School Shoppin'

I've been so excited to go school shopping for Landon. Back to school stuff has been out for a while, and we always walked through and looked at everything. A month ago we got Landon a backpack at Toys R Us and got a free lunch box, so all we needed was his school supplies. We all started to get bored this afternoon and so we decided to go get his stuff! I was more excited than Landon, and I think Greg was just as excited as me. So off to Target we went!!

We still have a few more things to get. We couldn't find a certain pencil they were asking for, and they were all out of 8count packs of Crayon's. We also need a nap time mat. They had some, but Greg was convinced they were terrible and wants to look for another. I tried to reassure him that the one we saw is what everyone gets. But we are going to check out Walmart. 

It was a lot of fun. The aisles we crammed with kids and their parents getting things, not much room for shopping carts. I am glad we got it done, and it's another thing checked off my long to do list. 

This week is going to be another busy one. Tomorrow I work a little later than usual, and I HAVE to go to the gym when I get off. Tuesday I have a hair appointment after work, Wednesday I am trading shifts so I won't get home from work til late. The rest of the week should be normal, or so I hope. I think we have all of our stuff done around the house. I just have to clean windows and just keep up with the clean house! I am digging this clean house thing!!!

Garage

Once we slowly got out of bed, relaxed on the couch while watching cartoons, ate breakfast, it was time to tackle the garage. We were expecting rain this weekend. It was in the forecast for storms Saturday and Sunday due to the tropical storm. Well, that storm went another direction, so we ended up with zero rain, but a much cooler day, it was only 99 out! 

So about 9am I headed out to the dirty cluttered garage ready to work. I started on one side, sweeping and cleaning with the shop vac, which I LOVE. I started a trash pile, Goodwill pile and recycle pile. Then Greg came out and helped. We had an old fridge that quit working last summer when it was full of food and drinks. I realized it after a few days, since it was just holding drinks and extra stuff, and it was too late. Everything was rotten. I closed it, and didn't open it for a while. Well, that was the dumbest thing I could have ever done. There was a watermelon in there, and it pretty much exploded and it came out the bottom of the fridge. Now that nasty fridge has been sitting since. We haven't opened the doors (I did take everything out) for over a year. So Greg's buddy came over and they took it to the recycling center and got rid of it. Bye bye nasty fridge! haha!!

The above is the right side of the garage. Anything and everything has been tossed over there. Can't you tell?

The above is the left side. Notice the nasty fridge. It doesn' t look too terribly bad. But to the right it's just bags and bags of soil, sand and paver sand. Then to the right is our suit case, ice chests and anything else I quickly set outside. 

I ran to the gas station to get a soda, I need some caffeine and energy to tackle this thing!

I had a great little helper. It was hot in the garage and we were all sweating. He could have cared less!

When Greg and his friend took the fridge Landon and I went and got us lunch and took a break. Shortly after we did a little bit more cleaning the showered and ran some errands. We went to Lowe's to get a cabinet, then to Target for some Allergy medicine for Landon and a new laundry basket. Our last stop was Sam's Club for water, milk and some other odds and ends. When we got home Greg and Landon but the storage thing together and I rested. Once that was done we went back out and finished. 

It looks 100 times better! We added two more rails for tools and stuff, and bought the new shelf cabinet thing. We got all kinds of stuff in there. I sorted through all our garden stuff and have it in the shelves to the far right. Everything has been swept and cleaned off. I also cleaned around the front door, the steps and chopped the rose bush back down. I am sure it will be right back up again, but it looks so much better out front again. (Now if we could only get some rain so the grass would grow!) On the right side there are a few totes that have uniforms in them that are going to Greg's brother, so that will be less on that side. I think it looks so nice. Now we can get both cars in there no problem! It felt good to finally tackle the huge mess we have created. I don't know why we let it get like that. I am kinda embarrassed about it. 

My poor hands and legs are sore. I am ready for bed! It's time to get the boy in the bath. Happy Saturday!

3 Weeks

Yesterday I was almost in tears as I filled out Landon's with drawl notice for the CDC. Usually they require a two week notice, I gave three. I remembered to do it, so I did. I tend to forget to do things. Especially having to do with stuff like that. I always forget to pay for daycare. I work at the place for crying out loud! haha. Anyways. It is so bittersweet for me. He's always been with me when I am at work. Always down the hall, a few rooms away. It is going to be so hard to not have him there with me. Landon has loved every minute of going to 'school' at the CDC. (Child Development Center) Shoot, this time last year he cried when I would take him home! He's been in great hands, has learned tons and made lots of friends. I'm sure he is going to enjoy his last three weeks. I don't want to think about it too much because it's bringing tears to my eyes again.

Since I am pulling Landon out of the CDC, I need before and after care for Pre-k. Pre-k is 830am-230pm. I would technically only need care in the morning, taking him to school, but we have him signed up for both since my hours at work can change at any time. He has a slot at his new place. I think I am going to like it. I think Landon is going to like it. I feel like I've been all around town getting everything ready. I filled out lots of paperwork and had to get him cleared by his doctor, so I was pretty much running all around getting it all taken care of. But it's done now, and we are good to go! (I am a nervous wreck!)

We have lots of things to do this weekend. Our main thing is to tackle the garage and after that the yards. Once those things get done I think we can contact our Realtor. I am so nervous about all of this too. I hate not knowing. We do know what Greg wants to do and is putting in for, that is Contracting. He got his letter of recommendation today and is very happy about it. If all goes to what we've been hearing, he may be in Tech School in November. It's still up in the air where we will be going. Most likely back here, but, they could always send us some where else. Greg had to fill our his dream sheets for stateside and oversea's listings with his packet. That's always fun to do, but, half the time you don't get them. 

SO, that's what we've been up to lately. I am glad it's the weekend, I am beyond tired! Goodnight. 

It's HOT

Oh my. It sure is hot here. We are on day 47 of 100+ degrees. It was only 105 today, tomorrow it will be 106, then 105 Thursday, don't worry, it's going to cool off to 100 on Saturday. Whew. We still haven't gotten any rain. We are in dire need of rain. The lakes are drying up, any kinds of ponds or stream have been dried up. It's pretty scary to tell you the truth. Thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. I feel bad complaining about it. I think of all the poor men and women who are deployed who are in 110 degree weather, with a uniform on, battle gear, helmets and carrying a gun....

SO, on a happier note. We've been pretty busy around here. I've been tackling all the closets, cabinets and drawers around the house. I have a huge pile for a yard sale, and we took a few big bags of things over to the Goodwill. We still have some piles to take care of in our room, mainly uniforms and stuff. Our next big thing to tackle is the garage. Things seem to be getting moved from in here, to out there! haha! I've straightened most of our kitchen cabinets, cleaned the microwave and fridge (I didn't realize how much stuff we had on the fridge, holy cow!). Our front bathroom and bedroom are done. I just need to clean the front window, I will wait and do all those at the same time. 

That is our room when I did our closet last week! It looked like our closet exploded BDU's!

That is the spare bedroom closet. We could barely open the door, things were falling out. The brown boxes on the left are packed with DVD's. The top shelf is photos, photo albums, scrapbooks and books. Then to the right is my gift wrapping stuff (You can't see it), and the drawer bin is my scrap booking stuff. It's nice to be able to walk in there, to know exactly what is in there and be able to get to it!

We are hoping to get the rest of the house done by the weekend or by the first of August. We want to call our Realtor possibly next week to see what we need to do, what we need to list it at, and how much $ we are going to need for everything. 

Greg is still waiting to apply for his positions. He has been going for interviews, doing interning in Safety and exploring all his options. He's gotten some great info from higher ups and people he has been interviewing with, so that is good. The way it is sounding is that Greg will have Tech school soon, then we could possibly be here for a year after that? Then get orders? If we don't get orders from some where else while he is in Tech school. It's still all up in the air. We just have to make sure we are prepared for whatever is thrown at us!

Anyone have any tips or pointers for us? This possible house selling stuff is stressful!!

Blooming Pizza Bread

My friend Aften got me hooked to a blog, it's

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

She made a blooming pizza bread and shared the recipe and I had to try it. I wished I would have done it sooner, because it was Ah-maaa-zing! I had a special helper tonight....

That is the before. You take a loaf of sourdough bread and slice it. Then stick pieces of mozzarella and pepperoni slices in between. Then you melt butter and mix Italian seasoning and garlic powder with it and drizzle it over the bread. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then uncover and cook another 10 minutes. Serve with marinara sauce. 

Landon enjoyed helping me, and he enjoyed the picture of the lady on the blog saying, "Ohh she is pretty mommy!" haha...

I probably should have stuck more cheese and pepperoni in it, but it was good just like it was. I was SO easy, and tasted SO good...

I know mine doesn't look as pretty as her's, but I thought it didn't turn out too bad for my first time. So much for running 2.5 miles today! haha!

Go check out this blog for more yummy recipes.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

Closets

I think some one may need to call Hoarders on us! I am kidding. I have been cleaning closets since Monday afternoon. I started in the spare bedroom closet. I think I threw anything and everything in there. We had paperwork in three different spots, Greg's Air Force stuff everywhere, about 4 huge boxes of DVD's, photos and photo albums. My oh my. I took me Mon-Wed to tackle it. I bought a file cabinet and sorted alllll our paper work out and filed it away. We went through all of Greg stuff and filed it too, we actually got rid of a good stack of papers and things. I have a huge Garage sale pile as well. 

So this week has been busy and I've been stuck inside a closet most of my afternoons. This handsome little boy has been a big help! He really enjoyed throwing stuff in a junk box. He was tossing everything in there, wait till I get to his closet!

Tonight I started on our walk in closet. Oh my. I think it's going to take me a few days to tackle as well. Our room looks like the closet exploded in to it. I don't know if it's the same for all military, but does it seem like they have a ton of stuff?

We could open a uniform supply shop it seems like!

But luckliy Greg's been pretty go about going through it all and getting rid of somethings....

I wonder how we are going to sleep tonight? Or stumble to the bathroom when the alarm goes off at 5 am?

We still aren't sure what is going to happen with the whole cross train thing. Greg is exploring his options. We've got some pretty good info from people. It seems like the Tech schools he would go to are going to be in San Antonio, which is a good thing. And most likely if there is a slot at Dyess, we will get orders back. But you never know. So we are going to continue to get the house ready to put on the market, and just keep our fingers crossed. My thing is, if we stay here, I want to stay in my house. But we shall see. 

I guess I'd better go make a path through our bedroom and clear off the bed. Anyone wanna help me clean closets? 

Let's go fly a kite!

Who likes to fly kites? Greg and Landon do!

On Sunday at Oma's house Greg and Landon ventured out on the property to fly a kite. The sky was blue, a few clouds scattered around and slight breeze. It was a mere 100 plus outside, perfect kite flying conditions right? 

The dead grass, weeds and bushes crunched below their feet as they ran trying to get the kite to catch some of the breeze in the sky. 

Luckily a breeze came through and caught the kite and it went up! Greg had it all the way out and had it flying high. We sat in the shade and watched and munched on a ice cold Popsicle's, while poor Greg stood in the unforgiving sun...

They eventually had enough. Beads of sweat dripped along their rosy red sun kissed cheeks.... 

Kite flying for the boys was a success. Tina and I got some good laughs out of it, watching Greg prance around on the property trying to get the kite up. Landon was tickled when it was all the way up, and was even more tickled when it came crashing back down to the ground.... Maybe next time we will be on a beach flying a kite, that sure does sound nice. 

Happy Birthday Martin

Yesterday we got to help celebrate Martin's 4th birthday!

We drove to Oma's house Friday night. Saturday we got up and headed out. Leave it to me, about 45 minutes in to our drive to Oma's I realized I'd left Martin's gifts at home on the bed. Dang it. SO, we headed out early to stop by Toys R Us to get a gift. We went there then to Target really quick then stopped for lunch at Chuy's. I am in love with that place. I love their food, and I've said this time and time again, I could drink their salsa it is so good! After that we stopped at the Round Rock outlet mall and went to Gap. They were having a great sale and we picked up a bunch of stuff. 

Landon enjoyed the outdoor water thing and tossed a bunch of coins in. It was already hot as can be out, and the little splashes of water felt good.

I would have loved to go shopping and check out all the stores, but we just didn't have time. Oh well. Saved me some money I guess right?

We then pressed on to Killeen to Sam and Katie's house. Martin had a Car's 2 themed party, and it all looked SO cute. 

The cake was adorable. I loved it. 

Some of their friends showed up, us and Oma, and then Alex, Jen and Ava came. Landon was waiting for Ava, and when they pulled up, the boys took off to the door.

(It was so funny, Martin was SO excited, but wouldn't hug Ava.)

We sang Happy Birthday and ate cake...

Then Martin opened his presents. 

We got Martin a Captain America Mask and shield, and everyone had the mask on. It was funny.

After that we had a scavenger hunt out back and did the pinata. 

Martin was so excited about his presents, we opened them all and tried everything out. 

It was nice to let the kids play and to visit. We haven't all been together for a while, so it was nice. We headed back to Oma's house about 830pm. Landon was asleep about 10 minutes in to the ride. He slept like a log last night and is full of energy today.

I have a bunch more pictures, I'll do a post with more pictures tomorrow. Right now we are all still in our pajamas's relaxing. We had breakfast, played outside before it got too hot, fed the deer and birds, played on the tractor, picked some tomatoes and filled up the animals water bin. Time for lunch and more relaxing before we head home!