The Toy Box Years: Oh so sleepy......

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

I'm on tired momma this morning!

Last night was a pretty active one here! First, the girls got to bed late. My dad arrived yesterday for a 10 day visit, so the girls were very excited to have Grandpap here. They talked his ear off well past bedtime!

So, around 10pm, I finally crawl into bed after popping some ibuprofen and turning on the heating pad. Turns out that I pulled a muscle in my back - right near the shoulder blade - at the gym. When I turn my head to the right, I can feel the pull. Very painful. That alone told me I was going to have a long night.

I finally dozed off and around 12:30am, Nudgie started with her little sleep crying. Usually a pat on the back puts her right back to sleep, but she kept getting up around every half hour. Finally, about 1:30am, I got up and just sat with her in the rocking chair for about 45 minutes. She fell back asleep. I put her back into bed and crawled back into bed myself. At 3am, I'm woken up to Nudgie again -- this time she's not crying, but having a little party in her bed. She's talking and singing and laughing.....AT.THE.TOP.OF.HER.LUNGS. My Marine says - "hey, at least she's not crying...."

I guess she finally fell asleep because the next time I woke up, it was 5am -- and this time is was Nani who was crying. Unfortuntely for her, she couldn't tell me WHY she was crying. Sigh.

Crawl back into bed only to have My Marine's alarm go off 20 minutes later! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

So now, I have a pot of coffee brewing (not fast enough, mind you!) and I'm definitely planning a nap in my future today!

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