Ikea owns my heart!

Life has been going here. I feel like this blog has taken a big backseat since we moved here.  I feel bad for this, but I've found myself. I craft now, a lot. I love making things and I love that people love my things! I have orders come in weekly for something or other. I'm finding my niche and creating things that I love.

I've also found that being in a home that you like makes you want to make it better. For the first time, we have curtains in our living room! It's wonderful! Not only do they provide the much needed glare protection off the TV, but it looks amazing! We have three huge windows in the living room and beautiful beige floor to ceiling curtains! Thank you IKEA!

I've also been getting more and more done in Little's room. He loves it and so do I. It's the little kid room I always hoped to make for my child. It has a theme that isn't common, and it's all matching and amazing! We just made him a reading spot in bed since he's so interested in reading so much now. With a little help from IKEA's picture frame shelf and an amazing lamp that screws into the wall(with a push button and cover over the bulb!) he has the perfect spot for bedtime reading!(and no more getting out of bed to turn the big light on and off!)

I have a few more projects I want to do before my parents come to visit in a few weeks! It's been 4 years since they've been over here and they've never seen this house! SOOOOO excited.

I hope everyone out there in the bloggy world is doing great!

Valentines Day!

I love Valentines day. I always have. When we were little our Dad would always play cupid. We would wake up in the morning to find something just for us from cupid. He always made it special for us and I remember the beautiful things he always got for me and my sister and how to always out did himself getting for our Mother.  It's one of my best childhood memories. I've tried to keep this alive(even though I have a boy).  The house is always decorated and he wakes up to something from cupid every year. We also always do our pink heart pancake dinner!

This year I've been making most of the decorations for the house, and I'm loving it!

Little's Valentines day cards for his class!

Banner I made from a book that was headed to the trash(Nicolas Sparks to be exact! Something spilled on it and I hated that it was wasted!)

Ribbon wreath! I love having these(hate making them though!). I want one for every holiday!

Birthday Week!

Here in our house, we do 'Birthday Week!'. We mostly do this so Landon isn't over whelmed with Birthday stuff right on his birthday. He always has gifts sent to him from our family and I feel he appreciates the gifts he gets from them a little more when that is the only gift he gets that day. He plays with it and calls to thank whoever got it for him. I don't know if I would do this is we had more kids, but it sure is fun doing it now!

The Navy life is never as you want it to be. You don't get to pick when they are gone or home and date ALWAYS change. J was all set to be home for Little's birthday. He was going to be home the day before! Then something happened and they came home early. They said they weren't going to leave till their next set time, then it changed, and changed again.....he was going to leave a few days before Little's Birthday. I was crushed. It was going to be the first Birthday he had missed. I think I would have been fine with it if I had known the whole time....but it kept changing. I was sad.

So Birthday week started with Daddy home. We went to Rainforest Cafe for our big dinner the first night since J was leaving. We had a blast as usual and L got the cutest little elephant to add to his many others.

Then J didn't leave.

We had more Birthday fun over the weekend! Lunch, movies and tons of at home family fun(with a gift from family opened each night). Then on Sunday night we surprised L with his favorite cake, candles and a loud edition of 'Happy Birthday'. Monday morning we got up early, got DD and took Daddy to the boat to leave. At 8PM we got a call to come bring him dinner! They didn't leave again! Haha. The next day or so, them leaving was called off. He WAS going to be home for everything! Hahaha. Gotta love the Navy!

So J got to spend the rest of the week with us and Thank goodness, got to help with the party!

Little woke up on his birthday to Balloons covering his floor and streamers blocking him in his room. He loved it! Later that day, J got out of work early and was able to take cupcakes to Little's class with me. L was sooo excited that his Dad was there and even more excited when he got to stay and help out in the class for the rest of the day!

The week ended with the Birthday party. It was a long week, but I'm sure it's the things like this that Little will always remember(or I hope he does!)

Mad Science Birthday Party!

This past weekend, Little had his 7th Birthday Party! It was a HUGE hit!

When the kids arrived, they were stopped at the check-in table. There they got funny Dr. names, a name badge and a goodie bag with glasses and a mustache. Then they headed into the main room and did sticker sheets while everyone else arrived. (the check-in table was so much fun. The kids got really into the names they were given and the glasses and mustaches were great!)

(all of the decorations!)

I made keep out & disaster area door signs and we had eye balls hanging in all of the doors.

After everyone was there and settled, we got ready for the science experiments! First we did 'Instant Snow'. The kids got a kick out of the growing snow and I highly recommend having large plates they can dump it on to play with it! Haha. Those plates saved me! Next we did SLIME! We let the kids mix the slime and shake it. It was so fun to watch what kids were in to it and what ones thought it was gross.

(Little with his experiments)

Next, we ate! I froze candy brains & eye balls into ice cubes and we served them with sprite and water. We also had jello petri-dishes with worms and pizza(brain-bit pizza, eye ball pizza and penicillin pizza). Little wanted lime cupcakes with lemon frosting this year! What a combo!

(Food)

After lunch we did cake and ice cream.(and a few family pictures)

(I love his get-up for the party!)

When ate was done and the party was winding down, the kids got in a line and I filled their goodie-bags. We had test tube candy, bags of blood, petri-dish lolli-pops, Radioactive Rods(glow sticks), gummy eyes, brains and other body parts, sticky eye balls and other little trinkets. They also got to keep their slime(if the parents okay'd it!)

(Table of goodies!)

It was a really great party and I'm so glad everyone had a great time! Little is so blessed with so many amazing friends here. It's going to be hard when a lot of them move away this next year.

Snowed in....

And LOVING it!

We are snowed in! I kept little home from school on Friday due to our driveway being a skating rink. We had the best day at home together! We watched movies, ate popcorn and even did some super fun crafts together!(having the crafts room settled is AMAZING!). We ended the night with our signature dinner for the first snow of the year, Cocoa & Toast!

Today we got dumped on with tons of snow! It was coming down from the time we woke up until late in the afternoon. Just now, we went out and shoveled the whole driveway!(Little played, I shoveled). It's dark and it was quiet out there. It was perfect! While I was out there, my new neighbor Ami saw me shoveling and knew that the hubs wasn't home, so she came out and helped me! It was soooo nice of her! Her hubby wasn't home tonight either so in no way did she need to help me with my monster of a driveway on top of doing her little one! But she did. And let me say, it goes a lot faster with two!

Now we are back in the toasty house, getting ready for some movies and dinner. As much as trying to go anywhere in the snow sucks, it's great for bonding time!

Stay safe in the snow everyone!

Crafting!

If you're my friend in real life(or just on FB) then you are sick of my posting pictures. Haha. I've been crafting sooo much the past few weeks it's been crazy!

I've opened a FB page and an etsy shop! They have the same things on them, but the FB page has pictures as I'm working on things, I ask for input and ideas and sometimes I'm going to give special offers to my FB fans!

Right now, I'm loving all things Submarine! I've made so many things with subs tonight it's crazy!

This picture is just one of them!

I can do the same kind of thing with planes, tanks, helicopters, hummers you name it! If you want one, just let me know on one of my pages and I will make it up for you!

To do:

My to Do list for the week:

*Make the wrappers & toppers for Little's Birthday cupcakes
*Make a Valentines banner.
*Make Little's Valentines to give to his class.
*CLEAN the kitchen and put everything in its spot!
*Cook dinner every night.
*Read scriptures and go to church.

I feel like I've been getting a ton done lately....but it's not what I should be getting done. Hahaha. Maybe if I make this list and I have to look at it, it will force me to get stuff done!

Mad Science Birthday Party(Sneak Peek!)

Little is turning 7! Eeekkkk!

His Birthday Party is going to be a blast this year! I've put so much work into making(yes making! The invites took forever to get done!) all of the paper goods and I'm so excited for it all to come together!

You can buy the party stuff at my shop on etsy! To take a look go HERE!

Show us Your life - Military Families

I love reading Kelly's Korner and Have been reading it for years! I love the "Show us your life" posts and find some really great/amazing stories/ideas from them! If you want to join in this week....go HERE and join in!

This week, she's having Military bloggers link up! That's me!

For those who've been reading for a while you can skip this post. For those that are new, here is a little about my life and Navy Journey.

My name is Kim. I'm from Washington State and miss it sooo very much. I started dating a boy at 14 and was lucky enough to marry him at 18! Yikes! After we had been married a little(tiny) bit and had an amazing little baby boy, my husband threw the idea of joining the Navy into the mix of things. I was all for it!

A few months later he left for boot camp. Then later got stuck at boot camp for surgery. It was the hardest 6 months of my life. But, I did it! After that we moved to South Carolina for part of his schooling...then on to New York to finish it. 

 These pictures are from boot camp graduation.

Our first real orders were to Connecticut where my husband was stationed to one of the Submarines.

We've done 2 1/2 deployments and MANY underways.

(Deployment #1)

(Deployment #2)

I'm also that crazy wife that goes to every port I can(I've been to Bahrain, Drove to Florida, Georgia and Annapolis).

It's hard, but it also keeps our marriage fresh. He's gone so much that we always take every second we are together and make the most of it.

2012

Here is my list from last year of what I wanted to do and the one for this year!

2011
(Things I want to do this year!)

1. Go on a big family vacation Went to Mexico!
2. pay off my car Yep!
3. Cook dinner more often and try new things Yep!!
4. Get even more involved with Landon's school Kinda. His teacher didn't want volunteers till now.
5. Get even more involved with Church. not really....
6. Read 75 books....? (50 for sure!) I know I hat 50 but I don't know the exact number.
7. Strive to be the best mom/wife I can be Yep!
8. Do something that makes me happy (join a gym, cooking classes...ect) Yep!
9. Learn how to drive J's car!! No, but I will this year!
10. Learn something new and/or meet new people. Yep! I learn how to use my Cricut!

2012
The things I want to do this year!)

1. Get more involved in Church
2. Read the WHOLE book of Mormon!
3. Learn to sew!
4. Learn how to drive J's car!
5. Get more involved with the boat.
6. Get rid of stuff that we don't use!
7. Go on another family vacation.
8. Read more! 50 books at least!
9. Be more involved with Little's school.
10. Have the best summer EVER with Little!

One year older!

Yesterday was my birthday. It was as perfect as birthdays can get. The hubs had duty the night before so he came home early and jumped on the bed singing "Happy Birthday" as loud as he could until I was awake. Haha. As soon as I spoke, he pushed my gifts into my hands.(I think he was a little excited to give them to me!). He got me the most beautiful diamond earrings! I was shocked! I've been asking here and there for them but never expected him to get them for me! Especially this close after the holidays! I'm such a lucky girl!

After a few more minutes of sleep, we got up and got ready for church. The best thing I could have been give was fast and testimony meeting on my birthday. It's always my favorite week of the month and I always learn so much from the people who get up there and bare their hearts for all to hear.

After church we had breakfast for lunch(my favorite!).

It's crazy thinking that I'm one year older.....one more year being a mom and a wife, one more year that J and I have been together and one more year that I've been away from home. This past year was a good one. My husband was home more than he's even been home and it was so nice! This year is going to be a little more challenging. He's going to be gone quite a bit more than we are used to and I'm not looking forward to it. BUT I know we don't have much more time before we are on shore!

Along with my birthday, I have new years! I will post soon with what I hope to do this year along with what I did last year off my list!

Order(s) Up!

In 8 weeks our sea term will be up. We've know this was coming for quite some time as I'm sure most everyone else has a countdown to shore, we just knew it was there.

A few weeks ago we were given options....

*Stay here on the boat. Do another Deployment and reenlist. Possibly do dry-dock in NH after for 1-2 more years.
*Guam. Go on the tender for 2 years then go to SC for proto-type for a few more years. Proto-type is the last thing on my list. I would rather be at a sea going command. Guam would be AMAZING though.
*Or home to Washington for shore. While this sounds like a sure thing, I don't know if I'm ready to go back yet since I know that when we do, we won't want to leave.

After a bit of talking, we are staying here for the deployment. Everyone keeps telling me I'm crazy for doing another one by choice...but here are my reasons.

*Reenlisting while deployed has a chance of getting us more money. Lots more. It's the difference between getting to buy a house and not.
*I LOVE our house we have right now. I don't know if we could get a single family home with a fenced in yard that is only 5 min from J's work in our next place.
*The job J really wants won't be available to him for another year due to him having to have a certain watch first.
*Doing dry-dock in NH would be a way to keep all of the sea duty money but have it be like a shore-duty. He wouldn't be going anywhere for a long while.(and I want to live up North!)

So here we will stay. I'm not ready to leave the East Coast yet and I don't want to leave NYC and Boston before I've seen EVERYTHING!

It just still stings a little knowing that we signed up for another Deployment and missed Holidays by choice.

Back again!

So many things have been going on and I feel like I never have time to get on here and talk about it. I always promise I will be better and most of the time I am for a short bit, then it's back to nothing. 

Here is whats been going on in the R household:

I've been crafting and getting ready for Little's Birthday next month! So excited!
We've been going to church and trying to get back to where WE want to be with God.
We've been spending a lot of time with just our little family.
After much talk, we've decided to extend Sea Duty and volunteer for ANOTHER deployment. This will be a post in it's own.....but it's sad to think our choices were Guam, back home to Washington(both Shore Duty), back to SC for prototype or stay here for 2 more years......I understand why WE chose what we did, but it doesn't exactly make it easy to stomach.

Christmas was wonderful, the best I've ever had. Little got everything he ever wanted and J went way over what he needed for me. We did a few great things leading up to it, but for the most part we stayed in and spent time together and relaxed. I will update soon with posts on all of the bigs things..

For now, I leave you with THIS link to the FB page I started for the crafts I've been making!

Ribbon Wreath

Have you heard of ribbon wreaths? I never had! Someone from our boat was showing people how to make them and now I'm in love and want one for every season!

What you need

Ribbon!(at least 2 different ones. Works best of they are the same size)

Wreath ring/form

Directions

Tie a bow around the ring to get the size you want then measure it and cut all of your pieces.

Tie bows switching back and forth with the colors until you can't do anymore!

You're done!

The finished product!

I'm sure you could hang it on the door, but I love the way it looks on my table!

Very Hungry Caterpillar tree!

Little really wanted a new tree for his room this year(since his last year was only about 8 inches tall!). So, while we were out shopping he say this 18in blue tree! He fell in love with it! I got this idea that I could make it match his room theme if I got the right colored ornaments, so we did! His blue tree is all decked out with red and green! I even added an ornament we had sitting on his shelf for the top! I love ow it turned out! I'm in the process of having clay Hungry Caterpillar ornaments made specially for it!

Do you have theme trees in your house?