Just some questions

Random thoughts: My hero is coming home soon (by the end of the month) and man is my brain going on over drive. Here are some questions you may be able to help me with. 1. What do I wear? Hmm, I am almost tempted to wear sweat pants. A girl has to be comfortable right? 2. Which children should I take to green ramp? My big kids do not want to go. I do not want to take the little kids. This is where I should tell you. The day I pick up my husband is weird. I will go to one location and after speeches I will see him for no more than 10 minutes. Then he has to leave again and we will pick him up a couple of hours later. So the thought is to bring the kids to friends until the second pick up. The big kids hate to say hi and then leave him. I think the younger kids will not understand why he is leaving again. 3. I have not showed my new hair color to my husband. Should I show it to my blog friends or should I tell my husband what color it is before he arrives. He knows I colored it but nothing else. I want to surprise him. Should I tell you I had virgin (or almost) hair. I had highlights put in 9 years ago and have never done any other color. So this is a HUGE deal. 4. How will my husband handle being home with 6 little blessings attacking him? Will I remember not to over whelm him quickly? 5. Will my husband really work half days for a couple weeks? Should I plan on it and make plans for us or should I remember it is the Army and just roll with it? What do you think? Do you have any answers to these questions? Pamela

Pot luck food

How many potlucks do you attend a year. It seems like we are always being asked to bring food to something. I do not mind. I love cooking. The problem I have with potlucks is it is that there is not always things for kids. So I love making kid friendly food. We have all made pigs n the blankets. My new favorite thing to make is pepporoni rolls. Biscuits (you know the kind that comes 4 cans for a couple of dollars) pepporoni string cheese First take a biscuit and roll it out using your fingers layer a piece of pepporoni, cheese and another piece of pepporoni wrap the biscuit around the peporoni just like you would the hot dog bake for 10 minutes. I add spaghetti sauce on the side for dipping. YUMMY, I have been saying that alot recently. All this yummy cannot be good for my waist line. Actually each pepporoni roll is only about 70 calories. Pamela

Preparing for re deployment

It is that time. What time you may ask? Time for my hero to come home. Well not technically yet but getting closer. Close enough that it is time to start preparing for his homecoming. How do I prepare you may be wondering. Well let me tell you. *I make sure there is plenty of diet pepsi in the house. I currently have 14-12 packs *make sure I have his condiments in the house- A1, BBQ sauce, soy sauce have been purchased *make sure I have his food in the house-red meat bought, have not bought steaks because he requested to do this himself *make sure I go through his clothes and get rid of things I do not like. Okay, maybe I should not do this but I did *make sure I have not moved things around in the house that he may need. One time I moved the towels *make sure his truck is running and cleaned out and smells nice. OOPS! I let the battery run down * start working on sitters for date nights, after being gone so long you have to make time to get to know one another, time to talk and re connect *start working on welcome home posters *start thinking about block leave because you probably both have ideas that are not the same *I am starting to clean up and organize now, so that I am not going crazy the week before he comes home. I like to really clean up before he comes home so I have more time to relax when he is home *make a reasonable list of things that need repaired or fixed when he gets home and remind myself he will still be working when he gets home *make sure finances are in order and set a budget according to the money he will be making once he is home. One time during one of our first deployments I moved all of his clothes to an upstairs closet and took all of his knick knacks out of the bedroom. He came home and felt like it was not his bedroom. I love that my soldier is coming home this fall. I would be lying if I did not say I wasn’t a little nervous about how we fit back together as a family. Children grow up and change. I have changed, he has changed. He is not use to being around 6 kids constantly. He is not use to picking what he wants to eat or even eating when he wants. It takes time. My hero is amazing with the kids but when he came home the last time I made a huge mistake. His first weekend home I left him alone with the kids for 8 hours. He was over whelmed, they took advantage of him and well it was not good. When he comes home and is settled we will set down and have a family meeting and discuss what our family goals are and rules are. So how do you prepare for your soldier to come home? What do you look forward to and what makes you nervous? Pamela

Miscellany Monday

Randomness. 1. I have been keeping a secret from my blog for many months. I cannot wait to share with you over the next week and come clean. I hate secrets. 2. I had my hair colored this week. It took three trips to the salon to get it how I wanted but I think I will like it. It was mostly not my fault and the hair dresser was beyond amazing. 3. My friend Jolene welcomed home two new blessings this week. Her family amazes me and has encouraged me. When we were blessed with our boys it was wonderful to have someone to run things by. Someone who had been there and understood some of their feelings and behaviors and help me know how to support them through the transition. Please stop by her blog and read her story. 4. My son parked cars at the fair grounds for the last 6 days. He really enjoyed it. It was nice because he had some people speak rudely to him. I know that should not be a good thing. But it gave me a reason to talk to him about customer service. He enjoyed it because when the cars were parked he was able to relax and hang out with the other scouts. 5. This week I made 6 loaves of bread, 2 BIG pans of brownies, cookies, and am going to make a peanut butter cake. I really enjoy baking for others. 6. It is almost time to start making welcome home signs. I am so not a sign maker. 7. This week a lady was walking down the street in front of my house. She stopped and asked if she could dig up some of the bulbs for my flowers and have them. I said yes because what could I have said. I almost laughed because currently there are reads almost as tall as my mailbox. I know that is horrible but it is truth. 8. My vacuum is not working, it blows out dirt. Not good in a house with 6 kids. It is not a year old. I have been using my shop vac. I am counting days until my hero is home and can fix things. 9. I have acne around my chin. Coming down from both corners of my mouth. I have not had acne in years. Any suggestions. 10. I am reading a book called, wild at heart. It is a amazing book. Have you read it and if so what did you think? Pamela

Monday Quiz about me

1. Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? Redeeming Love, have read it several times. A great way to remind myself that no matter how bad my past is I can still have a great life. I just need to be willing to work for it and be open for it. 2. What was your favorite game to play as a child? Hmm, can’t remember playing games. I did love to play school. For hours I would play school in my room. I still giggle because my girls play school all the time. The funny part is they have never been in a school classroom. 3. What person in history would you most like to meet? So many to mention. I would love to meet Martin Luther King and have him tell me how he was brave enough to stand up. 4. Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself... Until this week I had virgin hair, I wanted to be a nun when I was a child, I cannot stand to have dirty floors. And for my number 5: Which would you prefer, a live in nanny or a live in maid? I would prefer the maid, I love taking care of my kids but wish I did not have to spend so much time cleaning. Pamela