Our Life

Life here in the northern plains has been quite hectic. Just when we think things might settle down a little, they pick right back up again. From work socials to kids functions and church activities, life stays pretty busy! I had every intention of being able to keep up our blog so that I would have a detailed description of all that's been going on but it just hasnt' been happening nor can I make any promises that it's going to get any better! It's hard to believe we've wrapped up a year here and have only one more to go. We have no idea where we'll head to next - especially since we never really get what's on our "dream sheet" so it always leaves things wide open!

I don't really know where to begin since I'm so far behind so I'll start with me! I have been busy - the Lord has blessed my Stampin' Up! (R) business while we've been here and I've been so thankful for it! I've met lots of great ladies and enjoy stampin' and getting to know them. I taught a 3rd/4th grade girls class at our church on Wednesday nights and had a fun time. I am on the steering team for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) this coming year doing hospitality. Thank goodness my friend Sarah is co-chairing that one with me and she lives up the street so that should be okay. I attend lots of functions with Brian and it's weird to be watching friends leave this summer - I'm used to being the one leaving since it has been a while since we've been on a base! I'm still getting used to the fact that my oldest will be headin to Florida for college in the not to far off future and I'm interested to see how the coming year goes with Ian as a result of that. In all honesty, too, I had a not too great event happen to me this past spring (please don't think anything too horrible just some issues with people) so it has left a bitter taste in my mouth for this place so I won't be sorry to leave next summer but I have been able to move past it a little and enjoy our time here. I've never been treated in such a way and I hope to never treat anyone in the same way as I was treated. But I digress...Life with three kids, a cat and a dog can be pretty stressful but I am thankful for the little things: nap time, bed time, etc! :) The Lord had a plan in sending us here and I just hope I'm learning and doing whatever it was we were supposed to do while are here!

Josh is getting really excited for college. I don't know if I'd said it before but he'll be attending Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL, majoring in Marine Biology with a minor in Graphic Design. It's a private Christian college on the beach - I told him we'll visit HIM for spring break! He'll be about 6 hours from my parents so at least he'll be able to go visit them for Thanksgiving and such. He just got his dorm assignment and roommates name so they're already facebook friends! (Gotta love technology!!) This week he's off at Sonshine Fest with a group of guys from church. They're camping and having fun - at least I think so since I haven't actually heard from him since Wednesday! In a little over a week he's leaving to go to Orlando to meet up with a friend of his from Alabama and his parents. Then, we'll head to Florida with him in late August to get him settled. I'm excited because I'll actually get to go to Florida and it's just going to be me, Josh and Brian so we'll be able to relax a little!

Ian is doing well. The event I mentioned about me earlier really affected his world, too, so it hasn't been easy but he's stayed positive and is doing well. We hosted a backyard Bible club this week and he enjoyed it and is looking forward to going to a camp soon that's sponsored by the same group. He has a friend who will also be going so that will be fun. He went to another camp earlier in the summer and had a great time so 2 in one summer is even better! We've pretty much finished up the school year and are just pushing forward into the next curriculum as time allows. He's started reading one of the new books (one thing about Ian is that although he can read well he typically doesn't enjoy sitting to read by himself but enjoys to sit and read with us) in the curriculum and it's a chapter book (he hasn't really read any by himself) and it's been fun to see him get into it. I've made him do 30 minutes of reading (when we haven't been really busy with other things) and he'll ask me at the end of the 30 minutes, "Can I keep reading?" To which I reply - you can keep reading as much as you'd like! I'm hopeful that he will begin to love reading more so we'll be able to get through this years curriculum without any trouble. He is grade level wise a little behind in math so I'm going to really work with him this year to see if we can push forward a little more. He just really doesn't have his math facts down as well as I'd like. He's been doing baseball and continues with piano. He'll be doing an archery "camp" later this summer and he's looking forward to that. If you think of it, please say a little prayer for him as he adjusts to life without his big brother!

Eliana. She is our little cutie - she brings a smile to all of us and we so enjoy having her around. She had a little surgery this week - had to have a tooth removed that somehow or other was coming in broken! I was a little nervous about the fact that she had to be put to sleep for it but she did really well and you wouldn't even know anything had happened. She loves to be with her family, be outside, ride her little bike, "run", see Bella, watch tv (much to my dismay), eat popsicles, and pretty much rule the roost! :) Schooling Ian with Ellie around is challenging and I'm really praying I'll figure something out to help it go a little smoother.

Well, I'm sure there was more I was going to say but this is already long and the puppy's whining and Ellie's crying to get up from her nap so I better run!