What we've been up to..

This post may be a little random and I may seem to be rambling on because frankly I'm just going to type as I think of things. 
I can't really remember where we left off.  I know that I haven't blogged much lately and quite frankly because the last few weeks have been a blur. 
Tomorrow marks 1 month since Kevin's return.  I can't believe all that has happened in that month.  We've been busy busy busy!! 
We started taking the girls to a "Wiggles and Giggles" class that they LOVED.  It was a class for children 10 months +. They would sing songs, play instruments, do obstacle courses, jump around, etc.  It was so much fun.

This year we hosted our first Thanksgiving.  Kevin made an AMAZING turkey.  It was the most delicious bird I have ever tasted.  We worked together on some killer mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie as well.  Mmmm it's making me so hungry thinking about it.  We were so caught up in the day that we didn't even take any pictures!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Kevin and I celebrated our 3rd wedding Anniversary in Kansas City.  It was so fun and a nice getaway.  Unfortunately that same weekend, my Grandma Jolly passed away.  I was absolutely devastated.  I still can't talk about it much without choking up, so I most likely won't blog about it much.  She will be greatly missed.  I still can't believe it has all been happening.
Because of her death we traveled to Illinois for the visitation and funeral.  Although last minute and certainly not financially planned for, I am so glad that I went.  I definitely needed to be with my family and in a way it was better for me to "accept" her death by being there. 

So that leaves us with where we are right now...just trying to relax.  We got home Sunday afternoon and will pack back up on Friday to be on the road again.  Next stop...Branson. 

I am hoping to try and keep up with this.  I'm finding it hard to be motivated right now.  Not just with blogging, with everything.  Remember the 50lbs (Actually 56lbs) that I lost over the last year..well that has slowly been creeping back on since Kevin's return and the insanity that has been the last month.  Lack of exercising and eating fast food/ on the go has not exactly been the best for me.  I hate to think we'll be on the go go go this next month. I hate to see it creep even hire.  Ugh!!! I guess there are always "New Years Resolutions" !!

Anyways--Someone ...and by someone I mean my dear darling husband decided that giving our two year old a cup of Mt. Dew at supper time and she has been bouncing off the walls ever since.  It's 9:30pm and she's still going strong. We tried to put her to bed with no luck...It's gonna be a long night........

Absent

I thought I would take a few minutes and explain my lack of posting.  1. Of course you know that Kevin is home and for the first time in a year I am not a slave to my computer SO I rarely get on for very long anymore. I do most stuff with my phone and I'm not too thrilled with the Blogger app I have on my phone. 2.  Since my last post we hosted Thanksgiving.  My Wednesday and Thursday were spent peeling 10lbs of pototoes, baking pies, helping Kevin prepare the turkey, spending time with family and eating, eating, eating.  3.  Black Friday.  4.  Getaway weekend with Kevin.  and unfortunately. 5.  The passing of my wonderful dear grandmother. <<-- I am having a hard time with the last one.  Lots of tears shed.  Of course that means another impromptu trip to Illinois.  So with the added packing and getting stuff ready, I have not had time to sit down and post much.  Maybe with all of the extra car time I will have in the next few weeks, I will be able to catch up. 
See you soon.. 

Tasty Tuesday

                                Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

approx 3 1/2 lbs beef chuck roast
16-oz. beef broth (1 1/2 cans)
1 10.5-oz. can condensed French onion soup
6-oz red wine
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
4-6 French rolls
sliced provolone cheese, optional
Trim excess fat off of beef roast and season meat all over with salt and pepper.
Pour beef broth, condensed French onion soup, red wine and garlic powder into slow cooker and place beef roast into liquid.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Slow cookers have different time intervals that you can select, so work with your cooker. Depending on how the settings on your slow cooker work, the time will vary. Since this is cooking in liquid, you don’t have to worry about the meat drying out in the same way you might if you were roasting the meat in the oven. Mine took 7 1/2 hours and was falling apart tender.
Take beef out and rest it, covered with aluminum foil, for about 15 minutes. Slice beef and return to slow cooker on low or very low for 30 minutes.
Lightly toast the bread and evenly distribute cheese between rolls, if using. Divide beef onto rolls and spoon the beef juice* into ramekins or other small bowls and eat everything while it is hot. Serve each sandwich with its own dip.

New Play Area

I have recently been trying to to more activities throughout the day with the girls.  They just didn't have enough room on their high chair trays to color.  It was just too tight of a space for both crayons/paints and the paper.  They were getting frustrated and so was I.  My parents had given us a child size table that my siblings and I used as kids.  My mom suggested after we moved here that we put it in the corner of our kitchen.  At first I wasn't too keen on having it in there. I thought it would make our kitchen too crowded.  The other day though, I had a wild hair and decided to give it a try.  The girls and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby that morning as well and picked up a new chalk board and a magnetic cork board.  With a 40% off coupon, I only spent $20 for both! 

Lauren woke up early to color.  

Lauren learning shapes and learning to glue.  She had a lot of fun!

Displaying her artwork.

I printed out  pictures of our immediate family members along with our names. I backed them with magnets and voila, we have a learning board for Lauren to learn our names. 
The first day was sort of a disaster with the girls crumbling and tearing the paper. A quick trip to staples, a purchase of laminating pamper and we were set.  They are nice and sturdy now.  She has already mastered our names and I can hold up a name and she'll say "That spells "Mommy"

She is too smart for her own britches.  She gets every single one of them right every time now.  Her brain is such a sponge and she catches on to things very quickly...now if only she caught on so fast with potty training.  :)  

Homecoming: Part Four

So I figured I'd better get to Part 4 for a few reasons...
1.  I have been told to hurry up and that I'm leaving you all hanging! Ha!!
and 2.  I figured it'd be rude for me to leave you hanging even longer tomorrow and make you read "Tasty Tuesday" instead. 
SOOO..because I love you all so much.
Here are some pictures of us being reunited with Kevin.The commander came in.  We were praying that there wouldn't be a long speech.  We were all like hungry lions staring down our meat! haha.  Another 20 minute speech is NOT what we wanted to wait through.  Praise God, when it came time for them to all come in, the commander said "Dismiss" and that was it.  Our soldiers were free to come find us. 

Thankfully because I was in the front row, and off to the side a bit. Kevin saw me when he was standing in formation. 

You can see in the corner of this picture, my hand is waving. 

Do you see Kevin?  He's is directly above the word "IS"
There is a short little guy lagging a bit behind him!
He's the tall one! 
This was me the first site of him. 
AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" was blaring over the speakers and I'm pretty sure I was jumping up and down to the beat. 
Waving my dork flag..but hey, I was EXCITED!!

Here he comes!!

He sees me! Look at that smile!!

Finally reunited. 

We hugged for what seemed like forever and I loved it! 
Words of I love you said to each other, tears running down my face. 

Ahh sweet kisses! 

Hugs again..It is such an amazing feeling to have him back in my arms!

Lauren and Daddy

Daddy & both of his girls.

First attempt at  a family photo..let's play "where's Kaelin?" hahaha! WOOPS!

Take 2...

Take 3..the best it was going to get.  Look at Kaelin just staring at him! 

We couldn't be happier to have Kevin home with us.

I can't believe it has already been a week!  

I will continue to keep you updated on our adjustments and reintegration as a family of 4! 

Until then...
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

It is truly a blessing to have Kevin as my husband and father to my children. 

Dear Lord, Thank you for laying your hands on Kevin and protecting him during this time of turmoil and bringing him home to us safely. 

             Amen. 

 

 

Homecoming: Part Three

The gym was full.  We were all anxiously awaiting.  We thought we were just a few minutes away from seeing our soldiers.  Then this guy came in....

 

He proceeded to tell us that it was going to be another 20-30 minutes before our soldiers would arrive.  You could hear the sighs as everyone in the rooms heart sank.  We were so so excited when he came out, only to hear him say it would be a little bit longer.

So we soldiered on. Trying to keep the girls calm, happy and awake... 
It was naptime and the excitement of being in this new place was totally O.V.E.R. They were ready to go home. Right. Now.

Kaelin eventually fell asleep...

Lauren wanted to so bad...

 

  We all held on though until these guys started arriving!
WooHOO! It was time..

Homecoming: Part Two

Let me back up just a bit.. I forgot to mention before that I never did get the 72 hour phone call telling me that Kevin was on his way!  Apparently the Rear Detachment "forgot" about me, or overlooked me.  Luckily I have connections and called the Rear D and pretended that I had a missed call from them.  After they verified who I was, the released the information to me.  Thankfully there is a redeployment hotline, because the Rear D "forgot" about me again when they give the courtesy 24 call. Me being upset is quite an understatement, I was darn right PO'd.  I waited for 12 months for that call and then NOTHING.  Thank goodness that I was not still back in Illinois relying on that phone call to make the trip back to KS to pick Kevin up.  I had half a mind to throw a fit, but I knew it wasn't going to make me feel any better.  Because of ME being proactive in the days prior, I had his flight number and I'd just continue to check the hotline. 
Like I had said in the previous post, he arrival was delayed by about 12 hours. Originally the ceremony was scheduled for 10pm on Sunday night.  They have suggested in order to get a seat at the ceremony to arrive 2 hours prior to the scheduled ceremony time. They also suggest this because at this point, the soldiers are already at the Army post, signing in, turning in weapons etc...If they happen to be finished early with their tasks at hand, they will not sit around and just wait until the scheduled time. If it is within the 2hr time frame, they will just go ahead and start. 

The day before his scheduled arrival, I found out via hotline, that his arrival was going to be delayed by approx. 12 hours.  At first I was not very happy.  I had been counting the months, weeks, days, and now mere hours until I was going to have him in my arms and now it was delayed AGAIN! 



Honestly it was for the best. I never was too thrilled about a 10pm ceremony in the first place. I knew that I'd have very cranky kids that were ready for bed. God knew what he was doing and the ceremony was now planned for Monday at 11am.




We arrived at 8:55am...the parking lots were already starting to fill up.  Thankfully we were able to get seats in the front row of chairs.  The girls were able to run around and play.  They even had a little room with cookies and juice.  Lauren loved to run in and out of the flags.  They were great for the first hour or so, but after that they were antsy, ready for naps and down right getting cranky.  We had less than an hour before we'd get to see Kevin...or so we thought. Once again we were told they were going to be slightly delayed......

To be continued....