Valentines Day!

I love Valentines day. I always have. When we were little our Dad would always play cupid. We would wake up in the morning to find something just for us from cupid. He always made it special for us and I remember the beautiful things he always got for me and my sister and how to always out did himself getting for our Mother.  It's one of my best childhood memories. I've tried to keep this alive(even though I have a boy).  The house is always decorated and he wakes up to something from cupid every year. We also always do our pink heart pancake dinner!

This year I've been making most of the decorations for the house, and I'm loving it!

Little's Valentines day cards for his class!

Banner I made from a book that was headed to the trash(Nicolas Sparks to be exact! Something spilled on it and I hated that it was wasted!)

Ribbon wreath! I love having these(hate making them though!). I want one for every holiday!

Thanksgiving(a little late)

My husband has been gone for a while and was supposed to return the day before Thanksgiving....but, as things always go with the Navy, the boat broke and they were delayed. After much convincing, they were able to pull in on Thanksgiving morning! They got in at about 8am and got everything taken care of. A few hours later J was able to come home! He didn't get much down time though since we were hosting Thanksgiving dinner! EEkkkk!

My first time cooking everything went great! We had turkey & ham with all of the sides! I even made super cute cookies!(pictures below). It was also so amazing that most of our friends were able to make it to dinner. Spending time away from home for the holiday isn't so hard when your "Navy Family" can spend it with you.

I'm so thankful that Jwas able to be home on time and gets to spend the holidays with us. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Stripe cookies, mini Reece's dipped in yellow tinted frosting on top. (orange star burst buckles)

Stripe cookies(cut in half) with marshmallow cookie(cut in half) with candy corn heads!

My Valentine.

I was 14 and a freshman in highschool when J and I met. He was a year older then me and had gone to a different middle school, so I had no idea who he was. We were on a bus headed to a basketball tournament and my cell phone wasn't working. He offered to help me.

He was quiet and didn't say much. We ended up writing back and forth on my phone(in the days before texting. lol). All I remember thinking is "Not only is he CUTE, but he's nice to!". We ended up sitting together the next few days on the way to the games.  The last day I couldn't make it since I had a dance competition. He found me at school the next Monday and told me he was mad I ditched him and told me that I owed him.  At some point a note was passed that had my number in it. It took him a few days to get the guts to call. But he did. While talking he reminded me that I owed him. When asked what he wanted all he said was "Just you". That was it. I was his.

We spent all of our days together. Normal high school stuff. He walked me to and from all of my classes, I wore his varsity jacket, I went to all his games and meets and we were together every weekend. It was perfect.

This is our very first picture together! I think we had been together 3-4 months?

We even went to all of the dances together.(and were always matching perfectly, I might add!)

We dated all of high school. At times I think I could have been a little bit nicer to him but what teenage girl doesn't have mood swings!? I loved him and I knew I did. My mom told me once while she was driving me to school when I was 16 "You need to treat that boy nice, Kimberly. You're going to marry him someday". I knew she was right.

When we were 17 he bought me a promise ring for Christmas. I loved it. I loved that when he gave it to me he told me that he loved me more then he ever knew possible and that one day he would make me his wife.

And that he did.

He proposed to me on a picnic(hence where our love for them really comes from) on a chilly day at our favorite beach on the Island. It was perfect. I cried and said yes and all he could do was smile.

We were married that June.

Saying "I Do".

A few months later he decided to join the navy. It was the first time we had ever been apart for more then a few days. I had never known what pain was until that time. I'd never felt heartbreak. But that was it. My heart broke for him. He came back a new man. A better man. I never knew what we had could be better, but it was.

2011 marks 10 years together for us(the end of 2011, but 2011 none the less). I fall more and more in love with him everyday. We aren't perfect, but we try our best. I love him with all that I have and I know he does the same. I never thought this would be our lives. The navy life. But it is, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Today on Valentines Day, from under the Sea, I know he's thinking about me as much as I am him.

Birthday....part 1

This is just the videos Landon sledding today. I have a post that I will write up tonight or tomorrow about it all with pictures.

Where we live in housing used to have a ton more houses(like a few hundred more) that are now torn down. Whats left is a lot of land(that in the summer is all nice grass). It has tons of perfect hills for sledding. We had a few nice ones to pick from and where we ended up was perfect since it had a huge one and a smaller one for Landon to go down when he was sick of the big one.

We were out there for almost 2 hours sledding and it was so much fun.

Yes, I'm aware that my son screams like a little girl. He's 5. Give him a break.

We had a great time. I'm so glad we got the chance to go outside and sled for a while. It was the perfect thing to do on a birthday!

The Polar Express!

(Deployment story and more pictures to come! For now, here's what we are doing now!)

Last night we went to Newport, Rhode Island to ride the Polar Express. We did it last year and it's so fun I think we will do it every year that we live here.

This year we went with some of our friends from the boat. We love hanging out with them and it was so much fun to have them there with us. The kids loved coloring together and looking out the train windows, while the parents traded stories of the just past deployment. It was a great night.

This is the picture they take on the train.

J & I on the train. I love having him home!

Me and Bitsy! I love that little girl so much! Shes so cute and we always joke that shes going to marry Landon one day!

Santa came on the train! When he asked Landon what he wanted Landon replied with "A house" Hahaha. Santa's face is PRICELESS! He said he's never tried to bring a house down a chimney before but he will see what he can do.

The kids watching out the windows. waiting to get to the North Pole.

My little family!

We had such a great time and to J's delight, went to eat at cracker barrel for dinner! I love having him home and having a family social life again!

Spirit Week & Halloween party!

Landon loves school. I honestly think choosing to take the full day spot was one of the best things we have done. He's learning so much and because he's there all day he's made some great friends and gotten to do some amazing things.

Last week at school it was spirit week. Landon thought it was so much fun getting to do something different everyday.

Monday was pajama day! We almost forgot and I was so glad his warm ones were clean!(it was a little bit of a bad mommy moment. But it could have been worse). He thought it was so great that he got to wear PJ's to school.

Tuesday was crazy hair day. He doesn't have much hair to do anything with, but he liked that I put stuff in it to make it stand up.

Close up.

Wednesday was crazy hat day! We don't really have crazy ones, but his snow hat worked just fine!

He did tell me that it wasn't crazy enough. Next year it wants it "SUPER CRAZY!" haha.

Thursday was backwards day. Didn't take a picture.......

Then Friday was orange & black day, but if they wanted to they could bring their costumes to wear for their class party.

I went in early to help with the party. I helped get it all set up and ended up staying the rest of the day to help. The kids made crafts and played a few games. They even went on a "parade" around the school to show off their costumes. It was so cute to see them all dressed up.

Werewolf Landon playing bingo at the party.

Making a popcorn hand.

He loved it! We will be making these next year for sure!

Pasta necklace.

I had a great time getting to be there with him. I've also gotten to know a few of the other moms that help out often. It's so different this year then it was last year. I guess parents(not all, but most I've seen here) don't care as much when it's half day. I'm just glad that he loves school and I hope it's still this way when he's 16! Hahaha, yeah right!

I have more pictures I will post later from the base Halloween party and of trick-or-treating. I had them on here but it was turning to be a much longer post then I care for.

Halloween things I love!

I love books and movies for the holidays. I don't "do" scary, so I like finding good Halloween movies and such that are "family friendly". I did a post last year about the books and movies I loved that Halloween and I have a new list for this year!

First is books!

Porkenstein

Super cute book! Landon brought it home from the library and we have read it every night this week! It's about a pig from "the three little pigs" and how after the big bad wolf ate his brothers, went on to try to make himself a new friend!

I Need My Monster

I got this one at Landon's book fair. It's a cute story and I LOVE the vibrant pictures! They really pull you in! It's about a boy who finds a note from his monster saying he will be back in a week. He goes on a hunt to find another monster to take his place! Super cute and funny!

Where's My Mummy?

Still a favorite from last year! About a little mummy who thinks hes not scared of anything. We love this one.

Next is movies! All of these are older ones that I watched when I was little and Landon just seems to like them as much as I did!

Ernest Scared Stupid

He LOVES this one! I could have sworn it was going to scare him but he will watch it over and over again if I let him! I can't really explain it....mostly because I haven't watched it in a while, but I do know it has something with trying to get rid of trolls. lol.

Little Monsters

This is another one that I didn't know if he was going to like. It's funny and got him away from being really scared of monsters in his room(at least for now). It's about a boy who catches a monster under his brothers bed and they become friends. It's not a really light and cheery one for the most part, but we like it.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

I LOVE this one. It's one that I used to watch every time it came on TV. It's about two twin sisters who find out they are witches. Super cute! Landon and I watched this for our movie night this past weekend!

If you have some suggestions of ones you like, let me know! I'm always on the look out for new ones!

Feeling the love. Happy Mothers Day!

I wasn't supposed to be with my husband for Mother's Day but by the grace of the Navy God and a little bit of leave time, we had the most amazing weekend.

Let me start by saying that my husband rocks. He does every holiday like its our last and always tries to top the last one. We had a Mother's Day weekend here at the R house.

On Saturday I woke up late (I love getting to sleep in when J is home) and J told me to get ready. We went to lunch at Friendly's and got some great food and ice cream (Landon was a goof with his. He cracks me up). Then we went to one of my most favorite places here in New England....The Old Mystic Village. They have the most amazing shops and have a little pond where we love to go and feed the ducks (they sell duck food for pretty cheap at the general store). We fed the ducks and walked around all of the shops. It was a lot of fun (at some point J went and got me my gift and I had no idea. lol).

Here are the pictures for the Village. The big one is Landon at lunch with his Volcano Ice cream.


That night we finished with a big ol' family movie night. We did it right with all of the fixin's. Monkey bread, candy, popcorn, ice cream and a few new movies!

This morning I once again got to sleep as long as I wanted. I think I got up close to noon. lol.

When I got up I had a note saying the boys would be back in a bit. I hung out and had some mommy quiet time (aka uninterrupted TV time).

The boys came home and were all sneaky getting everything into the other room. I was called in to find the biggest display of gifts I could imagine. J got me a new Vera purse & wallet (If you know me in real life you know my love for all things Vera), a dozen and a half of the most amazing pink roses (that I was told Lan picked out for me), a dozen chocolate covered strawberries, a balloon, cards and a picture Landon drew me at school. I never expected so much. I feel over spoiled! lol.

After we hung out for a bit I was told to go take a nap and J would take care of the house before our company showed up. So I read for a bit and took a nice little nap with the puppers.

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband and son. I don't know what I would do without them. Even with out the spoiling, I feel like the luckiest women in the world.

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I just had to share what my hubs just put on facebook.....

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Justin R: So one Vera Bradley purse, a dozen roses, a dozen chocolate covered strawberries, and a card singing "your the best" is all it takes to get an afternoon full of video games....almost worth it. Happy Mother's Day Kim

Lol. I love the way he thinks.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day.

Easter Part 4

Ok I'm done after this I swear! Here are the pictures from our egg dying and little backyard egg hunt. We don't eat much eggs here so I have no idea whats going to happen to these little guys, but Landon and I had a lot of fun so I guess that's all that counts. We even made one for daddy.

Landon is obsessed with hiding and finding eggs now. As we speak he's hiding them around the house and pretending like he doesn't know where they are. I love that kid.

It's been so beautiful the past few days, but they say it's going to rain again tomorrow so we are getting as much sun as we can before the clouds come out.

Easter Part 3

Last night Landon and I decorated sugar cookies (I HATE sugar cookies, no idea why, but I do. So I don't like to make them just to go through all that work and not eat them...then have them go in the trash) so I bought a little kit this year. It was so cute, cuter then I expected by far. They had gummy ears and teeth that you could put on them and Landon LOVED that.

He wanted to make his a one eyed bunny.....only my kid I swear! He is so random. Then our kissy face for daddy (don't judge it was before bedtime and I A- had no makeup on and B-am fried from our hike the other day....I know I don't look my best here and I don't care). We had a lot of fun making them together and Hundley was watching us like a hawk just waiting for one to drop!

After we made cookies we did a glow-n-the dark egg hunt in the livingroom. I tried to take pictures but it was too dark. lol.

Easter Part 2

It was just Landon and I today for Easter....again. I don't mind it and J is sweet enough to pick something out to go in the basket every time he can't be here. So we made due and sent Daddy an e-mail telling him we wished he was here.

When I was growing up we always had to hunt for our baskets on Easter morning. I loved it! It was always so much fun trying to find your basket...and I hated when I could find both my sisters but could never find mine! haha.

Last night Casey sat and watched me put together Landon's basket. I had a ton of things to put in there. Then I hid it......under the kitchen sink (it took him a while to find it). Then Landon dug in. He played with his new castle for hours today. I think Easter was a toy hit this year (we did read a few books on the real reason for Easter but I don't think he really gets it yet).


Pictures from top left over...First round of stuff in the basket (mini etch-a-sketch, tons of candy, eggs and oobie eyes). Rock-em-sock-em robots minis he loves them! Stuff from the Grandparents (coloring book, candy and a webkin(next picture)). The whole basket (so much stuff! it was crazy!) He found it under the sink and laughed so hard....I loved it. Then Landon checking out his loot.

I have more pictures from our little egg hunt and stuff but I will add those tomorrow.

I hope everyone had an amazing day!

Easter Part 1

Yesterday we went to the Base Easter egg hunt. 15,000 eggs and about 500+ kids. It was nuts. I don't know what the people in the back of the pack did, we were in the front and it was kinda hard to get eggs. But Landon had a great time. Mandy went with us....she does everything with us when J is gone...poor Mandy.

When we were leaving we ran into Jessi and her son Adrian (who gets along so well with Landon!) so we talked for a bit and took a few pictures. It was a ton of fun, but next year I think we will look for other egg hunts to go to.

And someone needs to tell that mom that socks should NOT be worn with ballet flats. ALSO If you are dressed in a nice sun dress and your hubby is in a button down shirt, please don't have your kids in their PJ's it makes you look like you are more about how you look then how your kids do.

Dr. Seuss! One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish.

Dr. Seuss' birthday is tomorrow. I always remember doing fun things when I was in school for this day. So I thought it would be fun to do it this year with Landon! Last night I had a friend over.....I enlisted her help. She read the book while I got things ready for the craft.

Here they are reading the book. (No idea what the face is for. He wouldn't smile.)

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You need...
2 8 1/2x11 clear plastic sleeves (like the ones used in binders)
Colored tissue paper (blue and red specifically. I also used green and yellow).
Marker (for tracing).
Stapler
Cardstock/Carboard (to create fish template)

Step 1. Draw a fish shape onto cardstock. Make sure you have a wide tail base.

Step 2. Cut out fish shape.

Step 3. Trace fish shape onto clean sheets (I did 2 fish per sheet, but you can use a whole sheet to each fish, just make sure you have enough clear sheets. lol.)

Step 4. Cut out each fish shape. Be careful not to get them mixed up. I cut the tails out first and stapled them so I could keep them together.

Step 5. Staple around fish. Make sure you leave an opening to put the tissue in.

Step 6. Cut tissue into squares and stuff the fish with one color each.

Step 7. Staple around rest of fish to close it up.

Step 8. Write on each fish and give them a face if you would like!

We had a lot of fun making these and Landon loves to play with them when we read the book at bedtime now. It was a simple little craft to make and didn't take much time at all.

Valentine's Day loot! (longest post EVER)

I like Valentine's Day. I always have. I love getting surprised by Justin and just reeling in all the pink! Justin does great on all holidays but Valentine's he always goes overboard. He told me the other night that it's fun to go all out and see if he can do it better every year....and that if he shows me how much he loves me on the 14th maybe he can have the rest of the year off (and that if it wasn't for Valentine's Day he would have to show me he loves me everyday, and that's just plain boring). Lol that's my husband for ya!
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Since he had duty on Sunday I knew he were going to celebrate on Saturday.

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He woke me up bright and early to get ready and get to breakfast. It was so fun. Most of the time (ok all of the time) I sleep in on weekends. I let Justin play video games downstairs while I get as much sleep as I want. So getting up early and eating breakfast was a ton of fun.

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After breakfast we went over to the Mystic Village. It's one of my favorite places to go. The shops are amazing and when the weather is nice we love to feed the ducks in the pond. It also has the most amazing Vera Bradley store around here.

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For part of my gift, Justin let me loose in the Vera store, told me I could get whatever purse I wanted and that he would meet me at the car after he took Landon to a different store.
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(It was hard picking what one I wanted)

After Mystic we went home so I could take a nap (I love mid-day naps!).

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Justin woke me up a few hours later and told me to get ready again. We were off to dinner! We ate at a really great restaurant and had a great time. Landon is so goofy.

(The boys at dinner)

After dinner Justin took me to the book store. You see this is amazing since I'm not really aloud to go in there anymore due to how many books I come out with. lol. Target is a safe bet with me since I only get 3-4. The book store is BAD news! But I got a lot of really great books that will keep me busy while Justin is gone.

(not too bad. It could have been worse)

When we got home later that night he gave me my favorite fudge from Mystic. He was sneaky about getting it while I was in the Vera store.

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Day 2!

I didn't expect anything on Valentine's Day since we'd done everything the day before. So I was shocked when someone knocked on the door early (ok it was 10) in the morning on Sunday.
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The guy handed me all of this!

(One dozen chocolate covered strawberries)

(He felt bad that he couldn't be there.....even though we had fully celebrated the night before)

I love the Hippo. Landon named it "Hippo Landon" and keeps it wrapped in a baby blanket.
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(Landon loves strawberries, and loves that I share!)

That night I made Landon pink heart pancakes for dinner. I topped it with Strawberries, chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. He loved it! Major sugar rush dinner, but it's only once a year so why not!

I hope everyone had an amazing Valentine's Day!