Been awhile....

Hello world!!! We have been one busy little family! We had the stomach flu for about two and a half weeks. Now we've moved into the regular flu. Phil seems to be the only one suffering from it right now, but let's give it a week and see what happens. He has training all this week and he leaves Monday for CAST training at Fort Carson, Colorado. He will be gone for about 5 days. When he comes home we have a week before he has to teach a Strong Bond's Retreat at the Great Wolf Lodge. We are excited about that one since it is held at an indoor water park. The boys are SUPER excited. I am in the process of getting the boys re-enrolled in Columbia Virtual Academy. We have to take Jesse in to the Doctor for a physical and have them sign his waiver for vaccinations. I am switching all the boys to my doctor since she is the sweetest thing ever. I saw her last week and really like her. Plus, she is at the clinic and not the hospital which makes going there a WHOLE lot easier. The hospital here is GIGANTIC!!!! They say if you walked all the corridors it would be 15 miles. The parking is horrendous there......especially when you drive the biggest truck in Washington! I'm joking! Anyways, we are gearing up for Jonny's birthday on Saturday. He is kind of excited but is having a hard time adjusting in some ways. I knew it would be the hardest on him. Phil is going to take Jonny and Davy to a Mariners game on his birthday as a surprise. He doesn't know about it yet so don't say anything to him if you call!!!!! Phil is going to the airport on Sunday morning to pick up Allen and hang out for about 6 hours. He is like a little kid.....SO excited! It's great! Let's see....anything I'm forgetting?! I'm sure there is. I guess that will give me a reason to post again! I just figured you would like an update!

This Moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
~SouleMama~ There is supposed to be a picture here!! I am SO sick of this blogger I could scream!! I am SERIOUSLY thinking about switching to a different blogging web page. This is so frustrating. Anyways, I had a cute picture of the boys playing Playmobil together! It's on Facebook if anyone wants to see it. They are all doing MUCH better!!!

Tuesday Letter

Dear Husband, I know you just left, but I hope that you have a great trip and come home soon! Dear Reuben, I desperately need you to be potty trained BEFORE you turn four! Dear Jesse, I am sorry I don't have as much time for you since I am schooling the older boys and constantly dealing with Reuben....you are doomed with the middle child syndrome. Dear David, There are no words to describe you other than you are DEFINITELY a combination of Josh, Ang, and Ty (what could be scarier?). Dear Jonathan, You are going to be the man of the house for about a year so could you PLEASE start being nicer to everyone?! Dear Dollar Tree, We are excited about our visit this week! We love you! I just hope you carry the items that I need. Dear Workout and Diet, I think you two need to get along more, the constant inconsistency in your relationship is killing me! Dear Self, you do not NEED chocolate, you do not LOVE chocolate, you need to end your love affair with CHOCOLATE! Mmmmmm....my heart melts thinking about you!

Tuesday Letter.....

Dear Snow, why must you insist on falling in March?! I moved to Washington to get away from the snow! Dear Bed, I don't understand why you won't give us a good night's sleep anymore. Dear Jonny and Davy, don't worry about those stupid test scores.....it's just showing us what we need to improve on. Dear Hubby, thank you for helping with the schooling, spending time with the boys and me, and still doing everything else you have to do! You're Amazing! Dear Reuben, I would really appreciate it if you would stop soaking the bed, even with a pull up on! I thought we were past this! Dear Jesse, I don't appreciate the monkey powers in the house...please save them for outside! Dear Chewy, Don't EVER chew the blinds again or we will be finding you a new home! Dear Workouts, we need to start getting together again!

Tuesday Letter.....

Dearest Husband, what if I drink water for weeks and the headaches don't go away? Will I get my coffee and soda back?! Dear David, are you EVER going to sit still and do your school?! It is fairly exhausting to deal with every day. Dear Reuben, THANK you for for finally getting potty trained. Mommy loves sleeping the whole night through! Dear Jesse, I'm sorry you had to throw your Army bear away. Dear Jonny, Thank you for all your hard work this week.....you are by the way NOT the family outcast! Dear Chewy, if you go to the bathroom in the house again I will be forced to get rid of you!!!! Dear Peanut M&M's, please quit calling my name from the refrigerator. I will eat you all!!! Mwahahahahahaha!!!!

Update on life......

Things around here are busy and getting busier. The Army life is good but it does keep us moving. We are getting ready to start the pre-deployment training. Phil is going to be gone a lot in the next couple of months for different training sessions. One is in Fort Carson, one is in Georgia, and then he will be doing a lot of things around here to get ready for his deployment in August. It will be here before we know it. We are trying not to focus all of our attention on that one event but it is proving difficult for us.

The boys are adjusting to life very well and have been making friends which is always a good thing. I have made several new friends and they are sweet hearts. I am starting to get together with some of them here and there so that is nice. One of them is a married girl Phil works with named Chasity. She is definitely a sweet heart and loves our kids. I think she is going to watch them this weekend for us for awhile. Crystal is another Mom I met at the Strong Bonds Retreat this weekend. Her husband, Chris, works at EOD with Phil. They have three little girls Natalie 9, Riley 5, and Madeline 4. THey are SUCH cuties. We are planning on getting together soon.

Crystal is good at photography and she is going to take some pre-deployment pictures of Phil and I. I am pretty excited about that. It will be nice to have pictures together before he leaves. We are getting some ideas together for how to deal with Daddy being gone for a year. I am starting to understand why Army wives' are the way they are. It is a sacrifice we all give for God and Country. I am beginning to have a deeper appreciation for my Country and a great Patriotism than I have ever had before. Funny how that happens when you have to personally sacrifice.

You will be hearing a lot about deployment from me.

School has a new schedule and it is working out VERY well for us. We start at 8:30 before Phil leaves for work with memorization of a verse, prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the Bible. It is helping morale among the troops! haha. Anyways, they are both doing extremely well. Jesse will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall and that will be interesting since I will be full time homeschooling three kids. That will be a challenge for me! I am sure it will go well!

We are going shopping this weekend to get some new things for Phil. He has ran out of clothes after wearing uniforms for the past five years. He hardly has any regular clothes. We are also going to pick up a few things we've been wanting. We have been saving money for quite a while now and thought we would treat ourselves. It has been several years since we bought some new things we've needed or just wanted.

Umm.....I don't really have too much esle to say. We are pretty scheduled in our daily lives. We go to bed by 10:00 and get up at 6:00 at the latest. Phil goes running every morning and as soon as he gets home I leave for my run. We shower and then all start our daily at about 8:30 for school and work. It is really nice and normal. Our weekends are sometimes not weekends...just more workdays but that's okay. We have a four day weekend this week and that is SUPER nice. I try to enjoy the time that I do get with my hubby. You tend to appreciate them more when you know they will be gone for a year! sad...but true! So , just a glipse of our lives these days!

Tuesday Letter!

Dear Valentine's Day, I absolutely love the colors! It is so cute to see what different husband's get their wives. Dear Boys, thank you for the Valentine's Day cards.....I think you're missing the point when you give them and then take them back! Dearest Hubby, Thank you for my Valentine's Day gift. I loved you before but now you have extra brownie points for being the best! Pictures to come later! Dear cookie dough, Please quit calling my name!!!