So many things have been going on and I feel like I never have time to get on here and talk about it. I always promise I will be better and most of the time I am for a short bit, then it's back to nothing. 

Here is whats been going on in the R household:

I've been crafting and getting ready for Little's Birthday next month! So excited!
We've been going to church and trying to get back to where WE want to be with God.
We've been spending a lot of time with just our little family.
After much talk, we've decided to extend Sea Duty and volunteer for ANOTHER deployment. This will be a post in it's own.....but it's sad to think our choices were Guam, back home to Washington(both Shore Duty), back to SC for prototype or stay here for 2 more years......I understand why WE chose what we did, but it doesn't exactly make it easy to stomach.

Christmas was wonderful, the best I've ever had. Little got everything he ever wanted and J went way over what he needed for me. We did a few great things leading up to it, but for the most part we stayed in and spent time together and relaxed. I will update soon with posts on all of the bigs things..

For now, I leave you with THIS link to the FB page I started for the crafts I've been making!

Little really wanted a new tree for his room this year(since his last year was only about 8 inches tall!). So, while we were out shopping he say this 18in blue tree! He fell in love with it! I got this idea that I could make it match his room theme if I got the right colored ornaments, so we did! His blue tree is all decked out with red and green! I even added an ornament we had sitting on his shelf for the top! I love ow it turned out! I'm in the process of having clay Hungry Caterpillar ornaments made specially for it!

I'm so excited for Christmas this year! I'm always excited, but this year I'm just over the moon! Little is at that perfect age where he understands everything and is completely involved in the process! I'm sad to say that our tree was up 2 weeks before Thanksgiving....BUT i had a good reason! J was coming home the day before and I wanted it done so he didn't have to deal with the mess, just the joy of it being done! Haha.

Now I'm working on all of the other things I want up and slowly getting my crafting-skill on.  I love making decorations for Christmas and filling the house with things!

I've been having fun with ribbon! I hang ribbon and ornaments above my windows and I learned how to make ribbon wreaths! So exciting! I'm going to be posting(too much) all of the things I've been doing to get the house in the Christmas spirit! Get ready for post-overload!

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.

Have you ever felt like you had a 'moment' where you weren't at your best? When you didn't live up to even your standards let alone someone elses? I had one the other day and it's stuck with me. Really stuck.

While in Washington DC we were walking around with a couple that J was friends with the husband and I had just met the wife. We had been walking around for hours and Little was getting restless. We were walking to one of the last monuments and Little was running ahead of us and while I was alright at times, I wanted him to stay close and made it clear that I didn't like him running so far ahead. I know I wasn't being the nicest and I know I was being cranky and a little bossy.....but I was scared. Here we are in a huge, new city and my child isn't close enough for me to react if something were to happen. J got a little upset and told me to stop yelling(by yelling he means being bossy and not talking in a whisper).

Now, looking back I feel bad. I know I must have given this poor couple a pretty nasty first impression of me and I hate that. I hate that they could very well think I'm a mean mom for not giving my kid free-rein. But, all I can say is I was scared. Scared something would happen and it would be because I wasn't careful enough.

But I have to stop and think. In the end, as bad as I feel, I would rather be a bad mom for being too over-protective then be crushed if something were to happen because I wasn't careful enough. I hope I have another moment to prove to that couple that I'm really not all that bad. Contrary to popular belief.

I also want to add that I never once hurt Littles feelings or forced him to hold my hand and have no fun at all. I just overly expressed my need for him to stay close....and bickered a tiny bit with the husband about how far is too far.

I'm having a hard time lately with friends and morals. Being LDS we have a high standard when it comes to morals. I've never had a problem being around people who's morals were different because I'm a big girl and I can make my own choices. But, as Little is getting older, I'm having to rethink a few friendships(or how quick I make friends). We don't say OMG in our home(but oh-my-Santa is a new addition) we also don't say I hate you or shut up...we choose not to. I've noticed that my sponge like minded 6 year old picks things up when we hang out with people who use those words or cuss often(he's never cussed with the exception of A-hole once and trust me that will never happen again. lol).

I also don't like having to explain drinking and smoking to him at 6! I feel bad when I have to say what they are doing and why it's "bad", then he asks if mommy and daddy do it, then doesn't understand why so-and-so does if they know its bad to. He looks up to a lot of my friends and I would hate for that to change.

I don't mind hanging out with people who have different morals(gosh, I sound like a broken record!) but at what point is there too much of a divide? I don't mind having a BBQ and most of the people are having a beer but when it's just Little and I and we have someone over, it's awkward when they want to bring a bottle of wine. Maybe they think I secretly want to drink? But it makes me uncomfortable and I don't always feel comfortable enough to really say no(though I will kind of hint about it as much as I can without being rude....because I think it's rude to tell them what they should and shouldn't be doing. Even if it's my home, THEY choose what they do with their body, not me)

Language gets me to. There is a time and place for the F-bomb(it's your right!) but i get embarrassed when I'm out with someone and they say it in a really inappropriate place.(IE. In front of our church missionaries, in a nice restaurant, at Little's school when they are there with me picking him up....ect.). It makes me cringe. I REALLY hate reading it on FB.  I've deleted people for the foul things they were posting, but it was no one I truly care about.

I'm just at a strange place when it comes to this. I often feel like the 'odd man out' for choosing not to do the things that most of society does.

I love the fall! I love anything pumpkin flavored also! BUT most of all, I love me some pumpkin seeds! Last year I made 4 different kinds of seeds. They were so yummy, but one was the best....so that's all I made this year! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Ingredients

1 cup seeds from freshly cut pumpkin, washed and dried
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions

In a skillet, saute pumpkin seeds in oil for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer seeds to an ungreased baking sheet (if you have extra oil try to get as little of it as you can). Sprinkle with taco seasoning and garlic salt; stir/toss to coat. Spread into a single layer. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until crisp. Remove to paper towels to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

I'm in a funk this month. I've tried to pull myself out of it...which leads to me just doing things for me. So, I've caught up on my shutterfly books and read a ton, but my poor blog got the shaft.

J is constantly coming and going with the boat which means we are trying to in squeeze every ounce of family time that we can.

As a result of all that running, I've had the migraine from hell for the past week that I can't seem to shake and to top it all off, it was my sisters birthday this week and I miss her more now then ever. I wish I could go lay flowers on her site like the rest of the family, but being 3500 miles away makes that a little hard. I wonder if missing her will always hurt this bad. Will I be better when its been 5 years? Or 10? Or will it always hurt this much? I've had some great talks with Taylor(her daughter) this month. Shes growing into such a lady. She's 13 now and in the 8th grade and at that point where she could really use her mom. I'm glad she has my mom and my other sister there to help her and she knows I'm just a call away. My heart just hurts for her.

Now that I've gotten that all of my chest I feel a little better. Sorry it's so 'all over the place'. I will be back to normal writing this week, I promise.