Germany.

I often wonder if this place will ever have feelings of permanence. While I know that we will be here for quite some time (until Fall of 2015), it still just feels temporary. I find myself thinking things like, wipe down the walls so that when we move its not so much work, I wonder how Everley will do on the flight home (Phillip always does great on flights so I'm not worried about that), I tell my husband we should ship the car even earlier than we did on our way out here, and so on and so on. Germany is just such a different place. Until I met my husband, I was REALLY under-traveled. I had been to Texas (home state), Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana. I had never been on a plane. Fast forward to now and I have added a few more states to that repertoire in addition to another country, and by the time I leave here it will be several more countries. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful for this experience. The fact that we are within 5-9 hours of a TON of beautiful countries is amazing, for that matter, Germany itself is GORGEOUS. But at the end of the day...its just not home. The good ol' US of A. I miss it so much. I miss the little things. I miss family, friends, stores we're used to, not having to convert to Euros, understanding signs and people. But, I am not unhappy here, I guess just home sick. I love that I am here with my family, I love that my kids are getting to experience this, I love the friends we have met here. I think in time, it will all become a little less temporary...and a little more permanent. I hope. 

Live hard, love harder!

Kids...and a little bit of life.

The sweetest thing happened yesterday. Everley saw the nail polish sitting on the table after I had finished painting my nails, picked it up and said pitty (pretty)? So, I pulled her up on the couch and she sat patiently waiting while I painted her nails. She smiled as I blew on her hands to help them dry faster and tried to help dry a little herself. It was such as sweet moment with her. My husband always tells me I have made her into SUCH a girl..and I suppose he's probably right. But hey, that's the fun of it all right?

 And then, I remember in addition to that sweet little girl, she is also 19 months old and you probably shouldn't leave nail polish not tightly shut or this may happen.

And this:

So for the next 30 minutes, I sat on my hands and knees scrubbing the life out of a Mr. Clean magic eraser with some cleaning sprays and a towel desperately trying to relinquish my once unstained floors and rug. Everley sat on the couch peering over at me like a spectator watching a game. I then moved onto clean off her hands, her socks were stained on the bottom, and magically she did not have ANY on her outfit. I was grateful for that. 


On another note, I attempted my own "dobbers" with Everley as an art project. I realized that I don't do nearly enough art with her, so she decided to paint my house in nail polish I found a pretty neat round spongy paint brush in my collection and gave her a plate with paint and let her go on her merry way. She seemed to enjoy it. 

Phillip has turned into quite the artist, if I do say so myself. It takes a lot of persuasion for me to actually get him to sit down and devote a lot of time to an art project though. So, I was pretty proud when he brought this home to me. He was pretty proud too and wanted to hang it on the fridge. 

And I have to mention a proud accomplishment of my own. I have officially completed my first "professionally printed" purchase to a client from White House Custom Colour. It's a pretty big accomplishment for me and my photography. It was really neat to see it in print on an awesome artboard and is even more neat that someone has it hanging in their home! 

Have a great week!
Live hard, Love harder!

Clean, clean, clean. 

Do you feel as though your house never ACTUALLY gets clean? Geez. I sure do. What is that saying, cleaning the house while your kids are awake is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos (or something like that)? That certainly holds to be evident in this household.With 4 floors in my house, by the time I get all the way to the top, the bottom 2 are a mess again. Between Bradley's PT uniform (that consists of shorts, shirt, underwear, socks, tennis shoes, pants, fleece cap, jacket, and pt belt), Bradley's work uniform (that consists of acu top, bottom, new underwear, new socks, acu shirt, boots, patrol cap, and gloves), then any other clothes he may chose to wear in a day LOL, Phillip's school clothes and pajamas, Everley's minimal 1 outfit a day, plus pj's, and my clothes (whew I'm tired from just writing that)....my laundry CONSUMES my house half the time. So I've learned to  just come to peace with that. I always keep my common areas clean, mop and sweep at least twice, and try and get at the very minimum 2 loads of laundry done a day and do the rest as often as I can. I've added a new goal for myself...organize one thing a day that I normally wouldn't even do until a huge cleaning day. So, I have accomplished that lately. I started with my pantry and bagging things that were easily left open and wasted, throwing out old boxes, etc. Day 2 I organized my junk drawer and day 3 my shoe closet. 

This girl, she doesn't have ANYTHING to do with these messes I clean up LOL.

On another note, I've really been trying to start taking my photography business more serious. There are so many hoops to jump through here, I have to get registered with the HBB (household based business), but I really want to start pushing it. Before I started doing this...I never knew I could. And while I know I still have miles to go, I have learned from some of the greatest people and been blessed enough to find a talent within myself. It really makes me happy to take pictures, I love capturing memories. I have a maternity session next weekend, my first. And let me tell you, I am nervous! I've done other kinds of sessions, just not maternity. I want these to be so special for her...I will update soon on how it goes! In the mean time, feel free to check out my page if you care to follow me there at Paper Airplane Pictures . 


Here's a picture from my last family session, how adorable are they??

 And some oldies of my kids, just because!

Live hard, love harder!

Tchus!! <3 

New year

2013

It's crazy to believe that 2012 has now officially came and gone. I sit here drinking my coffee thinking back over this past year. It certainly was a crazy one. Last January, we were back in a snowy Kansas enjoying the remainder of our winter break. I worked for the school district and was dreading the days until I had to return to work....for my boss and I did not get along and I hated being away from my babies. We had no idea what that year was going to have in store for us, for we didn't find out until July that we were going to PCS to Germany. Phillip was 6 and Everley was 6 months. 

 

Fast forward to 2013 and my kids and life have changed and grown. It is beyond me that last night I laid Everley down to bed and she lays in her big girl bed by herself without a fuss. A year ago, I couldn't get Everley to sleep for more than 3-4 hours on a good night. While I am sad that she is growing so fast, I don't mind her change in sleeping habits! haha! After she had been laying her bed for a little while, I decided to go back in and check on her. I laid down next to her and she wraps her little arm around me. When she dozes off to sleep, I slowly start to get up and she reaches for me to come back. These are the moments that I cherish so deeply. I love that little girl so much and look forward to a year of watching her grow and flourish into a beautiful little girl. 

And Phillip, well that kid, is smarter than he should be at 7. SEVEN. How is my first born SEVEN years old?! This year he is in first grade and ridiculously smart. Within 2 weeks of arriving here in Germany, his teacher told me that she wanted to place him in advanced math, reading, AND writing. WOW! I am such a proud mom. The things that he is capable of at 7, is insane to me. Sometimes, he says something and I am just in awe. Yesterday, we were about to leave, and I told Everley to go get her cup. Everley starts walking around the house yelling , "cup cup cup". Phillip looks at me and says with a grin, "She's walking around yelling for her cup like its going to answer her". LOL! His sense of humor and innate sarcasm cracks me up...even when he says it at all the wrong times.

I am one blessed lady, that is for sure. I am married to an amazing man and live a beautiful life with beautiful children. I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us here in Germany. 

Live hard.

Love harder.

Happy New Year!