Need + Want

When John is off from work, there isn't much in the cleaning department that gets done around the house. Usually, the dishes pile up in the sink over the weekend until I get around to loading the dishwasher on Monday morning. I blame it on wanting to snuggle with my love while I actually have him around. Having him home for two weeks did not bode well for my to do list.

With Baby J making her arrival in just over a month, there are so many things that I need to get done. In fact, aside from moving the changing table around in Adri's room, I haven't done a single thing to prepare for our new baby. With Veronica, the clothes had all been washed and separated by this point. I can't completely blame having my husband around though. Part of it definitely has to do with third child syndrome.

+ Want: To focus more on scrapbooking for myself. If I have a chance today, I'm going to make a thank you card for the hostess of the spouses coffee last week and maybe work on that deployment scrapbook. I enjoy making the care packages for Etsy, but it's been a while since I've actually done a project for myself.

+ Need: Stop spending money. Having friends in town hurt the bank account a little bit. We've been irresponsible adults and have avoided looking at our balances. We need to just hurry up and pay the cards off and then survive off of ramen for the next few weeks. Kidding!

+ Want: Pick up some cheap summer fun activities for the kids. This totally goes against the last bullet, I know. Veronica asked to make some sprayable sidewalk chalk, so we need some spray bottles for that. I'm thinking that we should possibly also get a kiddie pool or slip and slide so that we can enjoy our back yard.

+ Need: Go through the boxes in Adri's room which still haven't unpacked to sort out clothes by size and season. Get it all washed and put away. In the dresser that still hasn't been purchased.

+ Want: More cloth diapers. My stash is pretty decent, but I want more. I'm missing a few of boyish colored diapers. I might buy them just so that I can have a complete rainbow. I wish BumGenius would come out with some new pretty colors or patterns for me to spend money on.

+ Need: Buy the few things that I need for the little one this time around, such as these muslin blankets. They're super thin, which will be useful in Hawaii. I have a friend who uses the blankets for nursing as well as keeping the sun off of her son. I plan on doing the same. I also need to get some newborn sized diapers and that baby book that is never going to be touched.

+ Want: To cut up the receiving blankets that we currently have and turn them into reusable cloth wipes. John thinks I'm absolutely nuts, but having cloth wipes will make diaper changes and diaper laundry so much easier. Yes, I have officially become one of those insane crunchy moms. 

+ Need: A nap. I know I've mentioned that Tuesdays are my busiest days. Gymnastics and grocery shopping are going to kill me today. I also still need to make a shopping list. Meal planning has not been my friend lately.

+ Want: To welcome my newest sponsor Lydia, the pretty lady behind The Few, The Proud, and This Marine Wife. She's a momma to three handsome little boys, as well as three angel babies. If her blog name didn't give it away, she's also a fellow military spouse.

+ Need: You to enter Amanda's giveaway for your chance to win this American Flag turban from Love Sewn Together.

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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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Meal Planning Monday - Week 24

Life is so great lately! Slightly stressful, but I really can't complain. Well, I can, but I won't.

Hubster got his Request for Orders (RFO) late last week. Originally we were scheduled to be reporting to Hawaii by November 1, but since he graduates in mid-October, we wouldn't have much time to get everything together and say goodbye to our families. The new report time is mid-November. I'm excited because it means we'll only be without Caesar for a month, and we'll have plenty of time to visit our parents.

I'm also kind of excited about the possibility of being able to take the girls trick or treating around me parents' neighborhood. The same neighborhood that I always trick or treated around. I seriously love when the girls get to experience the same things that I did as a child.

Yesterday we went out on our friends' boat on the Lake of the Ozarks. It was seriously one of the best times I've had in Missouri. We did some tubing, and then anchored for a while to hop in the water. It was so hot out and the water was perfectly cool.

I've decided that next week will be my last meal plan post for a while. I might switch my meal plan day, but I would really prefer to just do weekend updates on Mondays. Plus, I think 25 weeks is a good run.

Week 24 Menu:
Monday: Chicken Parmesan 
Tuesday: Indian Butter Chicken
Wednesday: Black Bean Quesadilla
Thursday: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friday: Korean Tacos
Saturday: Marsala Pork Chops
Sunday: Spinach & Cheese Stuffed Shells

<br /> <a href="http://www.munchkinsandmilitary.com/search/label/meal%20planning"><img src="http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/armywifemommylife/MealPlanMonday_zps8cc53c82.jpg" border="0" alt="Meal Plan Monday with Munchkins and the Military"/></a>
Hop rules:
1. Follow your hosts. Alejandra at Munchkins and the Military and Lisa at Sorority Life to Army Wife.
2. Link up your weekly meal plan or favorite recipe.
3. Check out a few other blogs!






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Summer Pasta Salad

It's Friday night. Your spouse comes home from work and lets you know that there's a company BBQ the next afternoon. If you're like me, you scramble to find a side dish or dessert to bring. The closer to homemade, the better. After attending several dinners and get togethers, I've finally learned that you can't just show up empty handed.

Last weekend we attended a class BBQ for Hubster's course. Although he told me about it Thursday, I still scrambled to avoid having to go to the grocery store, be. It took me a little while before it hit me that I had pasta salad on menu for Saturday, and that would be perfect to take to a BBQ. My parents always made some variation of this with some grilled chicken thrown on top and a hard boiled egg, but the salad is also prefect as a side dish. It doesn't hurt that this is pretty quick and easy to make as well!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Tri-Color Rotini
• 1 large Green Bell Pepper diced
• 1 large Red Bell Pepper diced
• 1 small Red Onion diced
• 1 cup Italian Dressing
• 1 pound Cubed Cheese (I prefer Colby or Colby Jack)
• 1/2 cup chopped olives (which ever color you prefer)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Optional: Pepperoni

Directions:

1. Start by boiling your pasta according to the box directions in salted water. Back when Carlo from Cake Boss had a cooking show, he said the water should be salty like the Jersey Shore.
2. Toss all of your diced vegetables into a large bowl and pour the dressing over it. Mix well to ensure that all of the vegetables are coated. I use the time while the pasta is boiling to dice the vegetables. 
3. After the vegetables have been coated, toss in the cheese and olives and mix well. You can also toss in the pepperoni at this point if you're including it.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste. You shouldn't need a lot.
5. After pasta has cooked and cooled, mix it in with the vegetables. Make sure it's cool so that you don't melt the cheese.
6. Refrigerate until time to serve. This is one of those dishes that is best the next day after the dressing has had time to really soak in.
   
   

Sprayable Sidewalk Chalk

I have this good friend that follows the best pages on Facebook. She doesn't have kids or anything, but every now and then, she'll send me a screenshot of a fun little activity, craft, or recipe for the kids from her news feed. It's been rather boring around here since the splash park is only open during Adri's nap time and it's kind of just too hot for the regular park. So I improvised.

I remembered back to a text I received a while ago. Sprayable sidewalk chalk. There weren't instructions or anything, just the picture, so I did some searching. I found a pin on Pinterest, but it was made with cornstarch. I don't have cornstarch in the house. It's used so rarely, that if a recipe calls for it, I just sub flour. I figure it does the same thing anyway. So this time, I tried the same substitution.

This activity is fun, cheap, and easy. Absolutely perfect for the kids. If they hated it, it would have only been a loss of a few cents.

What you need (per bottle/color):

• 1 1/2 Cup warm water
• 15 Drops of food coloring
• 1/4 cup of flour

I took four spray bottles from Walmart, which were $.98 each, and filled them half way with water. You want to add the water first to avoid the flour clumping up at the bottom of the bottle. Next I added 15 drops of food coloring to each. Finally, I used a funnel to pour the flour into the bottle. Shake well and you're good to go. The girls went to town on the patio and had a blast.

The mixed rinsed off pretty easily from our vinyl fence. Unfortunately, there were some subtle stains left on Adri's bathing suit from the purple spray. You can cut back on the food coloring to avoid staining light colored clothing, but the chalk won't be as vibrant. The other colors washed right out though.

My Summer List

With yesterday being the "unofficial" start of summer, I can't think of a better way to start the summer than to start making plans! It's probably no secret that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Missouri so far. After being robbed on our anniversary and threatened with tornadoes, do you blame me? For some reason this town isn't exactly what I remember it being when Hubster was here for BOLC. I guess it's because at the end of the weekend, I got to get on a plane and head back home.

I'm not going to let my dislike of Missouri ruin our time here though. In order to get a better appreciate of the area, I'm hoping to explore as much as possible and make the best of it. As drove through Missouri on our way here, I already started making of list of fun stuff to do based off of the billboards. After a little research, here is my summer bucket list which is also linked up on Black Little Button.

Summer 2013 Bucket List

• Have lunch in the caverns
• Take a tour of a local winery
• Rent a boat on the lake, preferably for July 4th
• Get an annual pass to the splash park near our house
• Visit the Gateway Arch in St. Louis
• Ride the big rides at Six Flags
• Find a favorite restaurant in the area
• Get V enrolled in gymnastics
• Take the girls to the St. Louis Zoo
• Complete at least two sewing or scrapbooking projects a month
• Research, make a list, and find out where we're getting stationed next. And then research some more.