2013 Holiday Open House

David and I hosted an Open House for the Officers/Chiefs in the Group. My grandma came in town to help me prepare and I greatly appreciated it!!!
                                      

we pushed our dining table against the wall to provide room for the guests to stand and snack.  We have a built in cabinet that we decorated the inside to add to the back drop.  We tried to put sweet and savory at every station around the house.  A variety of cookies and cupcakes, veggies with dip, fruit with dip, a cheese tray, and pecan chicken salad with dinner rolls were available at this table.

at another table in the Dining Room, we had a sliced honeybaked turkey with crescent rolls and sliced cheese, a variety of cupcakes and cookies, a basket of mini pigs in a blanket, and veggies and dip

in the kitchen, we had a variety of wines, sodas, liquor, and of course, water bottles (with their special labels)

in the living room, we had a bowl full of mini pigs in a blanket and some santa crunch on this table

another table in the Living Room had a variety of cupcakes and cookies, as well as shrimp dip and crackers, and some more of the santa crunch (chex mix recipe)

I used my bucket and filled it with beer and put it in a open space for easy access

Baby Girl Baby Shower

I hosted a baby shower for a new mom - and guess what?  She was having a girl!  She was gracious and let me go with all pink!  We highlighted with a touch of brown for contrast.  It was so much fun!

I decorated the porch with balloons and paper pom-poms

I used light pink, white, and dark pink tulle to frame to door.  It didn't turn out quite like I imagined, but I didn't pre-decorate this area, so I ran out of time to do it better.  The guests didn't seem to notice, or care, though!

I made this diaper wreath that I saw on a friend's blog.  it was super easy and a perfect party favor for the mother to decorate the nursery with, if she wanted to.  I made sure to match it with her nursery theme.

This was the sign in table.  I made a nametag for each guest that had a cherry blossom tree on it (her nursery theme) and in the little pink pales were pink glitter spray painted clothespins, to play the "don't say baby" game.  I wish I'd used fresh flowers, but these worked well too!

I made this cute Subway Art on my Creative Memories Storybook Creator software and bought an inexpensive frame.  I found the idea on another blog.  I also gave this to the mom-to-be as a keepsake for the nursery.

I wish these pictures had turned out better, but I bought different sized onsies at Hobby Lobby and a couple of cute pairs of shoes.  I hung them from some pink clothespins (spray painted with pink glitter spray) on a cord strung from one side of the curtain rod to the the other.  The cord was invisible to the naked eye.  I printed 3 designs on clear avery sticker labels, and put them on the onsies.  I gave these to the mom to be.

This was the photo back drop for when she opened up her gifts and we played games,

In the basket on the left were the party favors for the guests (pictured up close, below).  The large bag, was filled with a "hospital survival guide" filled with different things for the hospital - chapstick, face wipes, granola bars, M&Ms, puzzle book, hair ties, etc. - for the mom to be to take with her to the hospital.  The bags on the right were prizes (pink nail polish, pink lotion and pink hand sanitizer from Bath and Body) for the winners of the games we played .

up close view of the party favor - raspberry flavored M&Ms along with a "thank you" tag, tied with delicate pink ribbon.

Pink Lemonade Spritzer

Water Bottle labels with 3 different patterns - from the theme of the baby shower

gifts were put on the back side of this table

The food bar - veggies with dip, chicken salad sandwiches, strawberry spinach salad, and fruit

The dessert table was filled with homemade cupcakes, pink dipped strawberries, and pink iced sugar cookies.  I made cupcake labels that matched the water bottle labels, and the stickers on the onsies.

up close view of the onsie stickers designs which I made on my creative memories storybook software and cut with my Silhouette Cameo. 

Spring Dinner Party for 16

Dinner Party for 16 - table setup

Dinner Party for 16 - view 2, water bottles

Dinner Party for 16 - napkin

Served a pasta dinner with salad, rolls, and desserts

Green & Blue Decorations

It's been a long time since I've blogged.  I decided to go ahead and post these pictures, mostly cause I am proud and amazed at myself for putting it all together~

I had this table runner and it was my inspiration for colors.

This one is of the 16 place settings.  We have several 5 foot tables so we used a couple of them along with our many folding chairs to have enough room for everyone to sit.

I placed water bottle at each place setting.  I served drinks as well, but it worked out great because almost everyone drank their water too.

A good view of the folded napkin.

The menu cards I made to match the table.

Glam-ma's?

Really people?  I was cleaning up the kitchen this morning when lo and behold on the Today Show, there were two middle aged women who refused to be called "grandma".  They preferred names such as Noni, Ya-Ya, Nana, or even worse, "Glam-ma".

These women appeared to be very fit, dressed nice, took care of themselves and in no way looked "old".  Their reasoning was that their image of a grandma was someone who stayed in their house all day cooking and cleaning for grandpa, doing the laundry and knitting all day with their bi-focals at the end of their noses.  Those who wore moo-moos and house shoes.  And they didn't want to be out in public with their grandkids and someone (heaven forbid) call them grandma and then the people around them conjur up this pre-described image.  They even went as far as to say that before the baby is born, you should quickly meet up with the expectant parents and discuss what name you will be called.  By doing this, you can snag up the good nicknames before they are all taken!!!  REALLY??!?!?!

I hate to break it to ya, ladies --- if your children have children...YOU-ARE-A-GRAND.MA!!!!  Whatever the kids call you, you are still a grand.ma!  (It's different if you have a family tradition, or a cute little name comes out when you kids can't say grandma.) 

When my mother heard I was having a baby and she was not "old enough to have a grandchild", she never ONCE said, "I am too young to be called grandma",  (At least not to me, she didn't.)  Instead, she relished in the fact that now she would have a new little someone that she could spoil rotten, love to pieces, and shower with everything she had to give...and to be called Grandma. 

No matter how old or young you are, grandma is just a name.  Enjoy it!  As a friend's son just put it to me a few minutes ago, these woman are depriving themselves of the joy of being a grandma by being wrapped up in what the child should call them as to not make them sound too old. 

I have a vision of a grandma, and it certainly isn't the description from paragraph 1.  It's of someone who loves me, spends time with me, took care of me when I was younger (and still does, at times), drives to come visit me, goes places with me, loves me unconditionally, and doesn't judge me for how I look.  My daughter's vision of a grandma is a young, vibrant woman, who runs marathons, eats healthy, works hard and spoils her rotten.  Maybe these "glam-ma's" should focus more on their lifestyles by put a new, healthy image into their grandkids heads instead of worrying if they are still considered glamourous! 

Cut me some slack!

I am feeling a little overwhelmed today. So I decided to blog. I don't know if anyone will read this, but frankly, I am just writing it to hopefully get some relief. Get out of my own head, so to speak. It seems as though almost immediately after I posted my last blog about trying to stay positive about the move, the whole world has almost crumbled down on me. It's almost like I keep hitting one road block after another after another. We have known since December 2nd where the AF was going to send us ~ Robins AFB in Georgia. Some of my friends know that it wasn't the assignment we were expecting, so it took David and I a few weeks to swallow it. We finally became content, I think, with the fact that we were moving (or maybe we just got busy and decided not to worry about it anymore, since it couldn't change anything!) Anyway, we got moved into our new house, tried to get settled, planned a small vacation to go visit our friends in Montgomery, AL followed by a quick trip to Robins to check things out, then a nice relaxing 3 day vacation at the beach. It was beautiful, I felt rested, I didn't have a care in the world. Once we were home and back to reality, I asked David to please check into what we need to do as far as moving. You see, our daughter is on EFMP (Exceptional Family Member Program) through the military because of her autism (PDD-NOS) diagnosis, ADHD, LD, and gross & fine motor delays. This program is designed so that the military family doesn't find themselves stationed somewhere that care is not available. I don't think it's designed to narrow the field of opportunity for our military member, but more to protect the family member. This would be our first move with her on this program and I had no idea what to expect, except that I had heard it becomes a bit cumbersome. David was not too into "checking into things" early, he felt the system needed to work itself out and that we didn't need to worry about things beyond our control. While I agreed with him, it's not my nature to just sit around and wait. I need answers...I need to feel "safe". Safe that my family won't have to live apart, safe that things will work out, safe that my husbands career will not be affected by the medical care our daughter needs. For the past 2 1/2 years or so, Taylor has received OT (Occupational Therapy) for 45 minutes two times a week where the focus is working on her fine and gross motor skills. While she has made leaps and bounds, she is still not caught up to where she needs to be. She has also received ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) Therapy three times a week for 2 hours each. This is a therapy designed for children on the autism spectrum to help with a variety of needs. Taylor's main need is social skills. They are helping her learn body language, social cues, how to interact with someone, when/what is appropriate type behavior, etc. Taylor sees everything in black and white. There is no gray area for her. In addition, we also have access to a child psychologist, if the need presents itself. And it has on a few occasions. With Taylor's spectrum diagnosis (PDD-NOS), she is also qualified to be on yet another program offered through Tri-Care. It's called ECHO (Extended Care Health Option). This is the program that allows her to receive ABA treatment. I did some research online to find a pediatric therapy location (for OT) and to look for a BCaBA (for ABA) in the local area. Since I wasn't having much luck, I decided to call her case manager at ECHO to just be sure there are services available in Macon, GA. The studies say that 1 in 10 kids are on the spectrum, so surely there would be services in an area of 65,000 people, right? After a few phone calls , messages, and transfers, I finally talked to the gal who would be her case manager when we move. Less than comforting news. She did not show anyone in Tri-Care receiving ABA in the area we would be moving, nor did she see a facility within a 90 mile radius. WHAT!?!?!?! The 90 mile radius is important because we've been told your assignment may get denied if you have a family member on EFMP and no services are available within 90 miles. But she did tell me that there were some in central florida and south carolona, and would look into it and let me know if one of them was willing to travel to us, or at least travel to within the 90 mile radius. Breath, breath, breath!!! David and I have decided to wait to panic about this, but I just can't help it. It's scary. Without the EFMP process completed, we can not make any plans for moving because we can't get official orders until that is approved. We can't book TLF, we can't go to TMO, we can't book a family vacation in between assignments. In addition, we are having battles about when David's report date is. We want to report Jul 31, they want us there Jul 19. David has an event with the military that will keep us here until the 15th of July. So now I am presented with 4 days to move, two of which are the weekend. I either have to pack the house alone (while my husband works 12 hours shifts ~ at night), pack the house prior to the event and have them put our stuff in storage, or pack the house several weeks prior and Taylor and move early, leaving David behind and setting up the new house alone. Of course, we can't plan ANY of this stuff without knowing the outcome of the EFMP review!!!! This also give us 4 days to get from one location to the next. David working nights up until the 15th, the drive 15 hours to our new location, and hopefully have 2 days to get our house, have TMO deliver our goods, have a change of command for David, and get settled ~ all without a vacation. Ugh. This is really too much stress. The moving is stressful enough without all these other factors involved. I just need some answers. I need to know what to do. I need to know everything will be ok. I need to know my family will be able to stay together. I need to know my husband will be able to keep his orginally assigned job, or at least get a comparable one. I dont' know what else to say. :"(

I'm really tired of being Negative Nelly

It's that time again.  We've heard the AF has plans for my husband, and we'll be moving to Warner Robins, GA.  We found this information out WAY back in December.  I've had a long time to process it.  Most of my friends know that it wasn't the assignment my husband expected.  But we are ready for it and he is excited and ready for the challenge.
Being a military BRAT (and yes, I am proud to say BRAT), I always dreaded my dad's next assignment.  It always seemed as though it would be time to move right when I was starting to feel comfortable at the current location.  I would have just begun to let my guard down, let people in, and have real friends.  I would actually begin to like the place I had been dragged to by my toenails, and now the AF was telling my parents that we had to move again!!!  I swore as a teen that I would never, ever marry a man in the military, and never, ever put my own children through the same social difficulties that I had been through. 
What do ya know?  I fell for a military guy.  Ugh.  What does this mean?  Either I have to break up with him (not an option), convince him that serving and defending our country was not the right career path for him (again, that's out), or suck it up and realize that maybe it wasn't all that bad growing up as a military BRAT.  Of course, I choose Option #3.  You just can help who you fall in love with.  :)
After all that, in my married life, I have had to say goodbye to a lot of friends who felt more like family, set up our house on more than a few occasions, redecorate because what we had in the previous house no longer fit in the new one (i.e., mostly curtains, storage containers, etc.), and just simply suck it up. 
In all of our assignments, I have argued and found every reason under the sun as to why we can not possibly go to the next place, in hopes that the AF will change it's mind and let us just stay where we are, with all the great people that are already there.  This particular time, I told myself that I would not make excuses, I would just go.  Go to Georgia, experience all the new people, places, food, culture.  Go and enjoy this opportunity. 
Yesterday during my run, I wondered why I wasn't trying to get my husband to retire - as I have done the past three assignments.  Where was my "negative nelly" persona?  Was it manifesting itself in other ways, like..."will my husbands health condition keep up from going?", "will my daughter's medical needs prevent the assignment from going through".  Yes it was!  After that realization, I came home and vowed to be more positive ~ like I started out to do in the first place.  GA is a good assignment for my husband, there will be services available for our daughter, and my husband's health will be resolved soon.  There more than likely will be wonderful people there too.  We are a very lucky, happy family and not everyone gets the opportunity to see so many different parts of the country.  No more negative nelly living here.  At least I hope not!