April is the month of...

Call me crazy, but I can make a "favorites" list for just about anything.

Favorite:

Cupcake- Oreo Truffle

Colors- Tiffany Blue & Pink

Animal- Donkey

Sports team- St Louis Cardinals

Month- April
...and so on...

Even crazier than making a list of favorites is picking my favorite of favorites. (Stick with me, there's a method to my madness!) 

...so of my favorites, my top pick is:

The Month of April

*baseball season

*my birthday

*spring time 

*flowers

and most important

So don't mind me, I am going to share some of my favorite photos of some of my favorite Army babies!

Military kids are, simple put, amazing. They deal with situations most people try to avoid.

-leaving behind family and friends to move to different cities, states or even countries.
-watching a parent on go away for deployments, months at a time.
-switching schools in the middle of a school year and being the dreaded "new kid" yet again.
-being disciplined "military style" (yes ALL of our kids know how to do push ups!!)

So raise your root beer mugs and yell out a big "HOOAH" for the amazingly awesome military child!

Healthy Girl pt1

Just like almost everybody in America, I made a New Year's resolution to eat "right" and get "bikini ready".

Just like almost everybody in America, I quickly lost my motivation.

Lucky for me, I have a husband who is super supportive of my crazy antics and wild ideas. So when I come up with something that isn't so far fetched, such as getting fit and healthy, he's even more in my corner. 

(It's not that I need to shed a lot of pounds nor does my husband want to see me bench press 6x my weight, we are just about living a healthier lifestyle.) 

To start things off we decided to change our diet and to exercise regularly.

• Cutting out the fast food was one of the first things we did. "Ok, this isn't so bad. I kinda like homemade cheeseburgers better anyway!"

• Next was ditching the sodas. "WHOA NELLY!!!!!! I did NOT sign up for this!!!!!" At the time, giving up my sodas felt harder for me, than signing the dotted lines to join the Army. 

• About the same time as I gave up my bubbly beverages, we began taking morning walks everyday. 1 mile then 2. (As of now we are striding at about 3 miles an hour!)

Once April came around our diet plan got even harder. 

• Low carbs and high protein. Nope no Olive Garden for this girl. (sad face) 

• No sugar, yup you read that right NO SUGAR!!!!! **I was not a happy girl on my birthday when I wasn't able to eat my beloved cupcakes.

• LOTS OF WATER!!!!!  ...and I mean LOTS OF WATER!!!!! I keep a water bottle next to me all day long, no matter were I go. Although my hubby has to remind me to drink, I still have easy access to it.

(Keep an eye out for "Healthy Girl pt2" for my "Low Carb Favs" list where I will feature some of my favorite recipes, water, and foods.)

• Mo veggies Mo veggies Mo veggies!! Fruit, not so much, they are higher in carbs than I would of ever thought. 

Now that our diet is (for the most part) in order, we have added weight lifting to our routine. Despite sore muscles this has to be my favorite part of being a fit and healthy girl!

Throughout the last two months I have craved food, soda and candy, lost motivation at times and have almost given up. 

ALMOST! 

On the other hand, I have been less tired, I have more time to talk to my husband during our walks (kinda like a mini date!), seen numbers go down on the scale (muscle weighs more than fat so those numbers might climb again) and more important than the numbers, I've seen changes in my body! 

I am excited about my "Healthy Girl" journey and I hope you will join and follow along every step of the way!

Best of Luck to you on your journey!

What are you doing to be more healthy? Please feel free to share, I can't wait to hear from you!!!

Curse of the mommy blogger?!?!?

So as I sit here bundled up in my blanket on this 40 degree spring day, I find myself browsing different blogs. You know just to see how the "pros" do it, when I run into a couple of blogs actually dissing "mommy bloggers"!!!!

WHAAAA???

They say mommy bloggers post over the top things such as, "How teach your child to do things they would obviously learn on their own", "to homeschool or not to homeschool", they even attack the adorable Bento box lunches. (Pictured on the left)

Now wait a minute, somebody please tell me, what is wrong with making a lunch for your child or loved one, making it as pleasing to the eye as it is on their tummy and sharing what you did online? I can do the same designs on cupcakes (and post them on my cupcake blog) and it be all the rage, but if I do it on this blog for my kids, its annoying and over the top! 

Hmmm, interesting!

They say, reading mommy blogs make them feel like their family could never be as good as the blogger's.

Wow, there's the problem right there, and no the problem isn't with the mommy blogger! 

Whether you are looking at a mommy blog, on Facebook or any other  social media outlet, you shouldn't compare yourself or your family to any body else's! I know God blessed me with my husband when he walked into my life. Granted me the chance to have BONUS babies and He knew exactly what He was doing when He entrusted me to love, care and raise my Belly babies. I couldn't be happier with my family, (even though we are FAR from perfect),

 and there is no blog out there that will make me feel otherwise!

I didn't start this blog to try to make my family look perfect or to make anybody else's feel less than mine or to convince anybody that homeschooling is better than any other option and "how to's" are fun crafts that I want to share with you ...just because! 

"Hello, my name is Mommy" is strictly about fun things I do with my family, recipes and pretty much whatever else. 

With that being said, I hope you enjoy my blog!! I have so much more I want to share with you. 

...Oh & don't forget to comment and share!

Confessions of an Army Wife

Kay, so I know it's been a while since I last posted, but my family and I have been unpacking boxes and reassembling furniture like crazy since late last month.

 ~Oh the joys of PCSing!!!!! (Relocating, in Army terms.)

Anyway, PCSing my not be what I call "fun" (that is unless you're moving to a different country)

 ...but I digress!

... and neither are staff duty days (24 hr shifts) or the dreaded, DEPLOYMENT.

But no worries here!!! (<-- wow, I really started my sentence off with "But"?!?!) There's always a brighter side.

• PCSing gives you the chance to meet new people, live where you never would of gone otherwise and sometimes give you the chance of experiencing a new culture. 

• 24 hr duty gives you a chance to blog (wink wink) or hang out on Pinterest, be in control of the remote and even sprawl out on the bed and hog the blanket to yourself.

• Deployments stink, plain and simple. (Two days after my husband left for deployment, I had our son) I didn't think I could make it through it, but I did! I learned so much about myself and got to hang out with my baby boy for, two weeks shy of, a year. Not to mention I redecorated, and hogged the bed to myself! LOL 

       Eventually my "brighter side" rolled around,  prepping

 for my best friends return!!!

There is NOTHING like military life (I know from both sides), but everything is what you make of it! ツ

Have a beautiful day!

Happy Spring!

Ok ok, so I know I'm a couple of days late, but

 Happy 1st day of  Spring.

Lol

To take advantage of the nice weather and to get the kids out of the house, I whipped up a quick batch of chalk paint and let my kiddos out on the back patio.

Fresh air + Warm sun + Paint + Happy kiddos =

HAPPY MOMMY and DADDY!!!!!

So, because you rock, I decided to share the recipe for your very own batch of 

DIY Chalk Paint

• 1 cup corn starch
• 1 cup water
• liquid food coloring 
• spoon
• medium bowl
• muffin pan
• paint brushes 

Mix your water and corn starch together in your medium bowl. (Your mixture shouldn't be lumpy, if it is, simply smoosh them with the back of your mixing spoon)

Evenly divide you mixture into equal portions (I just eye balled it, nothin' fancy here) in your muffin pan. 

In each cup add your colors. 

(I added about 5 of each color. You can add more or less depending on how vivid or light you want your colors to be.) 

Next, let your little ones out with a few paint brushes and HAVE FUN!!!

What awesome things do you to get out and beat cabin fever?!

Caught Ya!!!

Doing simple everyday task, such as running to the store, post office or library can be a chore when you have little ones.

(...speaking from experience!!!!)

So to ease the stress and add a little incentive for good behavior I made a "Caught you being good" chart.

(Click here for your own wallet size charts!!!)


**How we use it**
After running errands we come home and put a sticker on the appropriate spot (if they behaved) and talk about our day. This is a perfect time for us to talk about things we did well or things that were done ...not so well.
Once we finally make it to 20 we can celebrate with a special toy, lunch at our favorite burger place, or whatever they decide on. (Within reason, of course.)

Do you have any awesome methods do you use to praise good behavior and to keep tantrums at bay while you are out?
I would love to hear them!!!

Turkey Pot Pie Crepes

My husband and I came up with this recipe when we lived in Texas. It has traveled to Korea with us (as a perfect low carb meal) and is still going strong here in Kansas.

When I have a good thing, I just can't keep it to myself. With that being said, here is my Turkey Pot Pie Crepe recipe.

I hope your family loves it just as much as mine. 

Crepes:
3 eggs 
2/3 cup milk 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, melted 
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup whole wheat flour

*I used skim milk, 2 Tbsp of salted butter and no salt*

Directions:
Note: If you want to make regular crepes, not using whole wheat flour, use 3/4 cup milk, 2 tbs cold water, and substitute 3/4 cup white flour.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk, melted butter, and salt until well combined-about 20 seconds.

Sift the flour into a medium size bowl or a 2 quart measuring cup, then add the liquid mixture, beating until well combined-about 1 minute.

Or blend the eggs, milk, butter, and salt in an electric blender or food processor for 15 seconds; sprinkle in the flour and blend until smooth-about 30 second

Brush butter on the bottom of a crepe pan or heavy 7-inch skillet.

Set over moderate heat for about 30 seconds or until a drop of batter sizzles.

Stir the batter well, pour 2 tablespoons into the skillet, and quickly tip it back and forth so that the batter evenly coats the bottom.
*I used a 1/3 cup*

Cook until the crepe edges are golden brown-about 1 minute.
Slide a spatula under the crepe, flip it over, and cook for about 30 seconds.

Transfer to a warm plate.

Repeat with the remaining batter, rebuttering the skillet when necessary.

~At this point the crepes can be cooled to room temperature, separated by sheets of wax paper, and stored.

Refrigerate, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 24 hours.

Turkey Pot Pie filling:
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 cup celery
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen green beans
1/2 cup frozen lima beans or green soy beans
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup diced onions
6oz diced chicken or turkey (We use Turkey Spam)
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water w/ 1/2 all purpose flour (dissolved)
1 tsp ground thyme
3 Tbsp butter

Directions:
Use butter to sauté onions, carrots and celery until the onions are clear.

Add broth, thyme, and the remaining vegetables and turkey, bring to boil, reduce to simmer until vegetables are tender.

Add water/flour mixture, stir until thickened.

Turn off heat and set aside.

Filling the crepes:
Use a 1/2 cup of pot pie mixture to fill your crepe. 

Roll crepe around mixture and a extra pot pie on top. 

Bon Appetite!!!

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