Air Museum & The Blue's

I can't believe how long it has been since i last posted! I have been so busy trying to soak up these last couple of weeks of summer vacation with the boys that i just completely neglected my blog!

Last week we went with some friends to the Naval Aviation Museum that is here on the base! Admission is FREE and they have so much fun stuff to see and play on! The boys had a blast with their friends and it was nice to be out of the house and not spending money! =) Here are a couple pics from the museum....

The kiddos w/ a sweet volunteer who told them all about this little old store!

Levi & Brayden taking a break from flying for a picture!

JT & Colby flying a helicopter

Most of you are probably familiar with the Blue Angels.....they perform at air shows across the nation every year and are very well known! It just so happens that we are blessed to live about 10 miles from their home base!!! It is not uncommon when we go to Target or Wal Mart to see them flying overhead as they practice! Even better......their practices are open to the public. You can go to the flight line and sit in bleachers and watch them practice their entire show!! Far closer and more personal an experience than any air show could ever provide and we went yesterday morning!!! It was AWESOME. AMAZING. Almost surreal. The boys LOVED every second of it and we are hoping to be able to go again soon and take Daddy with us!! Here are a few shots of the show.....they were flying a low show because of the clouds so there were some things they couldn't do but it was still a fabulous show!

waiting for the show to start!

Here they come!!!!

they called this a tight formation (there is about 18 inches clearance from wing of one plane to dome of another....CRAZY!)

waving the Blue Angels back!!!

If you are ever in the Pensacola area i highly recommend both the Air Museum and going to watch a Blue Angels practice! Both are budget friendly and fun, memory making opportunities!! We can't wait to go back and experience both again!

Fun & Friends

Last Sunday our church had their second picnic of the summer. We had plans to go until we checked the weather. {because saturday was pretty stormy!} The forecast didn't look pretty and after chatting with some friends we were going to go with, we all decided to just plan on doing a bbq at our house instead of chance the weather! There was lots of food, laughter, and kiddos playing and having a great time!

this is 8 day old {at the time} Gavin! Is he not the most precious little thing?!

Brayden, JT, John Micheal, Colby, Levi & Alexis....buddies!
{they were all stinky & sweaty at this point accept Alexis of course!}


By the time everyone went home i'm pretty sure all of the boys had black feet from running around outside and they were all stinky sweaty! 2 signs of a great time had by boys!! ;) We are so blessed by all the wonderful friends we've made here and we always enjoy getting together!
{for the record....it never rained! ha! but we had a good time and that was the ultimate goal!}


Then yesterday, me and the boys met up with my friend Chastity and her kiddos for the library, park and a picnic! We had a really good time! My boys love the library and this was the first time we've made it since we moved here. {i know i know...sad!} When we finished at the library we headed down the street to the park and when the kiddos had played their hearts out we enjoyed a picnic lunch!

these flowers were all over at the park....they are soooo gorgeous! anyone know what they are?


Brayden swinging


Colby & JM on the tire swing


sweaty, tired boys finishing up their lunch

It was a great morning out of the house having fun with friends for both the kiddos and me! Its hard to believe that summer is already almost over! My guys start back to school on the 24th....when do kids start back where you are?!?

Oh what a day.....

....and it is only 10 am!! ha! I swear it seems like these things only happen to me.....just when i think i've got it all together, i go and mess up royally! You know...to keep me humble and all that! lol Here is how our day started......

Colby left this morning for his first camp! He is over the moon excited and i have so enjoyed all the questions and talks and excitement this week! He is with a group of kids from church and our children's pastors {who by the way are FABULOUS}!! They went to Camp Baldwin in Alabama and have a full day of fun ahead of them!! He will be home tomorrow morning...so it is only one night and while it is so difficult to let go and let him grow up it is such a blessing to watch at the same time! So its 7am, we're all dressed and ready and heading out the door ON TIME! Here is our camper on his way out the door.....

Colby on his way out the door & Brayden excited for bubba!

And then it happened. The door to the house was closed {and locked} and we are all standing at the car waiting for the car doors to be unlocked. Only, John didn't have the keys. And neither did i. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Anyone out there know what it feels like to realize it is 7am, you are supposed to have your child to church to leave for his first ever camp that he is soooo excited about, and you are locked out of your house and out of your car?!? UGGHHHHH! So we called a friend who came and rescued us after having to get her little one up out of bed, called one of the children's pastors to let them know, and waited in the disgusting humidity for our rescuer to arrive! It was so nasty.....think sauna but you are dressed in jeans and a t shirt....GROSS!! And on top of it all, Brayden steps on a stick in the front yard and cuts the bottom of his foot. Fantastic. ha! Check out my 3 favorite people who were all kinds of not happy at this point......

3 not so happy guys & brayden showing me his boo boo

HaHa!! While it was so far from funny in the moment, i can now laugh about it! Colby made it to church and is now at camp having a blast and we are in our nice air conditioned home! {after a visit from the locksmith who even though he charged $45 for 1 minute of work was my best friend!} Just when i think i have it all together........=)

Critters of the South

So....i just have to share with you a few of the critters we are apparently sharing our wonderful southern abode with! I DON'T. DO. CRITTERS. At all. Spiders, crickets, roaches, bugs, lizards, frogs, snakes. They all freak me out and make my skin crawl and while i understand they are all part of the food chain, i am also not okay with the food chain being inside my home or anywhere in the near vicinity. Oh yeah...and i have two boys who LOVE the fact that there are so many critters! Ahhhh!!!

In reality we don't deal with alot of them in the house but any in the house is too many for me!! We kill spiders in the house probably 3-4 times a week and then the occasional little random bugs and i understand this is a part of life. But the pictures i am about to show you are not okay and not "a part of life" that i will just be dealing with!

Exhibit 1:

that would be a scorpion on my living room carpet. and this is the second scorpion we have found in our house in the last few weeks. UGHHHH!!! So gross and scary!

Exhibit 2:

this one is what we call a banana spider. OH. MY. GOODNESS. it is big. and gross. and makes my skin crawl every single time i see it. And the boys LOVE it....the big boy (aka hubby) included. They feed it bugs. Disgusting. It resides in one of the hugest spider webs i've ever seen on the outside of Colby's bedroom window. Ugh.

Exhibit 3:

i don't know what in the world this one is called but it was HUGE and FREAKED me out! The banana spider may have survived out of love for my 3 favorite men but this one was a goner! No way am i letting it live.....it was on the front porch which is wayyy to close for comfort. Any critter lovers out there know what kind of spider it is??!!

Those are just 3 of the many, many odd and gross critters i have encountered so far here in the south! Yuck. Yuck. Yuck! Don't even get me started on "palmetto bugs" which is what they like to call roaches here. They are HUGE roaches....call em something different if it makes you feel better but they are roaches. When i say huge i mean i killed one on my front patio that was easily 2 1/2 - 3 inches long. SICK! Luckily i have only seen one in the house and it wasn't nearly that big and hubby was home to take care of it! AAAHHHHH.....save me from the critters of the south!!!! I'm guessing i'm not the only one with a critter aversion so what are YOUR least favorite?? Tell me all about the critters that make your skin crawl!!!

The Return of Reid

Wow....the Men Tell All. I typically watch these "tell all" specials just because it's on but there is rarely one that i really enjoy. This one i actually laughed at and enjoyed! Those boys are some drama kings!! And some of the bloopers that they showed were classic...sooo funny!! And now for a list of some stand out moments for me....

*The drunk Ed scene....oh my goodness! It was hilarious to watch but i'll tell ya what...Jillian has far more patience than i do because i would have been so incredibly annoyed by his behavior. It made for good tv but i'm surprised it didn't bother her more that she has such limited time to get to know these guys and he pretty much wasted that opportunity to spend quality time talking with her!

*Michael Stag.....LOVE him! Such a classy gentleman with so much personality!! He is going to make one incredibly lucky lady very happy one day!!

*I was all about Jake in the beginning but i do have to admit that i was kind of annoyed by him on monday night. If he would stop bringing up how perfect he is than maybe others wouldn't focus on it either. Everything he said and did had a bit of passive aggressive cockiness to it...if that makes any sense! Something about him on this men tell all rubbed me the wrong way....

*Wes not being there.....i'm torn. I feel like abc quite possibly didn't let him come because they knew he wasn't going to play the game their way and they surely weren't going to air him calling them out on their falsifying thru editing. BUT there is a small part of me that questions why the guys all had not so nice things to say about him and even pinpointed shady things he said to them. I think the real truth most likely lies somewhere between Wes's side and abc's side and i'm done wasting time thinking about it. We'll never know the real truth so i'm moving on!

*Angry Dave. Oh Angry Dave. The dude just doesn't get it and it blows my mind that he could really be confused as to what would have made her feel so uncomfortable. I think it is sad that Dave has seemingly never been shown or taught how to respect a woman and it's hard to see what you are doing wrong when you've never been taught any different. SAD!

*Jason & Molly....i've gotta say that they actually are a really cute couple. I half way follow them on another website so i knew they were still together. I really hope it works out for them....Jason may not have gone about it in the best way but i do believe his motives for doing what he did were right. And it took alot of guts to do it which i think speaks highly of his feelings for Molly...wish them all the best!

*And now....THE RETURN OF REID!!!!!! Oh my word.....i cannot wait to see the finale next week and see exactly how Reid coming back plays out. I am going to let my hopelessly romantic mind get carried away with dreams of them ending up together for this week! I KNOW it probably won't happen but hey.....a girl can dream right???

I truly just don't see her and Ed together.....something is just not there. If i was forced to choose one of the final two i would say her and Kiptyn stand a better chance than her and Ed. But i just dont really see it working out long term with either of them. Looking forward to monday and the most dramatic finale EVER!!!! haha! What are all my fellow fans thinking???

This one's for you April!! ;)

I'm not sure how many of you have missed me posting my thoughts on the Bachelorette, but i know my bloggy friend April, at Straight From the Heart, has!! ha! She has been sure to let me know she misses hearing all about what i'm thinking and she is pretty much fabulous so here i am with my thoughts on the Bachelorette!

Sooooo much has happened since the last time i posted and i'm not about to try to remember all of it!! Here are a few things that stand out......

*I think Michael is one of my all time favorite guys on this show so far!! He was goofy but so sweet and fun and cute. I wish there could have been more between them but i hope they stay friends! He was just such a sweetheart and it broke my heart the night she let him go....he was such a gentleman but you could see he was just crushed. He almost made me wanna learn how to break dance!! ha!

* the whole Ed leaving and coming back. Not exactly sure how i feel about that...I like Ed. I don't know that i like Ed and Jill together. There is just something that isn't right......something is missing. There is an awkwardness about them that is just weird. And don't even think i am going to skip over talking about the booty shorts he was wearing on Monday's episode. SERIOUSLY?!?! Words fail me.....i still can't believe he wore those on national television. And the "situation" between them on monday night...well.....i dont know exactly what happened and to be honest i don't want to know exactly what happened. Regardless of what happened i think they could have done without airing it.

* Wes. geez....let me just say that i don't think Wes was portrayed as the person he really is. at all. I listened to an interview that Reality Steve did with Wes and it really helped me to understand a little more of who Wes really is and how the producers butchered him with the editing they did. I was most definitely a member of the Wes haters club until i heard the interview. I'm going to leave it at that...if you would like you can find the interview here.

* Kiptyn ~ i don't think i've hidden the fact that from the very beginning i have liked Kiptyn! He is so stinkin' cute and watching him and Jillian together just makes me smile. However, she seems very insecure about their relationship, almost like she doesn't feel like she's good enough for him. Does anyone else get that feeling?? They make such a cute couple but she really seems to have alot of hesitation when it comes to him. I think between Ed and Kiptyn my choice for her would definitely be Kiptyn but i'm still just not too sure about them.

* I am soooo SAD that she let Reid go. I think he is just about the cutest thing besides my hubby of course!! ;) And Reid is soooo a boy version of me! haha! The whole fondue thing, washing the veggies....oh my goodness.....i had more than one friend comment about how he was a boy version of me with all of his neurotic tendencies and i would have to agree!! I think that Reid had very real feelings for her and that he was being very realistic in his struggle with opening up and promising a proposal after knowing her for 6 weeks or so. My personal opinion is that she made a BIG mistake letting him go....and she didn't seem very sure of her decision at all. Sad, Sad, Sad!

* I am really at a loss as far as what to expect on the finale! The hopeless romantic in me hopes that Reid comes back, tells her he loves her and they live happily ever after!! I just don't see her with either Kiptyn or Ed but if i had to choose one of them i would say Kiptyn. I'm just really not sure what will go down......i'm excited to see!

So, there ya have it! My thoughts as of now about all that has been going on with Miss Jillian and her men!! And let me just add that it is 1am so i'm sure there are things i am forgetting but this is what i've got right now! I'd love to hear what all my fellow Bachelorette fans are thinking.....chime in!! What are your thoughts?? Who do you think will be the one in the end??

Menu Plan Monday

With my lack of blogging, i have failed to post my weekly menu's for i don't even know how long! But i'm back!! Menu planning has become my best friend~ i {heart} it! And even when i wasn't posting them, i was still planning my menu! Such a lifesaver! Here is what will be filling our tummies in the Miculka household this week!!

Monday~ Ordering Pizza (YUMMO!)

Tuesday~ Crockpot BBQ Chicken w/ Corn & Rolls

Wednesday~ Chicken Enchiladas w/ Pinto Beans

Thursday~ Tater Tot Casserole

Friday~ Shake-n-Bake Chicken, Wild Rice & Broccoli

Saturday~ Hamburgers & Hotdogs, Baked Beans, German Potato Salad, & Corn on the Cob

Sunday~ Eat Out!

Don't forget to head over to orgjunkie.com and check out all the menu planning madness!!! Sooo many recipes and a wealth of meal time inspiration!

Tater Tot Casserole

I know everyone has their own variation of tater tot casserole, but thought i would share ours!! Simple, Quick and Good.....my type of dinner!! =)

1lb of ground turkey (or beef)
1 sm onion, chopped
1 microwave steam bag of frozen peas (or 1 can)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of milk
frozen tater tots

Preheat oven according to directions on the tater tot package. Brown meat and onion until meat is no longer pink. Steam peas in microwave. In a casserole dish (i use a round one) mix together cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 soup can of milk, cooked peas, & meat and onion mixture. Cover top of mixture with tater tots and bake according to directions on the tater tot packaging! Enjoy!

German Potato Salad

This is more of a "by taste/preference" type of recipe than a carefully measured one! So this is a general guide but man oh man is this stuff good!!!!

• sm. bag red potatoes (boiled & cubed)
• 6 eggs (hard boiled, peeled & chopped)
• 1 pkg bacon (cooked crisp & crumbled)
• sm bottle of italian dressing
• 1 sm onion (diced)
• mayo (approx. 1/2 cup)
• salt & pepper to taste

Put potatoes in a large bowl and pour italian dressing over them. Mix in onion, bacon, & mayo. Salt and pepper to taste and ENJOY!

VBS & The Accident

I have given up on finding time to do a post about the second leg of our texas visit. There are just too many pictures and our laptop takes entirely toooo long to download the pics so o well...gonna just move on!

This whole week the boys have been attending vbs at our church! We love our church family and their focus on reaching out to children! Our children's pastors, Jerry and Sharon, along with all the volunteers are simply the best. And this week's vbs has been impressive to say the least! The boys are having a BLAST and more importantly they are learning...soaking in God's word. There were more than 50 kiddos who accepted Christ as their Savior this week....there just aren't words......such a blessing! Here are a few pics from the last week...

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AND...the accident. If there is one thing i have learned as a mommy it is that there is never a dull moment! There are funny times, sweet times, hard times, and scary times but never a dull moment. Last night was one of those scary times that you always wonder how you would handle but hope you never have to find out. I found out. And surprisingly, i was able to remain calm until help got here and then i kinda broke down a little.

So...it's around 10pm, the boys are home from vbs, bathed, ready for bed. I'm on the phone with hubby (who is on "lunch" break at work) about to wrap up the conversation so i tell the boys to go hop in bed and i will be in shortly to tuck them in. A few minutes later i hear what i thought was the boys slamming the cabinet door shut on Brayden's armoire, followed by a earth shattering scream. Out comes Colby w/ a pale face quickly followed by Brayden and there was blood. Everywhere. It's coming from his head. OH. MY. GOODNESS. "Keep your cool" is what i'm telling myself while telling John to come home NOW. I move brayden's hand away from his head and his forehead is split open....deep. I prayed the only thing i could muster which was something along the lines of "help me God" and the peace that came over me was unreal. God is good. I was able to calm Brayden, calm Colby who was freaking out to say the least, get the bleeding significantly slowed, call a friend to come stay w/ Colby and within 15-20 minutes my girlfriend was here, John was home and we were on our way to the ER.

doesn't look so bad huh? oh man...if only i had a pic of it before the doc worked his magic!

They were able to use DermaBond, which was such a blessing!!! I didn't know if i could take watching them do stitches, nor did i think i could handle walking away from my baby while they did them. So....8 years of being a mommy of boys and i made my first bloody er trip last night. My heart still races thinking about it.....and of course it was a clean split so the pictures don't look all that bad but let me just say this....the entire head of the q-tip the doc used to numb it, fit all the way INSIDE the cut. AAHHHH!!! Oh yeah...i guess your probably wondering what actually happened huh?? Apparently they decided jumping on the bed would be way more fun than laying down like they were told to do. The sound i heard was Brayden's head hitting the solid oak footboard, NOT a cabinet door slamming like it thought. It still makes my stomach turn to think about that.

He is doing just fine now! Tired from being up so late but otherwise fine! Of course i am a nervous wreck trying to make sure it stays dry and that he doesn't scratch or rub it. And maybe its just me but suddenly it seems like he is tripping and falling constantly and my heart momentarily stops every time until i am sure he hasn't hit his head again...goodness gracious! Funny times, Hard times, Sweet times, and ohhhh the Scary times. All of it makes up mommyhood and i wouldn't trade a single second of it cause these two....

HAVE MY HEART!!!