Happy thoughts on a friday night..

I had every intention of just collapsing into my bed from exhaustion tonight but instead I cleaned my whole kitchen and even unloaded the dishwasher! ha it doesn't take much to make me feel accomplished these days! ;) The boys are just about snoring, we had a busy day today! It was one of those gray, rainy days so we stayed inside most of the day. But it gave us time to play together :)

Tonight has just been one of those nights, I've just been happily going through my pictures and thought I would share some beautiful/cute/funny ones just to make y'all smile! So here we go!

I was inside changing  Liam's diaper and came out to Anthony "helping" me water the flowers we had planted! It went something like this "Mama I watered the flowers!" "You did! Baby thank you!...OHHHH WOW YOU DID!!?!"...while the neighbors watched in amusement..gottta love our independent boy :)

Some pretties from the Louisville Zoo!

I swear this seal was showing off for me I have about thirty pictures of it flipping around and I was loving every second of it!

So adorable :)

I have a tradition of calling any lazy looking animal Travis, so this is "Travis the Bear" ha I don't know I'm weird

:)

We just happen to live in a gorgeous state :) we saw a true fall for the first time and it blew us away!

There is nothing we love more than being outside , he doesn't look so impressed but trust me he was loving it :)

This one enjoys giving me a heart attack climbing high in trees :)

 

But anyways I hope you all enjoyed this random assortment of pictures! Have a great night! Much love guys! :)

 

Casie

Spreading your wings..

I have talked to so many of my dear friends recently who seem to be having the same problem as I am, that being said I felt compelled to write this. I have given it serious thought and am hoping it will help you all because it sure helped me :) When Travis joined the military from day one I have always been his biggest supporter, no matter what life throws at us I will follow him wherever we may go. When you are a military family this is not an easy thing to do, it means moving away from your loved ones and it completely alters your life. It is really difficult especially if you are like me and are really close to your family :) It is not something I talk about much but for the sake of my family and fellow Army wives I will share my own experience with you! and hopefully it will help somebody :)

This last year has been a roller coaster let me tell you! Travis and I have been separated more than together, and that is hard especially when you are as close as we are. Throw in a rough pregnancy and an energetic four year old AND a huge move and oh my goodness! Honestly it has been rough, but I never dwell on it. Because I always think that Travis has it a lot rougher than I do. Really spending so much time away from your family is such a huge sacrifice I don't know how he does it!

Anyways what I have noticed, as far as my own experience anyways, is that after you have been so close to your family for so long and then you suddenly move away they will naturally struggle with it. That's normal, its a hard pill to swallow when faced with the realization that you wont see those family members very often. Especially when children are involved! I mean its got to be hard for the family members we leave behind, I think sometimes we are so busy looking forward that we don't remember to look at what we leave behind.

Once you realize that the way they are acting is somehow the way that they are coping with that loss, you will feel a huge weight lifted from your shoulders. Because it really is not you, sometimes things get taken out on you and really it is their own struggle. That's ok, as long as you realize the behavior for what it is. Everybody has a right to their own feelings as long as it isn't destructive to another. And hopefully with time they realize that they are the only ones missing out on things and come around :)

It really is hard living your life with the constant burden of people just being downers or somehow trying to guilt you for moving away. You would never know what a struggle this has been for me if you just talk to me everyday because it doesn't affect my everyday life. This is our life and it is something that we hold so dear to our heart. My husband chose  this path and I chose to follow him along it, that is not to say it is easy but it has been our choice. Dealing with the negativity and even the almost jealousy sometimes has been hard I wont lie. But nothing would be harder than Travis and I not being together with our children. Really that is what we need to be happy and as hard as it is dealing with the negative, once you let it go and realize it is not your burden to carry its a wonderful feeling.

We have been more than blessed with family and friends and even though it is a sad struggle for them sometimes, we do love and appreciate them wholeheartedly :) and while this has been hard for them it has been even harder for us. But at the same time we have never felt closer and more in love. Because sometimes distance is a great thing for a marriage :) we have really appreciated the alone time that we get just being our little family here! Privacy is a great thing as well, especially when you are a really private person like myself ;)

Travis hopefully will be headed home soon and we are looking forward to spending some way overdue alone time! We are excited for whatever the next year brings! hopefully baby #3, especially since it will just be us with no interference :) and possibly heading to a new duty station! I really do appreciate that about the Army, maybe it's just me but I love to travel and it doesn't bother me to move. That to me is exciting!


Anyways  in anticipation of the upcoming holiday I have been reflecting on the true meaning of giving thanks  and going over the events of the past year. We have made some huge lifestyle changes and have learned  a few valuable life lessons along the way. We have become even closer to God more than we have been before. Overall it has been a huge year for our family! We are so blessed, really I praise God every day for the health and happiness of my husband and children. That is what is most important in my life, they are my everything and I pour my heart and soul into them. I really relish the fact that I have my own sweet little family, that we can live this life together. Explore the world and enjoy this world together. I love watching my children learn about the world. Maybe that is why I would be the perfect person to teach them about it, I already have the best job in the world just being their mother, but I do love to teach them. It is a passion of mine :) Anyways hope you all have a great night!

                       Have to throw in a picture of my handsome hubby! :) Miss you babe

                                                                   Much Love!
                                                                        Casie

Suprise packages on sick days

Both of our kiddos have come down with some kind of bug, so they have been cooped up inside today and probably for the rest of the weekend. We are using this time to play together and look out our big back windows at the gray, gloomy looking day. Most of the trees are bare around us but it is still beautiful. They got a surprise package from their grandparents today, and what a great day to get it! Anthony has not been a happy camper being sick and all! but this brought a smile to his sweet face :)

Russ is excited too! ;)

 

Little Munchkin

The boys love puppets and when I put on shows for them :) These are a wonderful addition

 

These big windows are perfect for looking out at the world

This is his mama pick me up face :)

 

 

Today is going to consist of brewing some raspberry leaf tea for my sweet boys and homemade chicken soup! Even though he is sick he still picked me these flowers, he is so good to me :)

 

Life is so sweet these days



 

He's my little tea baby

 

 

We are very blessed to have wonderful grandparents for our children! Thank you all :) Better run Anthony is preparing a picnic for us! Hope you all have a wonderful day! :)

 



 

Casie

The makings of a long weekend...

We had a rather quiet weekend, it was a nice change of pace that's for sure. Anthony had Friday and Monday off school so it was a nice four day weekend! I got a lot accomplished but most importantly got to spend time with my little loves :) We hung out all day, read books, did some light cleaning, went to Bass Pro Shop (Anthony and I's favorite store) here's some pictures from the weekend!

                  Made a few batches of baby food, sweet potato's for my sweet potato baby :)

             Tried out a new recipe for dish soap :) next time I make a batch I may do a tutorial here!

Did a lot of staring at my sleeping offspring...sighhh I wish they would grow slower! ( can you spy his favorite wooden sled to play with or his favorite blanket?)

 

 

  Went thrifting and found a few treasures! This rain stick is by far the coolest thing ever! both of them love turning it upside down and listen to that peaceful rain sound! My mom had a full size one when we were growing up and I have good memories of it! Needless to say I'm looking for a full size rain stick ;)

                                                          Sweet Bean and his blankie :)

And lastly tried out this soup recipe and oh.my.goodness it was amazing! I am a fan of basically anything including bacon ;) and with some hot corn bread wow! and pretty simple to make :) Did I make you hungry?

And also today is veterans day and we are definitely celebrating the  men and women who have fought and currently fight for our freedom! This is such a wonderful day to honor them, I almost feel like we should have more days such as these! I am especially proud of my sweet husband who never ceases to amaze me with his courage and strength. To love us and his country so much to make all of these sacrifices.. he inspires me :) I am so proud of my husband and am counting the days until we are reunited! Hope everybody has a wonderful week :) Much love!

Casie P

Lessons in Life..

Since I have last posted we have been getting settled in our new home of Fort Knox, KY! Boy do we love it here, me especially I think. I appreciate the beauty of it and the history but not only that. I have met people who have truly touched my life and at times been more of family than my true family. I always stop and reflect on how God has a plan for us and the people he brings into our lives are here for a purpose. He is so good to us! Travis and I are extremely lucky to have had such a wonderful experience especially it being our first duty station!

June 4th he left for Afghanistan and I always think how terribly hard it is for him to leave us. Really the sacrifices he has made thus far astounds me sometimes. The love for his family and his country is so great.That's why I can handle everything that I do on the home front because of his faith in me and his willingness to go into a dangerous, war ridden country and serve and protect our country. He inspires me and although I handle the day to day operations of our family, he is my rock.

 That is not to say that there has not been a lot of tears and phone calls to my dad about our washer flooding the house for the fifth time! ;) but if their is one thing my Dad taught me is that "it's life" buck up and handle it and don't get hung up on things that bring you down. Everything will work out in the end. Needless to say he has never steered me wrong. Although I will say being raised the way that I was taught me to be independent and figure things out myself, I don't always need other people to get through difficult times in life. Which sometimes gets misinterpreted believe you me.  I know I can do it myself and I have...until I met the one person who was made for me. That is one of the hardest parts of being separated is not having such a vital part of your life with you, it feels unnatural.

I will definitely be a happy camper when this deployment ends! As far as feelings go it feels like you almost cant fully breathe until you see him and touch him to make sure he is truly safe, the stress and worry of one day having your best friend and the next day he could be gone forever is just horrible. Not to mention the aching loneliness..ugh deployment blues ;)

 I feel like I have learned a lot as far as friendship and family are concerned. Personally as soon as he deployed I immediately saw who is truly vital  in my life. It just would seem like during the hardest time in our lives we would get the most support and not the complete opposite. In recent weeks I was upset and hurt and most of all disappointed at the lack of respect for myself and most importantly my husband. After much prayer and meditation I have come to terms with the fact that people will disappoint you and may not even care for or like you but for every one that doesn't there are ten more who love and think the world of you. In a nutshell move past the negativity and towards the positive people in your life who make you whole and do not tear you down. And that is exactly what I am doing. I am a devout wife and mother and spend all of my time and energy on my family, but finally I decided to make myself a priority and say this is my life and my family and we will live it the way that we want to. I have never felt more free and just happy once I realized that I was dwelling on relationships and things that weren't important I let them go. And started living for myself and my family. Its a very freeing concept and I am going to take it and run with it! I do want to say a huge thank you to everybody who has made this deployment happy and bearable without those people I don't know how we would have made it this far!

 

This is what pure freedom and happiness looks like :)

 

Much love ya'll!

Casie P

 

A Day of Reflection :)

Happy Easter everybody! It's been so long since I have posted anything.. I can assure you I have been quite busy! Between holding down the fort while my love was away,raising our four year old,baking our little bun in my oven and moving us 1,700 miles away to beautiful Kentucky! Now that we are here settled with our little Liam Bean I can finally breathe! I truly have enjoyed Kentucky and so has my little family, it is such a drastic change from our beloved Arizona but we love to see new places and people.. Anyways today is Easter Sunday and you can't help but stop to appreciate the sacrifices and suffering our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made for us..Most of the time I look around at my surroundings and am just in awe of the beauty in my life. It is so easy to lose sight of the big picture and really we are here to do his will and live this beautiful life he has given us! I am so thankful for the health of my husband,myself and my children..we are so very blessed :) It has been a wonderful day and I hope everybody has had a gorgeous day as well!

I have finally been able to sit down and look at all of the wonderful pictures taken since our little lamb was born! I know all babies are kind of swollen and red when born but holy cow do Anthony and Liam look alike (at least I think so!)

 

Anthony Scott 4 1/2 years young :)

 

 

Liam Guillermo 4 weeks old :)

 

 

 

Love,

Casie P