Had a Ball

The family had a pretty awesome weekend. There was a BBQ on Friday, Saturday was the Military Police Ball, and Sunday was just a nice relaxing day for everyone.

The BBQ on Friday was nice. One of Hubster's classmates hosted, and a good chunk of the class showed up. The girls were the only children there, but they were entertained the entire time. They played with the dog, tag, and beer pong. Worry not! They were just throwing the balls! 

Speaking of balls, Hubster and I had a really great time at the ball on Saturday. Normally I'm not a huge fan of those sort of events, because they tend to be a little boring, but this one was actually fun. We went with a small group of our good friends, but hung out with the rest of of class there. People were wild! Not quite in a bad way, but close!

One guy brought vodka soaked gummies, and we were lucky enough to be sitting at his table. The bowl of goodness just kept making it's way around the table, until it was empty. Those little bears were good!

I think part of the reason that we had a better time at this ball than we have had at any others is that we had great company. In the past we've gone with friends, but they haven't been as close of friends as the ones we went with this. Oh. And one of those close friends was a Marine. I had no idea that they had different dress uniforms! Apparently it's not only the dessert and woodland uniforms that change with Daylight Savings Time.

Some people had a little more to drink than others, but Sunday was still a great day! I worked on a custom care package that I'll be sending out today. Today's Military Monday over at Eights on the Move, is featuring my little shop! Thanks Ashley!!

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It's Award Season

Is it award season? I really don't know. I mostly hate award shows. My favorites never win. When it comes to blog awards though, three of my favorites were nominated, and have nominated me. Yay!

The first award is the Squirrely Blogger Award, from Lanaya at Raising Reagan. I have no idea what the hell that means, but I suppose it's a good thing? Do I resemble a rabid animal with nuts in my mouth. Bahaha! For this award I get to let you guys in on seven quirky facts about myself and nominate a few other bloggers for the award.

1. I don't like odd numbers. Everything has to have a pair.
2. I cut my own hair. I have a way to layer it perfectly, and don't trust anyone else to do it to my standards.
3. Mustaches creep me out. Thank you military grooming standards!
4. I prefer to drive barefoot. Actually, I prefer to do most things barefoot. I blame my dad.
5. I'm a big judgmental B. I always feel bad afterwards when people are nothing like what I though.
6. I could live on boneless BBQ wings and bleu cheese. OMG! YUM!
7. I don't mind watching the Barney theme song all day if it means that the girls will act right.

Nominees:
Kelsey at Pardon My French
Jenn at Life with the Lieutenant

My second award is the Sunshine Award, from Jen at The Adventures of Our Army Life AND Nicole at Adventures of a Semper Fi Family. Funny that they have similar but opposite-ish names, right?

The Rules Are:

1. Include the award logo in your post.
2. Link to the person who nominated you.
3. Answer 10 questions about yourself.
4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award.

Jen's questions for me were:
1. What is your biggest fear? One of my biggest fears is that something will happen to me, and my girls won't have me around as they're growing up.
2. Are you a night owl or an early bird? Most definitely a night owl! I hate having to wake up early in the mornings.
3. If you could change one thing from your past what would it be? Probably doing better in college, and being more involved. I didn't have bad grades, but they weren't great either. I did the sorority thing, but I wish I would have done more outside of that.
4. Do you have any pets, if so what kind? My big ole baby Caesar. He's a pit/lab mix.
5. Did you do everything you wanted to do this summer? Not everything, but we did get a bunch of the items on my Bucket List knocked off.
6. What is your favorite song? I can't help but dance in the car every time Blurred Lines comes on. Come on guys, Robin Thicke is hot.
7. If you were on a deserted island what 3 things would you take with you? Cell phone and charger (it counts as one), some sunscreen, and my hubby to find us food and build shelter. LOL
8. Would you rather cook or go out to eat? Because I'm totally cheap, I always choose cooking. I'd much rather have someone cooking for me for free thought.
9. What is your dream car? Is it totally insane that I hope to own a Bentley GT Continental one day? We'd only have to sell our house to be able to afford it.
10. If you could have any job in the world what would it be? I wish I could have my college job back. I worked at Armani doing the visual stuff in the store. Dressing mannequins, putting vinyls on the windows, placing items on the shelves. It was seriously such a fun job. Basically I got to make things pretty all day.

And here are Nicole's questions:
1. What is the most recent thing you bought for yourself (food doesn't count)? Share a pic. I've done so much shopping lately! My dress for the military ball, which I'm not revealing yet, but yesterday a package came from Target. I got an EOS ball. I'm obsessed with them, and trying to grow my rainbow.

2. If you could hop a plane this weekend and go anywhere in the US, where would you go? Why? Seriously, Hawaii! LOL I am SO ready to be there already! This next month can't go by quickly enough!
3. Who is the first person you call when you have good news? Depends on what it is.. It varies from Hubster, to sister, to mom.
4. What is your least favorite blog topic to read? No one hate me please. I really don't like reviews or sponsored guest posts. I realize I do them from time to time, but lately I've only been accepting things that I'm really really interested in, or really apply to my life and the life of my readers. I have one post coming up in a few weeks that I'm super excited about.
5. What is your favorite blog topic to read? I really like reading informative posts relating to military life, and kid stuff.
6. What is the 10th picture on your phone (or computer)? We want to see it! I just recently deleted all of the photos on my phone to make new ones, so this is pretty recent.

7. What is one thing you do to spoil yourself? Does taking a shower count? LOL Showering might be my high point each week.
8. Who is your favorite coffee date? My battle buddy Jac, back at Fort Stewart. She would make me coffee every morning before the gym when our guys were gone.
9. Share the link to your favorite blog post from your blog. I really liked this one, about real life friends knowing about my blog.
10. What blogger would you most like to have a blate (blogger date)? It's so hard to only pick one! I'd really like to meet Jen, hopefully one day our Army paths cross. I'm pretty excited that I'll get to meet this Jen pretty soon!

And now for my questions and nominees:

10 Questions from Munchkins and the Military
1. What person in your life do you most look up to?
2. Did you have a favorite subject in school and why was it your favorite?
3. Who is one person you'd like to switch places with for a day. 
4. How did you parents choose your name?
5. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why?
6. What do you never leave home without?
7. Are you team iPhone or Android?
8. What is one place in the world that you'd like to visit?
9. If you significant other was on trial for something serious, would you lie to protect them?
10. Do you have a favorite YouTube video? Share the link!

Nominnees:
Amanda at Cats, Cuddling & Carrot Cake
Jen at Beebee Belly
Paulina at Color Me Brave
Whitney at Black Little Button
Dara at Not in Jersey
Meghan at Mama's Little Spoon
Megan at Growing Up is Actually Kind of Fun
Becca at Faith, Love & Babies


Thank you for the awards ladies! Have a great weekend!

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Share Your Accent

One of my favorite things as a blogger is to watch the vlogs personal videos made by other bloggers. With blogging, it's easy to connect a name or URL with a face and a style of writing. In the back of my mind I always wonder what that person sounds like in real life.

Believe it or not, I'm usually surprised by the sound of each blogger's voice. Seriously, you guys never sound like what I expect you to sound like.

Yesterday, Dara posted a video of her taking an quiz online to determine what type of American accent she has. It was such an interesting video, that I decided that I wanted to do one of my own. It's like a vlog, but without the pressure of actually having to know what you're talking about. Along the way, Dara invited me to host a video link up with her, and from Share Your Accent, was born.

<br /> <a href="http://www.munchkinsandmilitary.com/search/label/share%20your%20accent"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpTOXQsSdLraaiLFYiafRoNvDHv6XtmOv21ho6k_0xvq9tcIOEk-rnv__MkPSlPVFdBssaawjSa8nvMqlVd2yaEYotZJ9EZROB5cXoktI4j4QJEjCnofT4IRnnY-8qi4mWKLmaVN9MVs/s1600/Share.png" border="0" alt="Share Your Accent"/></a><br />

Next Thursday, October 3, we would love for you to stop by Not in Jersey and/or Munchkins and the Military to share your own video. All you need to do is record yourself taking this quiz and post the video on your blog. It would be super amazing if you would share the link up button, so that other bloggers can join in. Think about it, wouldn't you love to know what all these people that you've formed online relationships with, sound like in real life?

You can see Dara's video here, to get an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

Then go here, and record yourself taking the quiz out loud. Maybe include a little intro. Dara had a video about her name.

Finally, come back in a week to share your video and find out what your friends all sound like.

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Snowball Effect

You know when lots of little things start to build up and eventually you just explode? Yeah, that was me yesterday.

I woke up with the intent of having a fabulous day with the girls. Going to the park, a nice picnic lunch, and just having fun in general and not being a mean mommy. Before I even made it down the stairs, the inside of the refrigerator was flooded with milk. I actually intended on linking up at Raising Reagan, about not crying over spilled milk. After an hour of cleanup, I really didn't feel like blogging, and I was angry and crying about spilled milk.

Shortly after the milk fiasco was taken care of, I headed over to the Hawaiian animal quarantine website to see if they had updated their microchip list. Normally it's updated every Friday, and Caesar should have been on last Friday's list with the date that he'd be allowed to enter Hawaii. The list was updated yesterday morning, but Caesar wasn't on it. There were other pets whose test dates were after his, so I knew something was up. I called the vet, and they hadn't received any results. They said that a copy should have also been mailed today, but that didn't happen either. As I usually do, I feared the worst, and panic set in.

About a half hour later, the vet called and let me know that the results had been mailed at the beginning of September and that the lab was going to fax over a copy. I'm a little annoyed that neither of the three results that were sent made it to their destination. I can understand the vet or myself not receiving them since they could have screwed up the address. But Hawaii is where the majority of their results need to be sent, so I'm not sure how they could've screwed up that address.

Tons of other smalls fights between the girls and having to clean up the same mess 4503 times eventually led to my early bed time. Between the stress of moving, and the constant arguing with the girls, I was done. Today I'm feeling slightly refreshed and in a much better mood. We're just waiting for a confirmation from the moving company as to what day they'll be here, so that we can set our plans in stone. Yay!

I'm hoping to head to Goodwill this afternoon, and hopefully find some sweet deals to share tomorrow.

Have a happy hump day!!

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Military Deployment Care Packages on Etsy

I've mentioned it before, but in case you missed it, I started selling decorated care packages on Etsy!

I loved decorating packages for Husbter while he was deployed, and while I hate to brag, he always got some of the best ones. I thought it would be a fun idea to make fun decorated tabs that other military spouses could simply glue on to their own packages.

In the past, I've seen people who sell the complete package, but often times it's filled with useless stuff that I know my hubby wouldn't use or eat. These decorated themed packages allow the sender to put items in the package that they know their service member would use.

I started off a bit slowly, but hope to keep adding decorated tabs to the shop, and eventually possibly things that can used in the packages. I'll be sitting down to work on some more today, but for now, here is what I have and sent out in the past. I might be venturing into the zone of welcome home banners and signs today also.

Happy Halloween Care Package

Happy 4th of July Care Package

Happy Birthday Care Package

Nuts About You Care Package

You Make My Heart Hoppy Easter Care Package

Happy Birthday Care Package

You Are My Sunshine Care Package

Happy Halloween Care Package

Bananas For You Care Pacakge

You Shamrock My World St Patrick's Care Package

I also make custom designs, and like to think that the price of each of my care package decorations is less than what you would spend if you had to go out and buy all the paper and cut out letters yourself.

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Military Family Planning

Lately, the Hubs and I have been talking about having the third child. With all of the deployment babies popping up in our old unit, I've got some jealousy and baby fever. When it comes to our planning though, the military really has no effect on it. I honestly feel like if you wait for the perfect time with the military, you'll never have a kid. Field trainings and deployments have this habit of just appearing out of nowhere, and since we all know that nothing is concrete until it actually happens, you really just never know.

R&R August 2011

My littlest bundle of joy was born exactly three weeks before her daddy left to Afghanistan. She made her appearance a bit later than her due date, so we were worried about Hubster missing the birth all together. He was one of the lucky ones who had to go in advance, which made us more nervous about him missing it. I'm also super grateful that the unit didn't go to JRTC or NTC, each month-long pre-deployment trainings, because that could have also caused him to miss the birth.

Back before Adri even began to exist, there was talk about the unit deploying at the end of 2011, but no one really had any idea when. I'm pretty sure it wasn't until August or September that they had a clearer timeline. Had we waited and tried to plan around deployment and the Army, Veronica might still be an only child.

I really can't complain about having a newborn, a toddler, and a deployed husband. It truly was not that bad. I was the FRG (Family Readiness Group) leader for two years leading up to the deployment, and I kept the position throughout the deployment. Moving back to my parents' house wasn't an option for me. Keeping the three of us alive wasn't easy, but military wives are tough, so I made it work.

All in all, I'm very happy with how it all worked out. No one is mentally scarred yet, and we're all well off and happy.

Linking up at: Eights on the Move

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Summer Bucket List Rewind

Well, it's the last day of summer. Tomorrow is fall, y'all! I've been busy at work on a Hawaiian bucket list. As much as I'd like to do a fall one, it just isn't going to happen this year. Or next. Or next after that. Maybe after Schofield we can get stationed at somewhere with real seasons. I'm definitely not complaining though.

I wanted to take a look back at this summer's bucket list, and see how much I actually got done.

Summer 2013 Bucket List

Have lunch in the caverns
This one didn't happen. However, I've made loose plans to go have dinner with some friends at the caverns before we leave.

Take a tour of a local winery
This didn't happen either. We actually had an afternoon date a few weekends ago and visiting the winery was an option, but we didn't have a lot of time, and the winery is pretty far.

Rent a boat on the lake, preferably for July 4th
Our friends actually wound up buying a boat here. We went out on the lake and went tubing with them. It was later on in the summer, and the water and air temperature were just perfect!

Get an annual pass to the splash park near our house
Didn't happen. After looking into it more, the price just wasn't a good deal. I think we would have had to go to the park 60 times, to make it worth it. Honestly, it wasn't even that great of a park. Plus, it's hard to wrangle to toddlers on your own at a pool. Instead, I found a free splash pad closer to our house, and we went there.

Visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis
We did this for the 4th of July, when our Army family got together. We didn't actually get to go up in the Arch, but we watched the fireworks and listened to Trace Adkins perform.

Ride the big rides at Six Flags
During the 4th of July weekend, this one was accomplished also! I didn't get to ride all of the big rides, but a few was enough for me. I had no idea how hard an amusement park would be with two little ones.

Find a favorite restaurant in the area
Does Panera count? We made a bunch of visits for Ruby Tuesday's, but honestly, there isn't much to choose from in St. Robert, MO. A few weeks ago I had lunch with Hubs and some classmates at Seoul Garden, and that was pretty good!

Get V enrolled in gymnastics
Mission accomplished! I signed V up for a 10 week program over the summer. I wasn't impressed by the gym itself, and she literally had six or seven different coaches in the the 10 week span. She absolutely LOVED going though, so I plan on enrolling her in gymnastics in Hawaii.

Take the girls to the St. Louis Zoo

It's safe to say that pretty much our only visit to St. Louis was over the July 4th weekend. The zoo was absolutely nuts that weekend, so we opted for a smaller farm. With beer. We visited Grant's Farm, where we got to drive through an animal sanctuary filled with all kinds of wild things, and then the girls got to pet a variety of little animals at the end. As most Anheuser-Busch properties do, this one came with two complimentary beers at the very end.

Complete at least two sewing or scrapbooking projects a month
I started off slow with being crafty, but I'd say my creativity took off later in the summer, and I opened up an Etsy shop! In  the past few weeks, I've done plenty of scrapbooking, and after my Hobby Lobby trip, I have plenty of sewing to do.

Research, make a list, and find out where we're getting stationed next. And then research some more.
I know you all know how this went down. In case you missed it, we're going to HAWAII! Before the list came out, I did plenty of research on a few places. Some places weren't even on the list. Thankfully, we got our first choice, and will be there in a month and a half! Since finding out that we were going to Hawaii, I've done a ton of research. I'm pretty that at this point, I know more about the island than Hubs does.

Even though we didn't accomplish the entire list, I'd still say we did pretty well. How did you do with your summer bucket list? Have you made a fall list?

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Wine Enthusiast Glass Review

I received this product complimentary for review purposes. All opinions are my own. 

Most people know that red and white wines each call for different shaped glasses. However, did you know that each variety of wine actually has it's own unique shaped glass that optimizes the drinking experience? About four years ago, this wouldn't have mattered to me, but thanks to a few friends I've been transformed from beer chugger to junior wine snob in the matter of a few short years.

Recently, I was contacted by Wine Enthusiast to with an opportunity to check out some of their glasses. I was thrilled to have this opportunity, because after our wine tasting experience earlier this year, I'm all about trying to drink wine the right way. We are mostly Cabernet drinkers, so naturally, I opted to go with the Cabernet glasses. These glasses are specifically designed to enhance the qualities of your Cabernet as you view, swirl, and smell it.

Two of my favorite things about these glasses is that they're lightweight and durable. If you've ever shattered a glass by dropping it in the sink, I'm sure you can relate. While washing these guys, the soapy water caused them to slip from my hand and onto a large ceramic bowl. Thankfully, no harm done. If you want to skip all of that, these are also dishwasher safe and guaranteed not to dull or cloud. Fusion glasses come with a limited 10-year warranty so if they do happen to break, Wine Enthusiast will replace them at no charge!

Worry not military wives and moms that feel bad about drinking alone, with the little man on the foot of the glass, you're never drinking alone.

Not only do these glasses enhance your drinking experience by bringing out the best flavors in your wine, but they're also nice to look at and will make a lovely addition to any glass collection. Along with glasses, Wine Enthusiast also sells tons of great wine inspired gifts. Wine Enthusiast also has a great app that you can use as a tasting guide.

Are you a wine drinker? What is your favorite?



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Hobby Lobby Haul

I love me some Hobby Lobby! They have EVERYTHING! Craft stuff, furniture stuff, decoration stuff, everything. It's such a shame that I only learned about this store about two years ago. What's an even bigger shame, is that it's an hour and a half away. Back in Georgia, it was about 45 minutes away, so it wasn't a huge mission if I needed to go pick something up. Yesterday was my first time making the trip to Hobby Lobby since we've been in Missouri.

I picked up so many wonderful crafty fun items on my shopping trip. I had to stock up since there isn't a store near my parents' or mother-in-law's house in Florida. It's nearly impossible for me to pass up Hobby Lobby sales. Oh, and that 40% off coupon that they always have, my favorite!!

Future game day dresses

Since the girls' Florida dresses were stolen, they're getting newer more modern ones.

Jersey knit

The grey stripe fabric is to make myself a nice long skirt. The polka dots, I have no idea. It was cute.

Christmas fabric

Last year I decided that homemade pajama pants would be a Christmas tradition for us. Last year's pants were fleece, but since we'll be on a tropical island for Christmas this year, I thought a thin cotton might be best. 

Chalkboard and markers

I might be a little late getting to the chalkboard board craze, but I've arrived! I chose a quatrefoil shape, in honor of my sorority. I'm excited to give the markers a try! I envision that all of those pretty chalkboard images on Pinterest are done with markers. 

Itty bitty cookie cutters

These were in the clay section, but I bought them to make cute little bento lunches. And I'm sure everyone has seen those homemade gummy bears on Pinterest. 

Cardboard letters

The fat one will be wrapped in twine, and the thin one will probably be painted black and hung up on the photo wall. But I screwed up guys.. Our last name is hyphenated which apparently means I was supposed to buy an F and an R. Oops. Not my fault. It's not like our hyphenated last name is half Hubs' and half mine. Nope, all his. My maiden name is five letters, so I went from that, to not being able to fit my full name on a credit card.

Cricut stuff!

A cute new cartridge for a great price, and fresh blades. I can't wait to open up the cartridge, and see all of the cute images that I'll be able to cut. 

Stickers

Not super exciting, but they'll be a nice addition to some of the pages I already have put together.

Paper

Lots and lots of paper.

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