Confessions of a Military Spouse

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

At home mom routines.. What do you do?

I am a work at home mom. I do have alot of free time during the day. It can be lonesome sometimes. I just need to figure out better routines. What routines do you have?

Upon research of at home mom routines, I have come up with a great list of different things to do.

1. Clean... Well Duh!
I mean obviously if you are a stay at home mom, you will eventually clean something. I clean things all day long, I still do have my boogie home. He is 4 and likes to make a mess. I take time during the day to do laundry, clean the dishes, clean the counters, clean the bathrooms, and keep the living room tidy. It is hard when you work in the living room and just do not want to clean too much in there!

2. Cook something?
I love to bake bread for my family. There is just something special about having home baked bread when you want to eat! I love it! I also love to bake homemade brownies, cakes, special sauces, etc.

3. School... Learn something?
I am a full time online student. I am finishing up my degree online for a business degree. I am excited and can not wait finish this! I am looking to also start nursing school in the fall. This will be a new adventure for our family!

4.Organize something...
I am learning how to organize things in my home. I am starting to get the hang of getting rid of things that I no longer want or need. It is a hard process for me to let go of things. I am considered a pack rat but living in a military life, you can not afford to just bring your junk with you from house to house. I am learning if it doesnt have a place, it goes out the door.

5. Have more time with God....
I am loving this one new discovery! I am loving that I am able to spend my time in the morning before I start work, workouts or playing. I can read what I am led to and work on my relationship with my God. I love it!!

6. Workout!
I love to work out! I am going to start my P90X again. This workout is simply amazing and you seriously loose alot of weight with commitment. You have to commit to yourself to workout. It is easy to say.. " I will work out tomorrow" or to say " I am not feeling well, I will promise to work out later"... When is later? For me I was sick and needed to rest.. a few years later I am thinking of doing it again!

I hope that you can give me a few new tips for what you do when you are a stay at home mom. I would love to have these great ideas and try new things!

Until later.....

Monday, August 20, 2012

Back to school.... Back to blogging...

I am back! I guess I did not really tell anyone that I was taking a break. I needed to spend the summer with my babies. I wanted to soak in all the fighting, loving and crazy times that they often offer me on a daily basis.

Today my babies went to school! They rode the bus for the first time. That completely wrecked my brain! I was so scared because I did not know if they would make it or not. I was counting down the minutes and seconds until they came home.

A & B went to school today! C is still staying home with mama one more year. He will go to Kindergarten next year. A started 4th grade today. She is so tiny and just doesn't look like she is almost 10. B started 2nd grade today! He is bigger than A and looks like he could be 10, but he is only 7.

Daddy took today and Tuesday off to make sure everything went well with the babies getting on the bus and getting off the bus. He knows me way to well and he knows that I would have totally taken them to school just to make sure they were OK.. maybe take them to school and pick them up every day of the school year.. I mean just to make sure they were OK.. OK, I confess I am that super crazy mama!

I was pretty excited because I did alot of prepping and made sure that the babies had alot of great things for their lunches.

This is the kids "lunch shelf". They know they have things that they may want all in one place. I made the following:
Mummy Dogs
Jello
Pudding
Hard Boiled ( In the oven) eggs
Ranch Dip
Make your own Lunchables stuff ( meat, cheese)
Crackers were in the the pantry.

Pudding and Jello

Mummy Dogs

I am a Tupperware Consultant! I LOVE Tupperware! I have for a long time. It could be a secret obsession of mine to have my home filled with amazing Tupperware.. and I have started to make this a reality. Tupperware is everywhere in my home. If you are interested in purchasing any of these amazing products, I have listed a place to purchase them on my Facebook page for my Tupperware Business. You can find this here: Independent Tupperware Consultant Sonia Smith

Well today has been a pretty crazy and productive day. I guess I will wake up tomorrow and do it all over again... Now I am thinking that a really hot bubble bath may be in order so that I can sleep good tonight.. Until tomorrow...

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...

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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....