This hurricane is heading straight for us.

I’m not exactly sure what we should be doing. We got a list today saying to have batteries, a first aid kid and food, among other things, but other then that what - pack? We went to the hardware store to find out how to cover our windows in case one gets broken. I’m worried one or more will break and the water that comes inside will ruin our things. Plus if a window breaks, that just makes it easier for people to come in and take things.

I am annoyed that *we* have to be the ones to cover the windows, we don’t own this house yet we have to pay for the supplies! Sure we have our things inside, but I still don’t agree. If the window breaks we won’t be the ones to pay for it so you would think the management company would want to take precautions.

We do have water and lots of food in the pantry, I have a huge cooler and will go get ice in case electricity goes out. I need to move a few more things around from the garage to inside the house and also figure what to take with us if we leave. I’m thinking laptop, jewelry, pictures and clothes. Everything else we have can be replaced if it comes down to it.

Really it comes down to just waiting. Wait and see when we should leave, I know we should be ready, it’s just a matter of when and were we will go.

I subscribe to a lot of craft, card making and scrapbooking blog and just came across another one. It is the Sheetload blog and wow, I love it. I found it via Dannie’s blog and I’m glad she posted about it!

Twice a month a Sheetload publication (Sheetload and Sheetload Mini) comes out with card layouts with lots of examples and instructions of how to make the card. I love when a lot of examples are shared because you can see the different color combos used, sometimes I have a hard time seeing how a card would look with really different colors.

The cards are made by guest designers and I just realized there are links to the designers blogs - so if you really love their style you can follow along with them as well. You can also advertise in them inexpensively (talk about a great targeted market to advertise to!).

Oh and these bimonthly publications? Free!

We moved to Texas during the Fourth of July weekend. We didn’t even get to see fireworks or blow anything up! That is a first for me for sure. The kids didn’t seem to notice though.

This move we decided to live on base in housing and depending on the place, housing can have a long wait list. But for us we had an easy time getting into housing - here they are duplexes and did you see ours? We have a fenced in yard, four bedrooms and a garage with storage. There is quite a bit of storage here and during the short time we plan on being here I am going to take our stuff from cardboard boxes or broken plastic boxes and put them in better storage.

I have a lot of Christmas decorations that may need to be pared down! I don’t have anything that I don’t love, or at least I don’t have an entire box worth so I doubt I can pare anything else down. I know I need to get rid of stuff because we’ll be moving around a lot during the next couple of years. I’d like to stay put in one spot for five years again like we did a few years ago, but I don’t think that will be happening any time soon.

Over at Mom’s Talk Network, Christina started a new meme: Motherhood Lessons. I wasn’t tagged but what a great idea! So I figured I’d play along. Especially with my Grandma not with us anymore, I’ve been thinking about her a lot. Thinking about her isn’t new though.

Motherhood Lessons: The object is simple: share with us and your readers a lesson that you learned from your own mom, a special mom in your life, or while raising your own children. There’s no right or wrong answers…just lessons that each of us can learn and implement with our own children.

Link your post back to this one, leave a comment below so we can visit and learn from you, and then tag 2-3 other moms to participate.

One really important lesson I learned from my Mom and Grandma - kids come first and are more important.

Nephew, nephew, daughter, son

Let me explain with examples - my kids play with my craft stuff and sometimes the stuff gets spilled or used up. I have really expensive markers, as many card makers/scrapbookers do, and my kids use them sometimes to color. Here’s why:

kids come first and are more important

Who cares if a marker costs however much money - your kids are more important then a marker. Sure we teach kids to take care of things and how to properly use things like markers, but if one gets ruined or used up is it really worth it to get so angry? No. Your kids matter more then a marker. (This example hits home to me as Chris commented to a friend who had her markers up on a shelf where her kids couldn’t reach - she said they were really expensive, so he came home and asked why our kids play with mine.)

When my brothers and I were kids this was exactly how our Grandma treated us. She loved to do crossword puzzles and would often give us a book and a pencil so we could too. We may have been three years old and scribbled in the boxes or drew pictures or scribbled all over the page. She didn’t mind and if she wanted to do that puzzle would erase the marks we made.

In visiting her one would think kids were allowed to do whatever they wanted. And they were - as long as no one got hurt and nothing got broken. If you (as the parent or adult) would tell your kid or whatever kid was acting up (in your eyes) to stop, Grandma would tell you to leave them alone, they weren’t hurting anything, they are just being kids. Or she’d say they are just kids, what’s wrong with that.

She raised her kids the same way so most of the time my Mom and Aunts and Uncles have the same attitude. One of my Uncle’s is the best at this - he manages a grocery store and always gives the little ones candy or chocolate because they are just kids. Brush your teeth he’d say, chocolate is good for you. Kids are just being kids, candy isn’t going to ruin their lives.

Another example is that my nephews go to their Grandma’s house and run and jump over the couch and get all the toys out and books and read and play. And they go to their other Grandma’s house where they sit perfectly still and don’t play. Which Grandma would you want? I’ll take the fun one that lets me jump and read and play, thanks.

I could list thousands of examples in my life as a mom and as a granddaughter and daughter proving this. Kids come first and are more important then the markers you bought or then the strict rule of no cookies before bed.

I’ll tag:

• Marie @ Mommy Community
• Chelle @ Creative Thoughts
• Dulcie @ House of Hayes
• Jen @ One Mom’s World
• Carrie @ Natural Mom’s Talk Radio

And you if you would like to play along! Jump right in, I did.

Ah I thought my days of sewing Chris’ uniforms were long gone. Or at least the vacation from them would be longer then the eight or so months it has lasted. But he called earlier and said the uniforms we casually talked about, and he wouldn’t need for a few more days, he really needs and can I sew them really soon - like after we hung up.

Chris’ OCS Class

So after a bit of searching to make sure I put the patches on right, I realize he bought the wrong patches! I’d laugh if I knew he wasn’t going to be stressed about it. Okay I did laugh, but he wasn’t here to hear me! I sewed on three of the five and can’t use the other two because they aren’t for his uniform. And we don’t have any that will work. And the store to buy them closed about an hour ago and isn’t open until tomorrow morning.

The patches need to be in a specific spot, sewn on in a specific way. Usually everything is centered (usually because maybe there is one out there that isn’t) above a pocket and sewn with the same color thread as the uniform. I’ve never bought patches anywhere other then the Exchange and for the ones with his name on it, they have a very fast turn around time. There are usually places on base that will sew the patches on for you, for a small fee, and depending on how big the base is you are at this can take anywhere from a day to a week or two or longer. Since it doesn’t take too long I’ve usually sewn Chris’ on every time he needs it done - except when he was at school this spring, then he paid to have it done.

I’m not sure what we’ll do now. Maybe I’ll get to the store first thing when it opens tomorrow then ask if they will do a rush service and sew the patches on for me while I wait. I’ve never done that and I know most are so busy they wouldn’t offer that service.

Oh and for those who are searching how to sew on navy uniform patches, click that link. I had a heck of a time finding a site that would tell me about it until I finally went to wikipedia. I don’t usually rely on wiki for stuff like that so it was surprising to find exactly what I was looking for in moments!