Our Weekend in Review // 4/20

I was so busy this weekend that I took all of 3 pictures! Blogger fail! Lol

Liam and I wore matching pants on Saturday. I didn't even realize we were both wearing neon green pants until I left the house. At least we looked cute.

Saturday morning we had a play date at the mall play area with some friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was fun catching up! And now that Liam is climbing, he was able to climb into the rocket ship by himself! He was so tired he came home and crashed.

Sunday we went to church and then later that evening we attended the community dinner for church. Liam had a blast getting to see his friends twice in one day. Sadly, I have no pictures of Sunday. Again, fail! At least we have the memories we made!

You Can Make More Light: my thoughts on our children in this crazy world.

After the tragedy that occurred on Monday in Boston I have heard numerous parents ask, " What kind of world did I bring my children into?" I'll admit the thought has passed through my mind as well. Then I stopped myself....

We should not be asking what kind of world did we bring our children into. Instead we should be asking what kind of children are we bringing into the world? Are we raising our children so that they will be the ones rushing to the side of victims? Are we raising children who will advocate for peace? Are we letting our children know that they can make a difference in our world?

No matter what era children are born in there will always be a "threat" of some sort.  History has taught us that. There will never be a "perfect" time to raise children. Instead we must focus on raising children who look for the perfection in our world. We must raise children who can shine a light into the darkness. Children that will make the world a better place. Children who hope and dream for a better time. 

Our children are our future. We should be teaching them to be fearless seekers of truth and peace. We should be teaching them to be brave and courageous warriors who aid the helpless and broken. Whether those people are helpless and broken because of a tragedy or homelessness or disabilities.  We need not differentiate, only to help.

This is my call to action, parents! Bring more light into the world! Instill in your children the skills necessary to bring light into this dark world. Don't be discouraged about the world you have to raise your children in. Be overjoyed that you have made more light!

I'll leave you with this wonderful quote by Peter H. Reynolds and some wonderful Bible verses that give us hope!

"I've said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world." - John 16:33 CEB

"Notice the innocent person, and look at the decent person, because the peacemaker has a future." -Pslam 37:37GW

P.S. If  you click on the quote you can view a version to share and print! :)

Our Weekend In Review // 4/12/13

My Grandmother's birthday was this past Friday. I was a little slow getting her card mailed out, so I took Liam's picture with the painting he made for her and posted it on her Facebook page. Yes, my grandma has Facebook. ;)

When my husband got home from work we headed to one of his favorite restaurants for dinner. Liam spotted the "gogos" (globos/balloons) as soon as we walked in. He had to have one! We tied it onto his highchair and it was a great distraction until the food arrived. The pure joy on his face from that one blue balloon was amazing! You would have thought he had the most expensive toy on the planet! He held on to it all night until time for bed.

Saturday was a duty day for the hubs, so Liam and I tackled his ever growing toy collection. We organized and sorted his toys...well, I did. He played with them for the most part.

 He also stole my empty coffee cup and kept pretending to drink out of it. Maybe I drink too much coffee...this seems like a learned behavior. lol!

It was a gorgeous day for a walk, so we went to visit our friend Leslie at her art studio, Studio One, located in Riverview Gallery. Liam helped Leslie work on her portrait of the Pope. We are so lucky to have such wonderfully talented friends! During our walk I discovered that we're getting a Jimmy Johns right down the street from us! Anyone else LOVE their sandwiches?!

I came to the realization Saturday night that we have hit the climbing phase. Liam climbed onto the computer chair and I caught him turning the printer on and off! I will be pushing all chairs under from now on!

Sunday my husband got to come home for a few hours before heading back to the ship for an underway. We headed out for a walk since it was another pretty day. We ended up at the local arts and cultural center. We have a membership to the Children's Museum and with that you get admission into the other museums in our downtown area as well.

Overall it was a fun, slightly productive weekend. We try and enjoy every minute we have together as a family, because my husband's time on the ship is more frequent than his time at home.

P.S. I promise to post something other than our weekends very soon. I've just been super busy and I like to spend as much time with my husband as possible leading up to his departure! :)

Our Weekend in Review // 4/6

 

Our Saturday morning started a little late. Liam actually slept in and Daddy didn't get off work until 8:30 that morning, so we had a lazy morning. 

Pablo introduced Liam to Transformers. Pablo let Liam watch a few minutes of the original Transformers cartoon movie from the 80's. As you can see from the above picture they were both enthralled!  The quote of the morning goes to Pablo..."I don't remember there being this much hair metal in this movie." Haha! Liam enjoyed dancing to said hair metal and that cracked us both up. 

We had a late lunch at Pop's Diner. Kids eat free all the time there, so that makes it a favorite of ours. Plus the food is delicious! I think I had more fun coloring than Liam. He preferred to look out the window as you can see from the pictures. ;)

Then it was off to the mall, so Liam could check out the puppies. "Doggie" is his new favorite word! He got to play with an English Bulldog Pup! It took everything in me not to take him home! I really want to get Liam a dog, but living in a 3rd floor apartment is not a great set up for a dog. So, we just visit the pet stores to get our dog fixes. hehe! 

 Saturday evening Liam found a new way to play with his dump truck. He's creative...I'll give him that.

 

Sunday we walked to our local French Bakery, Artisans Bakery and Cafe, for lunch! I dream about their food!  Of course, Liam decided to have a veggie/fruit pouch before our food arrived. He still managed to eat his french baguette and cheese and a little of our food too.

Then we headed home to just enjoy each others company before the Navy separates us from Daddy in the not too distant future. Liam got new Dinosaur magnets at the mall and he is in LOVE! He has to yell "rawr" every time he places one on the fridge! I think these will make a nice distraction while I'm trying to cook dinner. :)

One of Liam's Favorite Toys! by rivasandcompany on Polyvore

Melissa & Doug Wooden Dinosaur Magnets
melissaanddoug.com

April- The Month of the Military Child

April is the Month of the Military Child. This month Military Children are celebrated and honored for all they sacrifice.  All 1.8 million of them! It may not seem like it, but a member of the military is not the only one who gives up a part of their lives for our country. Spouses and children give up so much too.

Liam is so young that he does not seem to be affected by the constant in and out of his Dad. He does seem to wake up more during the night and has a harder time going to bed when his Dad is out to sea. I know if he were older it would be a lot worse.  Older children are much more aware that their father is not home. They can never quite settle into a routine at home with the crazy schedule that some ships keep. They're in for a week or two and out for a month, then home for a month and out for a week. Children need consistency and the Navy does not provide that. They never know what to expect. It's hard. On them and on all the spouses holding down the fort.

 I'm not looking forward to this upcoming deployment. We have not done a deployment with a child yet. That does not mean Pablo has not been away. He's been in and out a lot since Liam was about 6 months old. He missed Liam's first time crawling and his first steps. I think that at this age the separation is harder for Pablo than it is for Liam. Liam is blissfully unaware that Pablo is missing so much of his early years. Don't get me wrong. When Pablo comes home Liam runs as fast as he can into his Daddy's arms. He missed him, he just didn't realize it. ;)

All of the separation, the unknown and the constant change of Military life makes Military Children resilient, flexible and strong. They can grow wherever they are planted. I could not have put it better than this 11 year old Military Child. This is beautiful. It brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

 "My family and I got your back." And we do! This little one too!

Our Weekend In Review// Easter Weekend

We hope everyone had a joyful Easter! We had a great weekend together. It was my husbands first 2 day weekend in a long time, so we enjoyed every minute of it. Here are just a few shots from our weekend. Most of them are from Easter Sunday and most of them are of Liam. He was just so cute in his Easter duds that I could not help but take a million pictures of him. ;)

All of the above pictures were taken on Saturday. The forecast was predicting rain on Easter Sunday (and they were right), so we decided to get some good pictures of Liam when it was nice out! 

 

Our Easter Sunday started with a rainy Easter egg hunt. Liam loved finding the eggs and he caught on really fast which surprised me. :)

The obligatory family Easter pictures. I'm not sure what was up with my hair in that picture. I think the rain flattened it to my head. ha!

 After our church service ends the band always plays a song as everyone is leaving. Liam jumped up and ran to the front when the music started this time.  He danced and clapped right in the middle of the band. Then his baby friends joined him. They were definitely rejoicing and having a blast.

 I'll leave you with my Easter best. I just feel more comfortable in jeans these days and our church is very come as you are, so I went with bright Spring jeans!

My top is Liz Claiborne, necklace is ILY Couture, jeans are jcp™ Sophie Perfect Skinny Jeans and my shoes are super old (read comfy) Rockports.  You can find them here, here, and here. The shoes are so old that they no longer sale them, but you can find some similar ones here and here.  :D