This Last Month!!

Here comes the test of our family. Andy long and dreadful deployment. The catch is I can't say to much without breaching protocol, okay maybe that is not the right word so getting myself or Andy in trouble. It has almost been a month since he has left. I can't believe it has been that long. I do feel blessed that we get a few minutes of talking to each other. It is not much but it was starts my day and end my day. I have asked him lots of questions, which I do have to say that he does not answer. He is flying a lot, which makes him happy. Like I said before, I don't get to hear much because he can't tell me.

The kids and myself are keeping busy. We are trying to do as much as we can without breaking the bank. I am blessed to have friends and family so close by. I am also blessed to have made a few good friends that are military wives like myself who is going through the same thing. Sp our summer is just starting. Our big plans are going to MI to see family and have the family reunion. Can't wait to see everyone.

The kids are getting bigger as usual.

Helen is 13 and completed 7th grade. My baby girl is going to be an 8th grader next year. We home schooled her the second part of the year. We absolutely loved it. We will home school her next year. AZ has a great law that allows her to play sports at her "home" public school. So next year she will play at her public school. It gives us the opportunity to help her become a better student and not get frustrated with spending hours upon hours of homework and yelling. She is becoming the typical teenager with wanting to sleep all day, being lazy, watching TV or reading but I know it could be worst. She might be able to work across the street this summer where we are keeping our horses to learn a few things. She loves to ride and interested in learning. I see it as a win win for Andy and I!

Stephen is officially a 4th grader. Where does the time go? He will also be home schooled next year. We are trying to get him in a special gifted program for school. I think that this will keep him busy and out of trouble. I have had a hard time with him lately. He is trying to be the "man" of the house without understanding that I can do this on my  own. It is very sweet until he doesn't want to listen. We are getting there slowly, just lots of time and patience.

Bella is officially a Kindergarten. I can't believe that we will have three kids in school. She will be going to school where she did preschool at. They offer a 5 half day program at her school. The great part is she will have friends that she knows, teachers she can trust and her baby brother there with her a couple days a week. We knew we didn't feel comfortable home schooling her, didn't feel comfortable with sending her to public school, didn't want to spend all the money for private school with out knowing truly how it was going to be. The kids school this year kind of left a bad taste in our mouth. AZ is so far behind in education that we didn't want to risk it. Yuma seems to be a little worse overall in my opinion. So we shall see.

Drew is going to preschool 2x a week next year. This will be a huge step for him. He needs to start speech therapy just not sure where it will be. He is doing great. He is talking more and more. Putting more words together in sentences. He is doing occupational therapy three times a week. Some days are great and others are not so good. He is constantly getting into things. He is so curious that I wish he would just not be so much. We are still going into Phoenix every few months to get check on. I am not sure how long we will be doing this, how often. We will find out later this year if he will need another surgery if occupational therapy does not work. I don't think this will be the case but only time will tell. We can only go appointment to appointment. The last appointment went really well. They were happy of the progress and how everything is looking.

Our new addition to the family is thumper


I am taking a break from school. I think I might only take one or two classes. Doing them online by myself is more than I can handle. Andy and I think that when Drew is in school full time then I can finish up. It makes the most sense. Our family is too important to have me be stressed out.

I am taking more time on me and focusing on what I need to do to become healthier and better for them. I have lost about 20 lbs so far (wish I could say it was me but it was medical), I have learned that I have an ulcer and acid reflex with my gallbladder not working 100%. I have been going to see the specialist for the last two months to run a series of test. I had to take antibiotics for two weeks because I had bacteria in my stomach. Not so much fun but I am going back in a week or so to see if its better then start medications for the ulcer and acid reflex. The good news is I did loose the 20 lbs. I am going to start weight watcher soon and loose the rest of this unwanted weight. My goal is to be a lot skinner for when Andy comes home. Yay!!! We shall see.

That is whats been going on with us. I hope that you enjoy our updates.

Vevie or Stevie

Stephen is starting 3rd grade - wow where did the time go? He is so smart that it can be fustrating to see how hard he is on himself. Just the other day this teacher did a math contest and he won multiple times. He was able to win no homework tickets. He won two and his teacher had to say nicely that he couldn't win anymore. He understood but was a little upset. He gets mad when he doesn't do well. So of course we have to tell him to relax and it will be fine.

He is also playing basketball and doing really well. He loves it. He has had one game and did well. There was a few parents that were yelling at him to throw the ball but we told him to not pay attention. He needs to work on looking at everything around him but for his first game he was great! Some parents just need to relax because they are 7 and 8 year old playing.

He is making new friends too. He wanting to venture out a little more and be on his own. For the first time I asked for a hug and kiss and he got embarrassed and said - "Really mom, here?" I said okay and understood. I was sad but I guess it's not the end of the world.

Stephen is happy that Drew is now wanting to play with him. He calls him Vevie all the time. Follow him around. Poor Stephen - this is now his nickname - two have called him Vive.

Tween - What is it?

We have started this year with Helen aka Bubba being in full swing of the Tween. It will be hard to believe that in December she is going to turn 13. New school yet again, but Helen is beyond sweet. She makes friends like there is nothing to it. I do know she misses her friends back in Suffolk. She is also missing a lot of her friends from Naperville. She is loving her Facebook which allows her to keep in contact with them. We are trying to tell her that in the future she will love having so many friends around the world because it will allow her to have a network. Not quite sure if she is buying it though.

She has given us a little more attiude this year but nothing we can't handle. It comes with the territory. I think for myself that I have to step back and think about what it was like at her age. Kids are just mean these days. It is a funny to say that because kids were mean when I was her age. I like to think that we are teaching her to be a strong women, to stick up for herself. She is getting there. She seems to be more aggressive towards us then friends but we are getting there.

She is playing basketball for the Marine Base that dad is at. Not too sure if she is liking it all that much. It is a huge age group and the boys are a little umm...... not sure the right word to use but to play it say, they don't utlize the girls like they should. The bad part, she is second tallest and the tallest girl. It's fustrating to watch but yet a good lesson in life to teach her.

She is loving school - she is running for class represntative (makes mom happy that she cares), she is thinking about doing softball. She is making new friends, the closest one is the other new girl. Her teacher told us that there is one girl that is handicap and Helen everyday makes sure that she helps her out. We are looking into a program called Ambassdor to Ambassador for her to go next summer. We will have to see how much money and the dates. If she goes we will post more about it.

She is turning into a beautiful young lady. She is getting more mature over the years. We could not be happier or prouder of her.

New Start

Well it's time to start again. This time I promise i will be better at keeping up and now that its under my account it will be a little easier to keep up. So much as happened in the last year in half. Now its time to keep my thoughts and stories to share. Hope you enjoy them.