Well That Explains A Lot

I had called my parents last night to chat about their heat wave. It was 103 yesterday in Portland, thats normal for a lot of places. However, since Oregon is not one of them, most homes don't have central air! SO thankful for our nice mild summer. Which I have to say we are rather deserving of since we living in Florida for 4 years! No wonder I love it here! Is it strange that I can't wait for it to snow? And poor hubby is sad because he will miss our entire winter. TJ asks daily if he can pray and ask Jesus to make it snow the next day.
In the course of our conversation, my Dad was thrilled to hear I had picked up a job to make birthday cakes and cupcakes for a party. I was telling him about my plans on decorations for them, although I know I have a long way to go in learning how to do all the really awesome things so many cake decoraters can do. My dad then proceeded to tell me that his Dad, my grandpa, was a CAKE DECORATER! He worked in a bakery and decorated the wedding and birthday cakes. News to me! Not to mention 3 of my dads 4 sisters are artistic, and his Great Grandmother, (I think) used to sing on the radio!
Its so cool to hear about ancestors and be able to tie in where certain traits and talents have come from.

So which side of the family are your talents from?

Yeah, I'm not very good at this

Talk about lax. I have been a bad blogger! And its not like I don't have time to write something, its merely a matter of taking the time to gather my thoughts into something coherent enough people might want to read!
We have had an awesome summer so far. We went to visit family in Texas, and had a blast. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, playing outside, fishing, and even saw a snake up close and personal. As in when we got up one morning, a rat snake had made its way onto the back porch. Hubby caught it in a rubbermaid container, sorry Mamaw! The look on TJ's face was priceless. I guess I should change his nickname to something snake related? All in all, it was a fantastic trip.
Being there also brought to light how much we missed having a dog. Yes, I know, we had a chihuahua and then rehomed it. For some reason, it seems that we have a hard time having a normal pet. Most of our cats have been crazy, our first dog was a half basset, half blue heeler. Bet you can't guess which personality was prominent? That dog was INSANE! There was no potty training that puppy. When we moved to Oregon, Milton went with us, but went from being an inside dog, to an outside dog. Poor thing. It was so sad. So we ended up rehoming him to a farm. Where for now, he is much happier. Then came Bandit. The 5yr old Chihuahua who hated Hubby, and Little Guy. So much so that his M.O. was to continually pee on their stuff. It got to the point that Hubby couldn't leave any thing on the floor for any amount of time. Plus Bandit was living out his little existence under our couch. So off he went to a new home, and oddly enough, he ended right back in Florida.
Where does that leave us now? With a boy cat named Opal, and a St. Bernard named Aigneis. I think we may have finally found the perfect pet. Aigneis is a big floppy girl who doesn't mind when the Princess pulls her ears, or when Little Guy rolls all over her.
The Princess also had her 2nd birthday party. So much fun, we had it at The Little Gym. It was a Hawaiian theme. I can't get over how much she has grown in the last year. Now if we could only get that girl potty trained!
The sad news is that Hubby is at training for 60 days, for his 9 months in Iraq. Completely and totally stinks. We are missing him like crazy. This all means that I will have a lot of me time in the evenings. And have made some plans for things I want to get accomplished. There is a great opportunity for Military spouses to get some money for school. I would love to take some business courses. With the bakery on hold until Hubby comes back, its a great time to get some online classes in.
And while its not obvious here, I love to write. Quite a while back, before the kiddos came along, I wanted to write. I started a work of historical/Sci-Fi fiction, with what I think is a great story line. And yet somehow 3 kids, and 1 and a half businesses later, it hasn't progressed very far. I think I want to work on finishing it. There are also some Bridezilla/Event Planning, Navy wife tales floating around in my head. Which would have to be written in a Nanny Diaries way to protect the innocent and the not so innocent!
As well as working on whatever orders I can get that are bakery related.
Life should be fairly busy for the next year. I think I also neglected to mention TJ will be starting school in a month. Wow.
I hope to write here a lot more often, I will also be starting a Bakery Blog. Lets see how long I can keep that up!

Ugh!

So I woke up this morning to my boys fighting in the hallways. Not terribly concerning mind you, just not how I like to be awakened. They of course had to come fill me in on the injustices they were suffering at eachothers hands. In other words, Little Guy had a toy (The Princess's stuffed kitty) that TJ did not think he should have. Really? This is what you woke me up for?
I shooed them out so I could get dressed, stepped out of the bedroom, only to be bombarded with a lovely tale of the how they just watched the cat throw up in the kitchen. Are you kidding me?!

I am so ready to head back to bed.

On a happier note, I have been pretty consistent in working out for going on 5 weeks straight now. My body is definitely starting to change for the better. Although I wish it would tone up all at once, instead of this area over here, and then the backs of my arms, maybe this area of my hips... Makes it just a little more difficult to gauge progress, ya know?

Not Up To Much

And I don't know if that a good thing or not. Life has been good around here, don't get me wrong. However, since making the decision to put the bakery on hold for a year due to hubby heading overseas shortly, I kinda feel like I have stalled out. Craft fair season is more of a winter thing here. And while there are a few here and there, I am just not out there at the moment. Its a little frustrating. There are 2 things I fear right now: 1. That because we have to wait, my dream will slip away. 2. Everyone will think I am fickle and crazy and keep having these grand schemes that never pan out and I will just flit from "hobby" to "hobby" as I get bored.

It doesn't help that I am limited when hubby is gone. I have seen how the kids are affected by deployments, and the thought of me working and never being home doesn't sit well with me. So much comes into play with that, having to go into the city to bake, and then the actual event. Finding and paying a sitter.

So I overcompensate in the rest of our life. Not that its a bad thing to be involved with the kiddos. We play, and go to the park. Have playdates with friends. I clean the house, and bake all the time. How does one balance all this?! Can I do craft fairs and Farmers Markets, and somehow still be home with Train Junkie, help Little Guy learn to listen better, and watch The Princess grow up? Can I find the time to grocery shop, be active in the Fall at TJ's school, get Little Guy involved in hockey, and Princess in gymnastics and dance, get the kids to church, visit friends and family, and do Renegade in December? Not to mention continue to work on getting out of debt, scout out a new location for a bakery, and possibly find our first house to move into next year! So much for not being up to much!

March For Babies (March Of Dimes) 4/21/09

So I have decided to do the March For Babies. Its the March of Dimes annual walk, 4.3 miles in distance. I think I can walk that much.... Anyways, its this Sunday, a friend of mine invited me to walk with her so I signed up today. Ok, so its 5 days beforehand now. And I set a low fundraising goal for myself, because hey every little bit counts! If you would like to sponsor me you can click on the button below!





Thanks everyone! And if I can sign up 5 days before, check out your city and see if there is a walk you can participate in!

Out Of The Loop (4-14-09)

Man, I have been really lax in posting anything. I am not sure why blogging hasn't been on my mind so much lately. Well, actually I do. We have been through a couple of ups and downs around here lately. My goal since we moved was to get going on my plans to open a bakery. It came pretty close to happening, that would be the up! The down part is that we found out that hubby is going to be sent overseas for probably either a 9mo or even a 12 month Billet. This of course really put a snag in our plan for the bakery. Another down.
We are still heading in that direction, it will just take a little longer. Why? you ask... I remember very well the effect deployments had on our little people. And I can't even begin to imagine how they would react to Daddy being gone and Mommy working constantly. I can't and won't put them through that, not to mention the amount of stress I would be under.
It stinks pretty much because I had been offered a great space, with a great lease. We had prayed and prayed about it, and it just looked like God kept opening doors for us. When it came right down to it, there wasn't complete peace.
There is a good thing about this, we will get extra pay, and most likely be almost completely out of debt by the time Hubby comes back. Our car will only have 1 year left to pay on our loan, all of this will put us in a better position for a small business loan. It will also give me a little more time to get my name and products out there through craft fairs and Farmers Markets. Hopefully we can also scout out a better space that will fit all our needs. I am searching for the silver lining of course.

BTW, can anyone tell me how to get the date to show up with each post??

Where Did The Time Go?

My kids are growing up way too fast. Train Junkie, or The BIG boy as he likes to refer to himself sometimes, lost his first tooth this past week. He has been wiggling it for almost a month now, and I was beginning to wonder if that thing would EVER come out. Finally last week it got really loose. He could move it back and forth with his tongue, but if you approached him with a plan to pull it, he would run from the room yelling "NOOOOOO!! Don't TOUCH IT!!" And who could blame him? Hubby seemed to think it was hilarious to chase him around with various tools, with the promise it would "just take a minute" and there wouldn't be hardly any blood...

It came out on its own one night, which was an enormous relief. I was so worried it would come out in his sleep and he would swallow it.

We also had Little Guys 4th birthday party. The theme was Pokemon. Big surprise there. It would appear that Little Guy resembles Daddy in more then looks. He could have cared less it was his party. Cool, calm and collected. While his brother who is 5, followed him around OPENING his gifts for him saying "Hey look at this one, don't you want to open your presents?!?!"

And our Princess seems to be growing the quickest. She is talking, and jumping, and this morning I found her with a Capri Sun, she had opened the straw, put it in the pouch and was happily drinking it. With no help from her brothers. WHEN did this happen?! She is only 20 mos right now. My baby is growing up...

This morning, I also decided that if I have to follow my boys instructions, I will no longer occasionally enjoy a bowl of Cookie Crisp (which is NEVER, I eat grown up cereal, with lots of bran...) The Princess usually gets her bowl without any milk since thankfully she has not mastered the spoon on her own, and inevitably the bowl ends up on the floor. Which is not too bad since my two boys are like puppies, in that they then scurry over and eat the cereal. Leaving my floors spotless, and less for me to clean up... Anyway, they came to me on the couch and each had a handful of delicious, I mean sugar filled and unhealthy, little cookies. And then proceeded to rub each one on their face before popping it in their mouth. Um, what?! When asked about it, I was informed they had to "wash" thier face with each one before eating it. If thats the case, NO THANKS! I have a hard enough time maintaining my youthful complexion with out reliving my teen years.