Life.. Reimagined

I never imagined I would be a military wife.

Having to be 2nd priority in your husband's life and knowing that he could very well have to leave and may be across the globe for months at a time was not my idea of marriage....but....Guess What?

Here I am.... Military wife plus 2 Military kids!

My husband has always been the "tactical" type. Everything he owns is black and has a multipurpose use. I should have known that eventually this would have been my lifestyle. His dad was in the Army and they traveled quite a bit so this has been engrained in him since he was little.

One day I remember my husband tossing out the idea of enlisting in our Air National Guard. I vaguely remember saying it would be a great back up plan for our family if our economy does go completely downhill.... and then BAM...He is off to Basic Training and I'm traveling 12 hours in a car with a 3 year old to watch him graduate. (Thank God for portable DVD players)

Even though this life isn't easy...it sometimes has more stressful moments than happy moments...

it also makes me utterly grateful for every little thing I call mine. It makes me look at marriage in a new perspective, it makes me stronger, it ...like it or not.. makes life very busy and exciting and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Not many wives can say that they burst with pride for their husband, not many wives have a support group that will walk to through fire to help with anything needed, and not many wives experience the homecoming kiss after a long deployment...but us chosen ones..although hard...take it one day at a time with a smile!

And I couldn't end this without saying a HUGE thank you to everyone..absolutely everyone..who has not only helped mow my yard, watch my kids, or help fix something... but also to everyone that has had just a kind word or a word of encouragement for my family. You are greatly appreciated!!

Morning Routine

Our family will be going through a change soon so right now I'm trying to nail down a great routine that I can keep up with. I've always thought routines are necessary for a comfortable life. When I had my babies they were put on a routine as soon as possible.
My present morning routine works but every once in a while you need to check in and update.

In the morning I try to wake up before Brewer boy and get some mommy time in. I read my bible, pray, and plan my day.
Most of the time ..Brewer boy wakes me up..so of course I go get some morning snuggles and change a diaper and put on his clothes for the day. Then I fix a bottle and feed the baby. Once he is happy then I start getting dressed myself. I try to pick out my clothes the night before so there isn't a huge thought process to getting dressed.
My daughter wakes up at 7am so if it's about that time I go ahead and get her up. She has her own routine that she follows each morning to make sure that she is ready for the day.
It's then time to check all bags and lunch boxes to make sure they are ready. I load up the car. Double check my daughter to make sure she has everything. Put baby in carseat and head out of the house for work and school.

What does your mornings look like?

Marriage Monday

I feel like in our day and time now that the sanctity of marriage is nothing more than a piece of paper that you pay for to make it "official" so the woman can change her last name.. yet again.

That's is so far from the truth. Marriage is a commitment. Marriage is work and it gets hard sometimes. But if done right.. it is the most rewarding thing you will ever experience. There is nothing like the feeling of knowing that in this world of 6 billion people.. someone has your back.. at all times. To support you , love you, listen to you, ..and annoy you. Let's be honest if you live together long enough.. you get annoyed with each other.

I want to use my little space here on the world wide web to hopefully inspire someone to not quit.. to work at it.. make it work.. at all costs...you won't regret it.

True Beauty

If you have read my blog long enough then you would know that I have had a burden to homeschool Lyla since she was about 3. She is so interested in learning and I feel like if we could focus on that interest then she would go so far in life. Also this momma thinks about the things you get exposed to in public schools. The character traits of others that are not acceptable but can't helped to be picked up if you are with them all day....The words that a child should not know...The innocence that could be lost in a moment .. when I am not there...and can not explain ..I can not fix. Once that innocence is lost.. it's gone.. forever.

Although there is a few things that my child has already picked up and learned that I am not happy about.. we have gotten to the stage of "boyfriends" and "who likes who". We are asking about makeup and jewelry.

I ask why she thinks she needs all that...she is to young. She says so she can look good and be beautiful.

So I go straight to the Bible to get something.. anything.. that will grab her attention and let her know that God made her without jewelry and makeup ...and she is perfect just the way she is.

So here is the lesson we are learning right now:

1 Peter 3:3-4

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Your beauty is your spirit, your character, your joy, your friendship to others, your love for those that are unloving, your faith, your prayer life
Your beauty does not come from gold, glitter and all things that sparkle. Yes, they are nice and lovely to look at..but it does not make your beautiful.

You are beautiful .. just being You.

Repost from 2008 - Baby Dr Appt

I love going through old posts on my blog and reading what I was doing and how life was like at the moment. Sometimes Gregg and I chat about how we can not even fathom our lives right now without our kids or each other. We sit and think about how our lives would be different if we hadn't met each other.. or if life went a different way. Earlier in our marriage.. we had a "maybe" answer for that question..but now.. we both just look at each other and think.. I don't know.. I can't even imagine what life would be like with out our family. I don't want to know. I don't want to know what life would be like without them. I am happy.. beyond happy. I am content. Safe. Secure. Settled. I am settled. And I love it.

So grab a drink with me and let's go back to 2008 when I was pregnant with Lyla and I guess I had just went to my 3rd Dr appointment and it was Gregg's first time going with me. He worked a lot. He always has. When I met him he worked two jobs and he has always been one to work .. even overtime.. just to make sure that I have never "wanted" for anything. So funny to see that we already had Levi's name picked out back in 2008 also.

Ok .. I will stop rambling.. let's take a trip to the past......


Dear Baby,So I had dr appt number 3 Monday and your daddy got to go with me!!
This was the first one for him to go to! It was just a check up but the dr brought in that thing and let your daddy listen to your heartbeat. He was excited...your heartbeat was loud. Dr Haraway said your heart rate was about 154...which means that the old wives tale about the baby’s heartrate being over 140 means you might be a girl!
We made the appt for the Big ultrasound to see what you are going to be...it is March 24 so we will see if that old wives tale is true! Now you just have to turn the right way so we can see. That way daddy and  I can get your room ready! 
I thought I wanted a girl ...I think because I lost your sister Natalie....but the further along I get I don’t think I will prefer one over the other as long as you get here and healthy!
I have almost past the point of when I lost Natalie which might not mean anything but it means alot to me for some reason. Here lately I have been so nervous over everything...knowing that this is close to when my water broke with Natalie and i don't wanna lose you.
I already love you so much! We have discussed a few names.....so far we have Levi Greggorey if your a boy and Lyla Faye if your a girl.
Well it is time for me to head to chuch so i had better get going!!!! Please don't kick my bladder while we are praying and make me run to the bathroom!

Sincerly,
Your Momma

Drama Club Play - Enchanted Woods

Disclaimer: I'm done editing and worry about grammar, perfect sentence structure, etc. So my posts here on my blog is my voice. Me just talking to a friend.. YOU. I hope you hear my voice and enjoy my blog.


To my surprise this year Lyla wanted to be in the Drama Club which puts on a play each year.
This year it was called Enchanted Woods. We got a list of characters that were going to be in the play and the kids got to pick their top 3 to audition for. I tried to prep her that most of the older kids were going to get the parts with a lot of speaking parts but still she chose Narrator 1, Narrator 2, and Narrator 3 as her top 3. This girl just loves to read.
Well the list came out on who was what character and Lyla got "Happy Dwarf"

Yea.. a little less than a Narrator but I told her that she will do her best and be the best little happy dwarf they have ever seen ..then next year I bet she will get a bigger part.
I'm kind of thankful for the Happy Dwarf part because she was also in a church play.. and had to practice for a piano recital all at the same time.

So we got a shirt made specifically for her part.. so everyone would know that she was a happy dwarf. We had to wear a yellow shirt, rolled up jeans and yellow socks..
here she is in her play:

she did have one line
She jumped gleefully and said "Snow White Get Up!" after Snow White fell down when she took a bit of the apple. And if I say so myself.. she did great with her one line.

I love this girls drive and her confidence. I love her perfectionism and competiveness. I love her.

Lyla's Toy Brew with Audree

So.. my daughter has found Shopkins.

She found them about a year ago and has been completely obsessed since. I thought it was just a phase and we would eventually move on..
but no..

Moose toys is very smart.

About the time we are done collecting a season of Shopkins.. What do they do? Yep. They come out with a whole new Season!! Yay! Which keeps my child ... obsessed!

She found Shopkins on a YouTube channel (parental controls do apply) when they were in Season 2. We have almost all of Season 2. Then her Dad and I bought her a whole case of Season 3 Blind Baskets for her birthday. Now we are collecting Season 4. *fingers crossed we find a Limited Edition*

Don't know what a Shopkin is?

Here .. allow me to show you..

A few weekends ago Lyla had a friend sleepover and they HAD to do a YouTube video of their own showing off Shopkins. Like Totally HAD to!! or the whole 7 years that they have been alive on this Earth would just be for nothing.

Anyway.. I set up the camera.. and said "Have Fun!"

I caught up on my binge watching of the Big Bang Theory and their YouTube video kept them happy for about an hour.. Your Welcome though because I stayed up one night and edited it down to just under 30 minutes..

Yes... I edited it DOWN to less than 30 minutes. Love them girls though and I'm so happy that they are friends. They make me laugh. Sometimes.. as adults.. we just need to laugh at some like totally funny girl stuff and forget about all the adult stuff in our brain.

Enjoy!

One Little Word 2016

I know it is half way through January .. I know that most people pick their One Little Word before the new year.. or right at the beginning of the new year.. but I didn't.

The past few years I have picked a word to focus on for my upcoming year. I enjoy focusing on one word instead of failing at resolutions. I'm not a good resolution person. I can totally make them.. I just suck at seeing them through. It is much easier for this momma to focus on one word.

This year I wanted to give myself a little time to make sure that this is the word I want. In years past I have focused on strength, prayer, memory, etc. It's worked.. I feel like I actually work on the specific word but this year the word didn't come to me as quickly as it had before.

To pick my word I take an initial stock of my life at the moment... we as women go through phases of life.
The fiancée stage.. planning a wedding
the new wife stage
the new mom stage
mom again stage
everyone comes before you stage
exhaustion stage
getting it back stage..

I've realized that the phase I am in is the exhaustion stage.. but I am determined to move on to the next stage of getting back to being me. I've put everyone and everything before me.. my husband, my kids, my house, the laundry, the dishes.. I literally put everything as a higher priority than myself. For some reason women tend to think that if you are a "real" woman then you can take care of your house, your kids, your husband, your garden, your friends, work a full time job and still look like you just got out of the spa.. Let me tell you honey... That is crap! It doesn't happen. Sorry if I busted your bubble.

I realize that something is going to have to give if I plan on taking care of myself.. but I'm not quite sure where I want to fail .. to be able to succeed in being me. Do you have this problem? We can't keep all the balls we juggle in the air all the time.. One of them has to fall for us to pick up another. Let's face it.. I'm not a good juggler to begin with.

So no matter what I have to do.. my One Little Word for 2016 is:

Become:
A verb... An action word..

to come.. come into myself.. to realize who I am.. as a person.. not just a mom.. not just a wife.. not just an employee.. but as ME.. as a person.. a child of God.. What am I created for?

change.. something has gotta give..I can't keep putting everything ahead of myself.. I have to have something in my cup to be able to pour out to my family.. something has to change .. I do not want my children seeing me exhausted every day..I want them to see joy and life in their momma's eyes.

grow to be.. this will take time.. it is a growing process.. but in 2016 I will work toward...

Becoming Nikki

Sunday Song

This is a song I've been listening to quite a bit this week. It has a great message and is my pep talk in the mornings reminding myself that I Choose Jesus.

No matter what's going on around me..the drama, temptation, etc. ...I will choose Jesus because he first chose me.

My Best Christmas Gift

I remember as a younger woman I would secretly wish for the promise ring from my boyfriend or the super cute pair of shoes from my parents. Now as a mother..I get so much joy from a few scribbles on a peice of paper and a little voice that says "for you momma"

It's the thought that counts.

My 2016 Mantra

This is going to be my mantra for 2016. I give give and give to the point where I literally forget about myself. Then eventually I get to the point of exhaustion. In 2016 I want to be able fill my own cup so that I have something to pour out to my kids, family and friends. I want to get rid of the guilt I feel when I try to do something for myself ..because somehow in my mommy mind when I am doing something for me I feel like I am taking time away from my kids. 

Anyone else feel like that?

2016 is going to be the year that I fill my cup.

I'm Thankful

Today I woke up in such a grateful mood. How can you not be so thankful for everything we have in this life with all that is going on in our crazy world?

Each morning when I wake up I grab my "Keep Calm and Pray On" journal and I write a short .. or sometimes long... prayer before I start my day. Today this post is coming straight from my prayer journal...so here comes some realness:

November 27

Today is my fathers birthday and yesterday was Thanksgiving..so today my cup is overflowing with gratefulness and all I can possibly pull out of my soul today to pray is "I'm Thankful"

Without you Lord none of this life would be possible. All of my blessing that I do not deserve come from you and your sacrifice. I'm humbled and grateful. I have spent time recently reflecting on how wonderful my life truly is. During this time people start making wish lists for Santa and telling family what they would like for Christmas and I'm just over here humbled by what I already have. 

I'm so thankful for the parents you chose for me. I"m thankful for the time we have spent together as a family. I'm thankful for the hard times we have went through. I'm thankful I got to spend so much time with Colton when he was a baby. I'm thankful for a great brother and a wonderful uncle to my children. I'm thankful for all our family friends and family that I don't really even know. I'm thankful for me and my dad's close relationship. I'm thankful for having a great bond with my brother. I'm thankful that my mom enjoys being a wonderful grandma to my kids. I'm thankful she takes the opportunity to teach my daughter lady things like cooking and sewing when I fail at showing her those types of things. I'm thankful for my past relationships with old boyfriends which make me appreciate the relationship I have now with Gregg. I'm thankful you guided my path and my decisions that led me to Gregg. I'm thankful that Gregg was interested in this simple country girl. I'm thankful for his protection, love and security in our family. I'm thankful you chose me to be his help mate for the rest of our lives. I'm thankful he is the father of my children. I'm thankful for our job, our house, our vehicles, our way of life. I"m thankful that you have allowed me to experience two wonderful pregnancies that brought me two beautifully healthy children. I'm thankful that you see fit to make me a mother. I'm thankful for my blurry busy days and two annoying dogs. I'm thankful for every day that I wake up in a dream and realize that this is my reality. I'm thankful. I'm thankful that you given all this to me, Lord. I'm thankful for your love, mercy and grace. 

I'm Thankful. 

You have let me experience the joys of life and the exquisite pleasures of Your own eternal presence. Psalms 16:11 

There is so much to be thankful for.. Just because Thanksgiving is over with now .. let's not forget what all we have to be thankful for.

This blog.. is mine

Hello Hello....

I have gone back and forth on whether to blog or not to blog....


now admit we all said in our heads "That is the question"



I don't really have the time for it.. or shall I say I don't "make" the time for it...but when I get a wild hair thinking

Hmm..I should go look at that old blog of mine..
I LOVE seeing the old posts about my what was going on in my life..which was really the reason I started this blog in the first place...to keep memories...for a tool that my daughter could use to see what life was like back in the olden days.

This world is changing so quickly before my eyes .. I am sure that this world will be totally different by the time my daughter is my age.

Blogging has gotten so business minded.. money making... so commercial. I thought that I wouldn't add up because I don't ever want to go there. I don't want to sell out.. I don't want to be a "review" blog.. I want it to be MY blog. MY pictures. MY memories. told in MY voice.

So .. you will see to many dots (...) because that is me pausing to think. You will not see correct grammar, perfect English, or professional photos. You may find a misspelled word and you may come across a post with just a picture and no words, but it is what it is.

It's mine.

So welcome to the Brewers little space on the world wide web..I hope you grab a cup of good ol southern sweet tea, stay awhile and chat. It'll be nice to get to know you!

Lyla-Loopsy

I am so proud of this girl. She has made my dream of motherhood the best reality possible.

On the last testing session at school Lyla scored at a Level 40 on reading. I just got a message from her teacher saying is the equivalent of reading at the end of the 4th grade year. Wow!!

I love that she loves to read! I pray her love for reading does not cease in the slightest. Every night we read a book before and even though she can read she likes for me to read it..but you better believe she is following along with every word.

Right now we are on our second round of reading The Wizard of Oz  (which by the way is different than the movie).

Are your kiddos at reading age? What books do your kids like?

Fall Festival Fun

Yesterday right after a wonderful church service we went straight to the local fall festival. 
The first both we stopped at was the face paint

Then we hit the bounce around and the games.  We finished up with an amazing burger and went to the house to rest up for night church.
Great day!  Great memories made!

Halloween 2014.. successful!

Last night for All Hallows Eve 2014 Lyla went dressed up as Elsa from FROZEN. Suprised? There were approximately 658 other Elsa's strolling around..but I am pretty partial to mine, especially since I spent $30 on that dress thinking she might look a little different than every other Elsa...
But..
Arkansas decided to have a cold front sweep in ON Halloween night so everyone was wearing jackets.
The $30 dress.. covered up.. most of the night!

Moving on..

Our town has a wonderful walking trail where all the groups from the High School set up "stations" and decorate them how they want...the kids walk along the walking trail and the High Schoolers just load thier bags up with candy.. It is absolutely wonderful! and safe!

 

 I have to say I am pretty proud of her Elsa inspired hair. We put baby powder in it to make it white then sprayed the hair spray glitter on it. It was magical!

 

 

At the end of the end of the walking trail you go through City Hall.. which was all decorated as The Emerald City. Super cool!

 

Lyla and I would read a chapter from the Wizard of Oz book every night before bed. She was very into it and we finished the book. So to actually walk into the Emerald City was pretty amazing!

 

 

Of course it all started with a Yellow Brick Road. 

The Cowardly Lion turned out to be Lyla's Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Kinslow. This was serioulsy the highlight of Lyla's night....and turned out to be mine as well. Mrs Kinslow told me she tested Lyla's reading level and she scored at a Level 10. Which was Chinese to me until she told me that they START first grade at a Level 6! Wow!! So now Mrs Kinslow is going to let her go to the library to check out her own books to read. Once she finishes reading that book she can take a test on it and then pick out another one to read.

Proud Momma Moment!

 

 

The last stop is the Fire Station.. they had the smoke machine going and you had to walk through the station in the smoke. What a cool picture! 

 

 

 

After the walking trail .. we hit a few safe houses to Trick or Treat at.. then ran by Taco Bell for some late supper. I look over to ask what my Ice Queen wanted and found this: 

 

Halloween 2014... Successful!

Birthday Party at Preschool

In my last post about Lyla's birthday party I told you that we had to do it early.. well this day was her Real Birthday!! And we were getting ready to party down at preschool!!

We had a big day scheduled..
First a field trip to Chuck E Cheese

Then cake and juice for snack time!

Here was our birthday attire....

 

Lyla and Izzy have become pretty good friends since Lyla moved up into the schoolers room.
At Chuck E Cheese every kiddo got around 60 tokens to play games with .. Lyla and Izzy.. played in the tunnels and this cage.. for free.. almost the whole time.

 

We ended up with 200 tickets...thanks to me and my master skeet ball skills...

so we went to the counter to pick out a sucker and some FunDip

 

Woop Woop!! Cake time!!

It was an Ice Cream cake!

It was a hit!

 

 

I think she had a pretty good day.

 

 

Kindergarten Class List ....

It's been the chatter for a while now.... Who is in who's class? Who is your teacher? I hope they get this one or that one... or I've heard this or that about this teacher...

Kindergarten is stressful...
for the parents!!

This picture is of course from about a month ago..

Our class lists went up on a Friday.. they weren't supposed to be out until that Monday... and oh my goodness.. it was all over Facebook!

We got so and so...

Oh man.. I hope we have a good year...

 

So Lyla and I drove down to her "big girl" school...and she looked for her name

 

We found it!

She is in Mrs. Kinslow's class

 

Her cousin Landon had Mrs. Kinslow last year for his Kindergarten year.. so we know that she is already fantastic.. like every other Kindergarten teacher...and I know that she will have a wonderful year! I'm excited to see how much she loves it!!

 

 

Then of course we looked for all her friends names.. to see which teacher they got....

To her surprise.. she had 2 friends in HER class!

Yay!

 

 

Here we go.. Off to a great school year!

Chatting at the fence...

Oh my goodness..What am I going to do with this girl?

My husband went out to mow the yard and the next thing I know when I look out the window I see this happening.

Such sweet summer memories.

Happy 6th Birthday Lyla!

This year we had to push Lyla's birthday party up a little bit so that all the family would be able to be here to enjoy it.. which wasn't a problem with Lyla. We had only a few short days to plan so we did a quick McDonald's Play Place party in a Frozen theme.
For a quick planned birthday.. I think it went pretty awesome.
All the kids had chicken nuggets and ice cream..My mother in law made this awesome Frozen cake...they kids played their hearts out in the tunnels..and they all went home tired!

SCORE!

 

Does anyone else HAVE to lick the icing off the birthday candle?? It is either a family tradition or just a southern thing.. because I remember doing it when I was little. This year I found her a number 6 candle holder that lit up and blinked.. it was pretty stinking cool!

 

We only invited 10 friends to this birthday party since it was kind of quick deal.. but I can not believe how blessed she was with presents.. you would have never thought we had only 10 guests.. we filled our trunk up in our car with presents. Wow!

We have great family and friends!!

 

She got a ton of toys that she loves.. and we couldn't wait to get home and put our new Frozen bedding on our big girl bed!

 

How precious is this picture? This is Lyla and her best friend Addison...

Total girl secrets going on here.

 

Teddy Bear! Who doesn't love a new soft Teddy Bear! That comes with a matching night gown just like yours!!

 

Perfect ending picture.

This is exactly how her birthday went!

Exciting

Loved

Fun

Perfect!

 

Yay!!

Don't mind the mismatched socks

she picked them out herself