Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice....

.....these pics of my sweet girls are so awesome...I LOVE THEM. These were taken the first week of December. They are Paiyton's 6yr, Emmah's 4yr and than Christmas ones together. The pic at the top of the blog is one of them as well. I can not believe they are 6 and 4 now. Time goes by so very fast with each passing year. Emmah just turned 4 three days before Christmas. I will post her birthday in another post though. My sweet girls....Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

Catching up.....

....well we are all alive and well and as usual I am playing catch up since getting back from NY City. There are about 600 pictures to go through at this point of NY, just have not had the time to sit at the computer for hours to go through them and to update the blog, I'll get there though soon I promise! We did have the most wonderful time and it is my new FAVORITE place and can not wait to go back again very soon.

She's finaly home...

.....the USS New York has come home to Norfolk. Tim arrived last Thursday and has had a week home and now he is off again for the Commissioning in NY City. I will be heading to NY next Wednesday to join him. We are so honored to be a part of this ship and what she stands for, her mo to is " Strength Forged Through Sacrifice, Never Forget". We will have the honor of meeting some of the 911 families while in NY and though their family members didn't join the military they sacrificed their lives.

For those who do not know much about her she has 7.5 tons of World Trade Center steel in her bow, she carries 720 troops plus the Navy crew, she supports helicopters and vertical take off and landing aircraft such as the MV22. Her length is 684 feet, Beam 105 feet and four turbo charged marine diesels shafts. There is so much more about her to tell but for now we are so very honored to be a part of her and what she stands for.

Tim I am so very very proud of you, your sacrifice and your hard work. I love you My Husband.

Paiyton's View....

Tonight while putting Paiyton to bed we were reading out of her princess bible for little girls. We were reading about the heart and having a pure heart and serving God and hiding his word in our hearts. The song that went with this reading was " I've got the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in my heart". I am sure y'all remember that one from church growing up. It was actually fun to be reminded of that song. Anyway, we then were talking about how as a young lady who loves God, How can you have a pure heart for Jesus? Paiyton began to say different ways to do that and than she started asking questions about Jesus and heaven. She has been asking these questions a lot lately. I think because we talk about my Mom and how she is in heaven with Jesus. She is still trying to comprehend it all and understand it. So here is how the rest went:

Paiyton: What is Grandma Martin doing in heaven?

Me: She is praising Jesus?

Paiyton: Does she have a house?

Me: Well, yes the bible says that he is preparing a mansion for each of us and Grandma I am sure has one.

Paiyton: "A Mansion" wow that's a lot of work to clean and a lot of dog poop......

Me: Laughing hysterically and saying well honey she doesn't have a dog to clean up after.

Paiyton: Oh, I thought she had a dog too like us.

Paiyton: Mom does God make the air?

Me: Yes, God created the heavens and the earth he made everything. I than explain in simple terms Oxygen and how we breath.

Paiyton: Mom does God blow the air out his mouth? Or does he use a fan? Me: Again, Laughing and trying to explain it better the second time.

I love these bed time conversations with my sweet Paiyton, she just melts my heart and she has no idea how she blesses me so much with these conversations we have. I don't want her to ever grow any older. I love her sweet innocence. I love you my little lady!

SOLD......SOLD.....SOLD.....

....y'all have no idea how wonderful it is to do this post. The house in Michigan is now SOLD....whoohooo. We will have a closing date by the 15th of November. And yes Chet, what a great Birthday present for both Tim and I this year. The house has been for sale off and on since 2004, over 5 years now. I am over whelmed why God chose now for it to sell simply because there are so many other people going through so many hard things right now, things that are so much harder than selling a house and he chose to bless us with the sale of our house in Michigan. We are so relieved, excited and blessed that God has provided the buyer at just the right time, his time. Than you all for your prayers. We are so thankful!

On the Flip side of the emotions it is a bit sad too. Tim proposed to me in the kitchen of this house and we had our first baby girl here and started our family together. Tim really is a romantic despite the kitchen proposal. It was actually very sweet he just couldn't wait to ask some where else. He did take me out for a great night that night but the asking was in the kitchen of this house. Don't get me wrong we are so glad it is SOLD, just a little reminiscing that's all.

LOVE IT.....

....isn't this background the cutest? I love Hoot Owls so I thought this was the best background ever! I promise I will get caught up on postings one day soon.

ALMOST SOLD......

YEAH, the house in Michigan is almost sold. As most of you know we were loosing our renter this month she is moving out today actually. We have been a little worried about either getting it sold soon or finding a new renter because it obviously can not sit there empty. It has been for sale again since March of this year. Anyway, on Friday a couple went through the house twice in the same day and yesterday wrote an offer. So the deal is started and we are praying that it goes smoothly and we have a closing here very soon. The buyers want a closing no later than November 27Th but we are all for a closing much sooner than that. So please say a prayer that this all goes smoothly. It will be such a huge relief to have the house sold.

The Final Countdown......

Well, I am so very happy to say that we are now in the final countdown of several great things; My hubby coming home, Tim's Ship Commissioning and our trip to New York City.....WooHooo. We have ten more weeks until Commissioning weekend and our fun time in New York City.....WE can not wait. My best friend Dawn is going with me to New York since Tim will have to work part of the time, so it will be fun girl time too. It all seems so much more official since we now have our plane tickets booked as of today and hotel reservations made. WooHoo... we are so excited...I know I already said that.

The girls are staying in Michigan while I am gone so it will also be a kid free trip. On one part I look forward to that but I am also a worrier and don't like to be that far from my Chicky's so we will see how I do on that one....lots of prayer.

Tim will be home for Labor Day weekend thank goodness we miss him so very much. Especially the girls, they just want to hold him and play with Daddy as they tell me each night at bed time. So we can't wait for next Thursday when he arrives for the weekend. So the COUNTDOWN's have started!!!!

Another Baby........

.......I know what y'all are thinking.......Your having another baby? No, not a baby of the human kind. As you can see below this is our newest addition to our family and her name is Sadie. Back on memorial day up in Michigan we went to my sister Tara's house for the day and ended up coming home with Sadie, she was 8 weeks old at that time. She is a yellow lab as you can see. Tara's neighbor was selling a full litter of AKC labs and I got suckered into one between Tim, the girls and my sister of coarse. Tara has a small farm of oh .....lets see......horses, goats, rabbits, roosters, chicken's, ducks, cats, dogs, I am not sure if I am leaving anything out or not, there are so many animals up there I can't keep track. Any way, I told the girls that day to say goodbye to Aunt Tara's house because it was to expensive to visit her any more.....kidding of coarse.

So, me the NON-Dog lover has a dog. I must say that this has been and is a major adjustment for me because other than one cat.....that takes great care if herself....... I do not like having other animals. I like other peoples dogs but did not want one of my own. I have crate trained her and she is doing well, we just need to work on some of the other training issues of no jumping etc. I must also say she does not get to run around the house other than the entry way area to her crate or when we are right there with her. I am a neat freak and don't like the dog smell so she gets a bath once a week to prevent that, etc. etc. I know I am picky but we spend A LOT of time out side with Sadie and this works great for all of us. The one mistake about getting Sadie when I did, is that Tim has not been here to help with her, one more live and learn for Tiffany.

As for the girls, Paiyton loves Sadie and plays with her a lot and sits and rubs her belly. Emmah can take her or leave her at this point, though she is getting more involved with here just this week. It is very cute how the girls call her "Sadie Girl". So, we now have 1 cat, 1 dog, and 2 goldfish and that is plenty for Mama!

Memorial Day when we brought her home.....Sadie is 8 weeks old here.

Memorial Day....Emmah giving kiss's

It looks like Emmah is holding Sadie down but she's not...they were just sitting and lovin one another.

Sadie July 4th 2009

I often catch Paiyton just sitting with Sadie rubbing her back or belly in the grass. Paiyton has become a bit attached.

Sadie.....this was taken two weeks ago.

The 80's.....

......what a great time of music.....or least I think so anyway. I get reminded time and again of the great music of the 80's and how much I loved it. Now, mind you I was only between the ages of 6 and 15 years old at that time and my parents didn't care what kind of music we listened to, that could have been bad. I remember having christian friends that were not allowed to listen to secular music and would sneak around to listen to it....not mentioning any names here.

I remember I was in third grade when the "Thriller" album was released. I won't say anything other than it is sad how the world got a hold of this artist, and many other artists over time secular and Christian. It makes me that much more thankful for the presence of God all through my life and how wonderful his Grace is for each of us. Back to the music, I was a big fan of many different kinds of music and I still am though it is usually Christian.

When I was in 6Th grade three other friends and I did a gymnastic / dance for a gym class project at our Christian School. We chose Whitney Houston's "Wanna Dance With Somebody". We had to get special permission to use this song of coarse being a private school but they allowed it and we received an A+.....great memories.... Anyway, I know you are wondering where this post is going....I have just been enjoying some of the old 80's music this week and decided to reminisce a bit, so turn up your volume and enjoy the flash back.

This one if for the Ladies.....

....this is hilarious.....good laugh for the day....see below.....

A woman goes to the doctor for her yearly physical. The nurse starts with certain basic items. 'How much do you weigh?' she asks. '115,' she says. The nurse puts her on the scale. It turns out her weight is 140. The nurse asks, 'Your height?' '5 foot 8! ,' she says. The nurse checks and sees that she only measures 5' 5'. She then takes her blood pressure And tells the woman it is very high. 'Of course it's high!' she screams, 'When I came in here I was tall and slender! Now I'm short and fat!'

Flour and Water How come when you mix water and flour together you get glue? and then you add eggs And sugar...and you get cake? Where did the glue go? NEED AN ANSWER? You know darned well where it went! That's what makes the cake Stick to your BUTT

I'm in Love......

...with my Vacuum that it...I know crazy. We recently were looking for a new vacuum again. We seem to need a new vacuum every couple years, maybe I have been picking the wrong ones to buy...I don't know.....but what I do know is that we are tired of buying one every couple years. So, we started to research them and decided on a "Dyson DC17 Animal". I was struggling with the price but when you buy a new one every couple years you have spent the same amount as a Dyson by that point. One of my best friends Dawn has had one for the last four years and LOVES it. Well, I headed out to buy it and about got sick to my stomach as I walked out of the store due to what I had spent on a vacuum..... It was a bit cheaper due to the exchange on base and no sales tax. I have to say that it has been the best purchase so far. This vacuum is incredible how well it picks up and works. Isn't it funny what things you get excited about when you are a stay at home Mom.....but I love my Dyson!

Today's Funny's!!!

This afternoon has been several laughs for Mom. I was telling Paiyton that she had a choice between two things and I said to here..."One or the other"...she looked at me and said " the other".....I knew better than say it that way and than had to change my wording to help her understand what her choices were and " the other" was not one of them.....it was too funny though it was my fault. Emmah was the little funny today as usual too. She asked for Chocolate Milk tonight and I said to her " No chocolate milk before bed time"......she looked at me and said...."I will drink it right here...not in my bed"......I had to just laugh!

Little miss know it all....

......just cracks me up sometimes. My sweet Emmah Grace is my sweet, loving, cuddle bug and also my very stubborn and strong willed child. this morning she was playing with her purses and was trying to fit one inside the other when she asked me to help her. I had just gotten the little purse inside the big purse and I said "here you go....What do you say?" (waiting for a thank you) and she looks at me and says "I told you" she was saying... see I said the small one would fit in the big one......all I could do was laugh, as this comment was coupled with her cute little look that she gives. I then said again "What do you say?" as she then replied "Thank you". Sometimes I just can't help but laugh!

There's a light at the end of the Tunnel....

Yes, there is a light....wow what a year it has been. Tim and the girls and I started living apart last summer and it has been long at times (10 months and counting) but also nice to have time here in Michigan with family and dear friends. But the light at the end of the tunnel is almost here. On June 6Th we are leaving to go back to Virginia to our new house. We are all very excited. Tim will not be back in Virginia until October of this year so there is still a bit of tunnel left with that one but we are glad to be back in our own house, the glorious summer beach days and back to NO Snow for next winter....yeah. This Northern girl is loving the mild winters in VA. There is nothing like the smell of the salty ocean air....I LOVE it. So our light is almost here and we are excited on this next move and what God has in store for our family. We will still have our house here in Michigan on the market and praying for a buyer but we know God will provide one at some point.

Over the first couple weeks in April Tim was home so we spent three days out of the first week loading our entire house out of a storage unit into a 28 foot ABF trailer. (We load it and ABF drives it for you). Than the next week Tim and I flew to Virginia to meet the trailer at the New house to unload it. We flew out on Wednesday afternoon and than we were flying back to Michigan at 6am on Saturday morning. So, this was a short and sweet trip. We had 24 hours to unload our 28 foot trailer, they give 3 days to unload but were had return flights back to Michigan to get back to the girls. We did it though or should I say my wonderful husband did it with my help. It was actually not that bad we got everything into the house, dryer and washer hooked up, some boxes unpacked, our bedroom furniture set up and even went out for dinner for our Anniversary on Friday night. Did I mention I LOVE it that the house has second floor laundry room...though it was not fun helping Tim get those front loaders up two sets of stairs....ugh. We were tired though let me just say that. We are so excited about the new house in Virginia though, I have posted some pictures for y'all to see........ only a few hence there is still lots of boxes every where. Y'all in Michigan will have to come for a visit and y'all in Va will have to come for dinner to see the rest of the house and take a dip in the pool.

Here it is......we love it.

I know... crazy to be posting the laundry room... but I love the second floor laundry. Family Room! This is the view of the Kitchen from the open breakfast nook.....please excuse the boxes and mess. These are not the best of pictures being that I took them at 4am before catching our return flight. This is looking back over to the Nook area from the Kitchen side. Last but not least is the Community Pool! There will be many of fun times had here I am sure!

Easter Memories

Coloring our Easter Eggs

Well, as usual this is a little behind but here it is. We had a great Easter this year, we were all together and it was with our home church and Pastor. We love Pastor Jim and it is always a blessing to be at our home church with our dear friends as well. The day before Easter the church did a little Easter festival with blow ups, the Easter bunny, egg hunt, cotton candy etc etc. The kids really enjoyed it as did Tim and I to take them. It is always a joy for me to be taking them with Tim and not by my self. I was glad I didn't take them to the mall for the Easter bunny though for two reasons; the bunny at church was free and because Paiyton didn't want anything to do with it and Emmah did....go figure...the one that you think will won't and the one you think won't will. Anyway, it was a fun filled day and than at 9:30 at night we were coloring our Easter eggs. I am always behind schedule when Tim is in town. So that is why the girls are in their night gowns coloring Easter eggs, but they loved it and had fun and so did we. I am so thankful that they know that Easter is about Christ and his Resurrection not the Easter bunny...though he is fun to see.

Paiyton displaying her Easter Basket

Girls getting everything out of their baskets Easter morning. They had gotten thier baths and hair done but were still in a t-shirt and night gown.

Daddy and his girls!

Hunting for eggs....

More hunting....in Poppy's Big back yard....

Our beautiful Easter Chicky's

We love to Bowl....

I know I have said this many times in the past but we LOVE to go bowling as a family. So, a few weeks ago Paiyton's entire school went on a bowling field trip, it was so much fun and WOW was it a job keeping 14 kinder gardeners and some siblings in the correct bowling order. They had the best time and it is so fun to watch them interact with one another. So here are some pictures from that fun fun day!

I LOVE this picture of Paiyton throwing her bowling ball....LOVE IT!

Emmah, Victoria, Jensen and Paiyton......Victoria & Jensen are Paiyton's Chapal buddies they are 6th graders. They are wonderful young ladies.

My sweet sweet little lady!

Emmah laying on the step in front of the bowling lanes......yuck...I know....this kid won't be still in a chair. If she only knew how much I love her so.... Goofy Emmah!

Paiyton, Lizzy and Mariah My Little Monkey Girl!

Mariah, Hannah and Paiyton...sweet little girl friends....

School Easter Egg Hunt...

I love love love Paiyton's school, I know I say this a lot but I love it. It will be hard to leave the school here when we move in a month to go back to Virginia. This post is Paiyton's Easter Party at school. Mrs. Neumeyer did a wonderful job as usual and I love that she allows the younger siblings to attend these events in class (some teachers/schools don't allow this). Emmah loves it too, she feels like she is part of Paiyton's class.

Paiyton showing off one of her eggs from the hunt.....

The girls and the entire class had a ball with this Easter party. There were enough boiled eggs brought in by us parents that each child including siblings were able to hunt for a dozen eggs each. Some of us parents also had the pleasure of hiding them all on the school playground. The kids were a hoot to watch as they found their eggs and they could not wait to get back inside to peel one and eat it. There was one little boy in the class that as he peeled an egg he yelled "Mrs. Neumeyer it looks like a real egg" than he took a bite after peeling it and yelled "Mrs. Neumeyer it tastes like a real egg too" this was hilarious. I LOVE the innocence of these sweet children. The class enjoyed their Easter lunch, played Easter Bingo and sang songs of praise to God for all of the parents to watch....it was FABULOUS.

Emmah enjoying her time in class with all the kids!

Playing Easter Bingo with Jelly beans!

I love that when I would randomly ask Paiyton the question "What is Easter really about?" she would reply "It is about Jesus dying on the cross and he rose again". I am so thankful that my sweet BIG girl knows Jesus as her savior, there is nothing better than knowing she will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven!

Little Miss Dress Up....

Oh my sweet Emmah Grace you LOVE to dress up in anything you can from a princess dress to a church dress. This was a picture from when you were wearing a wig that came with a dress that Grandma Carlton bought for you for Christmas. We laugh hysterically every time you want this wig on and as you can see by this picture it is getting wore OUT literally. Oh, how you make us laugh sweet girl.....Mommy loves you.

Six Years.....YEAH

This has been the most amazing, challenging, HAPPY and REWARDING six years of my life. I feel so abundantly blessed and thankful to have such a wonderful husband who continuously loves me and works so hard for our family and for our country. I should mention that April 19Th was our 6Th anniversary and we were thankful just to be able to spend it together this year again despite the fact that we are living apart these days. As a matter a fact we spent two straight weeks together, it was wonderful (even the part when we were moving our entire house again...I'll post about that later though.) I never thought or imagined in my wildest dreams that God would so richly bless me with such an amazing husband. In the midst of our first year he protected Tim's life in Basra and than gave us a second little girl a year later. I am thankful for Tim's selflessness that he shows me each and every day and for his unconditional love. Not to mention the two most beautiful little girls. It still leaves me speechless how God provides the PERFECT mate for each of us. I don't even have the words for what I am feeling and how blessed I am. Thank you Lord for my husband and your continuous blessings on us!

Tub Time!

My Sweet little girls love to play in the bath tub.....of coarse what small child doesn't like the tub. The girls were having a blast in the tub a couple weeks ago and I took a couple shots of them playing. I have been slacking on pictures lately.

Update....

Hi y'all, I realized today that I had not updated anyone on how Tim did on his Chief's Exam back in January, mind you it takes till the end of March to get the results. So, in March we found out that Tim did very well on his exam and he will be putting in a "Package" (as the Navy calls it) in September of this year. The "Package" is for switching to Officer from the enlisted side of the Navy. He won't find out if they are accepting him till February of 2010, so we wait 5 months for those answers. I am so very proud of my husband and all his hard work and dedication to our family and country. Thank you all for your prayers for him back in January we are so thankful for friends and family that lift us in prayer.

My Little Sisters......

....wedding went well, mind you this was back on February 28Th and I am just now posting about it (no surprise, I know). It worked out well that the girls and I are living at home during this year for many reasons but this was one of them. I would not have enjoyed traveling to Michigan in February from Virginia...for one reason only...the weather and as no surprise there was a snow storm that week but than it warmed enough to melt most of it before the BIG day. Paiyton and Emmah were her flower girls and they did so well. They walked down together and tossed petals together. I wasn't sure how Emmah would do the day of with all the people watching her. Tim was in charge of making sure the girls went off without a hitch while I was their "Photographer", yes I said photographer. I have taken photography as a serious hobby since getting my professional grade camera last year but have only made it known to a few people as I still continue to learn more and TRY to have time for class's. I am LOVING it. I considered doing it right out of high school and went down the Automotive Industry path instead but am returning to what I really LOVE. The things to learn are never ending and I love that it is always changing the way you can do things and the things that you can do are endless. I do not have the advanced program yet but hope to have it soon which will make a huge difference as well. I am not that great at this point and I do NOT want to do weddings but I was trying to save my retired Dad money since he lives on a pension from GM and was paying for his last daughters wedding. I took over 500 pictures so here are just a few of the pictures from Tammy's' wedding.

Tammy and my Dad....

Tammy and Jason

Tammy and Jason getting into their Limo.

This is my other Sister Tara and her husband Matt!

I love this lens and how it gives the elongated view.....

This is my cousins baby boy Brady....is he not the cutest little red headed baby boy? (Tim took this one)

I took this one of Paiyton at the rehearsal the night before.....