Hello!

Hopefully y'all remember me! :)

I have returned again from yet another hiatus. Let me tell you, when you stop blogging, it is so hard to get back into it.

After some pushes from my sister and a new blog idea, I think I am ready to give it another try.

Since it would be near impossible to catch you up on all that has happened over the past 7 months, I will just give you some highlights.

• We had a WONDERFUL Christmas! We were able to go home and have a good visit with our family. Hard to believe that in the past year and a half, I haven't even been home 2 weeks!
• Thompson is doing really well in school. He is extremely smart and just really blows me away with how well he catches onto stuff. (I like to think he gets it from me! ;)) I am really glad he is getting this extra year of school. He has matured sooooo much! We still have our fits very now and then, but I am definitely enjoying watching him grow up.
• Brycen is a MESS!!! A wonderful, crazy kid that I wouldn't trade for the world. He is a complete Momma's boy and I love it! When you talk to him, you would think you are speaking to a kid years beyond his age!
• Robert is bound and determined to become a professional fisherman. He loves to go out to the lake. He drags me out there at least once a week. Last weekend he caught like 26 bass! He really is good! 
• February 1st they started Robert's med board. He has not fully healed from his knee injury and there is no way he can go back to his previous job. The doctors decided his best option was for him to go ahead and get out. We knew this was a major possibility, so we have been planning for it. After all of the appointments and meetings, his package was finally sent to Washington D.C. It has been there for about 3 weeks now, so I am praying we find out something soon!
• About 6 weeks ago I quit working. I wanted some down time to get everything in order, be able to go with Robert to appointments, and spend time with the boys. I plan on going to work when we move back to Arkansas almost immediately, so I am glad I get this time.

Here are some pictures from the last few months...

The boys at Halloween

Visiting Santa

Thompson's 1st catch of the year!

I chopped my hair off.

Growing too fast!

Thompson played in his 1st season of basketball.

Robert and one of his many fish! Love this picture. :)

Look at this sweet face!

Now, for my new idea...

I am starting tomorrow doing the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. Last Fall I was dieting and working out. I did really well and lost about 25 pounds. Then came the holidays... I seriously gained like 10 pounds while we were home. And then we came home and I never lost it. And I actually found some more. Boo!!! I am seriously done! I do not plan on having anymore kids (keyword is plan) and I HATE looking in the mirror! I need this for me!

I am wanting to blog about this as a way of keeping me accountable as well as (hopefully) helping others. I have never tried Advocare, so this is new to me. To succeed on the challenge, you really need to follow a clean diet. I am going to try to eat as clean as possible. I have been browsing Pinterest for some ideas, so hopefully I can keep it exciting. I am hoping this will be a lifestyle change more than anything. Robert is doing this with me, so it will be good to have a partner. I plan to track our progress, meals, exercises, etc. throughout this entire process. Hopefully I won't bore y'all too much. ;)

Anyways, I am excited about this. I hope y'all follow along too! 

Tomorrow is Day 1... See you then!

Tiny Prints

As some of you know, I love sending out Christmas cards! I found a wonderful company when I was looking for someone to do Brycen's birth announcements, Tiny Prints, and have used them ever since.

The quality of their cards are amazing! They have the latest designs and the customer service is wonderful. I really could go on and on about this great company!

I always love receiving holiday cards as well and usually the cutest ones are from Tiny Prints. :)

Go ahead and check out their wonderful Holiday Cards selection! Also, if you click on the Special Offers link on their site, they are offering some great coupons!

***This is a sponsored post by Tiny Prints***

Happy 5th Birthday Thompson!

Oh, it is so hard to believe that my first born child is already 5! We celebrated with a party at our community clubhouse. It was so much fun! We rented a huge slide/bounce house for the kids and they played on that the whole time. Thompson was excited for some of his classmates to come to his party. :)

He wanted the theme to be "The Avengers", which was great because the movie had just came out so there was a lot of stuff available for decor and goody bags.

Here are some pics from the party.

His actual birthday was on Sunday. I woke up that morning to him climbing in bed with me. I wished him a Happy Birthday and told him that he was 5 now! He jumped up, ran into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and then jumped on the scale and shouted "I really AM 5!" It was the cutest thing ever!

We had one of his friend's birthday party to attend that day, so he had a blast celebrating with him. We then ordered pizza and salad from a restaurant in town and called it an early night. Well I did, I crashed at 6:30pm and slept until the next morning. I was exhausted!

Last night, we took him out to eat for his birthday. We went to our favorite BBQ place here called Lucille's. (Seriously, good food and sweet tea!) At the end, they brought out a little sundae with a candle. He loved it! He is just like me, loves to be spoiled! ;)

Happy Birthday T! I love you more than you will ever know.  

A Quick Funny!

I wanted to share a quick story from last night. I want to write it down because it was so funny, I am afraid I will forget over time. :)

We were headed to dinner and while in the car, Brycen was jabbering to himself in the backseat. Robert and I were carrying on a conversation, when I hear something Brycen was saying that caught my attention...

Here is the scenario all from Brycen-

"Ms. Victoria, Brycen hit me."
"No I didn't!"
"Brycen, did you hit Autumn?"
"Yes."
"What do you say?"
"Sorry, Autumn"
"Now go over there and sit in time out."
"But I told her I was sorry!"

All from him, acting out 3 different roles in 3 different tones. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. He was just too funny!

Liebster Blog

April over at Meet the Jechs, awarded me with a Liebster Blog Award! :)

Here is how it goes...

11 Things About Myself:

1. My children mean the WORLD to me. I am their Momma and that is the best feeling ever!!

2. I NEVER, EVER, EVER thought I would live anywhere else besides NW Arkansas... let alone marry a military man. :)

3. I met my husband when I was 13. I had the biggest crush on him, and still do to this day!

4. I wanted to study law in school and become an attorney.

5. My parents are my biggest heroes. They have sacrificed so much for me growing up and I wasn't always very appreciative. As a parent now, I understand the love that they have for me.

6. Florida is my all time favorite vacation destination! Although, I really want to go to the Carribbean.

7. I am deathly (and I mean DEATHLY) afraid of snakes.

8. I am a reality tv addict! Love anything on Bravo or E!

9. I am very OCD about a lot of things, but I am soooo disorganized on everything else. Dishes have to be done a certain way, laundry folded a certain way, toothbrushes in a certain spot, the way I get ready, etc. But I am a clutter bug! I think it could be a mild case of hoarders. I hate to throw away anything! It drives my husband nuts! ;)

10. I am terrified of getting Robert getting out of the Marines. I have no doubt that we will make it, but the "what-if's" make me sick to my stomach. We have had the Marine Corps behind us since we got married. Leaving that and starting over from scratch is hard.

11. I have a major sweet tooth!

April's Questions to Me:

1. Tell me something quirky about you?

- I pick apart my pizza and eat it by each ingredient. Toppings, cheese, crust

2. What would be your ideal concert? (no limits to if they're around or not anymore)

- Anything country! I am going to see Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan tomorrow night!

3. If you could live anywhere for a year where would you live and what makes that place so special?
- I think I would pick Florida. I have so many memories of vacations there, I would love to sit on the beach, read a book, and just relax.

4. What's your guilty pleasure?

- Going to Target by myself, watch reality tv, or indulging in some yummy food!

5. If you HAD to be a doctor, what type of doctor would you be and why?

- When I was little I wanted to be an oncologist. As I got older, I realized just how hard emotionally that would be. Granted, all doctors of some sort are going to have to one day deliver devastating news. I just couldn't do it on a daily basis. I have the highest amount of respect for those who can.

6. If you could be a star in any movie, what movie and who would you be?
- Dirty Dancing, duh! Nobody puts Baby in the corner. :) :)

7. What's your favorite restaurant & what would you recommend there?

- Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is my absolute favorite. I have never had a bad meal and when I do get to go, it is usually for a special occasion. So it means that much more to me.

8. What's your favorite holiday and why?

- Christmas! I LOVE family get togethers, watching the kids open presents, baking yummy food, and just being together.

9. What's your ideal weekend?

- Doing nothing! :) I swear the weekends we lounge at home are the best. With me working full time, I appreciate any time to sit at home and cuddle with my family.

10. What's a hobby you've always wanted to take up?

- Sewing. I have never learned to sew, but have always wanted to learn to do that and embroider cute stuff!

11. What's your favorite store to shop at? (either in store or online)

- Target! I love their stuff! I seriously could walk around in there for hours going down every aisle.

Random

Happy Sunday!

Some of you are lucky to get to enjoy this day off, relaxing at home with your family. Me... not so much.

I am at work dealing with a slab leak... with the boys. Total opposite of a relaxful Sunday.

They have tore up my office, had 20 cups of water, snacks, candy, you name it. I am wore out. So I turned on Netflix and told them both not to move! ;)

Today is Grandparents Day! I am blessed to have a wonderful Granny and Papa. They are my only set of grandparents I have and I couldn't ask for more. :) Luckily, the boys have a wonderful Nana and Papa too who they love very much!

September is has been a busy month! I can't believe it is already the 9th! Robert's birthday is on the 11th. He is turning 29! Hard to believe he was 21 when we started dating. :)

We are going to a concert with one of my best friends on the 22nd! Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan! To say I am excited is a HUGE understatement! I can't wait!!!

We are planning Thompson's 5th birthday party, even though it doesn't seem possible. This is one of those momma moments where I have to set back and take a deep breath. He is growing too fast. Having kids makes the days, weeks, years seem to just fly by. He wants to be big so bad, but I just want to keep him as my little baby boy. Life.

My sister is making a trip out to see us! She will be here the first week of October and I am so excited! I haven't got to spend any time with her over the past year so this trip is much needed!

If you are my friend, promise me that you will never, ever, ever mention last night's Razorback game to me. We are all in a deep mourning of our precious Hogs football season hopes. I still blame Bobby Petrino...

I also plan to do another post of all of my Pinterest finds. I have been cooking some yummy recipes and even ventured to make a craft!

I hope everyone has a great afternoon! We should be out of here soon and on home to relax! :)

Big Kid

Last Monday, Thompson started school. He is doing the Preppy-K program through the school district here on base.

So far, so good.

He had a great time last week and each day came home ready to go back again! They have a behavioral system where at the end of the day if you had a great day, you got to pick out a paper fish! Thompson was so proud of his fish. We were too! We knew that he was making great choices and listening to his teacher.

Well...

On Friday, Robert calls me to give me the rundown of how T's day went, what he ate, who he played with, etc. Before I could even ask, Robert tells me that Thompson did not get a fish. I was furious! What did the child do that caused him to look bad in front of his teacher and classmates?!?!?!

He wouldn't stop talking! (I blame this on my Chatty-Cathy mother. She nor my son has never met a stranger! They will talk to everyone!) He also wouldn't quit messing with the kids. I kind of laughed but then was still upset that he hadn't listened to his teacher.

So after a lengthy conversation of why we listen to our teacher and keep our hands to ourselves, we sent him off for another day of school.

Praying he comes home with a fish. :)