Happy Birthday Daddy

Now I know what you are thinking...did he really try to start the chainsaw in the house? 
Why yes, yes he did.  This blog is called Our Blessed Chaos for a reason.  And here is a short glimpse into the chaos of our life....

Of course he had to try it out and quickly put the kids to work...which lasted about as long as this short video.

Happy Birthday Daddy

What do you do when your hubby is turning 39 and you have a number 3 candle but you don't have a number nine candle? Simple, just put the number 3 on the left and a bunch of other candles that all add up to nine on the right. Light the candles and see how long it takes him to figure out what you did. LOL it took awhile!


Happy Birthday Honey I Love You!

My Husband Rocks - Teaching the kids

My Husband rocks is hosted by KatyLin

This week we started school, that is home-preschool. I love that my hubby shares in my passion to teach our kids. I love that he is ready to jump in and do whatever we are doing. I have even incorporated Homework. This is time that the kids work on worksheets or crafts individually with Daddy. It is fun to watch him teach them and even more fun to see them learn.

One of the things that my hubby is very passionate about is guns. He has been since he was very young and grew up in a family that are all equally passionate about their guns. Now this is not only a passion to shoot or to collect, oh no! It is a passion that enables him to remember everything about all kinds of guns. I suppose it is much like a man who is passionate about sports and is a walking encyclopedia about stats.

The best way I can explain hubby's passion is to relate it from my point of view. In the first couple years of our marriage, before we had so many babies, we watched alot of movies. Anytime there was a movie or even a TV program that had a scene with guns or really anything related to guns he would have a remark about it. Many times it was about how he has that gun or when he shot one just like it. Other times it was him making observations about nit-picky little things like how such and such would never be used that way, or something was not quite right. I was always amazed that he could pick things out from scene shots that were only a few seconds.

Then we started watching the 'Band of Brother' series. You have no idea how many comments were flying around the room. Almost to the point where it was becoming annoying. Finally I said something like "Oh look honey, there's a tent" to which he replied, "That is actually called a blahblahblah" ARRRGGG he even knows the proper military term for a tent!

So when it comes to guns, yes it is his passion. But it is also his job and he has trained guys at the range. When I was pregnant he was spending alot of time at the range. I envisioned him as a drill sargent during my labor, you know like the ones you see screaming in the movies. Thankfully I had a c-section so I never got to see that side of him!

Now that our kids are not babies anymore and we have the space to shoot from our yard he has been itching to do alot more shooting. The kids absolutely love it and I love that he is passing his passion on to our kids. These are some of the pictures that I took the other day, but what I didn't capture was the looks of excitement on their faces when they came running back to me to tell me what they did with Daddy!

As always, Carlee is Daddy's girl and here she is helping him with the bullets.

I just noticed that it looks like they are not all wearing ear protection. They do have ear plugs. Part of hubby's passion is not only knowledge of the weapon and ammunition you are shooting, but the most important thing is always gun safety.

Have a blessed day!!!

My Husband Rocks - He is a great daddy!

Katy Lin hosts My Husband Rocks!.



My husband will totally hate this post because he hates being in photos almost as much as I do! But today I don't care if he likes it or not. We have been away from him for nearly 3 weeks and I miss him terribly! The best I have at this moment is pictures of him. Here are a few of my favorites...

We lost most of our photos and videos of Sam's first nine months when our computer crashed. This is one of earliest ones I have of Daddy and Sam at about 10 months old. Daddy's look says "What are you doing? You are too young to be climbing like that!"

I think this is my all time favorite picture of my hubby (besides our wedding photos). This was taken the night before Ben & Carlee were born. He was checking out a little gun that Uncle John has sent for Sam. If you can't read it, his shirt says "Don't Piss Me Off! I'm running out of places to hide the bodies" I just thought that the whole scruffy, growly look complete with gun and tshirt was totally appropriate for the eve of his daughter's arrival. I truly pity any boys who try to date her!

Here is Daddy just moments after Ben & Carlee were born. I just love that they both have Daddy's beautiful blue eyes.

I love this one because you can see a glimmer of just how thrilled he is to be a Dad!

Daddy is constantly coming up with all kinds of silly things to say and do just to make the kids laugh. And it works, nobody can make our kids laugh like Daddy can.


I included these ones, just so you can see how much these kids look like their Daddy! Especially Carlee.


My hubby was so excited when I started to bake bread with freshly ground wheat!

He knows how to relax and simply read his Bible. Oh yeah and he is a big softie when it comes to the critters!

As a parent he will do anything for the kids, including potty training. Although this particular moment was not all that helpful. They ran around with underwear on their heads for a long time after this little stunt of Daddy's.

He loves his kids, and he loves to give and recieve lots and lots of hugs and kisses! They are turning into very loving children because of it.

Here is the photo that I took a couple days before we left for our Canadian vacation. Daddy, we miss you so much and even though we are having fun in Canada we cannot wait to get home to you! We love you this much!!!

My Husband Rocks

Katy Lin hosts My Husband Rocks!.

It has been awhile since I have done a My Husband Rocks post, but this week I have been more reflective about him and thought I would sit down and write. I have been more reflective for a couple reasons. Of course because me and the kids are here at my parents and he is at our home and I simply miss him. But secondly because I just started to read the book "The Power of a Praying Wife".

I have always felt incredibly blessed to have the husband I have. Certainly no question or hesitation about that. I am barely into the first chapter and I am realizing this blessing is so much more deep. Within the first few pages (pg 14) she says "A husband can hurt your feelings, be inconsiderate, uncaring, abusive, irritating, or negligent."

Only within my own self-pity does he ever hurt my feelings. Once I get over myself I realize that I have over reacted and was wrong.

Only in my own selfishness is he inconsiderate. No, this is not my hubby - in fact he is often way more considerate than I am. Many days I am wallowing in my own selfishness, waiting for him to get home so I can get a break. Meanwhile I forget that he has commuted 120+ miles, worked all day and then has to come home to me wanting to escape, and yet he happily sends me to our room for a break!

The word uncaring is the complete opposite of my hubby. As a young child his mother had surgery and he took care of her. All he could do was bring her a bowl of cereal but that is what he did - he took care of her and made sure she ate. If I am not feeling well he always brings me what I need, food, a drink, medicine, ice packs or whatever. I won't even get into how much he cares for our children other than to say that sometimes he mothers them more than I do. This man was born with a caring soul.

Abusive? Umm no, I can't even think of a humorous analogy.

Irritating - yeah well who isn't irritating to their spouses in some ways. Okay, yes, there are things that irritate me: it drives me insane when he takes something out of the fridge but does not put it back in the same spot, he never wipes his toothpaste smear out of the sink, he never picks up his dirty clothes or puts away clean ones when I ask him too, and his 'spaces' like the attic and the shed are so insanely disorganized that I can not stand to even be near them! I am organzied and it aggravates me to have a messy house - he is disorganized and messy doesn't bother him. So of course I am always the one that is irritated with these things!

Negligent - yes, he never brings me flowers - oh wait, that's because I told him not to. No, he does not neglect - he gives me everything I want and more. I am not sure that he has ever told me 'no'. I cannot even imagine how crazy of an idea I would have to come up with before he would stop me! Let's see - how about I run away from home for nearly four weeks and the way to get there is to spend over $2,000 to fly out of the country with 2 year old twins and a 3 year old by myself. Yeah that is a pretty crazy idea but he didn't flinch, and told us to have a great time. His biggest worry was me, how would I manage on the plane and in the airport!

I am so blessed to have this man as my husband! I complain, I moan and groan - he never does! I get upset and lose my mind every other day - he never does, he is so even tempered that even when he does get upset it can be humorous. My mom & I still can laugh until we cry when we remember him throwing the stool out the back door after he stubbed his toe on it for the millionth time! That is seriously the only time in 6 years I remember him losing his temper!

A little further into the beginning of "The Power of a Praying Wife" book she even discusses women who don't even like their husbands! My hubby is my best friend.

I am only through half of the first chapter but this first chapter is about changing yourself first. Yeah, there is definately alot of stuff I need to work on, including praying more for my husband!

My Husband Rocks - Promoted

My Husband Rocks!

Today I was blessed to be present at my hubby's USCG Commissioning Ceremony. He was promoted from the rank of Chief Petty Officer to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer. This is a huge step for him as he moves from enlisted to a commissioned officer.
The ceremony began with a discussion from the Captain about the importance of moving into this rank. Including that he will never be able to return to the enlisted ranks and he can now move up through the officer ranks. Then they read the promotion certificate and he took the commissioning oath.

I was also very honored to be asked to place one of his new shoulder boards. I didn't know that I was going to be asked to do this and I was kicking myself that I had not drilled hubby about what would actually be occurring. I know absolutely nothing about rank pins, ensignia and all that stuff and so I was worried I was going to put it on upside down or some other major faux pas. But thankfully I was smart enough to be observant to what was happening on his other shoulder!!

Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of any of this. I had the camera with me but there was something silly rule about "being in a classified space and no recording devices allowed". So when the ceremony started I repressed the urge to bolt for my camera!

I tried to listen to the ceremony as much as possible and did manage to absorb most of it. Of course I was distracted by trying to keep some sense of control over the kids. They were having difficulty with the whole idea of "stand still and keep quiet". Although someone told hubby later that they were impressed with Carlee when she plastered Sam against the wall after he pushed her. LOL she's Daddy's girl!!

I am so very proud of him and the strides he is making in his military career and I am so blessed that he is such a wonderful husband and an incredible Daddy.

Visit Katy Lin at
The Great Adventure for more My Husband Rocks Posts

My Husband Rocks - Promoted

Katy Lin hosts the weekly "My Husband Rocks". Normally she gives prompts to write about. I love that it really gets me thinking about all the wonderful things about my husband. This week she has some really great prompts, but I will not be following them. I have some news...

Yesterday we got the almost (not yet in writing) official word that hubby will be receiving a promotion! This is not a total shock, we have been expecting it for quite awhile now, but it always seems so much more real when you hear that he has to report in to the new duty station no later than July 1!

First of all, I have to say that I am incredibly proud of my husband and all he is accomplishing. We have been married for about 5 1/2 years and this is the second promotion he has received. I think it is impressive. My husband is very easy going and is not the kind of guy who jumps up and down screaming with excitement! He is incredibly humble about the whole thing but I do think he is secretly very excited about it.

So now, what does this mean for us? We were just transferred to Norfolk from California last June and were expecting to be here for 4 years. After being in southern California for 5 years and now with small kids we did not want to be anywhere near the city. We bought a house 50 miles from hubby's work and he commutes every day. We absolutley love it out here and if at all possible will never live in a city again.

But the new job in Baltimore is 250 miles from here, obviously too far to commute. We need to sell the house. There are a couple problems I see with that - the ecomony and the location. The economy speaks for itself. We live in one of the most rural counties of the state, so not alot of real estate transactions going on around here. The house we bought had been on the market for a year. Obviously we hope that with a much better realtor than they had, some reorganizing and some paint that we can sell faster than that! So step 1 - get the house ready to sell and put it on the market.

Step 2 - assuming that the house is not going to sell before the end of June, hubby will need a place to live. A place that we (me, kids, & pets) can spend alot of time at too. And it needs to be somewhat rural and relatively inexpensive - we are still paying a mortgage afterall! I looked online today and I think that with some looking we should be able to find something suitable.

Step 3 - make about a million lists! I will need to have two workable & livable households until the house sells. We are thinking that we will spend some time there with hubby and some time here alone or with him on some days off. I need lists to figure out what to move there, what to keep here, what to put in storage to make the house buyer friendly, blah blah blah...a bazillion things to think about and plan!

Step 4 - when the house sells we will need to find a more suitable place to live. But we don't need to worry about that just yet.

That's all I have for now! It will be stressful and add more chaos to our lives but in the end My Husband Rocks! He is and will be the rock of our family. I organize, he keeps me sane, it is a wonderful partnership.

My Husband rocks

Katy Lin hosts the weekly "My Husband Rocks". This week's prompt is

Tell us about a time that your spouse went out of his way to serve you, and love you sacrificially.

My hubby sacrifices time with his family....

When we moved from California we knew that if we didn't have to we did not want to live in the city. With three very small children it became not only a preference to live more rurally but also a safety issue. They can literally go three different directions at the same time and we wanted them to be able to safely play outside.

Our house hunting started with determining what the maximum commute was going to be. Hubby decided that after commuting on LA freeways he could easily manage a 50 mile commute in Virginia, and so I only looked at homes within a 50 mile radius of his new workplace. We found a home in a very small community, far from any busy roads, on a large 1 acre lot surrounded by trees and nearly all fenced. Basically the only way out of the whole yard is down the driveway. Perfect for containing kids, better said - attempting to contain kids hahaha!

The time he has lost:
In California he was still home in the morning to see kids get up and often have breakfast with them, now he is gone long before we get up.

In California he would get home in the middle of the afternoon, now he generally gets home just in time for supper. On work days he used to have about 4 hours with the kids, now it is only 2 hours.


So is it worth it? Of course! We are in a wonderful community with great neighbors - you just don't find this kind of welcoming environment in a city!! I certainly don't have to worry about traffic, there is usually only a few cars that go by our place all day. I don't have to immediately panic if I lose sight of one child for a moment - usually it is Ben and he is wandering around the yard someplace! We can go outside to play and there is enough room in our yard where they can easily and safely run in three different directions.

I took these pictures last summer and actually captured them going in three different directions. I was trying to get them all to sit together nicely for a group photo - ha that was a joke. I finally bribed them with juice boxes (a rare treat) to get them to sit still. And this is exactly why my hubby sacrifices his time - so that his children can have this kind of time!!!






And this is exactly why my hubby sacrifices his time - so that his children can have this kind of time!!! To just be kids in a safe place.

My Husband Rocks!

I just found a great blog carnival hosted by KatyLin at The Great Adventure. She says that one of the reasons she started this idea is "...putting marriage in a positive light! I want my husband to feel loved and respected by me, and I want to encourage others in this as well!"

When I saw this I realized how much this blog has been devoted to our kids and how little has been mentioned about my husband. So in an effort to change that I will join Katy Lin on Fridays for my own My Husband Rocks posts. Looks like she uses "prompts" which is a good. Sometimes my sleep deprived, chaos ridden brain has trouble putting ideas together!!

~ONE~List at least one thing your husband did or said in the past week that reminded you why you love him.

Every day that my hubby comes home I know that I can rely on him to take care of the kids while I do whatever I need to do. This might include finishing supper, cleaning the kitchen, or even closing the door to the den for 5 minutes of regaining my composure.

In addition to all of that Wednesday evenings have become my escape. My wonderful hubby does all that needs to be done to get the kids ready for bed. That is three toddlers changed and into jammies all by himself!!! And all of this just so that I can go to church! Every time I walk out the door on Wed night I am amazed at how God has truly blessed me with an amazing hubby and the perfect father to our children.

I love how much he loves being a Daddy!

~TWO~Share a "Generous Wife Tip"

My hubby generally gets home about 5pm and the kids are usually in bed by 7:30. This is not alot of time for him to spend with them. My tip is to let him do as much as possible. An example of this would be if one of the kids asks me to do something I will tell them to ask Daddy to help. They are so used to me being there all day that I think they forget to even ask Daddy. The end result is that our kids learn that Daddy can do whatever Mama can do.