What I learned from my Mom...

So...this is my first Mother's Day as a M-O-M.  Now, when the men at church are handing out roses on the way out, I can actually take one.  Ideally, I envision breakfast in bed, a real Hallmark card with the Crown Seal on the envelope, and a plaque that somehow incorporated Delaney's handprint and possibly says "World's Best Mom".  Realistically, Mr. Halsey asked me yesterday what I wanted  and I told him that I wanted a hanging flower basket that can be in full sun.  Not pansies because they die and I like multiple colors.  Oh, and don't pay more than $15, 'cause that's just dumb.  Since he literally jotted notes down, he should get it right.  When I told him what I wanted, I realized I sounded just like my mom.  Each year, we three kids would divide up the Mom's Day gifts: one of us buys a hanging basket for full sun, one of us buys a hanging basket for full shade, and one of us is completely on our own because we didn't call dibs on the hanging baskets in time.

So, since I'm pretty sure I've already turned into my mom, I wanted to share some more things that I have learned from her over the years:

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1. Never mow the grass because then your hubby will know you are capable of it and it will become your job.
2. Never buy something for full-price - and 10% does NOT justify a sale.  Really, unless it is at least 30% off, it shouldn't be considered.
3.  Go to the clearance part of the store FIRST.
4. NEVER go further than a 30 minute drive without a can of Pringles in the car.  If it is a full road trip, you will need Pringles, extra jackets (even if it is the middle of the summer), and possibly a cooler with sandwiches and brownies.
5. When your child throws up at night, no matter what the age, you must lay on the floor of the bathroom in case they get sick again even though a warm bed awaits you.
6. No matter what your child's age, if he or she is not at home tucked in bed, then you must stay awake until they are home.  Along the same lines, when dropping a child off at school/friend's house/anywhere, you must watch to make sure they actually make it INTO the building.  There's always that chance that they could trip on the sidewalk and be seriously injured.
7. Generic is just as good as name brand.
8. Even if you think you took enough pictures, take one more just in case.
9. When you go camping, take some egg crate foam to lay under your sleeping bag.  It makes the ground softer.
10. If it is not in a scrapbook, it didn't actually happen.
11. Lipstick should be the first thing you put on in the morning (sorry Mom, I usually fail at this one)
12. Sometimes the best way to get your child to Sunday night church without a fight is to bribe them with a Frosty on the way home. 
13. If you find something dirt cheap for your kids, buy it in every size even if that means your child wears the "same" pair of K-Swiss shoes from 1st grade - 6th grade.  ;)  Love You Mom!

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In all seriousness, my mom is pretty awesome.  From the time my sister started preschool to the time my brother graduated college, I know my mom didn't miss one event.  My friends used to be jealous of me in elementary school because my mom would put special stickers in my lunchbox everyday with a note.  Sometimes they were even scratch and sniff stickers, which caused serious envy with my classmates.  She was always a room mom, always a parent volunteer, and was always ready with a snack for us as soon as we stepped off the bus.  She would read us bedtime stories, say a prayer with us, and sing us a song when we would go to bed.  She never pushed us to be career driven, but encouraged us to follow where God is leading us in our lives - and that family and raising our own children should always come first. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and thank you for being such a Rock Star.

Embrace the Camera

Didn't take many pics this week, but DID take a video.  The other night, Delaney found a new "toy" which is now her favorite thing- a wet wipe.  She likes to have one in her hand at all times, even when she is sound asleep.  I think this can make for a very cost efficient birthday this year!

Hand Me Downs!

I'm not one to buy new clothes for Delaney.  Yes, when I was preggo I thought I had to every adorable outfit in size Newborn that they made because they were so little and cute. 

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{Okay, that's not me and that is a boy onesie is from 1995, but imagine that is me with a cute little girl outfit for Delaney and that was the expression on my face.}

And then Delaney was born and after about, oh five minutes, she was outgrowing her clothes.  I have already packed up so many clothes that still had tags on them because she never got around to wearing them before she outgrew them.  SO, I make it my vow to TRY to not buy her very many new clothes.

{WITH EXCEPTION to this outfit that I bought her the other day from Target because it was too cute to pass up.  Am I right?}

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I love shopping consignment sales, but my sister and I hit the jackpot the other day.  Her good friend has a daughter who is almost 5 and they are now expecting a boy, so she was sweet enough to give Brodi all of her daughter's old clothes.  Brodi {because she is my sister and I would make her if she didn't offer}, offered to split all of the goods with me.  So, we spent about four hours going through the 10+ tubs of girl clothes.  And these were NOT your sister's hand-me-downs.  When I was growing up, I wore my share of Brodi's old clothes, including shorts with Looney Toons that I could have done without.

I'm not even kidding, 90% of the stuff was GYMBOREE!!  Holla!  My little Target baby is going to be toddling around in Gymboree clothes, which makes me very happy and very grateful! {Not that I am dissing Target because I seriously took 3 trips there last Saturday.  I am an addict who needs help.}

Here is just a sampling of what we were given.  I am ready to put the dress on the right on Del now, but I think it is a 4T, so I have to wait a few years.  I will wait patiently until that day comes.

I am SO grateful for friends who are done having babies!!

Memory Lane...

Last night, there was nothing on TV so Mark and I watched The Da Vinci Code 'cause we were both pretty bored.  I think I went to bed around 11.  When I woke up, I got out of bed and got on facebook [don't judge] and realized I missed a pretty big national event:  OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS KILLED.  My initial reaction was "It is about time."  I am happy, yes, but that celebration that I see on tv was not really what I was feeling.  My mind just went to all of the sacrifices made for that one man to be killed.  How it seems like SO long ago when we first went to war... 

I know everyone remembers where they were on 9/11 and I'm not going to share the whole story, but when I first heard about the towers going down I immediately wept.  My weeping was selfish- it was not for the fact that so many lives were lost, but was instead because I knew we would be going to war and as a 17 year-old, I was distraught because my boyfriend {and future husband}had become a Marine 4 months prior.

However, it wasn't until 3 years later in 2004, when Mark and I  had been married for 5 months, that my Marine was told he was going to Afghanistan.  I remember when I got married at such a young age, my parents asked me what I would do if Mark was deployed.  He was stationed in Hawaii and I knew NO ONE except for the young Marine friends that Mark worked with and they weren't exactly guys I would be starting a Bible Study with anytime soon.  I confidently reassured him that Mark was an Active Marine who's job didn't really require him to be over there and he wouldn't be deployed.  Well, God had other plans and so after being married only a few months, Mark left me {his 19 year-old bride} to go to Afghanistan.  I was so scared, but my faith in the Lord sustained me and I was also so proud that my husband was one of the few men willing to make an ultimate sacrifice for his country. 

His deployment was so difficult, but to be honest, looking back, I can't even compare it to what so many other military wives go through.  We didn't have any kids at the time and I still think about seeing his bus drive away to go to the airport and a very young wife with a newborn baby standing there because her husband was also on the bus.  I was blubbering like an idiot and some of the wives with MULTIPLE children had to come comfort me, who had the luxury of only having to care for myself.  For many of the women, they had lost count over the years of how many times they had said goodbye.  They had 2 or 3 kids at home and it was part of the job of being a Marine Corps wife.  While driving to the commissary (grocery store), I often saw buses driving away and wives and kids saying goodbye.  It was almost routine during those years and there were no news cameras filming it because in Hawaii, there are military bases every few miles, so I'm sure the news stations couldn't even keep up.  I had just one deployment overseas while I know so many families go through multiple deployments and are still making sacrifices.  I think that the war has gone on so long, that people just become forgetful that there are still men and women overseas and even after the war is over, there will still be men and women who go on deployment because that is their job and it breaks my heart how we as a nation and I personally almost become numb to it and it takes something like Bin Laden's death for the patriotism to return.  Mark rarely mentions it, but I know there are numerous Marines he served with who have lost their lives in Afghanistan or Iraq over the years which bring me to tears thinking about it.  

I wanted to share some pictures of Mark while he was in Afghanistan.  He took photos while he was there and since I was a crazy scrapper at that time, I surprised him with an "Afghanistan" scrapbook.  It kind of hurt my feelings that he didn't really want to look at it and didn't ohh and aww over the details in the scrapbooking.  How dumb did I feel after he finally admitted that he didn't really want to be reminded of being there even if there was fancy paper and I included Marine Corps stickers.  BUT, a few years later, our dog ATE his cruise book (the 3/3 Marines were given a book of pictures from their deployment) and he agreed that he was glad he had some photos. 

He had to crawl around in the mail room to see if he ever had any packages sent to him.

 The picture on the bottom right is one of my favorites of Mr. Halsey.  He said he was waiting for a haircut.
 

When he returned home... a great day

A Needed Crafternoon

Sometimes, you just need a craft day.  I used to be a crazed scrapbooker- from 2001-2009 my oh so exciting life has been documented in scrapbooks with awesome glitter flowers and double sided tape.  And then I graduated college, got a full-time job, left the full-time job and had a baby.  Therefore, no more time for scrapping.  Luckily, my mom has been scrapping Delaney's life, so she's not forgotten.  Yes, I have a jewelry business, so everyday might sounds like a craft day, but swinging a hammer and oxidizing silver is not really my idea of a crafty hobby.  I think for a true "craft" you have to either include glitter, a glue stick, scissors, felt, paper, or maybe the occassional popsicle stick.

Brodi and I were both needing a crafternoon on Wednesday.  I have decided to remodel my "office", so that when I have another baby [eventually] the room will be all ready. I'll just need to remove the desks, move the jewelry into the kitchen and put in a crib.  I'm going with a yellow and gray color scheme [my new fave], but more about that later.  So, we moved some carseats around and went to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's for some needed craft supplies. 

My project was some hoop art for my soon to be new office/future baby room.  {I know it's weird since I am NOT pregnant, but I figured I could paint the room gray and yellow and in the future, if I have a girl, I'll throw in some coral and if I have a boy, I'll throw remove the ruffles, and maybe throw a baseball in or something.  It will same me some nesting time}.  You can see the finished project in the bottom right corner, BUT I didn't have a glue gun {I know what kind of crappy crafter am I?}, so when I glue the ruffles I can tighten the gray hoop a little better.

Brodi's crafternoon project was a yarn wreath for Harper's door.  I have to admit- It came out A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

I will have to make one for Delaney's room as soon as I get the materials. 

Isn't it cute?!!  She looked up online how to cut the felt for some of the flowers.  I'd do a tutorial, but I didn't exactly make it and she finished it at home, so if you have questions just ask and maybe I can take some pics when I make one for Del. 



Embrace the Camera!

Okay, I feel like a total cheater this week.  I realized that I already posted all of my Easter pics on Monday, and didn't save any pics for Embrace the Camera.  So...since those were the only pics I took of the fam this week, I am reposting the same pics.  BUT,  I threw them in a collage, rounded the corners, and clicked the sixties button on Picnik, so I feel like they're as good as new. 

Okay, no I don't, but it's all I got...

 

 

Whistle While You Work

I've mentioned before that my 5 year-old nephew always takes his shirt and socks and shoes off as soon as he enters my house {this is normal, right?}  So, he was just chillin' and watching TV shirtless when the conversation went something like this

"Kelsey, can I do something to get $5?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know- I just really want $5"

"Well, I'll give you one dollar to fold my laundry"

"Hmmm...no...I'm gonna need $5"

Turns out Brodi told him that if he saves up $5, he could get a small Transformer at Wal-Mart.

I don't know if this is great "aunting" or not, but I agreed to pay him $5 to wash my windows, wash my glass sliding door, sweep the floor, swiffer the floor, dust, and fold my laundry.  He worked over an hour, so I guess he earned close to minimum wage.  I wish I wouldn't have taken a picture of the clothes after they were folded, but I'm sure you can imagine...

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