv with us that we placed a tote and our step ladder served as a side table. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to be slightly more comfortable! lol
 One afternoon, Travis had to start in processing for school so I took the girls out and about on Fort Leavenworth to do some exploring the new place we’ll be living. There are some really awesome old buildings, canons, and beautiful views of the Missouri River. There’s even a chunk of the Berlin Wall!

 We discovered this fun little farm about 10 mins from where we live that allows you to pick your own veggies. They also have other fun events every so often and we have definitely enjoyed going to get our farm fresh veggies! 
 What’s living and exploring a new area without making a stop at the zoo?! We hit up the Kansas City Zoo one day where it wasn’t 100 degrees out and we all had a lovely time! We explored everything and closed the zoo down!
 And lastly, the girls love discovering things in nature and have a fascination with bugs so when Travis almost stepped on this super baby snake on a walk one evening, they were so excited to look at it, touch it, and want to hold it. 
That is it for our month of July! 
We’ve made lots of new friends and have done a lot more exploring since this time. 
We are trying to make the most of our year in Kansas! 
Hopefully I will be back on time with my August recap! lol

August 29, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- June ’18

Holy cow everyone, how are we already so far into July?! 
 Our life has been in total chaos for almost a month now so this post is coming at you late this month. 
But I am here now to share a glimpse of what we were up to in June. 
The month started out with us celebrating P’s recent birthday by having a spa party. She was adamant that she wanted a party outside of our house this year since we always do parties at home so I contacted my hair stylist who works out of a super fun old house and we did a spa party at her salon. 
We had a nail painting station, a bath bomb making station, and then all the girls got to get their hair done. It was so fun seeing what they all picked to do with their hair. 
The girls had a great time even though it was a total whirlwind! lol
A few days later was P’s last day of kindergarten! 
I can’t believe she will be in first grade this coming year. She had a hard time leaving her school and her friends, which I knew she would, but she knew we were moving and it was harder for her since she won’t be back next year with everyone. 
First day of summer break consisted of the girls and I getting up early for having a spa day of our own. All of us got our hair cut and I got some color in my hair. 
I was very proud of P because she actually cut about 4 inches off her hair this time! 
Our little town’s annual festival began the day after the last day of school so we headed to the carnival that evening for a little fun. Travis was out of town so it was just the girls and I and we met up our neighbors for some fun. 
The girls were super excited about the rides this year which was fun to watch them enjoy themselves.
A few days later was the Butterfest parade so we walked down to watch the parade for a few hours of fun on a Sunday afternoon. 
Travis got delayed returning from his trip but once he returned we walked down to one of the parks by our house. The trip turned into having fun in the water by the dam and P was determined to catch the tiny tadpoles in the water. She was all wet but she was successful more than once! She was so excited! 
Our time in WI was coming to a close, and quickly, so we had a fun park and ice cream date day with our friends since we weren’t able to see them often as of late. 
The week that school got out, P went on her first overnight sleepover to one of her classmate’s house. 
The girls were really close so we had her friend over to our house for our first friend sleepover a few days before we moved. Miss S had to join in on the sleepover fun too because that is what little sisters do! 
We were out running errands one afternoon and we spotted this sign outside our local Claire’s store and the girls HAD to have their picture take in it as a unicorn. They make pretty cute unicorns! 
Mid month we caught the La Crosse county Dairy Breakfast. We were excited that we were able to go to it this year as we were able to attend one the summer we moved to WI but haven’t been able to attend one since. The girls enjoyed seeing all the cows and checking out other animals and fun things to do on the farm. It was a crazy hot day but we all had fun. 
My parents came up to WI Father’s Day weekend and since they were there, P and I made this DAD cake to celebrate the big day. She was excited to help me and she got to do a lot of the decorating on the cake. 
My parents actually came to visit to pick up the girls to take them back to TN with them so they could have some fun while we were moving. They left the day before all the packing began and have been having a great time!
Packing of our house began the 20th and by the 23rd we had a totally empty house. 
Travis and I camped out in the house for a few more days, cleaning, touching up paint, and packing up anything last minute that we were taking with us. 
It was so sad seeing the house all empty again!
These kitties weren’t sure about the packers. 
Patton was taking it like the seasoned moving champ he is but Poppy was a nervous wreck since this was her first move. She hid everyday but on the day they were packing the truck we put her on the porch and she was not happy! Luckily she survived and she’s doing better! 
Patton also found wherever he could to sleep and I guess he just wanted to make sure he came with us when he took up resident in Travis’s suitcase. 
Since we didn’t have the girls with us, we were able to hang out with friends and do things just the two of us. We usually got together with our neighbors around their fire pit so of course we had to get together for one last one before we left. We’ll miss these folks! 
And as I stated, we have been able to go back to the life of pre-kids with the girls in TN just hanging out together doing whatever we wanted. We went down to La Cross a few evenings for dinner and hanging out. I must say, it has been nice! lol
We also got together with our good military friends for one last meal before we left. Always sad leaving good people when it is time to move! 
We haven’t been the only ones having fun. The girls have been having a blast with their cousins and grandparents. They’ve been swimming everyday at my parent’s and then have gotten to ride horses and play on tractors at Travis’s parent’s house. 
I’m not sure they’ll want to come home! 
But the time did eventually come to say goodbye to our old lady. I cried, like I always do when we leave a house, but she is still in the family for now. We ended up renting her out for a year so she is still ours and that helps a little bit. 
We headed out for our drive to KS and I had these two and little car mates for the drive while Travis drove our truck pulling a trailer. 
And now here we are. We are being stationed at Fort Leavenworth just north of Kansas City. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a house on post so we have been living in a hotel since we arrived in town. I am truly thankful that the girls have been in TN this whole time so all of us are cramped in a hotel but Travis and I have been having fun exploring our new city. We’ve been downtown a few times but on this day we were exploring KC’s gorgeous Union Station, eating some tasty BBQ in the fanciest BBQ joint I’ve ever been too and just checking out the city. 
KC reminds me a lot of Nashville so it has been fun to explore it and the surrounding areas. 
And that’s about it! 
We are still waiting for a house on post but we are FINALLY getting close to the top of the list so I am praying we get a house this week! If you’re the praying type, would you say a little prayer for us as well?! 🙂 Then the wait for all of our stuff will begin once we get a house. I’m over this move already! lol
The girls are still in TN but we will be getting them this weekend whether we have a house yet or not so it will be fun seeing them after all this time. They’ve learned to swim while in TN so I’m excited to take them to a pool to check out their new skill!
 But stay tuned for next month’s post to get an update on our move!

July 11, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- May ’18

Hello everyone!
Long time no see! 
We are still busy with pre-moving things, plus with end of school year activities and Miss P’s birthday so I am just now getting around to sharing my May This and That post. 
 When I first started getting my photos ready for this post, I didn’t think we did a lot and that it would have been a short post but that was far from the truth! We did a lot more than I thought and had some good times! 
I’m just going to start with a picture I snapped of Miss S that was too cute not to share. I went to check on her before I went to bed one night at the beginning of the month and found her like this- all snuggled with her blankie and looking sweet as can be.

And how about another super cute snuggly, sleeping picture but this time of Poppy?! 
She was sleeping in her favorite chair in the living room and Miss P’s favorite doll was in it and she curled right up next to it. Miss P actually put her paw on top of her doll but she continued to sleep like this for a long time so I had to capture a photo. 
Miss S had her very first school program at the beginning of the month. She only went to preschool for 2 days a week but she worked so hard on her songs and did so amazingly well during her performance! I was so proud of her and that she didn’t get scared once she had a large audience to sing in from of and she knew all her words and hand gestures.

 Miss S LOVES to play dress up, LOVES, and one day she was dressed as Rapunzel but was pretending to be a teacher reading me a book. I hope she always uses her creative imagination!
 When spring time arrives in WI, know that it is also time for lots and lots of bunnies to show up! 
We have had our fair share of bunny burrows in our yard throughout our time here in our house and it is always so fun to see the momma bunny hanging out and then seeing the babies when they start coming out of the burrow. We actually had a burrow at the base of the tree behind the girls in the photo and this momma bunny was totally cool with just hanging out near her babies along with the girls right there playing outside. The girls loved it too! 
Travis actually caught one of the babies when he found it while cutting the grass and we let the girls hold it for a few. I took photos of it but they must be on Travis’s phone.
 The girls love dandelions, LOVE!! This field near our house recently flooded when we had a lot of rain at the end of April, early May, and from the water line down to the water was a sea of yellow at one point. We took the girls down there to let them pick some dandelions and play a little and they were in heaven!
 
 I signed the girls up for a 4 week mini gymnastics glass in May and as usual, they really enjoyed it. I think this was the best class they’ve taken yet. They really worked hard and learned new techniques this time.
 Mid May, Travis’s brigade at a military ball. Travis was the MC for the ball so we got to get all dressed and have a nice evening out. 
 The day before Mother’s day the girls and I painted rocks for a fun little activity. We were going to go hiking on Mother’s day so thought they would be fun to take and hide along the trail while we hiked.
 BUT… Miss S had other plans for Mother’s Day. She woke not feeling well with a cough and running a fever so our hiking plans got put on the back burner. We did have a nice day at home even though she wasn’t feeling very well.
 Our town did a little Wine Walk where you would go into the shops downtown and each store was passing out little wine tasters. We had a little date evening out with some friends and it was a lot of fun!
 Fort McCoy had a family day towards the end of the month where they had lots of activities for families to come out and do and cool things to see. Travis actually had to work the event so we stopped by for a little while to play and see everything that was on display.
Have you ever seen a bunny burrow?! Well, here you go!
We were on a walk on day and saw all these baby bunny in a large dirt/rock pile in one of our friend’s yard. We were amazed at how many were in there and it actually looked like there might have been another one at one point in the pile. 
 There is a museum in our town and it has been on our bucket list to visit for quite some time. The downstairs is all about the history of our town and our county while upstairs is a bicycle museum and a museum for Astronaut, Deke Slayton who was actually from Sparta. We finally make it over there for a visit one evening when we had a showing on our house and we needed to go somewhere. It was a fun little adventure.
 Miss P’s school did a cancer walk toward the end of the month and Miss S and I went to walk with them at the football field. Here’s a shot of Miss P with all of her classmates and teacher.
 Miss S had her last day of school on the 23rd. She definitely loved school and learned and grew so much over the year.

 Miss P turned 6, SIX people, on the 24th. We had a super busy day that day so we all surprised her at school with Taco Bell for lunch then we opened presents and had cake right after school before we had to go back to her school for an event before heading to S’s school for an event. After S’s event, she picked where she wanted dinner and we had some friends come eat with us and then made a stop at the park.
She had a great birthday and I still can’t believe she is 6!
 After going to P’s school event we quickly headed to Miss S’s school for her end of the year program. It was graduation for the kids going to kindergarten but she still received a fun little memory book and she got to say goodbye to all her friends.

 Our kitties, like each other but I can’t say they love each other. They’ll play, they tend to take turns when eating even though they each have their own bowls, they don’t sleep together so when I found them together in the basement window watching all the birds and squirrels in the yard together, I HAD to take a picture of them!
 Memorial Day, Travis had to give a speech at an event in another town so we all tagged along. After the event we decided to have a family adventure canoeing. The girls loved it and we all had a great time!
 Since we are moving, we have been trying to take full advantage of our screened in porch while we still have it. We have all been enjoying it to its fullest and we are all going to miss it so very much!! 
I think that’s it for now! I’m sure I am forgetting something but the days are running together at this point since school is out and we are prepping for our move. 
Stay tuned for our June adventures next month!

June 13, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between, March 2018

Hi everyone! 
I hope you all had a lovely Easter and start to April. 
I am a little late on sharing this recap post this month. It was suppose to be last Wednesday but I totally lost track of the week because Miss P was finishing up spring break at the beginning of last week. BUT I am here today to share with you what we were up to last month. 

We were out and about at the beginning of the month on the hunt for dresses for the girls to wear to the upcoming daddy/daughter dance and while we at Target they just had to get their picture taken on this bench with the Target dog. 
We got dumped on with snow at the beginning of the month. It took forever to melt and then guess what?! We got dumped on again! BLAH! 
I have still been messing around with my little watercolor painting with stamps and then just playing around in general. I was wanting to try to be creative for at least 30 mins a day but that hasn’t quite happened so just whenever I get the time, I sit down and play.
The daddy/daughter dance was a much anticipated event in our house this month! The girls were able to attend together this year and they were counting down the days! Daddy bought them floral crowns to wear this year instead of corsages and they loved them. 
They both had a super fun time out with daddy!
I quickly made the girls some St. Patrick’s Day shirts this year. Like my normal shirts, it was a total last minute decision but luckily the girls loved wearing them. 
Miss P had her first ever school music program mid month. She was excited but a little nervous too. Plus, we got a little surprise when she came out to play the rhythm sticks during one of the songs. No wonder she was nervous! haha
Travis had his Change of Command from his latest command as HHC Commander.
And the same evening of Travis’s Change of Command, was movie night at Miss P’s school.
So we went there for the night for dinner and a movie.
Mid month we drove over to Wabasha, MN to their yearly Eagle/bird event that they do in March and the National Eagle center. 
We started our afternoon at a bird show seeing all sorts of birds and watching them fly right above our heads. It was a really fun experience!
We then got to check out some of the eagles that take up residency at the center up close and personal, which was totally incredible! 
The girls even got to part take in a little arts and crafts before we headed for lunch.
On our drive back we stopped at a fun park right on the water for a little fun before stopping in downtown Winona, MN for a little ice cream snack. 
The girls had their first real haircuts this month too! I have trimmed their hair in the past but new it was time to actually have a professional do it so I made an appointment with my hair girl and we were ready to go. P got just a trim while Miss S got this super adorable bob. 
Plus, for a little extra fun, we let them pick one color to put in their hair so Miss S went with pink and Miss P went with bright blue for a fun little streak.
We had leftover face crayons from Miss S’s birthday party and they girls wanted to have a little fun with them. They went a little crazy on Travis’s face but told them they couldn’t go quite so crazy on mine. Then I drew a couple things on their faces because, they can’t have all the fun! 
Right before Easter we went out to a local farm/nursery in a neighboring town for a little egg hunt fun. Well, it was super crowded and was over in no time but thankfully the girls managed to grab a couple eggs.
And lastly, we ended our month with dying our Easter eggs. We opted to try the shaving cream method this year and it was super easy and fast and the eggs turned out great! 
The girls loved studying the eggs to see what they looked like after I cleaned all the shaving cream and dye off. 
-We officially got word that we will in fact be moving this summer to Fort Leavenworth, KS. 
We weren’t expecting it after finding out other information so we thought we wouldn’t be moving until the end of the year so we had to quickly change our frame of minds and get ready to put our house on the market. 
So guess what I have been doing? Decluttering, doing that stupid small projects that should have been done already, and cleaning. Yay! I’m just ready to hurry and get our house on the market. We’ve been told that it should go quickly so fingers crossed it does! 
I THINK that’s all! 
Stay tuned for more adventures next month!

April 9, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between: January 2018

Since February has arrived, really?!, it is time to recap our January 2018 adventures. 
 We didn’t have a crazy month but we had some fun times. 
We unfortunately started the month by saying goodbye to some of our really good friends. 
They are a fellow military family so saying goodbye or “see you later” is far too often for us but it is still a sad day especially when they become such good friends that really are more like family. Their daughter and Miss S were pretty much best friends so they definitely miss each other as well! Hopefully we will see them again soon! 
The girls started gymnastics again at the beginning of the month and this time they actually get to be in class together. They both love it and wish they could go more than once a week.
On January 6th, Travis and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We had a fun night planned but had to cancel it as I came down with the same virus Miss S had right before the new year so I was not up to going out. In fact, I am shocked I am actually sitting up on the couch even for this picture because I was pretty much sleeping for 2 days straight fighting a high fever. 
We picked up a new foster baby and had her for the rest of the month. She was CRAZY shy and needed some big time help with socializing her. Slowly but surely she got more comfortable with us and enjoyed everyone in the house. We just took her back this past weekend to get adopted and I am happy to say that she already has a permanent home! YAY! 
We took a family day trip back to Wisconsin Dells to play at an indoor amusement park/fun zone type place and dinner. The girls had a lot of fun! 
Before our fun day, we shopped at the local outlet mall and Miss S just HAD to get this giant Rapunzel wig. This girl LOVES wigs and playing dress up so she was so darn excited to wear it once we got home and needless to say, she has worn it a ton since! 
Toward the end of the month, Travis and I snuck away for a fun night in Madison with some friends for dinner and an acapella competition at UW. It was such a fun night just hanging out with friends and having a night away from the girls. 
We’ve had a good amount of snow this winter. It snows then has been melting but we’ve had crazy temps which means the lake by our house is good and frozen. There has been plenty of folks out on it ice fishing so we thought we’d so and have a little fun and walk around on it as well. After a little cruise on the lake, we went back to the park near it and played on the frozen puddles in the grass. We broke up some of the ice and Travis made an ice palace for the girl’s ponies that they brought with us. 
And lastly a pretty big thing happened this month… We found out that Travis was selected to be promoted to Major which also means that we will likely be moving this year at some point. We should know more on that by the end of this month. I am very proud of him and thrilled that he is being recognized for all his hard work!
 Stay tuned for our February adventures! 

February 7, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- November 2017

Another month has passed by and we are that much closer with each passing day to Christmas, New Year’s Eve, followed by 2018. That just seems so utterly crazy to me! 
Why is when you are a kid, it feels like time goes by slowly but as an adult, and as an adult with kids, it flies so freaking fast?! For real?! 
Perhaps it is also the fact that lately I feel like a chicken running around with their head cut off. Going in every direction attempting to get something checked off the to do list, circling around to something else and the list just keeps on growing. Ok, I’ll digress! 
Today is all about recapping our activities from November! I feel like the month was crazy busy and I don’t have a ton of pictures but here’s what we did…

 The very first day of the month began with Miss S turning 4!! She was so excited! 
She got to go to school to have her first school birthday party where we took a cookie cake and she got a birthday crown and she did not want to take that off all day long! She made out in the birthday gift department this year too and had a fantastic day.

 A few days later we celebrated her birthday again with friends at her Shimmer and Shine party. It was a great day and she loved it, if you can’t tell by the blurry picture of her! lol
 The party was fun but I think the girls has just as much fun or more playing in all the draping as we were taking it down from the walls and ceiling.
 Miss S got a Snow White wig, her favorite princess, for her birthday so we’ve been living with Snow White on and off ever since. She sure looks cute with all that hair!
 On the 7th it was time to celebrate Travis turning another year older! We opened gifts, went out to dinner, and then instead of a cake, had Culver’s concretes for dessert.
 Miss P had her first school program on Veteran’s Day. Travis had the day off so we all got to go and enjoy the program.
 Travis and I have been lucky enough to go on a lot more date nights recently. We snuck out one evening to dinner, a quick little thrift store shopping, and then went to go see a Christmas play at the local theater.
 There were quite a few super busy days and evenings mid month with tons of work and school activities but I was able to sneak in a paint party teaching some of my fellow Army spouses how to paint the Winter Farm. This was such a fun party!
 Miss P had Thanksgiving lunch at her school and we were all able to go eat with her. She was so excited we were there!

 This is our one and only shot from actually Thanksgiving. We had some of our really good friends over that will soon be moving and we were having such a great time, none of use took any more pictures! The girls were exhausted from playing and the adults had a great time chatting, drinking, and eating.
 The day after Thanksgiving I got all my fall decor put away and brought out all of my Christmas decorations instead of going out shopping. Though I must state, I finished shopping and the gifts are already wrapped and it feels so good!! Now to just find the time to fill out Christmas cards!
 The month came to an end with much warmer weather than we had all month and we had some gorgeous ORANGE sun rises. The entire sky looked like it was on fire multiple mornings. And for a girl that hates to wake up early enough to see a sun rise, the sky made it worth it!
To round out this month’s recap I’ll share some cute pictures of our fur babies.
Poppy has discovered that we have turned on our in floor heating in our master bathroom and it has become her favorite napping spot. And who can blame her? It is always nice ans cozy in there!
 And one more of Patton… he has to be with me all the time. If he can’t sit and cuddle with me he has to be near some how. I was working on making some birthday banners for our good friends and this was where he decided to hang out while I worked on the floor. Comfortable but he kept his watch on me with that one exposed eye.
I’m sure I am missing something to share because it was a very busy month but that is all for now! 
Stay tuned for our December activities!

December 6, 2017 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- August 2017

September is here which means

a it is time to share what we were up to all of August. 

Travis was busy with a long training session on post most of the month but we still managed to have some fun times and big moments! 
The month started with daddy switching out our swing to one of these round net swings and it has turned out to be the best purchase of the summer. The girls love this swing and were outside on it practically all month long. 
Travis and I got away with some friends for a double date night before his training began and his long days started. It was a super fun time just hanging out with friends enjoying dinner in a small little marina. 
We got to celebrate our friend’s third birthday at her fun fairy garden party. The girls had a blast and slept well after all the festivities! 
My garden showed off some gorgeous blooms that I had planted early in the year. Love the color they added to the garden! 
Miss P has finally figured out the proper way to hold our kitties and now holds Miss Poppy as much as she can. And Miss Poppy tolerates it as well as she can. lol
Big news… Miss S has conquered wearing panties to bed! Yahooo!! She has never had a single accident at night (hopefully I didn’t jinx ourselves) but she has done amazing! When this girl puts her mind to something she goes all in! 
The girls and I were out running errands one weekend and stopped in at Michael’s to do a little rock painting. We all had fun getting creative! 
Miss S officially got registered for preschool. She was so excited to go take all of her supplies at registration night.
Travis sent the girls and I this beautiful bouquet of flowers to thank us for understanding his crazy training schedule. It was a rough month! 
When Travis finally got to come home early after his training was complete, the girls were beyond excited he was home before bed time and they could spend time with him! It was a rough month of super late nights.
We’ve had some beautiful sunsets in our area lately such as this one where the sky was super orange! 
We made some homemade slime and the girls loved it! They played with it so much for so many days in a row it started getting hard and we already had to make a new batch.
The girls have loved riding their bikes lately which is fabulous! 
We bought P a new bike in the spring and she fell off it once and hasn’t wanted to ride it since but we finally got her back on it when we went camping last month and she has been all about it since. We also got Miss S to finally ride P’s old bike and she is enjoying that as well. 
The end of the month had Miss P finally having her kindergarten registration. Holy cow you guys! She looks so little in her school! 
Miss S had her first day of preschool and she did fabulously! She wanted to go so bad and could have cared less at saying goodbye to us. She only goes 2 days a week for a few hours but she is always so excited to attend which I love! 
We ended the month by attending our town’s last music in the park event to cross it off our summer bucket list. The girls loved dancing to the music.
A few other things:
-We didn’t get to the full eclipse but still enjoyed watching it on tv and we made a pin hole box so we could see it at our house.
-As I stated, Travis had 3 weeks of long training days. Early days, some over night nights, but we all survived.
-The weather was fall like all month long so the girls were outside the majority of the time and it was fabulous!
 It is only a few days into September and we’ve already had a ton of family fun so stayed tuned for this month’s recap in October!

September 6, 2017 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between

Happy Wednesday! 
 Hope your week is going swimmingly and that the first few days have May have been nice to you. 
I’ve decided to do a little something new on the blog. I originally started this blog as a family blog and once I switched it over to a craft blog I still threw in our military and family adventures but I have definitely slacked off in that department as of late. 
So I have decided that the first Wednesday of every month will be a recap post of the activities going on in our little bit of the world. I’m sure it all won’t be too exciting but I want to bring back that little piece of the blog once more. And if you’ve been with me for quite a few years, especially through both my pregnancies, thought it would be fun for you as well to watch the girls grow, and not just birthday posts which I’ve slacked on as well.
Since it is already May, this month will be little bits of recaps of a couple months.
Going way back for a quick second.
I realized I never introduced the newest member of our little family that joined us back in November.  
 Meet Poppy! 
Our cute, new, one year old kitty! 
After Oscar passed away last January, Patton was showing some major signs of loneliness and the girls and I finally convinced Travis to get another kitty as a new pal for him. 
It took them some time to get used to each other but I’m so happy to see Patton up and active once again and she fits right into the family. She loves Travis just like Oscar did so it was the perfect match! 
January:
Travis and I celebrated our 10 yr wedding anniversary on January 6th. 
I still can’t believe we’ve been married that long and still love being around each other as much as we do, lol. 
He spoiled me, like he normally does on our anniversary, and came home with a giant bouquet of flowers. 5 types of flowers- one for each state we’ve lived in and then 10 of each type of flower for our 10 yrs married. 
Then that night, after I took Miss S to her first gymnastics class, Travis set up a little romantic evening on the porch after the girls went to bed with candles, a heater because it was only 0 degrees on the porch- lol, and then he pulled out our wedding champagne flutes to toast to us.
I’m lucky to have this handsome guy! 

Also, on the morning of our anniversary, Travis became a Commander once again so we are on that journey once again.

I also started a new side job as well as a Social Artworking consultant. 
I have always loved painting so when I found that I could start my own business by doing painting parties (think going to Painting with the Twist but in the privacy of your home with your friends or family) I talked to Travis and decided it would be something fun for me to do. Plus, it gives me that much needed adult time doing something that I love. I have had a few parties then a few work shops at our house and am enjoying it so far!

 February:
 Travis was nominated by his previous Commander for a Military Hero Red Cross Award and he was chosen for the state of WI. 
The Red Cross had a large award ceremony about an hour away in a large hotel/casino and we were given a hotel room for the night along with some casino credits so it was a fun night away from the girls where we were able to get all dressed up, eat a yummy meal, watch a concert, gamble a little (and walk away winners!) and honor great people for their volunteer acts and great deeds that they’ve done. 
March:
Since Miss P is in pre-k this year she was able to go to the Daddy Daughter Dance that the high school puts on every year. 
It was so fun letting her pick out her own dress, she wanted daddy to wear his uniform, and then prepping her for their big date! I felt like she was going to prom! 
And daddy is prepping her to show her what she needs to look for in a man some day. He bought her a tiny corsage, let her pick where she wanted to eat for dinner and went there ahead of time with nice plates, a flower and a vase, a small candle, and a table cloth so it would all be set up when they got there and super special.
They had a blast and she still talks about her date with daddy and what they did that night. 🙂 
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We also started a few house projects this month. One I have shared, the stair risers, and the other major project is our massive basement laundry/storage room! We have painted all the walls and the ceiling but need to finish the floors and get everything set back up. Hopefully we can finish it at the end of this month and share soon! 🙂 
April:
April has been a super busy month for us, like crazy! 
Travis and I began the month by a week long get away to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary. 
It was so glorious to get away together to paradise sans kiddos (thanks to my parents for coming to stay with the girls!)! 
I’ll get more into detail about our trip and share more photos in another post. 
We got home from our trip one day before Easter so then Easter prep was in full swing.
It is so fun watching the girls grow and get more into egg hunts and have a blast. 
It was also so nice to celebrate Easter with my parents this year since it is a rare occurrence for us!
Only 3 days after Easter I was off again to Salt Lake City for SNAP 2017.
I always have a blast seeing blog pals and learning new things. 
Hopefully, my mojo will officially come back now because I do have some good ideas! 🙂 
While I was away at SNAP, it was Miss S’s turn to go to a Daddy Daughter Dance with daddy! 
She was so upset she couldn’t go with Miss P but luckily there was one on Fort McCoy so she got to have her turn as well. 
She got to pick out her own dress just like Miss P and then Travis did everything for Miss S as he did for Miss P- corsage, fancy dinner and dessert, and get daddy daughter fun! 
I was so sad I missed it and made my parents and Travis takes lots of pictures and send them to me so I could see it all. 
And Miss S loved every second just like Miss P! So thankful Travis is able to have these sweet memories with the girls. 
And just to share a real life photo with you guys… here is my junk craft room. 
The messiest room in the house, I think our basement is even better than this even though everything is out of place because of painting! 
This is one of the reason I have struggled making and sharing crafts with all of you! 
This has turned into the catch all room especially if people are coming over. Things get thrown in here since the door stays closed and then who knows when it will ever find its proper home. 
There is stuff everywhere! 
My suitcase full of swag from SNAP in the middle of the floor. Crap on top of every surface. Bags of new supplies in corners here and there. 
UGH! I need to get in there and organize desperately but every time I attempt, I get overwhelmed and give up! I definitely need to commit to doing it, take everything out, and slowly being it back in. I haven’t even shared this room with you guys yet because it has pretty much been a disaster since we moved in!!! 🙁
I will get to it soon! I WILL!!
Well, that is it for now! 
A quick recap of the past couple months. 
I know more has happened but those were the high points. 
See you next month for the May recap! 🙂

allison

May 3, 2017 By
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Road Trip Tips

I hope you are having a great summer. Our summer is off to a fun start and it just keeps on going. We are taking a couple of longer car rides this summer. Each trip with the kids will be between 6 and 8 hours. With five kids in the car they could be even longer! So, I am making sure that I am prepared for the road trips. 
Here are a few things that I am hoping will set us up for success in the car. I don’t really want to hear “Are we there yet” or “I’m hungry” every 20 minutes so I am preparing myself in advance with a “bag of tricks”
I have printed out some classic car games that we can play. My kids love to keep an eye out for different license plates and these sheets help us actually keep track of which ones we’ve seen. Or you can use the map for the license plate game and help your kids work on their geography at the same time!! My kids don’t get a lot of geography at their school so I wanted to find a way to incorporate some more geography into our trip as well. I found these great states and capitols worksheets for them to do. You can check out my pinterest board for geography to see some other great ideas to help the kids learn while having fun!

 We always like to play, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking…” The first person brings something that starts with an “A” and the second person starts their item with a “B” but they have to say I’m taking an apple and a burrito…and as the game goes on it gets harder because you have to list everything that was previously stated. But it’s a great memory game and a time killer! We find the alphabet on the road signs…but set the rules ahead of time (do license plates count or not?) so everyone is on the same page! 
I also printed off these little game worksheets for my bigger kids and I am positive they will love working on them!! We like to play the dot game and tic tac toe as well…if you have those boards already set up on paper it saves you a lot of time! You can find some printables for those games online too. I have a “vacation” pinterest page and there are a lot of other great travel games and ideas on there!
Yes, we do have two screens in our van so the kids can watch movies but my goal is that we don’t have to watch movies the whole time…maybe one movie per trip. So I will try to keep them busy with the games I stated above and some other innovative ways…like giving them each a piece of tin foil and having them create anything they want with it. My kids love their travel Guess Who and I know if we had this travel Hangman they would love playing that as well…plus it would be a way for them to keep their spelling skills up! You can bring a cookie sheet and magnets for younger kids to play with. There are so many great games that you can find something for everyone!

                 

Last time we went on a longer road trip my three year old kept saying “I need a snack”. She didn’t ask when we’d be there as much but she always wanted to eat. We figured it was her way of saying she was bored. So we did try to keep her entertained but also realized that some of the time she probably was actually hungry. In the past I have kept a big snack bag up by my seat and in it would be all the different bags or boxes of snack foods. I would then hand back a small cup with some sort of snack in it. 
 
This time I got a little bit smarter. Since I knew we’d be eating lunch in the car everyone got a ziploc container with their lunch in it (don’t forget the napkins). 
 
Then I just portioned out some snacks for the other few hours we’d be in the car. Everyone got a baggie full of the pre-portioned snack and I put their initial on the bag so we wouldn’t have any fighting (and so I would know who didn’t clean up after themselves!!). This worked out so well! And I will be using this method in the future. Yes, it uses more baggies but it saved me so much time in the car and they spilled less when their snack was in a baggie instead of a small cup. 

There are so many other great tips out there that we’ve used for our road trips, like always packing a roll of paper towels and extra plastic bags. We let the kids pack a few of their favorite things but then also bring along a few surprises as well. People have made binders for all of their road trip games but it worked for me to just put it in the manila folder inside my small bag. I’ve also seen people wrap presents or small trinkets to give to the kids each hour or set miles down the road. We opted to just do the printables this time and it worked out great. Also, bring colored pencils instead of markers or crayons (they’re just cleaner in the car) but don’t forget the pencil sharpener. 


Enjoy your time and realize it might get loud or a little crazy but really, who likes being stuck in a seated position closely surrounded by other people for 6+ hours? Cut everyone a little slack and have fun making new memories! Where are you headed this year?!
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June 22, 2016 By
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