Busy Busy Bee

Hello! Wow I have been pretty busy the last couple days. Which is weird because I am usually home all the time and not too busy. It has been good though :)

Thursday for my birthday my friend Aimee watched Joshua for us and Ryan and I went out to dinner together. It wasn't as hard leaving him as I thought it was gonna be. I think because I know Aimee has 4 kids and I know he is safe with her :) I am glad I have someone here that I trust like I trust her! Ryan and I went to a chinese buffet for dinner. I Love chinese food!! They didn't have wontons though so I was a little disappointed. We still had fun though! Then Ryan said we were going somewhere but he wouldn't tell me where... and he made me close my eyes! And we ended up going to DQ :) I wanted Ice cream cake really bad for my birthday but they didn't have any. So we go ice cream cones and sat at DQ for a while. It was fun.

Yesterday Ryan had the day off of work so we went out and about getting a ton of stuff done. My license expired on my birthday and I totally forgot to go renew it! So we went to do that yesterday, and they were going to make me retake the road test because it was expired! So I am not getting a Texas license, I am going home on the 17th of March so I guess I will wait and renew it there... its only a couple weeks and I don' drive a ton anyways!

Today we are going bowling for real I think haha we have wanted to go for so long but we never do! Hopefully we really will today. We have to go to the PX and get a few things and then mail my Mom's birthday present! (Only 2 weeks late...)

I will be back on later to post some pictures! I'm not sure where the camera has gone off too...

Happy Wednesday :)

Wednesday is over... the week is over halfway done! For us the weekend comes early. Ryan has friday off this week :) He got called into work about 15 minutes after he got home Monday night and he ended up staying all night until 9 am. So he got Tuesday off and was given friday too because that was the 3rd time he has had CQ (Charge of Quarters, which is a 24 hour shift...) Since we have been here!

Tomorrow is my birthday :) Ryan and I are going out to dinner ALONE! This will be the first time we have left Josh with anyone so I am a little nervous... But I am excited to spend some alone time with Ryan. We need it!

Joshua has been so sleepy today! He took two, two hour naps and is already asleep. He hasn't eaten for a while so I have a feeling he will be awake soon to eat and then hopefully he will go right back to sleep. I need to go take a shower though before he does. I hope everyone is having a splendid Wednesday!

Take Me Back Tuesday

Tuesdays are a day to look back at a time we loved, or a time that we will always remember. This is what I want to remember this take me back tuesday.

Not much time today so I am going to share a few pictures :) In case you haven't notice I LOVE pictures. They make me smile, I love looking back on old pictures. Here are a few from when I was in Minnesota visiting my family in 2008.

Olivia in a truck stop on the way to Wisconsin..


Miss Lily Looking at the duckies :)


Me and Hal Ketchum... my family's all time favorite country singer! He is awesome!


Me, Deja and Janelle waiting for the Hal Ketchum concert to start


Emma's 9th Birthday :)


They guys hanging out by the fire. Dad, Kevin and Robbie


Me, My Mom and Lily before I left to go back to Japan...


Sad Day :( I Knew I wouldn't see them for a while again. And it was about 14 months.


The last I saw of my family for 14 months....


Just some memories of a great time! And also a hard time having to be SO far away for so long. I Love my family ;)

Not me Monday.

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Not me Monday's

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Well for starters I am definitely NOT on my blog before I have even put my glasses on or contacts in. I am not that addicted to the internet. I did not leave the laundry sitting all weekend, and now have at least 5 loads to do today. I would NEVER do such a thing. I am always on top of the household chores and there was definitely not a load of laundry in the dryer from Thursday when I woke up this morning. And I would never have just restared the dryer because I just didn't want to fold it!

I definitely did not just lay my baby down for a nap with a poopy diaper, because I was afraid he would wake up when I changed him. That would be a horrible thing to do! And I did not tell myself I was going to cook a magnificent meal on Thursday and then end up going to apple bees for dinner. I always cook wonderful meals for dinner!

well thats just a few of my not me moments from the last week... it was a long weekend. It was only 2 days but for some reason I was READY for monday. Time to catch up on some cleaning while the little man sleeps!

Never ending...

I feel like its never ending. I clean, I cook, I take of the baby, I take care of Ryan. I do laundry, I do dishes, I make the bed, I take the trash out. I sweep, I mop, make sure Ryan's uniforms and PT's are clean for him. And Then I do it all over again. I am so exhausted at the end of the day, but such is life as a mommy and a wife!

Yesterday we did nothing... sat home all day because Ryan didn't want to leave the house and I didn't feel like going out on my own. I am alone all week, why would I wanna go out alone on the weekend? Last night I got Ryan off the computer long enough to walk up to the mailbox. But it was too cold so he ended up running up with Deuce. I look forward to my walks so it was a little dissapointing Josh couldn't go out.

Today we went to walmart and got Joshua a bouncer! The one we had was a part of a swing that didn't work the best, but we sold it on Friday so we went and bought a new one with some of that money. He absolutely loved it! The toys are so bright, he loves looking at them and smiling. Plus he got to sit outside in it a little bit this evening while Ryan was making BBQ for dinner.

Ryan BBQ'd bacon tonight, it was really good. We had brats for dinner but had bacon for an appetizer. Healthy yeah? :) Well healthy or not it was delicious! It was very smoked though and kind of gave me a headache... not fun!

Deuce loves watching Ryan cook. Haha this is what Deuce looks like when he is begging. He was told to get right after the picture was taken, I just wanted to capture Deuce in his true essence!

And he is Daddy and Josh last night after he had his diaper changed! More like after he got pee all over himself, the chair and Ryan. Gotta love the boy!

Well I hope everyone had a great weekend... I should go do the dishes before bed since they haven't been done all weekend :(

umm Wow!

Joshua is being SO extremely fussy. Day's like today just wear me out... he has done nothing but cry and eat all day. He did sleep long enough for me to take a shower. But still! Mommy is Exhausted!! He is screaming right now, but there is nothing I can do for him. I'm thinking tonight is going to be an early night.

Tomorrow we are going to go bowling :) We used to bowl in a league in Japan, but I haven't gone in a long time so I am super excited! There will definitely be pictures to see tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am off to try to calm down the boy.

Friday Follow & Yummy Sandwiches!

I just ate the BEST sandwich for lunch... It was delish! Ham & Swiss on A Sara Lee bun :) I was going to take a picture cuz it even LOOKED good. But I couldn't find the camera... hmm I don't know where it has gone off too!

Yesterday Ryan & I went to Applebees for our valentines dinner :) He broke down and got me a card and giftcard for valentines day! We had fun getting out. Even though Joshua came with! Because I just can't leave him yet! Then we went to the PX and I got a super comfy pair of sweats. I ♥ sweats!! They are amazing. Especially since my jeans are all just a little to tight still since I had the baby. I also got my Mommy's birthday present! Her birthday was the 13th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

So I am SUPER angry with tricare right now. They told us they covered something while we were in the hospital, so we did it. This morning while looking through some mail I realized three of the envelopes from the hospital were BILLS. $427.15! Talk about ridculous!

Well today is friday follow!


Happy Following :) I wil post some pictures of my cute little guy in his new overalls later!

I am not prepared...

For teething! Joshua has a little bit of acid relux now and he screams because of it! It breaks my heart to see my baby in pain :( I am not prepared for when he starts teething... I think it will be harder on me than it will be on him! Plus, on top of this acid reflux he is going through a growth spurt, if he's not eating, or sleeping, he is SCREAMING

My baby took a 3 hour nap this morning! And then a 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. It is now 5 pm and he has been sleping for about 20 minutes... I am just hoping this doesn't mean he will be up all night.

Speaking of night...

Last night Joshua was being fussy around 10:45 or so, usually when he falls asleep while I am feeding him. So I just put him in his crib because I was frustrated he wouldn't go to sleep! I went downstairs for about 10 minutes, when I went back up he was sound asleep! He fell asleep all by himself. But this isn't the remarkable part of our night. He didn't wake up until 6:30 AM! Yes, you heard me, 6:30! That is 7 1/2 hours that by 10 week old baby slept. I was so proud of him!

this is what joshua has looked like all day:

And this is one of the few times he was awake and happy!

We took advantage of that and went on a walk. He was very happy the whole time! I was so glad because me and Deuce needed to get out of the house for a while :) So we walked up to the mailbox to check the mail. Of course the only thing we had, was yet MORE junk mail. We have lived here not even 2 months and ALL we get is Junk Mail. This is where our mailbox is. A couple blocks away, with everyone else in our neighborhoods! Our neighborhood is called Oasis Ranch... ha yeah right!


And this is why my blog is called Life on Sunshine Street :) We live on Sunshine Street! Well actually its Sunshine Ct. But its okay. Sunshine street sounds way better.

Well Ryan should be home from Physical Therapy soon, then we will have our wonderful dinner of Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. Followed by a romantic date in our living room! Watching Couples retreat :) Should be fun!

Hope everyone has a fantabulous Wednesday!!

A song for you :)

This song has been stuck in my head all day!! So now you can have it stuck in yours too :)

Productive day :)

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today has been a very productive day :)I totally rearranged the living room. And it seems a lot less cluttered now than it did before. those boxes are gone now :) It seems a lot more "homey" now! Plus I swept and mopped, folded Laundry and washed dishes! I feel very accomplishes. I love days like this when Joshua actually lets me get stuff done!

As everyone knows today is Taco Tuesday! We had some delicious taco's for dinner tonight

My little boy is bald... I noticed today just how bald he is! He had so much hair when he was born and now he has hardly anything. Except for that tiny little bit on the bottom! He is so goofy looking :) And its just a random place in the middle of his head. I don't understand it!

We went for a walk today. That is one of the nice things about living in Texas in the winter. Not half as cold as Minnesota is this time of year! It was super sunny and 65 degrees! Joshua loves being outside!

Hope everyone had a wonderful tuesday :) I am going to watch some house hunters with my guys!

Manic Monday!

Happy Monday everyone :)

Today was a pretty good day. Joshua woke up at 8:00 this morning and he has been awake pretty much all day! I am so suprised at how long he has been awake. He has been taking 3 or 4 hour naps the last couple days, but all he has slept today is about 45 minutes! At least he has been happy for most of the the day. He just started medicine for Acid Refulx and it seems to be helping him eat better!

Ryan made dinner tonight :) I made him take a break from video games haha. Of course it was the easiest dinner... I should have saved a harder dinner for him! (He was waving to Joshua :)

ANd here is MR. Deuce today! He looks super scared haha. He wouldn't sit for the picture!!


Sorry I didn't get on yesterday... Ryan was on the computer all day. And he was today until I made him get off! I am going crazy... time for him to go back to work :)

Well I hope everyone had a good valentines day! All I did was clean all day... then took a quick bath last night while the baby was sleeping. I remember when Ryan used to buy me flowers and stuff.. now all I get is a bag of M&Ms a week before valentines day haha. Apparently he doesn't go for valentines day anymore!

Good night all!

Sleepy Saturday

My Baby boy is taking a nap right now. It has been almost 3 hours! It is so nice when he takes these long naps, because I KNOW he needs them! But now I am about to start dinner... so we all know he is going to wake up now. That's the way it always works right?

I decided today that I am going to pick a day of the week, and every week on that day I am going to try a new recipe! Because, sadly, our dinner's are very boring and routine. We eat the same meals, week after week, because that is all I know how to cook! So Starting this week I am going to experiment! I will share my results with you, and let you know what we think of them.

This is what I am going to try this week. I think I am going to make it Wednesday. That will be my day! It looks Super easy and delicious... Except I plan on making my own sauce, not buying the pre-made stuff. Homemade is SO much better!!

Joshua had to have a bath this afternoon... he had a VERY nasty diaper. It was in his bellybutton and everything. Yuck it was SO gross!!! But he is definitely a boy, he kept sticking his hands in it. I was so disgusted!! Then he peed on me while i was cleaning him up. That was when I decided it was time for a bath. :)

Well I need to make dinner now... I don't know what I am making because we need to go grocery shopping super bad! I will find something :)

Fabulous Friday :)

Happy Friday everyone!

I definitely did not get done as much as I was hoping to get done today... we went to the store and were gone for a couple of hours! So that put me behind schedule for a clean house!!I got a ton of laundry washed...



now for folding it! that will be my job as soon as the little man goes to sleep here shortly. At least 4 loads await my arrival... ugh. plus one in the washer and one in the dryer.

heres the little man about 10 minutes ago.. snoozing away in my arms while I particpiate in follow friday! Now he is awake sitting with Daddy while he plays XBOX. Soon it will be bath time then bed time.



And here is Mr. Deuce. Waiting to be fed :) And me, being the wonderful Mommy that I am just took a picture and walked away haha I am going to feed him soon! He has been sick so hasn't been able to eat as much. He is finally getting better though.



I did get new picture frames at the PX today so I could Finally put up our families pictures! I love the way it looks now, all updated with the most recent family pictures we have. And my lovely shelf with some Okinawan souvenirs!



And finally... me rewarding myself with a delicous cookie! Thats for all of the laundry that I am about to fold :) I need some engery! Plus I vacuumed, swept, mopped, and unpacked a little more. (Yes, sadly, we are still not totally unpacked. Very FEW boxes remain. About 4 boxes of stuff that will go in/on a computer desk when we get it, and about 5 boxes of books upstairs. Not to bad for 5 weeks since we got our stuff.)



I also meant to mention on here a few day's ago, my older brother started chemotherapy for his non-hodgkins lymphoma he was diagnosed with a few weeks ago. He had a little but of an allergic reaction the first time around, but they got it under control and he hasn't had any major side effects yet. I think he said the hiccups is the worst... so not to bad :) I just want to ask everyone to keep Dan in your prayers and thoughts for the next few months as his and his new wife Celia go through this!


Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Friday Follow Friends!

Happy Friday Follow Everyone :) Today is a good day to make new friends!

I am already starting off a very productive day, I made the bed and cleaned our bedroom! Now for vaccuming... and hopefully I will get Joshuas room cleaned up today too! I am feeling much better after a random night of being sick... was not fun but it must have just been something I ate!

I will post more later after my very productive day! Happy following... Leave me a comment and I will follow you back!

Are you ready for the weekend?!

This weekend is a 4 day weekend :) I love 4 day weekends! And I love the army because they get 4 day weekends for practically every holiday... like presidents day! I don't think we are going to be doing much this weekend. Tomorrow we are gonna go to the store and get a few birthday presents then stop by the post office and send them off to Minnesota. Other than that not to many plans for the weekend. I plan and getting a lot done around the house. I doubt Ryan does though!

Joshua loves his swing :) he is sleeping in it right now! This is him in it earlier.. he's starting to smile at the mobile and lights. Its Super cute :D



Joshua got a bath tonight. He loves baths lately... he only cries when I take him out! He used to scream the whole time haha here he is with a beard. He loves the bubbles and is starting to splash!

And this is WHY Joshua needed a bath... this was not even 10 minutes after I changed a poopy diaper! And he was so proud of it. He was smiling and laughing at me the whole time! Little stinker!

Sorry these pictures and video are from my phone so they aren't the best quality.. but you can see him :)

Ryan is playing Xbox with his brother right now... as usual haha and Joshua is waking up. I think we will go lay in bed and watch a movie. I just changed the sheets :) I love clean sheets!!

Wordful Wednesday

Here is my Wednesday in pictures :)

This morning Josh took a nap for about an hour and I got a ton of cleaning done! Dishes done, floors swept and mopped, and some more work done in Joshua's bedroom. I felt very accomplished.

We walked up to the mailbox to meet Pablo, the guy who was supposed to have our key for us today. It was a little chilly out because of the wind so Joshua wore his Minnesota Wild Snow suit... mostly because I thought it was cute! He hated his hat and it came off about 30 seconds after it went on.

For dinner I made Lasagna! It turned out DELICIOUS!! It looks a little sparse on the top.. I used to much in the middle and ended up with not a whole lot left for the top. But it was so yummy!!

Then after dinner we were looking for a desert and couldn't find anything so I decided to make some cookies!! They were Yummy yummy! Maybe to yummy...

This is a card that my Mom sent to Deuce :) His first mail ever! If you have never seen Deuce this looks JUST like him... His patch is on the same side and everything. So cute!!

Then to end the day me and Josh had some cuddle time on the couch :) He was full and he is always cuddly after he eats! Now he is screaming again and ready to eat... again! Hopefully he will fall asleep soon!

I am off to feed my baby and watch some Rosanne :) Its gonna be a couple good episodes tonight! Its getting intense!! I love this show!!

Happy Birthday Miss Lily!

Today is my baby sisters birthday! She is 3 years old. She is getting so big, and I am sad I can't be there to watch her grow up. But i am glad we have figured this skype thing out, because me and Josh got to watch her open up her presents and sing happy birthday on Sunday! And hopefully I will be going home next month to see how big she is getting :)
This is Lily in the summer of 2008 when I went home to visit



and this is how big she got before I saw her again this last winter when we were home


she is such a big girl!
Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!

Today is Taco Tuesday :) I am excited for dinner!! Plus Ryan put his Xbox and a bunch of games on cragislist today and he already sold about $300 worth of stuff. That will be nice to have that extra money! It is a 4 day weekend this weekend and I am so happy. That means 4 whole days with Ryan being home with me and Josh! The weekends always go by way to fast for me, and I am sure Ryan feels the same way. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to get a couple things for Joshuas room. His crib is finally together, now he needs a dresser and a few other things for his room! I want to get him a rug, like this one,

his room is going to be done in trucks and cars. A true little boy's room :) He will have so much fun in it when he is a little older.

I did the dishes today! So i decided if nothing else gets done today, I will still be happy because we had a huge sink full of dishes! That is my least favorite thing about this house, it does not have a dishwasher. Ugh no fun!

Well the little boy is waking up and I am gonna go get a snack before he does. My tummy is rumbling! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday. Don't forget to eat taco's tonight :D

Not Me! Monday

I read about not me mondays at mycharmingkids.net. This is a way to reveal some moments that most of us would rather just forget...here are a few of my not me! moments from the last week...

I definitely didn't say I was going to cook dinner every day last week and then end up only making taco's on tuesday... nope not me! and I did not let the bed go unmade ALL week simply because I didn't want to walk upstairs. Not me! I most certainly did not let the baby sleep in his swing all night long, because I new if I took him up to his bed he would wake up and it would be HOURS before I got to go to bed. I would NEVER do that! Not me...

Do you want to join in on not me! Mondays? It really is a way to help yourself realize that the things that seemed so bad while they were happening really weren't that bad looking back on it! Go to MckMama's blog and check it out, or click the link on the lower right side of my page.

Here is what is happening at the Stricklands house on this Monday evening:

Joshua and Daddy are sitting on the couch watching the History channel :) Yes my husband LOVES watching the History channel. And it is even better now that it is in HD!


Deuce is standing in the kitchen, staring at his ball (as usual) waiting for someone to play with him! Deuce is obsessed with his ball and never takes his eye off of it. Even when he is sleeping!


and I, of course, am on the computer :) Updating my blog for all of YOU! My lovely readers! And like always, I have no makeup on and have done nothing with my hair. What's the point when my husband and baby love me just how I am? And no one else sees me besides them! Plus I am sick and the idea of make up is just... ugh.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! Mine was pretty good :) I drove for the first time since I left Japan in October and it wasn't to bad! The only thing I did was reach for the signal on the right side, which is where it was in Japan. Other than that me and Joshua had a wonderful time walking around Wal-Mart while Daddy and Deuce were sleeping the day away!

Make sure to check out not me mondays!