State Facts

Lately, I have found myself thinking of the things I will really miss about Clermont - my running group, the sidewalks, being close to family, ready babysitters, loving church family, great neighbors, no traffic, no smells of fast food around lunch time . . . and the list goes on and on.  So, I started googling some information about North Carolina to get myself excited about moving to Fort Bragg. 

Some information I found:

North Carolina's state vegetable is the sweet potato.  Now, for anyone who knows me you know that I LOVE sweet potatoes.  Maybe since it is the state vegetable it will be cheap.  Who knows?

There is a nice library close to the base with a toddler story time almost every day!  Jonah will love that!

There is a Dairy Queen right outside the gate (at least according to the map).

Now for the strangest piece of trivia I uncovered . . . North Carolina has a state carnivorous plant!  Really!?!?!  Firstly, are there really enough carnivorous plants to make it necessary to designate one as the state's official carnivorous plant.  Secondly, how many of the carnivorous plants in the world live in North Carolina?  Should I start getting worried about my boys' safety?  Lastly, who thought North Carolina needed a state carnivorous plant in the first place?  What's next?  They also thought to designate a state red berry and a state blue berry (which is the blueberry).  I guess they couldn't decide on one berry so they found a way to compromise.  Anyway, North Carolina's state carnivorous plant is the venus flytrap.

We are headed to the Venus Flytrap State this weekend to start scoping out some houses and get a feel for the area.  Hopefully, we will also be able to complete our orientation to moving.  That isn't the real name for it, but the acronym escapes me at the moment.  :) 

On a little boy note:  Eli learned what a cow says!  It is the cutest little "moo" you will ever hear. 

Time for me to get packing!  Five people to pack takes a lot of time (and suitcases)!

Snow and Sunburn

Wow!  I love the beautiful weather we have been having lately!  I also love my wonderful husband!  These two facts made Monday a terrific day.  Danny decided that I had too much going on in this little head of mine and that I needed some time out of the house.  Sooooo, we went hiking.  It was the best 8 miles I have been on in a while.  It was so strange to be hiking in shorts and look over to see snow on the ground.  We talked and talked and talked. It was a great time of refreshment, exercise, and enjoying the great outdoors.  That afternoon I looked in the mirror to find that I had gotten a sunburn!  What?!?!  I didn't know it was possible to get a sunburn in February! 

So, this post has been sitting waiting to be posted - now I know why (apart from the fact that I had to leave it to go save Huck from Jonah bopping him on the head)!  We found out where we are going!!!  Our family is headed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina!  Danny's report date is June 4th.  Now, I have to get busy "googling" all there is to know about Fort Bragg.  :)

Valentine's Day and The Love Bug

Wow!  This week really flew by - at least that is the way it feels now that it is Friday.  However, when I look back at what I got done the list is very short.  Oh well! 

God was really showing off this week.  I have really had it on my heart to pray for the men's Bible study that started at church this past Monday.  I thought to myself, "I will pray for 25 men to show up because that is way more than they usually have, and even if God can't pull that off they will still have a good number."  Ha!  They had 28!  My God always goes way beyond what I can imagine.

Valentine's Day started out so well.  I got back from my run to find roses and chocolate on the table.  Then Danny made us all heart-shaped blueberry pancakes.  Pancakes are my favorite food in the entire world.  (If you have never tried peanut butter pancakes, they are amazing!)  Anyway, I decided I would make lasanga for dinner since that is Danny's favorite meal.  He really likes it with fried okra, but who serves lasagna with fried okra?!?!  I had dreams of a nice dinner, but my boys had other dreams.  Jonah managed to bop Huck on the head, and Eli cried the whole time.  We both had to reheat dinner twice in the microwave.  At least we tried.  :)

So, I later found out why Eli was so fussy.  I think he was bitten by the love bug!  He has been feverish since then and so pitiful!  Being his mommy, I like him cuddling with me but not when he is so sad.  He just lays around in my arms all day.  This, of course, makes the other two brothers very jealous! 

I have tried to spend a little extra time each day with Jonah so his jealousy is kept at bay.  We have played with his new racetrack.  (This consist of me gathering the cars, him racing them down the track, and me gathering them again.  Loads of fun let me tell you.)  We painted a little and played with his t-ball set.  T-ball proved to be slightly embarrassing for me.  He never missed - not even once!  I, however, would swing and miss a thousand times.  It is on a tee for heavens sake!  Apparently all my efforts at keeping him busy were in vain because today I hear, "Mommy, stuck. Help me!"  When I find him he is trying to free his truck from the ice maker.  Oh, dear!

So, now I am looking forward to the weekend with my little family and hoping no one else gets bitten by the love bug!

Five Years in the Making

Five years. . . that is how long it has been since Danny and I started our life together.  Five years. . .  that is the amount of time we have been building our family (which now includes the three sweetest boys ever).  Five years. . . that is how long we have been waiting for the call we got last week.  When I first met Danny, he had already committed to becoming an Army Chaplain.  Since then he has been working on his seminary degree, serving as associate pastor at our home church, and serving in the Army Reserves.  He was not guaranteed a position as an Active Duty Chaplain, but he was confident in the direction God was leading him.  Actually, the closer to seminary graduation we got the less likely it looked.  I could recount for you many stories of how God has shown himself faithful in our journey thus far but to make a long story short - we got a call last Wednesday saying that he has been accepted as an Active Duty Chaplain for the United States Army!  I am so proud of him!  Of course, becoming an Army family is going to be a big change for us.  We are going to miss our family and friends, but we are excited about this opportunity that God has placed before us.  So, I am starting this blog to share our journey with those we love.  I plan to share our experiences, updates on the boys and their mischief, and probably random rants from time to time as I try to be the mother and wife God has called me to be.  See if you can keep up with the Many Mini Melins!