Confessions of a Military Spouse: June 2012

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Operation 31 Wife

I can be quite stubborn sometimes and I can be downright blind. For a week and a half, I could not sleep at night. I tried sleeping pills, had melatonin, and even pain pills for my ear ache. I just attributed it to my ear ache. It was horrible because I was just living life tired. Monday, I woke up at 4:30 am. I just laid in bed praying " God, Please let me go back to sleep" with which he quickly responded "No". I just laid there thinking No, really?
After much prayer, I now know why God has been waking me up and gearing me towards a new direction.

God has given me many talents. I can not believe the things I have been able to achieve and do with God. It is true that With God, All things are possible. (Matthew 19:26) He has made me savvy with business, given me the boldness to get in front of people and talk and learn how to work with multitudes of people. God has given me compassion for people in situations like mine.

God has called me to start a group for Military Spouses mainly wives. He wants me to encourage, educate and empower these women with the word of God daily. It is a hard life we live when our husbands leave for months at a time. It can be lonely when our family is many miles away. It is always nice to have a nice smile or an encouraging word. I have started Operation 31 Wife. This group will be based on the Proverbs 31 wife. The Proverbs 31 Wife is very strong and is the guideline of how God wants us to be for our husbands. The Proverbs 31 Wife, describes every woman, and how he has given us amazing talents to use to support our families.

I am very passionate about the Proverbs 31 wife. I love the 31st of each month looking forward to reading this specific passage. I strive daily to be the Proverbs 31 wife to my husband and the Proverbs 31 mom to my children. Yes, this passage also tells you how to be a great wife. It is amazing that God has laid it all out for us. I am very blessed with everything God has given me in my life and I can not wait to start sharing my gifts from God.

I do ask that you will pray with me and ask God to continue to give me the things to say and encouragement for others who are needing this.

*** DO you know a military spouse who is in need to encouragement? Please send them my way at www.facebook.com/operation31wife/

Thank you and I hope you have an amazing day!

Until Next Time

Easy Summer Meals

With a family of 5, we have to have quick meals. We need meals that after long days outside, can be made quickly and with minimal oven/stove heating. Tonight we have an amazing first time dinner, it was Kabobs. My family loved them! They are so versatile. You can cook whatever you want.

We had Chicken, Steak, mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, and pineapple. They were the perfect combination for our family. My kids ate everything because it was grilled with the meat and they loved the great taste!

Kabobs can be made with any combination of meats, fruits or even veggies. You can make all veggie kabobs or even an all meat one!

Things that are good are:

-Peaches

-Pineapple

-Onions

-Bell Pepper ( all the colors, it will make it pretty!)

-Mushrooms ( I marinated this in Italian Dressing, it was YUMMY!)

-Squash

-Zucchini

-Chicken ( I made this by marinating in a Honey Teriyaki Sauce)

-Steak ( I also marinated this in Honey Teriyaki Sauce.)

-Sausage ( Either regular or even Italian Sausage)

-Ham Cubes

- Marinated Cheeses ( After you have grilled the kabobs or you will end up with a sticky mess!)
- Olives

Kabobs are really hard to mess up! You can put anything you want. You can even make really sweet ones with cold fruit. You can even make a really great dip with even parts Cream Cheese and Marsh mellow fluff.

Until Next Time...

Monday, June 18, 2012

Pool Safety with kids

Since we are smack dab in the middle of pool season, I thought I would give you a few tips to help you with keeping your sweet babies safe while at the pool. Kids can get very excited about seeing the pool, floating and splashing around. I love to hear my kids laughing while getting it because it is cold at first, then they tell me " come on mama, it is now warm". It always makes me wary as to why it suddenly got warm!

1. Do not allow small children or any children to swim without an adult. I know this may seem like a Duh to some parents. It just is very important and needs to be said first and foremost!

2. Remove all distracting toys or any flotation toys from the pool when not in use. We always take out the noodles out and try to get the little toys off the bottom before we get out. I never really thought of this as a rule or safety guide but it makes a lot of sense.

3. Always remember the sunscreen for your babies and you! Take care of their young skin! We have an array of sun products for the kids. We apply 15 minutes before we go out doors in order for the sun screen to dry and get in before we get out in the sun and the water.

4. Keep a pool fenced off from wandering babies. Water of any kind attracts kids. It could be a nasty muddy water hole outside and the kids are going to run to it and start kicking the water around. Make sure you keep the pool fenced off, it will be an amazing investment for everyone!

5. Keep the rough housing for the grass. It is easy to hurt someone in the water and then there is big problems. When playing in the pool, it is OK to dunk your kids, just make sure you have the babies permission. It will not be fun if the baby decides to throw up in your pool!

With these few pool safety recommendations, you should be able to keep trouble at bay. Make sure you check the pool every morning and evening to keep danger at bay.

Now, I got to go and get my babies into the pool, It is hot outside!

Have an amazing Summer Day!

Until Next Time...

Don't forget the Coach Giveaway worth $348!!

I just wanted to remind all my fablous readers to make sure you sign up for the Coach Bag and Wallet combo! I would love to know that one of my awesome readers won this amazing giveaway!! I mean maybe we can even share! Just kidding!

Sign Up Here!

Have a fablous day!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Fathers Day Ideas for kids

Big Daddy has always been my kids favorite parent. I mean who doesn't look up to their daddy. I love this saying that I am seeing going around right now, " Daddy's are a boys first superhero and a daughters first love" It is so true! I always looked up to my dad! He was always the coolest to me! I think today that I can say I am like him in a lot of ways.

credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/10085

Kids want to do a lot of great things for their dad on Fathers Day! Here is a great list of ideas that you can help your kids or if your kids are old enough, they can do it themselves!

1.Make a Homemade Card!

There is nothing greater then a child seeing their parent love something that they have made. It makes them proud to know they did something that their parent is proud of. This is in-expensive, it doesn't have to be something crazy. Crayons, pencils, even pens will make a grand masterpiece.

2. Make their favorite meal! Big Daddy does not like breakfast at all! Very rarely does he even eat before 11:30. So we will help him make his favorite meals by supplying him with his favorite snacks. Yes, he makes his meals out of snacks. He is pickier than a kid!

3. Let them sleep in! Big Daddy has crazy hours as a Marine. He rarely gets to sleep in. We are going to let daddy sleep in. Your daddy may like it too!

These are a few things we are going to be doing for our Big Daddy this weekend! What are some of your great ideas? Please share!

Until Next time....

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Do you have any Favorite Summertime BBQing Tips?

We love to BBQ! We love to grill! However you say it, We love to do it! We are from Texas and it should come as no surprise, we love to cook fantastic food! My husband and I want to have a BBQ Restaurant one day when he is ready to start a new career. We have a lot of great tips that I have been cleared to share, we have alot of great tips that are top secret and we would have to kill ya if we told ya!

Here are a few of our tips for grilling:

credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/535457

1. Pre-Heat the grill for your food and to get the maximum grill marks. Let's face it, we love to have nice looking food. It appeals to us and makes us hungry. If your grill is hot, you will have really nice marks on the food and it will look like the "professionals"

2.Try and get your steaks to room temperature. I know this goes against everything you have been told but trust me, it actually will make your steak go into shock if you do not have the steak at room temperature. Now, don't leave your steak out overnight, or outside to bake in the sun. That will definitely make you sick! ( I am not responsible if this makes you sick because you do not do it right!)

credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1391644

3. Grill your veggies and fruit on foil! You can put a sheet of foil down before you light your grill. Please be advised, you will need the grill to be cold in order to put the foil down and not burn your fingers! You will want to push the foil down so you can see the grill marks through the foil. You will not drop any food in your grill but still have fantastic marks.

4. Salt and Pepper are your best friend! I know we want to have these awesome spices and marinades but when making burgers, pork chops and steaks, sometimes less is best! I love a great steak but I want to taste the meat not the spice!

credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1364326

and last but not least

5. Don't over cook your meat. I know you are probably rolling your eyes but seriously, there are some amazing meat thermometers, you can even have one in the meat in the grill and while you are chilling inside prepping for the other sides for your dinner!

I hope that you can walk away with a few great tips for BBQ season. I love the summer because you can be outside alot, see bugs and creatures you don't normally see, and spend quality family time!

credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1362732

Till next post,

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All settled in and ready to rock and roll!

We have recently moved out of base housing and out in town. We are renting an awesome house that will serve as a retreat for our family for the next two years. It is nice to think that I will be working pool side many times. Sorry I just had to rub it in! We did in fact get a pool. God has shown us alot of favor with moving into this house. We can not believe how many tings fell into place for us to get this house. I look forward to getting thins going once again for our blog. I have alot of great ideas and cant wait to get started.

Now I wanted to let you know how we found our amazing new home. We searched on www.militarybyowner.com for our new home. You will be able to find a home within so many miles of your new base. There are normally pictures and you can search rentals or for sale homes.

We would definetly recommend www.militarybyowner.com when searching for your new home away from home.

I have attached picture of my great family swimming, i am on the side line this week... I played around and got an ear infection :-|

Until next time...

Sonia

Confessions of a Military Spouse