I'm Stacy - a disciple of Christ, an Army wife, and a homeschooling mom to our 7 year old daughter. I spend my days doing fun science projects, going on field trips, cooking gluten-free meals, taking photos, reading, blogging & managing the home. I'm constantly behind on scrapbooking and want to learn how to crochet more than scarves, but there are only so many hours in the day.
I believe that shoes should always be optional, life is better at the beach, and chocolate is a necessary food group!
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So I had this post ready to post yesterday, but got busy and forgot to post it You’ll understand why.
Aug. 31, 2010 – Rob was sworn into the Army (again), and left to begin his training as a “prior service” soldier first going to WTC (Warrior Transition Course), and then to AIT (Advanced Individual Training).
He was gone for 5 months. I saw him for a couple weekends during that time.
January 28, 2011 – We moved our family to Fort Bragg, NC
February, 2011 – We spent the month together! Hubby worked ‘normal’ hours.
March 1, 2011 – Hubby left to attend pre-deployment training at JRTC for one month.
April, 2011 – We spent the month together! Hubby worked for 2 weeks, and was off for 2 weeks.
May 17, 2011 – Hubby left for his deployment to Iraq
TODAY – December 22, 2011(also the 11th anniversary of the day he proposed to me!)……
The U.S. troops have exited Iraq and crossed into Kuwait. Watch the video if you haven’t seen it. It’s awesome to see that gate close. The next step is HOME! I am so ready for my husband to be home again. Today marks the 219th day since I have seen him, and the closer we get to him being home, the harder it is to wait! I had prepared myself for a much longer deployment as we were originally told, but ever since Obama announced that they are coming home “by the end of the year” – I have been on pins and needles!
Every time the song “All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth” comes on, Lovebug sings,
“All I want for Christmas is my Daddy!” with a huge smile on her face! She is just giddy with excitement, as am I!
Tonight I told her that the only present I want for Christmas is Daddy, and she replied “That’s one present you can’t unwrap!”.
I had to laugh! Oh, the joys she will one day learn about marriage!
In the meantime, we are keeping busy as we count down the days till his arrival.
Clean house – check.
Welcome home sign made – check.
Laundry done – check.
Groceries purchased for his favorite meal – check.
Clean house again because we’ve lived since the first time – well, not quite ready to check that off, but we are getting there.
Yesterday a good friend of mine had a miscarriage. Recently, Michelle Duggar also had a miscarriage. I know this happens to so many women and it is one thing that as a mere human, I struggle with understanding. I am anti-abortion, but I can grasp that God gives us free will to make choices and deal with the consequences. Infertility is a pain and a heartache I know all too well, but I can even see how God uses that to lead people to adoption, or to other plans He has for them.
I just can’t wrap my head around why a woman would have to find out she is carrying a child, only to lose it before they ever have a chance to meet.
I guess I never will, at least not this side of Heaven.
It is times like this, where I just keep asking “WHY?” that I have to surrender my thoughts to the Lord. I have to choose to trust and believe that He has a better plan and a bigger understanding than I could ever have. I have to rely on my faith.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
It’s more than just surrendering my understanding to the Lord though. When trials come in our life and we can’t see the plan through the pain, again we must go back to His word.
Romans 5:1-5 says,
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Rejoice in our suffering? That is hard to comprehend, but indeed God wants us to rejoice – not that we must be excited about our pain, but rather because in our suffering we grow closer to God and we learn to lean on Him which develops our character and refines us so that we can be more like Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says,
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Rejoice when? ALWAYS. Give thanks in ALL circumstances, not just the ones we like. We give thanks because we serve a God that is holy and righteous and GOOD. We rejoice because our Savior Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we can live for all eternity in Heaven with Him.
Life on Earth is complicated and often painful, but it is also temporary. There is something bigger and better awaiting us.
This makes me think of one of my new favorite songs. I heard this a few months ago as I was really struggling with issues of my own. I hope this song speaks to you as strongly as it did to me.
The topic for Day 2 was my “Favorite Christmas Dessert”, and we were supposed to share the recipe. I don’t have a specific recipe, but I do have a dessert tradition that is definitely my favorite to share with you all! Every year at Christmas, we make a “Happy Birthday” cake for Jesus and sing Happy Birthday to Him. Every year we choose a different flavor or shape to keep it interesting. One year was a chocolate cake, another year was a white-chocolate layer cake with fruit, and a few times we’ve used a fun tree-shaped pan I have. I think we need to try a brownie or cookie cake, or maybe this popcorn cake! Doesn’t that look fun?
Lovebug and any other kids that are around get the job of decorating the cake. We use icing, and then an assortment of decorations – sprinkles, chocolate chips, candy coated chocolate candies, coconut – all fun for little hands!
Here is our tree-shaped cake from a couple years ago!
It’s a special tradition and something we all look forward to every year. I love watching my daughter get so excited as she helps me plan and prepare for the most important birthday party of the year!
This week Wives of Faith is hosting a Christmas Blog Carnival! I loved participating in this last year and am excited to do it again because it’s a great way to meet other wives through their blogs.
Today’s topic is: Favorite Christmas Movie
It’s so hard to pick just one favorite, so I’ll have to give you my top 3.
I love to watch this old classic movie every year with my husband! It’s a great story about a man who thought the world would be better off without him, but he was shown how untrue that was. He realizes that even though his dreams for himself didn’t come true, he truly had a wonderful life!
This is just a great classic that I love watching with my daughter. I love the story behind the misfits and the lesson of loving each other for who they are. Plus, it has Burl Ives singing!
This is a fairly new movie, but I love it! It shares the story of the real Saint Nicholas without telling kids that there is no Santa, so it doesn’t “ruin it” for those that still believe. My daughter doesn’t believe in Santa – she just asked so many questions that she learned very early that he wasn’t real, but we love the real story of Saint Nicholas and how the modern Santa is a way for people to carry on Nicholas’ tradition of giving gifts to others anonymously.
December is upon us (did that seem to sneak up on anyone else?), and we are now in the season of Advent. Advent is the time of waiting and preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day. In order to count down this period of time, our family uses a wooden calendar with little doors that are opened one at a time each day leading up to and including Christmas Day. It was a gift from my parents years ago and one that we treasure still.
We’ve hidden all sorts of things behind the doors – candy, ornaments, pieces of paper with activities to do, pieces of a LEGO set to put together on the last day – all great fun! This year each box holds a mini ornament for Lovebug’s Christmas tree in her room and a piece of paper with a scripture for us to read from her Bible. A few of the days might hold a candy or activity surprise, too!
Lovebug opening door #1 on December 1st:
If you haven’t already started an Advent calendar, it’s not too late! If you don’t have one, you could even make one with envelopes in a basket, each numbered with the dates remaining till Christmas.
If you are interested, here is our list of Bible verses that we are reading each day:
I am so excited!! This deployment that was supposed to last until May, will be over soon! According to the President, the troops that are in Iraq will be home by the end of the year. Obama even said they “will definitely be home for the holidays”. Of course, I don’t know if he means Christmas or the New Year, but either way his promise means nothing to me until my husband is sitting next to me on our loveseat in our living room. I know that it’s the Army, and things can always change, but even if they don’t make it before the holidays…
MY HUSBAND IS COMING HOME!!
There is a lot of preparation going on. The troops are getting instructions on reintegrating back with their families. Some like to say it’s the “what to do (or not do) if you go home and your wife has spent all your money” talk. It’s sad that those type of talks are even necessary, but unfortunately they are.
The FRG has also been getting things ready for the single soldiers’ barracks – collecting bedding, toiletries and snacks, so they can come home to a room that isn’t just cold and empty. One thing I never realized before we started this deployment and Hubby explained it to me is that the single soldiers have to move out of the barracks before they deploy. All of their belongings are put into storage until they return. That means that when they get back, they are assigned a room, but they don’t have any of their things until they get to their storage. We don’t want them to come home like that, so we are making sure they have sheets, a blanket, pillow, snacks and basic toiletries in their rooms. It’s the least we can do!
Then there are the welcome home signs to make, the outfits to plan, and the food to cook. Hubby is looking forward to my meatloaf and mashed potatoes so I’ve assured him I will have the supplies on hand, or it already made when he gets home.
We as spouses have even had meetings on what to expect when our soldier returns. We’ve been instructed to make sure we are communicating with our spouse about our expectations – with the kids, with chores, and with intimacy. As one experienced wife put it, we need to know whether he is expecting things to be like a microwave or a crock-pot that first night. I thought that was a great analogy!
Thankfully, Hubby and I have been doing a lot of communicating. It’s something we’ve always been pretty good at, so we’ve been asking each other questions about expectations and sharing with each other what we are looking forward to. We need to be on the same page so that unmet (and unspoken) expectations don’t cause friction, and I think we are right there together! Such a great feeling!
It’s funny because when I thought he was coming home in May, I had myself all prepared for that we were in a routine so it didn’t bother me. Now that I know they are coming home, it just can’t get here fast enough! It’s harder knowing it’s so close, but still so far.
For operational security reasons, I won’t be giving any specifics on here as to his return even once I know something (which I don’t yet!). All I can tell you is what the media has already released, like I mentioned above. Don’t worry though, I will let you know as soon as I can once his boots are on the ground here at home!
I am in shock. I’ve been watching a few videos online of Black Friday footage shot by people right in the middle of the chaos, and I am in complete shock. I know this isn’t the first year this has happened, but I just can’t get over the lengths people will go to and the depths to which people will stoop just to acquire more STUFF.
I don’t mind the people who camp out ahead of time. If you don’t have kids or if you have someone to watch your kids, and you want to make a day out of it, have a good time hanging out in your camping chairs with friends, & score a great deal then go for it! If they’d let you bring a grill it wouldn’t be much different from tailgating, and I think it could be a lot of fun.
Or maybe you are a night owl (or early bird) and you want to enjoy a day of shopping with your siblings, friends or spouse – then by all means, have a great time! If you can enter the store calmly, get what you want, and get out without accosting anyone or putting your own life in harm’s way – why not?
However, those are not the people I’m referring to!
The 80s song Material Girl by Madonna comes to mind, and 25 years later things are so much worse!
In one Wal-mart, a lady PEPPER SPRAYED her fellow shoppers in an effort to get an edge on the competition in the electronics department.
Seriously? She came to the sale armed with pepper spray!
In another report, I read that impatient shoppers “the next aisle over started shouting and ripping at the plastic wrap encasing gaming consoles, which was supposed to be opened at 10 p.m.” because they couldn’t stand to wait another 5 minutes.
At one Toys-R-Us location, “Employees attempted to hold back the scrum of shoppers and pick up merchandise even as customers trampled the video games and DVDs strewn on the floor.”
TRAMPLED? They just walked all over the very items they were there to purchase. I wonder how much money the store loses in damaged items on this day every year. Whatever happened to having respect for other people and their property? Common decency seems to be a thing of the past, and it’s terribly disheartening.
And here in our own city of Fayetteville, shots were fired at the local mall.
One of the videos I watched shows a crowd of Wal-mart shoppers tearing into a stack of waffle irons like they were starving people who had just received a shipment of food.
WAFFLE IRONS, people! These are NOT a necessity of life. They were on sale for $2.84, and were regularly $17. A savings of $14 that I would have gladly paid to AVOID that chaos even if I wanted the contraption, which by the way actually has awful ratings & reviews online. All that effort for a waffle iron that probably won’t even work right.
I just can’t imagine.
I would much rather my friends and family give me a dozen homemade cookies on a plate from the dollar store as a gift. I’ll take a gift from the heart & made with love any day over a gift that was gained by pushing, shoving, and clawing over other people.
Here is another video showing some of the chaos. I have no idea what these people are so desperately trying to get their hands on, but I can think of NOTHING materialistic that I would act like that for, even if it was FREE.
Then, let’s assume that you get in the store and manage to get what you want without causing physical harm to yourself or anyone else. Then what? Then, my friend, you get to wait in line to check out. At this point, you better hope you brought a battle buddy with you because you WILL need to use the restroom at some point before you are done. With all that coffee you had to drink before heading out, I guarantee it, and if you think these people are going to save your place in line then I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you.
And this is the line you will be waiting in:
I just don’t think there is an amount of money that would make entering Wal-mart on Black Friday worth it to me. Some of the smaller stores, sure. If we were planning to buy a flat screen TV anyway and we could get one for $199 instead of $800, then ok, I can see leaving the kids with friends or family and giving it a shot. In the end though, if I don’t get it – so what? Nothing except saving the lives of my husband or daughter are worth losing life or limb over.
For the record, I stayed home and shopped online in my jammies! I ordered a few small gifts and bought an outdoor trampoline online for not a whole lot more than Walmart’s “in store” price. I even paid $9 extra to have it shipped to me so I didn’t have to go to the store and pick up the 2 heavy boxes! It’s not even a Christmas gift, but just a family gift we’ve been planning to purchase for when Daddy gets home – something for us to all enjoy together, and I was able to get it on sale! The rest of my in-store shopping will take place next week while most people are back at work and the crowds are smaller – I hope.
Let’s don’t forget, as we are out shopping, what this season is truly about. It’s not a time of year to collect more belongings. It’s not a race to see who can get more toys. It’s a time for celebrating the birth of our Savior & King by showing love to others and bringing peace to a world that so desperately needs it.
As you watch those videos, is that how you would want people to celebrate your birthday?
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Tim 6:10-11
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against wanting to have more and more things. Life is not made up of how much a person has.” Luke 12:15
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Eph 4:32
“Don’t do anything only to get ahead. Don’t do it because you are proud. Instead, be free of pride. Think of others as better than yourselves.” Phil 2:3
Why is it so much easier to give others a break, to cut them some slack, to extend grace to them – but it’s so hard to do it for yourself?
I have been fighting a chest cold for the past week and it is wearing me out. I absolutely despise coughing! It hurts, it’s annoying, and it always seems to be at its worst when I’m trying to sleep or talk on the phone. My energy is a fraction of what it usually is because my body is so busy fighting off the bad guy germs while running on missed sleep, so I haven’t been able to do many of the things that I had in mind to make this Thanksgiving special.
Without Hubby home this year, I wanted to work extra hard to make this a special holiday for myself and Bug. I had plans for Thanksgiving homeschool lessons, fun turkey crafts, days of baking, lots of yummy food and sharing the holiday with friends.
Unfortunately, I haven’t felt well enough for any of that. We are behind on the school lessons we were working on, we haven’t done the crafts I had planned, I haven’t made a single pie, and we ended up making the decision to stay home on Thanksgiving instead of going to join friends.
Why do I feel so bad about that? Why do I feel like I’ve somehow failed as a mommy or a homeschool teacher because I didn’t get it all in?
Maybe I just feel bad because I’m sick and that always makes me emotional. I’m know I’m also really missing Hubby as this is our first Thanksgiving apart, and the closer we get to him coming home the more I seem to miss him!!
I’m trying to remind myself that I don’t have to be SuperMom! Lovebug and I are actually really looking forward to the Thanksgiving Day we have planned, so I just need to let that be “enough”. She doesn’t care that we aren’t having turkey, cranberry sauce, & stuffing. In fact, SHE picked the menu for tomorrow, so I know she’ll love it! Besides, we’ll have those foods again at Christmas!
So what if we didn’t get in a particular homeschool lesson about Thanksgiving? We’ve put a lot of effort into a Thanksgiving Journal over the last few weeks, and we have a stack of Thanksgiving books to read while cuddled on the sofa.
I’m torn. As I see all of my friends posting about preparing the Thanksgiving meal, preparing the turkeys and all the fixins – part of me is sad that I don’t have my husband here so we could be enjoying all of that cooking and craziness together. The other side of me is feeling very relieved that this year, I just get to sit back and take it easy.
I always tell Lovebug, “Your best is always good enough for me”. This year, my best needs to be enough for me too.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Cor 12:9
Growing up, Thanksgiving was always a time to get together with lots of friends and family. Big crowds, lots of food, lots of talking and a few people falling asleep on the sofa after too much turkey and pie – good times, although often exhausting!!
Now that Rob and I are on our own away from our families, it’s our turn to be the hosts. We love to cook and entertain, so we are looking forward to hosting big gatherings for the holidays as well as many sport-watching events.
Unfortunately, Hubby isn’t home for Thanksgiving this year so Lovebug and I are on our own. We’ve been extremely blessed and have had several offers to join other families for Thanksgiving, and we were planning to join some friends but yesterday we changed our minds.
Why?
Because sometimes as a parent you just have to make the hard calls! Lovebug and I have been extremely busy the past couple of months between traveling to visit friends and having family come visit us. We’ve been WAY off of our normal routine for a couple months now, and it is catching up with us! Lovebug thrives on routine, and gets all out of sorts after too many days away from it. Yesterday as she and I were both extremely emotional (for no apparent reason), we realized that we were both feeling the effects from all the go-go-go and needed a break. It came out that neither one of us was looking forward to being around a big crowd of people without Hubby, or about all the shopping and cooking that would be required. Lovebug expressed to me that she was uncomfortable about being at someone else’s house with all the noise & people. In fact, she was showing a lot of anxiety about it.
The fact that she was feeling this way even though she’s been to this friend’s house many times and she’s very comfortable there, was a sign for me to pay extra attention to her signals and figure out what her body needs.
With her SPD, she is easily over-stimulated when there are lots of noises, smells, & sights to take in. When she’s well-rested, well-fed, and well-exercised, she can handle these crowded times for a while, as long as she also has some time to recover afterward. Lately, her body is extremely tired from all the things we’ve had going on. She’s also super excited about Daddy coming home soon yet sad he’s not here for Thanksgiving, so that throws her body off a bit too as she tries to handle all the emotions.
So, we decided to make our own special Thanksgiving here at home! After we talked about it and had a plan, it was obvious in her body language how much relief she felt. I immediately felt a weight off my shoulders as well because I know it will help her “recharge” while giving us some special time together. We are both super excited about our new plan for our first Thanksgiving on our own.
Here is our new low-key plan for Thanksgiving 2011:
* Get up and watch the Macy’s Day Parade in our PJs
* Do Thanksgiving crafts
* Cuddle up on the sofa and read lots of books
* Eat homemade chicken nuggets, french fries and mashed sweet potatoes (Lovebug’s requested menu) – why not?
* Start decorating for Christmas
* Watch Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving
The day after Thanksgiving while all the Black Friday shoppers are rushing around the stores, we are going to head to the movie theatre for the new Muppets movie! We’ll also spend some time baking and working on a puzzle.
You’ll understand why. 
