Rabbits: August Crazy Edition

I haven't done a Rabbit's post in awhile so here goes nothing!

First off if you don't know what "Rabbits" is, let me explain:

It all started as a European tradition that on the first of every month, you say "Rabbits!" to everyone you see before they say it to you. The more people you get, the more luck you have for the month. 

It has now become a cut throat and diabolical day where family and friends call/text/Facebook/email each other as soon as that clock hits 12:01 am. To give you an idea of how this is escalating: A few months ago, family friends planted blow up bunnies all over my parent's house. Hilarious and awesome!

Sometimes I win...but most of the time I lose. 

But I NEED to win today guys!

 Because August is going to be like:

It's going to be CRAZY!!

 So don't be upset if you call me and I'm all like:

I am also gearing up for the greatest week in TV land, you guessed it:

SHARK WEEK starts this Sunday, so you know where I will be :)

I just want August to be done y'all!

So with that I will say Happy Rabbits-ing and

...with August!

Inflation is crazy!

There is one thing about living in an apartment I love:

In the summer, sweet little neighbor kids come banging on our door and ask if we would be willing to pay them to take our trash to the dumpster. 

Last year was the first time we experienced this and we were impressed!

These kids wanted a mere $.25 for each bag. What made this so impressive was that our last complex only had ONE dumpster. ONE! And it was literally on the farthest side of the complex from us. We never walked our bags all the way there. We loaded them up in the car and drove, if that gives you any idea of just how far that is. So when these kids came by we were excited!

Despite the joy of having our own garbage service, we could not stay in that apartment. Too many other problems (gun going off in the apartment above us at 3 am for example) and we had to move. We were really excited to see that not only did our new place have a BUNCH of dumpsters but one was right outside our door! No more smelly bags in the car!

Yesterday, we had a knock on the door and two sweet little girls asked if we would pay them to take our trash to the dumpster. My husband asked how much they would charge, not expecting it to be much since we could almost throw our trash out the window and make it in the dumpster. 

But instead it's like:

Because they wanted $2!!!!! Uh seriously?? Two bucks for what I have no issue doing myself? 

So you may be wondering what happened next:

We gave it too them because we are complete suckers... 

Spend it well little kids! 

Military Life and My Anxious Child:

 Our children don't know exactly what Clayton does.

They know he is a helicopter mechanic. But they don't know what a soldier is. They don't know why he fixes Apaches and what the Apache was made for. They know that sometimes he goes to work before they wake up but comes home before they go to bed. They know that sometimes they won't see him that day. They know that it could be several "sleeps" before they get to see him again. But they don't know WHY:

Will is almost five! I can't believe it!

From about three months of age he became this super mellow kid. Before that it was three months of almost non-stop crying. I used to joke that he had met his quota for tears and that's why he just seemed to go with the flow. 

I never would have suspected that to change when we joined the army. He was just a super chill kid! 

When my husband first left, it didn't phase him, but he was only a week from turning two. However, after my husband had to go back to AIT after a two week Christmas break, he figured it out. Daddy was had been gone for awhile, came back and now was gone again. 

Suddenly the kid who would walk into nursery no problem didn't want to leave my side. And that is when I noticed the anxious side to him that had really always been there but had no reason to present itself.

Boy did it have a good reason now!

I know some families are very hard core army with their children. Their kids understand that daddy/mommy is going to go fight the bad guys. And that's great, but I hesitate to go there with my kids. They get so anxious about when they are going to see him again, I don't want them to worry about IF they are going to see him again. Not yet. I want them to sleep soundly not knowing about the bad guys that their daddy helps keep at bay. And right now that works for us.

Sad? Why you should still express gratitude:

I saw this amazing video this morning and I just wanted to share it with you all... being the three amazing people who follow this blog :) This video highlights a small study that was done in response to another study that proves that the more gratitude we show in our lives, the happier we are!

If your life just seems miserable or you are sad about things going on that you can't control, try upping your expressions of gratitude! 
To me the opposite of expressing gratitude would be venting.
There is an old proverb that says, "An empty cup makes the most noise (venting)." 
I've noticed a trend in people, the one's who feel empty are the one's who are constantly or consistently venting... But science has proven that venting actually stresses you out more! Venting about their husbands, their wives, their children, their financial situations, their job status, laundry (you caught me)...the more we vent the more miserable we are. The more we can't see the good outside of the bad.
So in conclusion:
Venting = more stress, less happiness (BOO!)
Expressing gratitude = MORE happiness (YAY!)
And who doesn't want to be more happy?

Should we have named him Joseph?

We recently returned from an amazing stay-cation at my parents! So many great memories.

Like this one:

I was standing out in my parent's backyard when all the sudden my four year old son runs out of the house screaming with his hands up in the air. 

He gets all the way to me, stops, looks up and says, "I saw Sammie naked and it scared me!!" (Sammie is a two year old girl). Then he threw up his arms again and continued to run through the back yard screaming. 

I laughed and thought, "Yep, just keep doing this till you are married kid!"

My Favorite Independence Day Quotes:

Last year I shared my Independence Day playlist. This year I wanted to share my favorite Independence day quote but then I realized I couldn't pick just one...so you're welcome:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."  ~Erma Bombeck 

"Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty."  ~Louis D. Brandeis

Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.  ~Albert Camus

If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.  ~Hamilton Fish

Have a great Independence Day!