Valentine's Dinner with my girls

Yesterday was our very first Valentine's Dinner without Daddy. Although we missed him very much, we had a great time! Here is a photo of my girls!

I am just such a proud Mama at how well mannered Sara (6yrs) was last night. She entertained Josselyn (8mo) while I ate my salad, and again after she was done eating and I was finishing my dinner.

We went to Gambardella's Pasta Bella. I ordered Focaccia Bread for an appetizer. I have always wanted to try it. It was a bit crispy but it IS Fairbanks and probably one of the busiest nights for what few nice restaurants we have here. So, I didn't complain. Sara actually liked the olives on top. Not too surprising since she always seems to want black olives at Subway. Well while we were eating our bread, Sara said, "does daddy like olives? Can we save him some bread?" She was heartbroken when I told her no. But I did tell her that we could maybe come back when daddy gets back. And let me tell you, she may be only 6, but she isn't gonna forget that I said that. I am sure as soon as Josseck gets back, she is gonna be asking to go!

Well after the bread came my salad. We were seated upstairs back in a corner. This is where I had requested to sit because I didn't want the kids, car seat, coats, and diaper bag to be in anyone's way. Well, all of a sudden we heard loud cheering and clapping from downstairs. I looked at the lady across from us, whose hubby had just gone down to the restroom, and said, "must've been a proposal.. guess she said yes." Sara proceeded to ask what a proposal was and I told her it was when someone asks the person they love "will you marry me" and the other person says "yes." Then Sara said "ugh, why did he do that here?! He is supposed to do that at home!" Ha ha, I said, "maybe this was their special place and he had an audience." "What's an audience?" Sara asked. "A crowd of people," I said. Sara then looks at me and says "Momma, why are we sitting all the way up here in a corner?" I explained to her why and then she said "but we are supposed to be sitting downstairs! I would've liked to see that proposal!" What an awesome kid. I love her so much!

Sara ordered the spaghetti with meatball.. yes.. meatBALL. They are quite large! She was so excited about her BIG MEATBALL.. and then asked me to cut it up so she could eat it, lol. I ordered the stuffed flank steak and it was served with the creamiest red mashed potatoes I've eaten in a long time and some pancetta peas. I am not a pea fan and I had actually asked to substitute asparagus instead of the peas. But, the waitress came and said there was a mix-up and Sara's food was ready before mine. So when she came back with both plates, mine with peas instead of asparagus, I felt bad for her. She was running around all night. It was very busy. And I felt horrible having kids at this nice place anyway, even though they were being so good. So, I tried them.. and I liked them! NOT the same as canned peas.. these were fresh.. and made with pancetta! YUMM!

After dinner I told the waitress that I had seen in the paper they were giving free scoop of gelato to military. So, I pulled out my ID and ordered our gelato. Sara ordered dark chocolate turtle and I ordered chocolate peanut butter with toasted coconut. Mine tasted close to eating coconut s'mores and was very good. Well, I was paying attention to the baby and looked up to see Sara scraping the side of her glass with her finger trying to get every last bit of gelato. When I said "no, ma'am. we don't do that" she looked at me with the cutest look and said "but, mom, there is still some chocolate left". I gave her a wipe to clean herself up and politely told her why we aren't supposed to do that at restaurants.

Although Josseck was not here with us, I'd say I still had a pretty amazing night with my girls. Our ticket was only $34 and we have enough left over for 1 1/2 more meals.

FYI.. for all of you on-post dwellers, Gambardella's delivers! And in a timely manner! I think we've gotten delivery from them more than we've actually eaten there!

I am very blessed to have wonderful friends

The last few months have been quite rocky, to say the least. However, it has been tremendously easier to deal with than if I didn't have such great friends to be there for me through it all. These gals seem to know just what to say or do to put a smile on my face or make it not seem so hard. Sometimes it wasn't words that I needed, but just knowing they were there made it better. Alicia Oller, no words can express my grattitude towards you and your family for the assistance you have provided. Christi Marcinick, you may feel like you didn't do much, but just knowing that you were ready and willing to come if I needed was more than enough. Misty Kroupa, you seem to be there just at the right times and I'm not sure you even know it. Kanani Adams, you and Joel have been the answers to my prayers for great support. Ana Lorek, we may not talk much but knowing you support me and my decisions is more than I can say for most. Amber McCain, you let me vent and never judge me on how i react to situations. Jennifer Murray, thanks is not enough for knowing that you are a true friend. Erika Rien, you sure do know how to make me laugh. Kristen Kavanaugh, everything you have done for our family has been selfless and please know it is all appreciated. Melissa Barrett, neighbor, friend, supporter, hugs... sometimes I hug you because I need one, but its a bonus that I know you may need one back. Rachel Durst, thanks for the hand me downs, the business support, and just being a friend. Donna Keys, the words and love and time and support you have given me have meant the world. Tanya Aris, when my tire was nearly flat, I knew you could help-when i wanted to drive to birch hill at night, you were ready-when my driveway needed clearing, you jumped at the opportunity to help. Nedina Lewis, you have put smiles on my face when I didn't think I would be able to smile for days. Lara White, your support goes WAY BACK to 6 years ago and I have never forgotten all you have done for me. Amber Garay-Rebecca Loftus-Joe and Nicole Peloquin, I MISS THE HECK OUTTA ALL OF YOU! Audrey Palacios, thanks for what you  have given to our family-you are truly blessed with talent. Jessica Harper, Sara Goff, I couldn't have gotten through without you. I am so fortunate to have met both of you. Tracey Burkett, thanks for all of the small gestures of kindness you have shown.

I am positive there are some people I am leaving out. Please know I didn't do it purposely. I couldn't ask for better people in my life. And if we weren't a military family, I would have never met ANY of you. I am so thankful for each and every one of you and please know that I am forever grateful for the kindness and love you have shown for our family.

BIG HUGS to all of you wonderful people!

Uppercase Living® Giveaway!

I am truly enjoying being an Uppercase Living® Demonstrator. It gives me some pocket change, some great wall décor, and a wonderful tax write-off! (Hey, let's be honest--isn't that why we all do home businesses?!)

I want to share my creations and these wonderful products with all of you! These products can stick on practically anything! They stay when you need them to stay and peel off when you need them to go! The Decorative Prints and Photo Prints items are made of reusable vinyl and can be taken down and moved around. All others are one time use. For more information and products you may visit my personal website or the Uppercase Living® site.

There will be 3 winners.Winners will be announced on Monday Feb 14th before midnight AKST.
The Grand Prize winner will receive the Spring tray, $10 off ANY order out of the new Spring Mini Catalog and $15 worth of UL® decal samples.

The next winner will receive the Spring has sprung sign and $10 worth of decal samples.

The last winner will receive the Inspire frame and $5 worth of decal samples.

Samples the winners will receive may vary from those pictured below.

For each of the items you complete, leave a comment below this blog post. Each is worth one entry, unless someone leaves a comment with your name and that will be counted as two entries for both you and your friend.

Entries:

1.       Become a follower via Google Friend Connect.

2.       Go to Uppercase Living in Fairbanks on Facebook and become a fan. Leave your FB username in the comment below.

3.       Visit My Demonstrator Website and tell me something you learned about either me or Uppercase Living®

4.       Share this blog giveaway via ANY social media outlet (facebook, twitter, blog, etc) and receive one entry for each link you leave below. Leave a separate comment for each link. Be sure that your posts are visible to ‘everyone’ so that I can check your links. (one entry per day allowed)

5.       Refer a friend to this blog post. If they leave a comment with who referred them, both people will get two entries.

6.       If you choose to make a purchase of any amount via my website and add it to the open party, this will count as 5 entries!

Bonus Entries:

1.       Visit Aurora Babies blog and become a GFC follower. Be sure to come back here to leave your comment with your name.

2.       Become a fan of Aurora Babies on Facebook. Come back here and leave your comment with your FB username.

3.       Follow Aurora Babies on twitter and share the Aurora Babies blog. Be sure to come back here and share your link. (one entry per day allowed)

4.       Visit Aurora Babies website and come back here and give your feedback on one thing. This can be an item we carry, overall layout of website, the logo, a suggestion, etc.

5.       If you choose to make a purchase from Aurora Babies of any amount, it is worth 5 entries!

Thanks for entering this giveaway! Best of luck to all of you and THANK YOU for your support.

Passionately Living in Alaska: Giveaway Time : )

My great friend, Melissa, is very talented with her DIY projects! Show her some love at her blog.. and enter her giveaway while you are there!

Passionately Living in Alaska: Giveaway Time : ): "I think its about time for my second give away, I have been in such a good happy mood lately so I figured it was time to share the wealth. ..."

Enjoying the life of an Army Wife

Blizzard Bloghop! Hosted by Household 6 Diva! Thanks for hosting! I've found some interesting blogs that I have added to my bookmarks. Now for my intro post:

Hi all! I am Tiffany Seale, and this is my family! My husband is Josseck, then Sara is 6 and Josselyn is 7.5mo. This pic is 2 months old, but lil Josselyn is about the only one that has changed much.

Josseck and I met while we were both Active Duty Air Force in Monterey, CA in 2006. We were in the same group of friends and classmates. I am quite surprised at how life has turned out, seeing as I was going through a pretty nasty divorce at the time. God surprised everyone when Josseck and I continued to follow similar careers and duty stations, as if it truly were HIS PLAN from the beginning. We finally gave in and became more than friends, and married in Mar 2008.

Our life went through MANY changes after that. He deployed May-Sep 08, went Blue to Green to Army in Feb 09, I switched from Active Duty to Guard in April 09, and after his Army training we ended up in Fairbanks, AK in Sep 09. The pregnancy of our first child together came as a surprise to us in the beginning of Oct 09. We wanted to have a child, but really wasn't expecting one SO SOON! 

Fast forward to present day..We are gearing up for our second deployment/first with Army. I decided to open up a webstore with a friend and fellow Army wife. Our business is Aurora Babies. I must say that trying to keep up with my personal blog and Aurora Babies blog has been hard! I've been focusing my efforts on networking and such, but today I must devote it to cleaning so that I can devote the extra room in our home to the merchandise for our business.

The networking, however time consuming, has been GREAT! I have connected with some wonderful people, read some awesome blogs, and can't wait for BlogHer '11!

Here is your chance to participate in Blizzard BlogHop as well:

Raising Responsive Children

I decided in the fall that I needed to change something in my life.. my relationship with God. While it has DEFINITELY been a struggle, I am not giving up!

I started attending PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) on Thursday mornings at Northern Lights Chapel on post from 0930-1130. In case you are interested, they do offer free childcare. This semester, I have chosen a bible study by Judy Rossi: Raising Responsive Children. Judy Rossi is a retired military spouse of 34 years. If you'd like to read more about this bible study, feel free to visit: Enhancing your Marriage & Family Ministries.

This is definitely one area of my life that I truly need God's help with, especially with deployment creeping up faster and faster. Sara turned the magic age of 6 this month. With that, she has picked up so many bad things from the kids at school. It is so hard to see her be someone other than the child I once knew. Just tonight, instead of saying "i'm done eating" she told Josseck "I don't want anymore of this junk" WHAT???!!! OH MY GOODNESS! That isn't my child! What happened to her? Josseck was so hurt and offended. Mind you, this is after she ate the first helping and asked for seconds and ate half of that. We know she didn't know what she was saying, but it still hurts. Yelling hasn't seemed to work. I am not a fan of spanking for EVERY LITTLE thing. She has already gone to bed early every night this week because she called her class stupid heads on Tuesday. We tried grounding her from everything and if we aren't watching her 24/7, she will just go play with whatever she wants. WHAT TO DO???!!!

I am really hoping this bible study helps.

With that said, I think I will blog about the bible study. That way I am reiterating what I've read/learned to myself in hopes that it will stay with me everyday.

God, I know that you are in our lives. I know that you give us challenges each day to test our faith. I just ask that you help Josseck and I be more patient. We want to enjoy our last weeks together as a family instead of always having to punish Sara. Please help us work with her actions to better enjoy our family time.

Childhood Obesity epidemic...CHANGE THE COURSE!

I have to share this because it speaks VOLUMES to explain why I was so adamant with the doctors when it came to my daughter. I know I am a GOOD MOM. I KNOW what's right for my child! I am very fortunate that when we go to restaurants (well "used" to go because its too expensive here) Sara would ask to substitute veggies for her fries, and the servers would always look at me and say, "is she serious?!" Why is it so hard to believe that some kids actually LIKE veggies??!! Sara eats celery.. I do not. Sara likes persimmons.. Josseck does not. If we are eating a salad and Sara is eating something else, she will ask us to share, especially our tomatoes and cucumbers. Watch the video. Pass it on. Let's come together and change this course that our children are heading into.