Happy Birthday Marines!

                                   Happy Birthday to all Marines, past and present! Semper Fi!!!

                                         

Busier than a bee?!?

17 days left until we can start moving into our new house. I say "start" because I have my doubts that we will move completely out and in within one day. One day because my husband has to be into work the following day. No time off from training to move and no leave given for a PCA. 

My plan: get a majority/all of the "oh my gawd my back is breaking" heavy stuff loaded up on Saturday and haul it over and unload Sunday. 

While this may seem weird to not just move it ALL at once, the kiddos and I are going to still be at our current home for a little while longer. I'll need to go through the house and make sure everything on the list/lists (yes, I keep finding more that needs to be done and piling up stacks of paper with lists on them to make our house rental ready) has been completed, get all of the utilities turned off, have a cleaning service come through, and tie up any other loose ends that Murphy might like to throw my way at the last minute... 

I don't want to move, but I want to be closer to my husband, and we NEED more room!! I started packing last week... Our house started looking so empty, now it looks like a cardboard factory blew up, tied in with children's toys and random crap that needs to be gone through! 

I received estimates on our back patio extension (this will be done next week) and repainting our man-child's 1 red & 1 blue "Star Wars" walls, our small hallway, baseboards in the dining & living room, and the chair rail in the master... $650!!! WITH us providing the paint!!! WTF?!? Again, our house is not huge, so that price for doing nothing but taping off areas and rolling on some paint (not even primer) was a shocker to me! Looks like we'll be throwing our painting clothes on soon and sending the kids to the neighbors! :-/

Fence/Gate guy came out on Tuesday, was told I would have an estimate that night, it is now Thursday, and 1 voicemail and an email later, no response. A. I'm hoping nothing bad happened. B. If nothing bad happened why the hell have I not received any word? Obviously you do not want our business and are wasting what little damn time I have, next!

Between packing and preparing the house I find myself trying to remember the last diaper change time, the last snack, how long did he nap for, oh CRAP, the man-child needs to be picked up from school!!! This is while the husband is waking at 0400 to drive to work at 0500 or going in at 2000 to 0200 (with an hour drive to and from).

I write things down to remember, only to turn around looking for what I wrote and finding it under a pile of things getting packed or tossed out... Baby decides he's going to freak out because he's bored of watching me run around and wants to help (by tearing into everything) or be held WHILE I do everything.... Eeemmmm no. So he starts crying and as entertainment to myself I start imitating him and he starts laughing at me until I stop then he starts crying again... Really?!? Go play with your football dude. 

The man-child has been a big help about 92% of the time... The other 8% is the fact that he's grown tired of it all and is bored, needs a nap, or needs food... He is responsible for his room and has decided to pack up a large majority of his toys this week... I think that has a lot to do with the above ground pool we got for him and his friends to enjoy. 

While the point of the pool is to use it as a distraction/decoy to get them to stay outside so I can pack up more, check things off the list and continue feeling like I need to get the hell out of this chaotic moving mess and the children mess/living mess that still requires tending all while being slowly buried alive in bins and boxes! 

The organization I did have of everything has slowly become a can of silly string let loose... Somehow this will all fall in line together, right?!? If not I may have to hit up Hot Topic for a straightjacket and ask directions to the nearest ROUNDED padded room because boxed shaped anything will have become my conscience nightmare.... 

Something I MUST remember.... DO NOT wear flip flops while moving anything!!! Every damn time I do wear them when moving I drop something, trip, slip, get my feet and toes cut up, banged up and smashed! It never fails.... My husband looked at my legs the other day, when I decided to wear shorts since we were going out, he couldn't believe the amount of bruises on my legs. Some I know were caused by Baby B getting under my feet and rather than dropping a 50lbs+ bin on him I found ways to swing it around while landing in ways I'm sure would hurt more if not for the adrenalin rush of almost crushing the Baby. Who if course has now taken off laughing and looking back smiling with a look of "tag you're it, come and chase me now!" Yes, many bruises from that little monster as well as... Well, crud, I don't know. Everyone gets injured in different ways while moving right?!? Some just more than others... Especially someone who seems to have Murphy making my body his own puppet during moves... If I walk away from this with only minor cuts and bruises I will be lucky! If I actually WALK away without screwing up my already f'd up back I will be ecstatic!!! 

Giveaway: Personalized Wooden Blocks by Ta-Daa Decorations! TWO Winners!

Say hello to my newest Sponsor, "Ta-Daa Decorations By Bahar!! She makes beautiful personalized wooden blocks, signs, monogrammed letters and tons of crochet items! Such an awesome variety to choose from and each item she makes is is made special for you with tons of love!!

"Ta-Daa Decorations By Bahar is giving TWO of my wonderful friends the chance to win their choice of Personalized Family Blocks or Worded Blocks. Both with up to 5 five blocks to be made in winners choice of colors!!   

Please stop by and view her Facebook Page HERE to see more of her beautiful items!

Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win! 

(Some you can enter daily for a greater chance of winning!)  

All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

Open to US and APO/FPO only.

Good Luck! 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

All Gave Some but Some Gave ALL

Memorial Day is a National Holiday dedicated to remember those that gave their lives selflessly to protect millions of American's they had never met. To allow us and future generations enjoy the freedoms that we are lucky to have.

A couple of years ago we were Honored to be in the presence of many of these Heroes on this day. Arlington National Cememtery is a sombering reminder of the sacrifices so many have made/will continue to make to give hope and a protection to our country. While many enjoy the day off with BBQ's, pool side, beach trips and travels, I find this to be a way that we also celebrate those that gave us the opportunity to be here. 

They have given their lives so we as a Nation can live our own knowing and appreciating the moments that we have together. While this is just one day out of the year, our Heroes sacrifices are lived through us all daily. The birth of a child in a Nation of freedom and unity, the right to fall in love and marry who we please, the moments we wake without the fear of losing our lives or our loved ones when we step out the door, our right to vote and so much more.... Our lives and happiness are because of these amazing men and women that have and continue to allow us to live them without fear of others taking away the wonderful freedoms we do have. 

I am grateful every day of my life, of my children's lives for the sacrifices these men, women and families have made. Thank you to all of our Military Members and families that have lost their loved ones so that we all may enjoy the time we have with our own. God Bless and Semper Fi! 

Giveaway & Review: Datevitations!!!! AND $10 off promo code to get your own!

I love giving my husband gifts that are personalized from for just him from me or the kiddos. While I could have gone in the direction of creating his Datevitation coupon book geared from the boys for Father's Day ( they can be made for any occasion from anyone), I chose to make it from me to him!

He's due to deploy later this year, so with that in mind I created a book that entailed coupons "just for us." From little getaways and date nights to some bedroom fun ones! Because let's face it, we have A LOT of bedroom/wherever in the house time to fill before he leaves and why not do so with some fun Datevitations to play around with too?!?

I had fun picking out his custom love coupons that went into his Datevitation Book. Chose a blank first page to handwrite my own little note on and was even able to customize my own words on them! Though a couple that I chose already had a perfect idea written out!

  

• Datevitation.com is the web's first online platform to create a custom love coupon book. Unlike the pre-packaged love coupon books on the market, you pick the dates and can customize the text to your liking.  Once you are done customizing the text in your book, Datevitation will print it out and ship it to you.
• Our library contains over 350 date ideas ranging from skydiving to stargazing to steamy adult-only activities. We also have over 100 book cover options to suit any occasion.
• In addition to being the perfect romantic gift for your sweetie, Datevitation just launched its "boy" and "girl" characters with over 200 new activity illustrations specifically for kids and parents.  Just in time for Father’s Day!

• Books normally start at just $20 so it makes for a thoughtful yet economical gift.  But as a special treat for my friends, you can use the code  ‘MARINEWIFE’  for $10 off your purchase in May or June.  That means you can get your loved one a one-of-a-kind gift for Father’s day starting at just $10!  The order cut-off date for guaranteed delivery by Father’s Day is June 6 so make sure to get your order in before then!
• Datevitation is a family business run by the husband-wife team of Alex and Olga Karpman.  You can get to know them on the Datevitation blog, where they offer video guides to date ideas and romantic gestures. You can even watch Alex propose to Olga in a video they posted on Youtube as a Save The Date, and now has over 1,000,000 views (you can view the video here)!   
  

  

  
  

  Follow the Rafflecopter entry below and enter all of the entries for a better chance to win! 

  (Some you can enter daily for a better chance to win!)  

  All entries will be verified at the end of the giveaway.

  
  

  Good Luck!

  
  

  ***Winner will receive a promo code for a free Datevitation gift book with 5 custom pages and free general shipping. Additional pages are $1 each.  Tax will be applied to books shipped to California. 

  Books ship to U.S. only. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway