Knee Update

Ok. So a few people have asked about how Joshua's doing with his knee. He's been home from deployment for over a year and the VA has just this month given him an official diagnosis. He tore his medial collateral ligament/MCL (no surprise there) and has early signs of osteo-arthritis in his knee (ugh, something to look forward to). 

We've decided to go with a more conservative route of treatment because right now he has full range of movement-he just has a ton of pain with that movement. Conversely, if we have them go in and replace the MCL (with a cadaver piece-didn't know that was what they used until we saw the surgeon), his range of movement could be drastically effected based on how tight or loose the new MCL is and there's really no way of telling until after the surgery.

They've outfitted him with what I affectionately call his "Terminator" knee brace...it's a huge metal hinged thing that goes from mid-calf to mid-thigh and looks rather daunting. He says it's helping. Anything would be better the the itty-bitty, useless neoprene thing they gave him "over there" but hey, they also threw a few ibuprofen at him so I guess he was fine. He's also finally been set up with weekly physical therapy appointments and scheduled steroid shots. The surgeon has recommended going in and "scraping everything out" (doesn't that sound fun?!). Not sure when that will be scheduled but it's the best they can do short of replacing the MCL. 

So our journey continues.

Liebster Love

Jenn from Mouse and Home (a blog you should totally follow!) was kind enough to give me the Leibster Award.

It was great fun to read through Jenn's answers (with the award the presenter provides 11 random facts about themselves as well as 11 questions to all recipients who then come up with their own random facts and questions to pass on to the next set of recipients). To be honest, reading Jenn's answers made me wish we lived closer so we could get together in real life. 

The funny thing is that this was the second time I was honored with the Liebster Award. The first time came from another Jen from The Adventures of Our Army Life (another blog you should totally follow!). 

So, now my task is to come up with 11 new random facts about myself...this might be tough...

1. I'm legally blind without glasses or contacts. Yup. And my better-than-20/20 husband gets weirded out every time I mention getting lasik...in his words "But they slice your eye open!"

2. I could run 5 miles in 30 minutes flat in 8th grade until I tore a ligament. (translation: I peaked in 8th grade)

3. I'm overly domesticated...cooking from scratch, sewing, homeschooling, all of it but I truly hate housework.

4. My record for shooting is hitting a quarter size target with my rifle from 90 yards away.

5. I have 63 blood-related first-cousins. My husband has a total of seven family members. We eloped.

6. I love numbers...like way more than is anywhere near normal. When I go grocery shopping, I keep a running total of what the final total will be including taxes...it's kind of a game. I'm usually within $1.

7. I was an early childhood development major in college but I learned more about parenting as a nanny than I ever did in a classroom.

8. Two weeks after my 30th birthday I was carded when I went to see a rated-R movie (maybe not a random fact but definitely an ego boost and I'm running out of facts so go with it).

9. I am anxiously waiting for our son to have a long enough attention span so I can start reading the Harry Potter series to him...we're so close!

10. I have a love/hate relationship with living in the middle of nowhere. I love the quiet privacy but I miss having shopping and entertainment options (other than Walmart, ugh) less than an hour away.

11. We plan to visit all 50 states before the kids graduate. So far, we've got nine down.

Onto Jenn's questions...

1. If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Esther-as in Esther from the Bible. She's always been my favorite female historical figure.

2. What is the last book you read that you couldn't put down?

Fiction: Hunger Games Trilogy 

Non-fiction: Disney Wars

3. Name someplace you never want to visit.

South America. I recognize I'm alienated an entire continent 

and although I LOVE to travel, I have zero desire to go there.

4. Do you have any hobbies? What are they?

Yes. Sewing and photography. I also really like to go hiking 

and rock-climbing

5. Is there a song that would be your "theme song"? 

Um, that's tough. It probably changes based on the day but as 

much of a cliche as it might be, right now I'd say it's U2 

Beautiful Day

6. If you had a day all to yourself, what would you do?

Sleep. Sew. Read. Go see a movie.

7. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be, and why?

I'm not sure. I love living in Oklahoma now but I think it would 

be awesome to spend nine months a year in Orlando and the 

summer in Minnesota

8. Are you OCD or ADD when it comes to housework?

ADD. See above (I detest housework)

9. Who is your favorite Doctor?  (If you don't watch Doctor Who, feel free to simply respond with Doctor WHO?)

I desperately want to answer this question. Almost all my 

closest friends LOVE Dr Who but living in the middle of 

nowhere, our netflix account is essentially useless. It skips and 

drops out constantly. I keep meaning to check our local library 

for dvds but I haven't yet.

10. What is your favorite TV show?

Reality: Amazing Race Drama: Elementary or Criminal Minds

11. What is the best and worst jobs you've held?

Nanny. For both. Two different families. The bad-I was their 

27th nanny (didn't know that until after I'd been there six 

months and the housekeeper told me). They were awful. 

Incredibly wealthy but the children were starved for attention 

and guidence. The good-live-in for a family with triplets. I 

started when the kids were 4 and left when I got married and 

they were 6. They're still very much a part of our lives. I love 

watching them with our children.

Well, we just lost power...we're having an ice storm so rather than tagging and listing my own questions, I'm leaving it open to all my followers to come up with their own or use Jenn's really great questions!

Pirate Minnie Pattern Review

I'm embracing my new embroidery machine with gusto. I made this Pirate Minnie dress by using the Minnie Pirate Face embroidery design from Etsy seller glitzystitches and the really great "Irelyn" dress pattern (with tutorial) from Fairytale Pattern Designs. They both made it so simple to download the design and the pattern. With the pattern, there's also step by step directions which are easy enough for even the most novice of sewers to follow. 

Disclaimer: My pirate princess is wearing a pettiskirt under the dress so some of the fullness is from that and not the dress. Also, I did adjust the pattern a bit to make it longer-I used the 2T pattern despite the fact that our daughter fits an 18 month dress. I wanted her to be able to wear it longer and I thought a full-length skirt would look more "pirate."

The only aspect of the dress that was a pain was the ruffles. For this itty bitty 2T dress, there were about 10 yards of ruffles. I thought I was smart and bought a ruffler presser foot to make life easier. I have never hated an inanimate object more than that thing. I bought a "low-shank universal ruffler foot" that claimed it would work on any Brother machine (it was about $20  at Joanne's while the only machine-specific foot I could find was online and over $60). It lied. It bent two needles and jammed my motor with an E6 code a dozen times before I cursed it and went back to ruffling by hand. Before anyone asks, I tried different strength needles, rethreaded everything every time it stopped and adjusted the thread tension repeatedly. I also wasn't sewing too fast and made sure the needle screw wasn't being jarred loose. 

All that to say, if you don't already have a ruffler foot you love, be prepared to do a ton of ruffles by hand and if you don't know how to ruffle by hand, it's easily explained in the pattern directions that come with the Irelyn design.

Princess Pics

Over the weekend, I had a little fun with my camera. I got my wedding dress out and took some shots of our daughter in it.

(I'm a horrible bride-it's been 7+ years and I STILL haven't had my dress professionally cleaned/preserved...but I will...soon...) 

This is why having a daughter is fun...makes her first sentence, "I'm mad at Mommy" so much easier to deal with.

Goodbye Deployment

Today is so much more than just St Patrick's Day for us. Today marks the one year anniversary that Joshua has been home from deployment. To say I've been anticipating this date would be an understatement. I've been desperate for it...particularly for our children. Reintegration has been hard, at times as hard as the deployment was. Learning how to be a family of four, discovering our marriage again while also simultaneously helping Joshua adjust to how much our son had grown was difficult-Joshua left for the deployment when the boy was two and a half and was gone for 13 months but to be honest, Joshua really left for training when the boy was a year and a half and was gone 19 out of the next 24 months. It took a toll. I'm in awe of how well our son has done but there are remnants of the pain he felt. 

Last week when we took both the kids to the optometrist (neither needed glasses-more than a small miracle itself!), we were about half way through the 45 minutes route when the boy's eyes got huge and filled with tears. I was almost panicked, watching him struggle to get control of himself to be able to tell us what hurt/what was wrong and then he said it...

"Does this mean Daddy is going far, far away again?" 

His four year old mind had linked the one other time he remembered being at the optometrist with his Daddy being gone as it was shortly before Joshua had returned. 

It's not the first time he had asked it...when we were on our way to Disney last September, he had remembered the year before's R&R trip and had a small breakdown thinking we were all going to Florida but that his Daddy wouldn't be coming back with us.

I've been so ready for this day to come. To be able to say a year ago today my husband was home (or at least not being shot at) is a blessing that I treasure. The deployment taught me many lessons but one of the biggest was patience and what long-suffering love really is. It took long-suffering love to get through the deployment but it's also taken a long-suffering love to get through reintegration. We've made it to a year. We're still married...and I'm sad to say that isn't the case for everyone we've walked this journey with. Our children are healthy and happy and we've found our new normal. With Joshua still in the military, I don't take his being home for granted. I recognize and accept we may go through this same cycle again but today, we celebrate the time we've had together.

Maybe it's providential that this anniversary falls on St Patrick's Day. Many mistakenly assume he brought Christianity to Ireland (or miraculously rid it of snakes-although that would certainly be something to celebrate) but what he really did, according to Jon Sweeny who wrote a book about St Patrick, was organize, inspire and expand Christianity within Ireland but he didn't even do that right away. He spent six years as a slave-which is where he discovered his faith and then decades studying before he returned to Ireland. 

Regardless of what the future may hold...what deployments, training separations or anything else we may face, St Patrick's Day will always stand as a personal reminder to "rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope."

Top Ten Disney World Planning Sites

Below is a list of our favorite Disney World Planning sites...

AllEars - a great source of massive amounts of information, including nearly every Disney World restaurant menu

DisBoards - what's better than learning from someone else who has been there and done that?! DisBoards is just that...it's a place for people to share their experiences and ask questions...but be warned, it's very popular and it can be a little overwhelming

Disney Addicts on Facebook - if you have a facebook account, this can be a helpful site for any question you may have...just post it and someone will know the answer (just be warned, we they named it "Addicts" they weren't exaggerating)

Easy WDW - a wonderful resource for predicting crowd levels based on historical data-it includes the average high/low temps for each day, extra magic hours and show times for the nightly fireworks/light shows

Magical Trips - to be honest, we were a little hesitant to put this one on here-kind of want to keep it to ourselves but it's a favorite because it's a small, tight-knit group of Disney fans who are always kind and willing to help with planning questions...it's much less overwhelming than the DisBoards and we've formed real-life friendships from it (there's also a facebook page for it)

MouseSavers - if you're looking for discounts, information/tips on Disney World, Disneyland OR Disney Cruises, this is the place for you!

Official Disney World Website - Surprisingly not as helpful as many of the unofficial sites, the official Disney World site does offer a couple fun and helpful things others can't-including the ability to order the free official vacation planning DVD and also free customized park maps (allow about 6 weeks for either to arrive)...just click on the "My Disney Experience" on the right side of the home page

Undercover Tourist - a well-rounded site that allows you to find some great tips, order multi-day discounted tickets or even download a wait time app to your phone (which covers both the Disney World Parks and Universal Studios)

Walt Disney World Entertainment - a meticulous site that offers weekly firesworks, parades and live-action show times for each of the parks

WDW Info - a really well-organized site with tidbits of information (not overwhelming amounts but certainly helpful) that cover not only Disney World Theme Parks, Resorts and area hotels but also the Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, DVC (Disney's version of a timeshare program), Adventures by Disney (vacations around the world) and Orlando's Universal Studios

Again, these are just our favorite places to go when we need an answer to a Disney World planning question but we also know there are dozens of other really helpful websites and blogs out there so enjoy your planning and have a magical time!

(PS....check out YouTube for first-person accounts of the rides...it can really help little ones-or big ones, who are afraid of roller coasters)

Time Flies

Hello blogging world...you may (or may not) have noticed my total desertion of this page for the last month (and a half). To be honest, nothing major really happened to drive me away. I just needed a break. I needed to focus on my family and myself. 

Here's a (hopefully) quick breakdown to catch you up...

We cracked down on homeschooling and have officially decided to go with Classical Conversations next year and are super excited about it. 

We had a snow-pocalypse that was a ton of fun...

I got a new .22 rifle for Valentine's Day and we took some good friends shooting... (the boy and one of his best friends had a blast)

I escaped. I took a long weekend and flew down to El Paso (thereby leaving the children alone with Joshua for the first time ever!) to visit this awesome lady...

(cell phone pic...eh, sorry)

Joshua and I had a weekend away...hotel, theater tickets (Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan-I highly recommend seeing it!-that woman is in better shape at 60 than I am today!), dinner out...the basics

In related news, the boy also got to see Peter Pan as his first broadway show with his Grandma. He LOVED it!...he wasn't so much a fan of the pics I insisted we take before he left but I couldn't resist. I love my bow-tie-lovin', suspender-wearing little man!

Also, I've been on a sewing kick...big time. I made a couple new dresses for the girl...

(she was less than thrilled to do pics at that particular moment)

(I got the hat from Halo Heaven)

And finally, the biggest news (for me at least) was that I finally got my much coveted Brother PE-770 Embroidery Machine!!! I'm in love! This was the first thing I made...

So that's what we've been up to...kind of a crazy busy season for us but a good one.