So the kids got Woobos for Christmas. Jazzy received the blue violet and Jacoby got the mint green one. It was kinda frustrating at first since trying to get the downloads and set up all set up took some work. We eventually got both Woobos all set up. Jazzy really enjoyed Woobo and everyday it was learning something new. Jazzy enjoyed the games and story time with Woobo. Jacoby wasn't as interested. Woobo is a wonderful educational toy. Woobo has different areas like story time, games, songs, and imaganition. You can also ask Woobo tons of questions. Woobo has a section to help maintain schedules. They have a nice parent app to go with Woobo.

Then about three weeks ago one of the paws broke on Jazzy's. We emailed the company and we were told we could send it back in for free to get checked out to see if it could be fixed and needed to be replaced. Which before we were able to send Jazzy's off to get fixed they did a fun trivia night. We used Jacobys to do trivia night game. Jazzy had fun answering the trivia questions.

 Then Jacobys Woobo's paw broke too. So we emailed the company which they responded really quickly sent us a label to send them both back. So now we are waiting on them to come back from the doctor as the kids put it. Hopefully within the next week we receive them back.

Renovations

We moved into a new house a year ago. It's been a long year. We renovated porches, painted walls, laid sod, and I learned how to stain pantry cabinets. Now we are redoing tubs since the previous owner painted them and they started to chip and peel.

The porches were really a process since we have quite a few porches. The first porch we just stained it a darker color. Then the next one we changed up by painting the floor midnight blue and the rails a mix or blue and brown. Well we liked that porch so much we had to go back and repaint the floor and the rails on the first porch. Then the balcony we changed up the rails a bit and went with a brown paint instead of the stain with the midnight blue. We also added more wood to close off the crawlspace so animals can't get under house and stained it to match the porches.

We also had two new exterior doors installed. We changed over the old sliding door into a french door. Which technically is a backdoor but the front of our house was in what I felt was the backyard. So we switched it up and it just works so much better now. We just painted them with a peppercorn exterior paint.

Now we are painting the tubs with that tough as tile paint. Since as I said previous owner painted them and within six months they started to chip and peel. So far its a little work and yes they don't look like brand new tubs. They look a ton better than being a white tub with a tan showing where it had peeled.

Homemade uncrustable sandwiches

So yesterday I made uncrustable sandwiches for the kiddos school lunches. I use WowButter instead of peanut butter since my daughter is allergic to peanuts. All the store bought uncrustable sandwiches contain peanuts and she loves uncrustable sandwiches. We were both excited when we found the Wonder bread uncrustable sandwich cutter a few years ago and it is still in great shape.

The great thing about WowButter is it also comes with little stickers that say it's 100% peanuts free. Which is great since we have had in the past a teacher tell my daughter she couldn't eat something that we packed in her lunch bag. The teacher wasn't sure it was safe for my daughter to eat, so she told her that she would have to eat it at home. Honestly great my daughter's teachers are looking out for her but we would never give her something that could harm her. When you have a child with food allergies you learn to check the ingredients list since that is the only place it will definitely say if it has peanuts or whatever else you or your child is allergic to.

So back on topic. Yesterday I made 6 Nutella, 6 jelly, 6 WowButter, and 6 WowButter & jelly. Put them into ziploc baggies then into the freezer they go. Crates make finding them in the deep freezer so much easier for the kiddos.

Life has changed

So life has changed a lot in two years. We were donated a house through Military Warriors Support Foundation. A mortgage free home. It's a three year program were we send in budgets, learn about finances, and keep a eye on our credit reports. We also try to pay down on any debts we might have. You pay a deposit monthly along with property tax monthly. After three years they use the deposit money to pay for the transfer of the deed and once the deed is transferred the house officially becomes ours. Such a wonderful  opportunity for Veterans.

I also got pregnant with baby number three. Who was a complete surprise. Who is now a running and screaming 16 month old little boy. It's been quite the adventure. Having three kids ages 10, 6, and 1 has made life crazy.  My oldest I tell you has been the biggest help.

Connor has been doing great playing basketball, soccer, and this year he is in gifted and talented. This is also his final year in speech hopefully. Its also his final year in elementary school. He has been doing great being a big brother. He was so excited to be having a baby brother.

Jazzy is in kindergarten this year. Let me tell you she is the complete opposite of my sweet natured oldest. She loves and hates school at the same time. When she found out she was gonna have a baby brother she argued with us for days on how she wanted a sister not another bubba. We still have days were she says she wishes Jacoby was a sister not a brother. Or she will ask if I can have another baby a sister this time.

Then we have Jacoby my 16 month old. Who wears 2t- 3t, trust me he isn't fat he has just always been I'm the top 97-98% in weight and height. Connor was and has always been 25% while Jazzy was 50%. I swear as I have these kids they get bigger each time.

Back to Jacoby who is my big boy. Already running in socks on tile and hard wood floors. Who when I change his diapers you can usually hear me yelling come back here because he does a alligator roll and runs as fast as he can from me naked laughing the whole time. All while Matt is laughing his butt off at me. Matt will save me a lot and grab the running naked toddler who will lay there for him no problem to get his diaper changed. I swear Jacoby is the splitting image and personality of his father, they are so alike.

So Matt is also officially medically retired. So we applied for VA caregiver program since Matt has days where he has no idea who me or the kids are. Well we were denied twice for the program also told Matt needed to be in their fat program. Well VA caregiver program I guess you didn't look in his file. Since yeah he was 323 lbs when we first got to VA two years ago from all the steroids and surgeries where we couldn't do anything. But hey guess what he now weighs 237, that's about 90lbs he has lost in two years. Which is a healthy weigh lost, so you can take your fat program and shove it.

Yes life is hard and it would have helped to be on the VA Caregiver program that is supposed to be there to help allow for someone to be with a veteran like Matt. Who has PTSD, TBI, and who need assistance. Matt lives with constant migraines, black outs, memory loss, constant pain in his shoulders, hip, and neck. I could go on and on about what he lives with. But we have learned to cope with his injuries and learned to live our lives to the best of our abilities. That is all that really matters.

We also got to go on a marriage retreat with Operation Heal our Patriots. It was amazing in Alaska. We made some new friends, learn helpful tips about our marriage, fun activities for couples, and had some amazing food. The kiddos got to have our amazing friend Maria come and watch them with her kids while we were gone for a week in June this year.

Matt then got to go on a fishing trip to Montana with Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation. Matt went in July and had so much fun. He had a great time fishing and meeting other Veterans. He caught quite a bit of fish. 

Connor got to go to Camp Corral in August right before school started. Camp Corral was at Camp Weaver in Greensboro, NC. He had fun riding horses, playing in the pool and pond, learning to shoot a bow and arrow, and making new friends. 

Connor at Camp Corral 

Awarded home through Military Warriors Support Foundation.

Kids enjoying popsicles on a hot day.

DIY Lunchable pizzas

I decided to try my hand at making lunchable pizzas for the kids today. Since I was making pizza for lunch and was going to have left over dough.  I used my favorite pizza dough, just made little pizza rounds. Baked them for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. My husband only likes two brands when it comes to spaghetti sauce. So we use either Classico or Bertillo for any thing Italian. I used little snack size ziplocs for my sauces and cheese.  Then I put the sauces and cheese packets in a big Ziploc.  The little pizza crust went into their own ziploz. I will update with more pictures instructions later if needed.

Gardening

So when we finally moved into a place after saying with my mother. When we first moved back to South Carolina, we started a garden. I will be the first to say I do not have a green thumb. I tried growing a aloe vera plant once and killed it. So to my shock my garden has actually been growing. The kids have been helping out and really enjoyed watching them grow from seeds to something we can eat. We have corn, squash, cucumber, tomatoes, watermelon,  and some others.
I will say though that my tomatoes that I planted in the topsy turvy thing are not doing good. They are producing tomatoes but it gets so hot here the plants start to die. Only when it cools off for a few days do they try to perk back up. I will not be using it next year.

Okay sorry had to take the detour, back to what I really started this post about. They always say being a caregriver is tough and we can burn out if we don't take care of ourselves. So I turned to gardening hoping for a few minutes of peace. That so hasn't happen yet. Lol Either one of the kids comes looking for me or my husband does. I think they have gotten so used to be being around every second. So I asked why can't I get a moments peace. These are my answers I will start with the youngest and work my way up.

Jazzy "cause I love you momma."
Connor "I don't know."
Matt "I didn't know where you were."

I think Jazzy's was the best, don't get me wrong I love my family. But every mom knows you can't even use the bathroom without someone barging in or itty bitty fingers poking under the door. So how am suppose to relax and take a breather. Sometimes I look at the advice doctors and others have given me and just wonder how they think I can get a moments peace without spending money to go somewhere where these magical little kids can't find a way in.

Oops detoured again.  I think I do enjoy gardening except the bees.  I have a huge fear of them since getting stung when I was younger. So whenever I get fustrated with anything I head outside. Atleast I have found something that I can enjoy and relax when I can find a moment to be just by myself.

Being out the military

So we are now out of the military. I was so hoping that once we were out we would be doing fine and my husband could really start healing. I was so wrong no one tells you when you start the med broad process that you should start saving money because it will be awhile before you actually start being financially okay. Which even a few months after getting out we are still trying to get our feet firmly on the ground. Still trying to get everything medically where my husband needs to be. We keep thinking when is life going to get better,  but that's the thing you have your good days and your bad days. Trust me I am the type of person who always looks for the good in every situation. My husband is my total opposite.

My husband still has his blank outs where he doesn't know who I am or who the kids are. My son thought it was a funny game when it happened the last time. Thats when I realized that I haven't actually explained what is wrong with his daddy. He knows what is wrong somewhat but since he stayed with his PaPa for alittle bit when his daddy was getting treatment he never really saw. Yes there are moments when my husband has forgetten where he was when my children are at the store with us but its something that isn't really noticeable. Those moments usually last only a few moments and I can usually redirect my husband to atleast follow me and he still has some idea of who we are. But this last time was one of the few moments that I deal with and have been able to keep my children from seeing. Usually they only happen if he was sleeping and in the middle of a nightmare and hasn't fully woken up. Usually I just leave the bedroom if I have startled him awake and just check on him. So the kids really haven't seen those episodes especially since they were in school but now its summer so they get to see more of the episodes. We found out from one of my husbands new doctors that the episodes might actually be micro seizures in his brain. Which actually makes so much sense and to finally maybe have a real explanation for what is going on. My husband has never hurt anyone and I will say that now so no one gets the wrong idea its just like living with someone that sleepwalks which my husband also does at times.

I only write this to let other spouses know that its normal and that they are not alone. Its a frustrating and long road. I have been married to my husband for almost ten years and I have seen so many different shades of my husband. The when we first got married, the after bootcamp, the after first deployment, the in between deployments, after second deployment and injury, and the after military one. The after military one is still trying to adjust to life out the military. He gets so frustrated about not being the person he was before he got injuried, which is so normal. Its hard for me to watch him get so fustrated and know I can only be supportive of him and help him. While at the same time trying not to smother him and make him feel less than he is. Its such a balancing act. Now he does have his tender moments that remind me that I love this man with all my heart and that this is just a curve in the road of our marriage.  I may not have known what was ahead for us we will got married but I still would have said yes if I knew all the things I do now.