Strawberry Pickin'

Over the weekend we went to pick strawberries. I love picking fresh strawberries, and it's been a couple of years since we've been able to. The girls were really excited and had a lot of fun. Ellie tried to tag along but would have rather just played in the dirt ;) Brynlee is on spring break this week, so today we're going to make an angel food cake with cool whip & strawberries. Yum! Do you have a favorite strawberry recipe?

First Father Daughter Dance

On Friday night, Brynlee and Stuart had their first Father Daughter dance. Cutest thing ever! I took her to pick out a new dress and shoes. She was so excited! She wanted to surprise him, so they both got dressed and then she walked down the stairs to show him. I reminded him that in 20 years from now he'll be dancing with her at her wedding. He wasn't too thrilled that I brought that up ha! They had a fun night together :)

Our Favorite Green Smoothie

My husband surprised me with a Vitamix for Christmas and I'm in love! One of our favorite things to make in it are smoothies. It's such a good way to get in lots of fruits & veggies! We've tried a few different recipes, but this is our "go-to" favorite that we all love!

1 Cup Vanilla Yogurt

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Frozen Pineapples

A large handful of spinach

1 Cup Strawberries

1/2 Cup Blueberries

1 Banana

Blend it all together and enjoy! 

The girls gobble these up!!!

Marine Corps Printable

I made this Marine Corps print last week, and thought I would share it with all of you! 

Happy Monday!

Click here to download

Three.

Our little wild & crazy girl turned 3 last week! She's full of energy and loves to drive her sisters crazy! But when she is being sweet, she is the sweetest little girl! She often comes up to me and says "Mommy, you're my best friend." Melts my heart! Since Brynlee started school this year, we've had lots of one on one time together that we never had before and I love it! She's a smart little girl, and has recently learned how to spell her name! She thinks it's hilarious that her name ends in "t t" haha! She fills our home with laughter, and has given us plenty of funny stories to share when she's older!

Since we had already celebrated with her aunt a couple of weeks ago, we didn't have too much planned for her actual birthday. She woke up and had her birthday pancakes (a birthday tradition in our house). Opened some presents and played at the park. Her daddy got off work early so he could spend the day with her! We took her to Chick Fil A for dinner (her choice). Then we went to Barnes & Noble for her birthday cookie and to read some books. If you're a member of their kids club, you get a free cookie/cupcake on your birthday! :) And after that she got to go pick out a new toy from Target with her birthday money. I love that we can keep things simple and our kids still have so much fun! We all enjoyed spending the day together and spoiling our new little 3 year old with the things that she loves!

15 Months

Ellie is 15 months now. I took her in for her well check last week and she's 24lbs! She has been walking for a few months now, and we've noticed that her right foot turns in. We thought she was just bow-legged but I wanted to discuss it with her doctor. It turns out that she has a condition called Internal Tibial Torsion. It means that her tibia is rotated internally, which causes her foot and ankle to also rotate in. It's apparently pretty common in children, and hopefully something that she will grow out of but it shouldn't affect her too much! 

Other than that, she's a typical busy little 15 month old into everything! You know...eating dog food, making messes, and her newest trick of climbing on anything she can!

BIG News! {The Sweet Salute}

As you can see, the blog has taken on a new look and I'll explain why. There has been a topic floating around our household for a few months now, and we're finally ready to share with all of you some big news!

After 10 years of being in the Marine Corps, we have decided it's time for a change! Sometime this year, Stuart will be getting out of the Marine Corps and we'll be moving back to TEXAS! We are excited, nervous, scared, and pretty much any other emotion you can throw in there. This is a huge decision for our family. I could think of a lot of reasons to complain about the military lifestyle, but the Marine Corps has given us everything we've ever needed. We honestly wouldn't be where we are today without the Marine Corps, and we will forever be grateful for that! The benefits are amazing, the job security is amazing, living in California is amazing....but there is a major part that we are missing. And that's our family. Stuart and I started this journey into the military before we were even married, I couldn't wait to get out of Texas and live in a new place! But now we have these 3 little girls and would give anything for them to grow up near their family! You really don't realize what you're missing until you don't have it anymore. We don't know anything different than living this lifestyle, so it's going to be a really big change for us. We don't have many details about the future (which is the scary part) and we know it'll definitely be a challenge, but we're giving it all up to God and know that it's the best decision for our family. We cannot wait to be back HOME in Texas for good! We would appreciate any prayers you could give us along the way!

So with that said, this is our "sweet salute" to the Marine Corps and this season in our life. It's bittersweet, but we couldn't be more excited about what the future holds for our family!