Happy Easter

Okay, so I feel like I should give a warning. This post is going to contain a lot of pictures! If you aren't interested in seeing a lot of pictures of really cute little kids all dressed up in their Easter best you should probably just stop reading right now. If children doing things like dying Easter eggs, eating jelly beans, etc. is of no interest to you, well don't waste your time! But, for those of you who are still with me...get ready for a play by play through an Easter adventure with Carter and her posse! We start of course with the giving/receiving of her Easter basket (which could also be described as a second Christmas...I went a little overboard!) We actually gave it to her a little early knowing that Nate would be in San Diego when Easter morning rolled around:

I think it goes without saying...you can count on shoes to bring a smile to her face!

The day before Easter we decided to do some traditional egg dying and got together with Elli and Ava! The girls did a great job and we all had a lot of fun!
I had more fun picking out Carter's Easter dress while I was in Colorado and I'm sure you'll agree she looked pretty darn cute! Here she is getting geared up for the Easter egg hunt we had at church:

There's nothing more fun that twirling in a dress...at least not when your 2.5!

Hanging with her buddies Cooper and Connor...excuse the repetition, I couldn't decide which picture was cuter!

Here are all the kids ready to head out for the hunt!

Carter and her sweet friend Lydia:

And here is Ken and Barbie...I mean Cooper and Carter:

On the hunt! (FYI We're indoors because guess what? It was raining in Whidbey, imagine that!)

A post-hunt photo op for me and Carter:

As you can imagine Carter was pretty worn out from the event filled morning... And this means she's also worn out from me taking a million and one pictures... But, after a nice rest she was ready for round number 2 and our afternoon filled with another egg hunt and Easter Dinner. Our first meal was at my friend Molly's house who had graciously invited us over to share in a feast with her family! We then moved on to my good friend Janelle's house. She had over a group of the husbandless and we had a great potluck dinner as well as another egg hunt for the kiddos. Here is Carter in action:Of course the best part is eating the fruits of your labor:We missed having Nate to share in the day, but overall we really had a wonderful Easter. Hope yours was a happy one...it sure is great to get to celebrate the sacrifice that was made for us so long ago.

He Is Risen

Shop til' you DROP

LITERALLY! When I met my mom and my sister in Colorado last week we pushed ourselves to the limit. Hours of scouring shelves, racks, and counters left us tired, cranky, and hungry, but that didn't deter us from starting all over again the next day! We could not be stopped. It really was a blast. Especially coming from the giant metropolis of Oak Harbor (this is thick with sarcasm in case that doesn't translate). I was in heaven! On a serious note shopping with my mom and my sister is really one of my favorite things because I can count on them for the most honest of opinions. They don't shy away from telling me, "Yes, those jeans do make your butt look big," and other things that most people just can't get away with. It was great just getting to hang out and converse with two of my favorite people.

Kim, Me and my Mom receiving some much needed sustenance from the Blue Star Restaurant:

Kim and I hanging out before dinner:Another unexpected fun thing about our trip was SNOW! We woke up one morning to our very own little winter wonderland. I guess when you grow up in Texas seeing snow is just a novelty you never get tired of. It always seems to make things just a little bit more special!

While mom was away Nate held down the fort with flying colors! He had some help from my dear friend Janelle who made sure she re-did Carters hair (despite Nate's best attempts it needed a little help) each morning after he dropped her off and headed to work for awhile. I think it really was a wonderful thing for he and Carter to get to spend so much time together. They were practically inseparable already and I think this just solidified the bond! She was pretty happy to see me when they picked me up from the airport and her smile just lit up my heart! This may become an annual affair, or at least I hope it will. It was really healthy for me to get away for a few days...and as much as I enjoyed it one thing is for sure, there's no place like home.

Practice makes perfect...not always true.

I've decided that practice makes perfect works for almost all things in life, the one exception is heavy on my heart. There is no perfect goodbye. I should not be sad right now for so many reasons...the first of which being my husband and I will see each other in two short weeks. Why then will the tears not stop streaming down my face? I'm having to dig deep to figure it out; and here's what I've come up with. Nate being gone is all too familiar. I know what it means. I know how it feels. In the beginning I thought this would somehow make things easier. The first time he left the unfamiliarity of it all drove me crazy. But, now knowing exactly what to expect weighs heavy. There are of course the little things. Like pulling into the driveway and having to drag the trash cans into the garage. When Nate is gone I measure our time apart by trash days. Silly I know. But, the trash taking in and out is not something I usually do, so when he is away it is easy to think 5 more trash days and he'll be home. More importantly than trash duty is the absence his affect has on my heart. You know the people in your life that are just like sunshine? When you see them the room is just somehow a little bit brighter? That's what Nate is to me. When he drops in for lunch or gets home at the end of the day our whole house is suddenly just a bit more sunny (Carter adds her fair share as well). So, when his face is missing the days sometimes feel as gray as the Whidbey sky. Perspective is key for me right now. I tend to try to tackle life by weeks or even months. This leaves me feeling overwhelmed by the seemingly constant hello's and goodbye's that we have awaiting us in the near future. I have to remind myself that tackling today is enough, tackling it with a smile is even better. I also have to allow myself to feel things. I sometimes pressure myself to push down the sadness. So many of my dear friends face much longer separations (high fives to all of you, and thanks Sam for not batting an eye at my over the phone tears); and it often feels more than a little selfish for me to feel sad at all. I am sad though, and I think that's ok. It reminds me that what I share with my husband is a God given gift. It reminds me that He gave me exactly what I asked for in Nate. A man that is my best friend and partner. It is only fitting that my heart hurts when he is away and will be full of joy when he returns.

Happy 2.5

I just returned from four very fun days of what can only be described as power shopping! I met my mom and my sister in Colorado for a girls trip. My first time away leaving Nate and Carter to fend for themselves. It was wonderful on many levels, but I'll save all that for an upcoming post.

What I really sat down to do is wish my beautiful bright eyed girl a very happy 2 and half years! She has radically changed our world in such a short time it is just hard to imagine what life was like without her. Her fluent vocabulary and constant chatter is music to my ears. She makes me laugh with her funny little ism's and, to put it simply everything about her is magic to my eyes. So, in honor of Carter and what a grown up little thing she is turning into we did a photo shoot the other day...here is my pride and joy strutting her stuff, enjoy!

The closest things to sisters...Carter with Lamb and Maggie:

It's hard to believe you've gone from this...


To such a grown up, outspoken, optimistic, fun-loving, joyful, little lady! I love you Carter!

He's an animal....GRRRR!

I made a comment on Friday that made my weekend better in so many ways. I didn't do it on purpose or anything...it was a happy accident. We were discussing our "plans" for the weekend. Nate wanted to get the cars cleaned out, as a side note this was a major undertaking and involved a laundry basket full of items out of the one I drive! Anyway, feeling like I should be equally ambitious I stated my goal was to get the laundry caught up. Carter has this really funny kids CD. We imitate it a lot and one of songs starts with, "You know what I do when someone does something SUPER fantastic for me? I give them the biggest thank you I can. It's called praising them!" Well, let me just say the reckless abandon with which Nate has attacked our laundry this weekend is impressive. Everytime I blink my eyes it's like another load is washed and put aways, he's an animal GRRRR! He's also doing it with a most cheerful attitude and making me laugh in the process. As a matter of fact he just came in here holding a new sock I had just purchased and asked me if I knew where the other one was. He had found it in the middle of our bedroom floor. I hated to admit I had no idea where I had discarded it's mate. In Jeff Foxworthy fashion he quickly came back with, "We just can't have nice things!" Which threw me into an early morning laugh, and I'm definitely not a morning person. So, all this to say in a most praiseworthy fashion, I sure do love this guy. He is in all seriousness a dream come true. He is one heck of a Bread Winner, Romantic, Friend, a great Dad, and he even pitches in with the housework! I hit the jackpot baby!

Just Say NO!

Ok, so I just have to get this off my chest.

We are faithful followers of the newest season of American Idol. It seems like we are hit or miss on this show, some years we watch, some we don't, but we are definitely fans this year. As a sidebar I'll watch just about anything on TV, according to my dad every time I visit them I Tivo about "900 hours worth of crap!" Hey dad, one mans crap is another mans treasure or something like that. Anyway, back to A.I. It's the one show that Nate will get into and watch along with me and I like that. For whatever reason watching a show with someone is just more fun than watching it alone. You get to comment, critique and lets just be honest make fun of the poor people who have subjected themselves to your harshest judgements. We are by far worse than Simon Cowell. This leads me to what's got me so fired up. Let's just get straight to it...

When Carly came out sporting these 80's inspired pants I was horrified. I mean surely there is someone who is getting paid to make sure these people wear an outfit that is at least somewhat flattering. I mean I really can't think of one person I know or don't know that would actually look good in these pants...and you seriously could not pay me to wear them. So, imagine my dismay when...
Here comes Asiah with an almost identical pair of pants. I mean these are cute girls, if they can't pull it off I'm more than certain my mommy bod would fail miserably! I literally stood up off the couch and gave Nate a good piece of my mind. I stood on my soapbox and declared they can try to bring the 80's back but I'll never Never NEVER be caught dead in a pair of high waisted tapered pants again! I will admit I wore my fair share of stirrup pants back in the day and have no desire to bring that kinda' sexy back. So, whose with me? If we mommies band together we can create a force to be reckoned with! Just say NO to 80's fashion!

"The Biggest Day of My Navy Career"

Ok, so this could be a slight exaggeration for several reasons. The first one is obvious I'm not in the Navy. But, my better half is very much in the Navy and as I overheard him making this statement on the telephone while talking to my brother tonight I thought, the biggest day of his career? Well, this most definitely deserves a post. Don't worry I'll elaborate. Like all good stories it starts at the beginning. I won't go back to the very beginning namely because it is already getting late and mommies don't get to sleep in.

So, four not so short years ago, the man I love most in this world took a major detour from his current career path of minister and followed a BIG dream to fly. He left one teary eyed wife in Texas and made the 8 hour drive east to Florida to begin his journey into what I can only describe as passionate service to our country. This guy loves America and what it stands for with every inch of his being...he bleeds red and probably a little white and blue too! Needless to say he has excelled in all areas, he rises to the top in everything he does, he is a born leader and I'm really not just saying all these nice things because I'm his wife. I forget the technical term, but I just saw his "report card" he received recently and there are some other people who think he's the best thing since sliced bread too!

All this to say tomorrow is one of the really big days for him. From what small amount I can gather sort of like finals, or a thesis, or something really big like that, (I do my best not to make myself out to be one of the wives who really gets all the lingo, but I do try). He's studied hard and I know he is more than prepared to shine. When I forced him to let me take this photo the first day he headed to work as an official Naval Aviator I had no idea what our future held. The past few years have had their fair share of heartache and tears, I'm sure there will be more in the months and years ahead as separation is always right around the corner. But, I couldn't be prouder. All I can say is, "Go do your thing babe...you're so good at it."
*UPDATE* He passed with flying colors...that's my guy!

Be Still and Know

We just returned home from a morning spent at church. Our Sunday school lesson solidified something for me...silence is golden. I have always enjoyed silence. It doesn't bother nor scare me, I don't feel uncomfortable or prompted to fill it with words, I actually crave it. I was reminded this morning there is a reason for this. Silence is not just an empty space that needs to be filled, for me it is already full. With the chaos that we live in I feel like silence is the undeniable opportunity for God to meet with me and my undivided attention. Without the distractions that tend to monopolize my mind and day, He uses the peace that surrounds me when it's quiet to reveal His love for me. Is it any wonder that I savor the moments when the world around me is still? It does my heart good as I walk away with a renewed sense of peace and purpose. I realize that with all I do to fill my days maybe the most important thing is to leave a space empty...reserved for the lessons and love that come when the only thing occupying the moment is nothing at all.