Not very much has been going on here lately. Other than a whole lot of bad attitudes. It's become very annoying. I'm hoping and praying that this week will be the fresh start that we all need. If not, there's always next week! I'm not really sure what is the cause of the attitudes, but does it ever really matter? Ok, so maybe it does. Here are a few more photos of life at the Hemphill House:

Sophie wore her Auburn cheerleader outfit to school the other day. Hey, she matched! I know, it only required 1 article of clothing, but we don't look like a ragamuffin. Baby steps, people. One day she is going to actually care what people think of what she's wearing and I am secretly hoping it never happens.


This little muchkin was added to the mix. Our best friends, Burt and Melissa, decided that 3 boys were not enough work and so they needed to have another one. Meet Lucas. I love him. And he loves me. He just doesn't know it yet.



I thought about rubbing it in that I got to see him first, but that wouldn't be very nice of me. I was just really excited that I was in town for one of the Krazy Khans to be born. This little guy has NO CLUE what is going to hit him when he finally decides to come out of that sweet "baby coma" and is at home with the joyful chaos that is his new family. Guess that's why the babies of the family are so tough, they have to defend themselves from the second they go home.


The biggest brother, Nicholas, was so excited about his littlest brother and was so glad that I had snapped a few pics for him to see. I just wish I had a video of what he and Christopher sounded like when they saw the photos. Sounded like a bunch of little girls with all that squealing! It was precious! Thankfully Nicholas had show and tell the next day, so I printed out a photo of Lucas to take with him.


He got to spend the night with us that night too, which was probably the real reason the boys were squealing like a bunch of girls. This was the first time I had a note sent home from school. Apparently Nicholas was NOT a fan of the sandwich his mom told me to make for him. Crazy kid! (Oh and you can see in the note above that the bad attitude has not only been happening at home. The entire class went on yellow one day this week. Yeah, it was awesome.)


Miss Priss went to spend the night with my parents on Thursday night. To say she was in heaven is a total understatement. Here she is at dinner dressed as "Eloise" from the storybooks. Yes, my mom loves to help the kids play dress up and was going to make this costume, but actually found the parts and just made suspenders. My parents texted me photos and they had one of her with a big red bow on top of her head. Looked just like Eloise! Crazy hair and all.



Mom did however make this Cinderella dress. We have the costume at home, but if you have a girl you know how cheaply the store bought ones can be. Our Cinderella one has helped up just fine, Rapunzel, not so much.



I got to go on a date with this little cutie the other night. Unfortunately it wasn't the best night we have had together, but a stream of tornadoes sort of cut our fun short. Thankfully we were safe and we both caught up on some much needed sleep.



Finally, Sophie went to spend the night with my sister's family on Friday night. (I think Sophie might need a tour bus) Christopher and I went to pick her up on Saturday morning and I got to see this adorable little man. He showed us his version of the worm, I mean crawling. Love him!

That's all for now. Sophie's show is over and so I no longer have free time. She has been very full of questions and comments and lots and lots and lots and lots of words this morning. Have I mentioned that I'm not a morning person? Yeah, it takes me a while to wake up and get going. Just ask anyone who has lived with me. Here's to hoping a week of sun will make it a happy week!!

You know how people like to make lists of things to use/not use, do/not do, say/not say. Well, there is a list that was made (not sure when) of things NOT to say to a military wife. I have read this list and agree with it. (I am also guilty of saying almost everything on it. You can't help it!) I never thought I would be a military wife because I hated packing/unpacking (I moved pretty much every year of college and hated it) and thought it would be awful to have to move all the time (also grew up in one place my whole life).

Never say never.

Met my husband after college. He grew up military. It sounded awesome and here we are!

Every military wife has a love/hate relationship with being a military wife. Yes, it sucks at times (sorry if you like "nicer" words, but this one fits and is clean--not that I would use a dirtier one), BUT the other times it is pretty sweet. How else do you get to travel the world, live in really cool places (ok, so not all of them are cool, but the people totally make up for it!) and feel like you are going to burst with pride whenever you see red, white and blue or hear patriotic music. You just can't explain it. You can't describe it. You have to experience it.

Anywhoo, all this to say that my husband found a list that is perfect for me. I try to avoid the sappy and sad things (not because I think there is anything wrong with them, trust me, I have shed my own share of tears) and lean more toward the funny (I prefer avoiding the emotional stuff--sorry, but it's true. I'd rather laugh than cry--I have issues and I'm aware of them). My husband and I just spent the last 20 minutes or so laughing our heads off reading this list. So, I had to share it with you. Here are just a few of them:

"Don't worry, he'll be home soon.   Really? I thought we had 8 months left. Thank goodness you reminded me."

"Do you miss him?   No. I love being alone. The silence is warming. I enjoy fixing everything that breaks and cuddling with my pillow."

"I don't know how you manage, I couldn't do it.   Thank god it's not you then. Phew."


"You should spend more time being proud than sad.    I tried that and it sucked, so now I'm taking the Ben & Jerry approach. Feel free to ride your butterfly out of here."


Click HERE and you can see the full "funny" list.

Please do not be offended by these (there is a "bad word" in one or two of them, just ignore it like I do). I just think it's hilarious that someone actually wrote what some of us out there are thinking... that is after we are done crying our eyes out, have taken our big girl panties out of the dryer (because we only break down when we have to take them off to wash them) and put those suckers back on.

And if you are wondering, HERE is the original list. I definitely suggest not saying any of these to a military wife. You never know what kind of answer you are going to get!

I know. I've been horrible at posting and now you are getting two in one week. This is mostly because I have given up Facebook for a while. It sort of took over my life and became more important than anyone or anything else and I realized I needed to cut it out for a while and reevaluate.

Here's a little bit of what has been going on this week:
Miss Priss got an official "big girl" bed this weekend. I have been looking for a trundle bed for over a year now and finally found one. Those suckers are expensive!! I thought about begging my dad to build me one, but I realized it would still cost a pretty penny (instead of a pretty dollar like the stores charge) and he is just way too busy to bother him with that. My mom remembered I was looking and happened to spot this big beauty while in Costco last week. She sent me a text with a photo and I wrote back asking how much it was and you won't believe it.... $299. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! The trundle alone costs that much everywhere else and the beds start around $799. I called my in-laws the next day and asked them if they had plans for the weekend. When they said no, I said, "Great! You are taking me to buy a bed and then helping me put it together!" They are so awesome because they were more than happy to help and didn't run and hide. (It's not on sale online in case you look it up. Not sure why.) Sophie is very excited and I'm over the moon excited. Now we have a place for someone to sleep when we have a friend/cousin/brother who has to give up his bed for grandparents/friends/family. 

Next on our list? Buy a mattress for the trundle.


I have been on a mission to find the best spaghetti sauce. I grew up on Ragu. It was fine, but then I moved out and got married to a man who lived for spices and the Ragu just didn't cut it. I tried adding spices to Ragu, but that didn't work. I tried the spaghetti packets and they are delicious, but I really want to get away from all the "extras" that are in such packets that aren't very good for you. When at my parents house a couple of weekends ago, I had some of their leftovers (not our leftovers, but my parents' from that week. Weird? Nah!) and the sauce I finished off was amazing! It had kick. It had flavor. And it made me forget that I was eating pasta filled with cheese. My mom couldn't remember what it was actually called, or maybe it was she couldn't pronounce it, but I guess I had asked them enough times that my dad just texted me a photo of it. It is called Arrabbiata sauce. When I was in Publix the other day I found two different brands and I can't wait to try them. Here they are:





Sophie and I went out running errands on Monday. She was extra grumpy. Actually both kids were, but one of them was at school so I had only half grumpy to deal with. We were going on day 3 of bad attitudes and they finally broke me. I'm not proud of it, but it happens. I wasn't up for fighting her again on clothes, so a dentistry shirt, denim skirt and tights we wore that day. She was happy after we ate lunch and even started running and sliding on her knees in Target. I got a video of it, because I'm not the mom that says, "Don't do that! Little girls don't slide on their knees." I'm the mom that says, "Wait! Let me get a video with my phone! Do it again!" Well, I can't get the video to load, so here's a photo of her passed out in the back of the van after our trip to Target. It was a glorious 30 minutes.



Christopher, poor thing, has continued our rough weekend into his week at school. Maybe I should say poor teacher instead. He really struggles with staying calm and not talking too much after they have lunch and rest time. (I can totally relate, because I was a hyper kid. Shocking, I know.) When I picked him up today I asked him if he stayed on green and when his answer starts with, "Wellllllllllllll...." you know he didn't. But this was the first time the whole class went to yellow. I have no idea what actually happened, but something like, the teacher had to step out to talk to another adult and when she came in everyone was talking (except Christopher, of course) and she said, "The whole class is going on yellow." Didn't phase my man, but it did make one of the girls cry. When we got home I opened up his folder to find, not 1, but 2 notes inside. We spent the next 30 minutes having quiet time in our room. We talked about what happened and I remained calm. And then I told Christopher that after his 30 minutes were up he was going to come downstairs and write a "sorry note" to his teacher and a "sorry note" to the little boy that he pushed. I go downstairs and about 10 minutes later I hear his sweet voice say, "Mommy? Can you come here please?" I went to see what he needed and he was standing there holding this note that he wrote all by himself for his teacher:

It says, "I'm sorry for disobeying. Please forgive me." And the flower was a nice added touch if I do say so myself. If she can't forgive him (which I HIGHLY doubt b/c she is wonderful!), it just means that her day was worse than my weekend (and it is still burned in her brain) and she and I even more alike that I thought.

We have gone on a family walk and now we are fixing supper and the kids are getting along. I think God even had the angels get on their knees and pray for me. We already have weekend plans that I am pretty sure are going to be very awesome and we are super excited. See y'all soon!

Don't you love when you are really struggling with something and you know that it is Satan just attacking you in your weakest point with your greatest weakness? Never happened to you? Consider yourself blessed! My weakness, anger, forgiveness, letting it go. Mostly when my kids refuse to listen (You know, the whole, "Stop. Stop. Stop. PLEASE stop! I said, STOOOOOP!!!!!" when they are hitting someone/something or talking too much or jumping on/off something...) and then get mad at me for getting on to them or when they yell at me because I asked them to do something (like get dressed for church.)

This morning we planned on going to early church so we would have more free time to play the day away and this pretty much fails every. single. time. Sophie REFUSES to wear anything normal to church and Christopher REFUSES to quit watching tv to get dressed for church. First, Sophie. Getting her dressed for church is like sticking knives in my eyes. Fighting with her to wear a normal outfit that matches for just 2 hours once a week is horrible. (Now you see why I posted her looking so pretty in the previous post. That was an easy morning!) She has worn that Snow White costume two days in a row and wanted to wear it to church. I told her no. She wanted a different princess dress. I told her no. I pull out 3 dresses and let her choose. She told me no. She picks out a summer dress that is too small. I told her no. (Are you as annoyed as I am yet?) She starts crying. I feel like crying. I refuse to let her win because remember, for 6 days and 22 hours a week she can wear whatever the heck she wants! After about 20 minutes we finally agree on a 4th dress and she matches and actually brushes her hair.

Christopher just kicks his blanket on the floor and acts like a spaz for a minute, I roll my eyes behind his back, tell him we are going early so he can play longer this afternoon and he finally realizes I'm thinking about him and gets dressed without another word. (He has also learned that he can sit with me in big church if he behaves.) I can't blame him for not wanting to go so early. He has to be somewhere by 8:00 5 days a week and was thrilled yesterday when he could stay in his pj's and play as long as he wanted.

Are you frustrated tired yet? It's barely an hour into my day.

We get to church and I am so worked up over getting everyone ready that I can't calm down. I'm so angry that I let these precious kiddos get to me and that I can't just let it go. I barely remember anything that was preached this morning and I'm pretty sure I needed to hear it. I want to be one of those moms that thinks everything is beautiful and glorious and blessed and act calm all the time and not let my kids see me annoyed or frustrated or that I even have buttons to dance on. But I am human and I will never have that much control every. single. time. Only God can help me do that.

Fast forward to later this afternoon. We are working in the yard and cutting things down and dragging them to the street and enjoying the most perfect weather (created by the most perfect God, I love Him for beautiful days!). I am dragging a load of branches to the street and the kids have decided to play on the boxes from Sophie's new bed that are at the top of the driveway. They are only about 2 inches thick and they are having fun pretending to slide on them. I smiled and said, "Have fun, but be careful."

How far do you think I got before someone starts screaming? The end of the driveway. I run to the kids and Sophie's crying and holding her head while Christopher is trying to hide in a box. I ask what happened and learn that they thought it would be a great idea if Sophie was to lie down in the box and Christopher jumped on it. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE?!?!?! Why in the world would this sound like a good idea? I know that when we were kids we used to wash our van and pour dish soap on the top of the van to make it slippery, but we never did things like jump on someone lying down. And apparently he landed on her head at one point. I was so mad, and freaked out, I didn't know what to do first. Once I saw that Sophie was fine, I got onto Christopher and told him he needed to check on his sister and give her a hug and tell her he is sorry. He did, but then when I tried to talk about his punishment, he flipped out. Really? HE'S going to flip out? Ugh.

I hate to admit it, but I had a really hard time forgiving him for this. (Just like it took me too long to forgive Sophie for her tantrum this morning.) I know he wasn't totally at fault because he didn't force his sister to lie in a box, she is crazier than he is when it comes to stunts! But I was so angry that they would do something so stupid and that they had no idea how serious this could have been.

Bedtime rolls around and the kids go to pick out their book. Sophie says, "I want THIS Bible book. I want the God Bible book and not the Kaitlyn Bible book." I stop for a second and right before I ask her what she's talking about, I start laughing. Here is the "Kaitlyn" Bible book:

This is our devotional book, or "Bible book" as the kids call it, that we read every night. It has a couple kids in it, one of them named Kaitlyn, and they help teach your kids more about the Bible and the things that God wants us to learn. It is fabulous! I guess Sophie didn't know how to differentiate between this "Bible book".....

and the God "Bible book" she wanted to read. My mom gave this to the kids for Christmas one year and it is seriously the BEST Bible for kids I have ever seen. I enjoy reading it myself! It is the same stories from the Bible, but for kids to understand. It's not just little one page stories, but a couple pages. The images are great too. It's just all around fantastic.

BACK TO THE POINT...

After we read our other books, I asked Sophie which Bible story she wanted to read. (I had forgotten that when she picked this out she also said she wanted to read the "Satan story." Um, ok. ) We read the story of Adam and Eve. Then we get to the part where God gets upset. And it says that this is the part where most stories end, but not in this book. It tells you about how God loves us so much and wants the best for us and how He loves us no matter what and that He forgives us. Yup. I got it. God forgives me. For anything and everything I do that is wrong. I get so caught up in trying to teach my kids the difference between right and wrong and completely forget that I, me, myself, screw up ALL THE TIME! It took a little 4 year old girl, who forgave her brother for hurting her on accident and spend the rest of the night laughing her pretty little head off with him while I was steaming away about what happened hours earlier. And it takes a 6 year old to come and whisper in my ear, "Mom, just ignore her." when a little girl gets me so worked up and I want to scream.

God knows that I need constant reminders that He forgives me and He doesn't stay angry with me and He lets my sins go, so why should I do any different to my own children? Ouch. I know I'm not alone in this battle, but I wanted to record it on here for my own sake. So when I go back I can remind myself that I'm far, far, far from perfect and I constantly need God.

 Remember how I told you that Christopher is crazy about airplanes now? He found this on the back of one of his Lego booklets and he has decided that he is going to do whatever he has to do to earn enough money to buy it. He is eager to do chores and help me in any way he can so that he can save up his money. I am so proud of him! And if anyone goes and buys this for him I will wring their necks. I want him to work for this and earn it. We are going on 2 weeks now and he is still determined he can do it. Plus it's helping out at school because they are learning how to count money and it makes it more fun at home to have a goal and not realize you are doing homework.

I can't believe that I'm posting about Sophie's birthday so late, but I guess I've been a little busy. We actually flew home from Hawaii on her birthday and then it took a week just to recover from our trip and then another week to get adjusted to life after our trip and so there's my excuse. Plus I didn't know if the photos were automatically downloaded or not. (Updated my iphone lately and found out that it sends my pics to my computer through the air! You have no idea how much easier that has made my life!) Since I still haven't had time to find the battery charger for my camera my phone is all I have.

I have to be honest, I wasn't planning on having a party for Sophie, only because I knew we wouldn't be in town and, this is really sad, I wasn't sure who we would invite, other than the grandparents and our friends, the Khans. (When you move to a town for just a year you don't really expect to make a gazillion friends, not to be negative, but you barely want to unpack much less put down serious roots.) So, I figured we'd just get together with my family after our trip since we'd just spent over a week with my inlaws and celebrated in Hawaii.

Well, before Christmas, my awesome friend Melissa approached me about doing a little party for her son Joshua and Sophie together. They are best buddies, only 2 1/2 weeks apart and in mom's day out together so they have made some of the same friends. I realized THIS I could do! So we brainstormed for a little while and decided that since J & S love to "craft" so much we should have a painting party. We both love to keep things simple (one of the 4,835 reasons we are friends) and so we had pizza, made cupcakes and bought some paint and little 8x10 canvases and invited several of the little people over. Somehow the party was set to be at their house, probably b/c I didn't volunteer mine, but then again I was in packing and unpacking mode right up until the party and she knows the kids and moms better than I do anyway. (See, Burt! I didn't volunteer your house, I just didn't volunteer mine.)

The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS that day!!! And since the Khans have the awesomest back yard ever, we had to practically drag the party goers inside to paint, again for food and we pretty much gave up on opening presents, until Joshua decided he didn't care and went for it anyway. Everyone had a wonderful time and I am so glad that she suggested we do this. Now, on to the few pics I have: