Sinful blueberry pancakes

So today was a good crazy day. First of all, we heard from our superhero today. Adam doesn't call home much, once every three months or so, and today was the day he called for this quarter. :)

I forgot how much it takes my breath away to hear his voice, to talk to him, to laugh, to tell him how much I miss him. It was nice.....soooo nice. Adisson was thrilled, of course. He talked about it all day. :) Of course lately, his dad is about the only thing he talks about.

Adisson had his first math test today. We use A Beka, first grade. He was actually super excited. :) And of course, did really well. He was pretty happy about that. Then we had to get to the dentist. Adisson loves his dentist because he has a waiting room full of free arcade games. There's a racing game and then several pac man type games. He loves to play. I was VERY excited to learn that his good brushing habits had paid off as he had NO CAVITIES!!! :) WOO HOO Adisson!

We stopped by Goodwill on the way home and I scored an used lesson plan/curriculum for A Beka arithmetic for 2nd grade. For $1.49. I am thrilled!!

Tomorrow is sitter interviews. Kinda nervous. :) I hope things go well. I've been praying about it and I'll continue to do so.
I know I've promised pictures...I will get around to it. Just give me a little bit.

You'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.

So last week was a mess. A big hot mess. We came down with colds and everyone was grumpy. And it's starting to be that time for us. That time of the deployment where you just feel like you're done...that you've given it all you've got and it's time to be over. Adam's been gone 10 months now. I know the end is in sight, I know it will be soon.....but it's not as good as it being now.

I've been praying a lot that God gives us the strength to pull through these last few months...that we can do this, that we're strong enough for this, that we've done it before and we'll pull through it again. I know that we will, really, it's just ...... I'm past the breaking point....I'm just broken. And so is my dear sweet five year old. I know he struggles so much with his Dad being gone, I know it weighs heavy on him. But I can't really tell him how much longer we have. Partly because I truly don't know and partly because he's five and the concept will elude him.

So this week, we've got to get back on track. And we are. Tomorrow Adisson has a dentist appointment, which I really hope goes well. Adisson's had many dental issues in the last few years. But in his defense, tooth genes on both sides...not so great. As a matter of fact, downright cruddy tooth genes from me and Dad. :) So I hope tomorrow goes well. He doesn't mind going. He has the most amazing dentist. I just love him...will miss him if/when we leave here. :)

Wednesday I'm interviewing babysitters. It's about time. I'm still VERY apprehensive for my children's safety. It's hard to leave my kids with someone other than family. I pray that God helps me choose the right person.

I'll have pics up soon. I'm just a little crazy right now with all that's going on. And the colds that we had aren't quite going away, especially for Mama. :)

Boys don't put your feet in the dishwasher!!

Well, today could have gone better in the area of getting school work done. Unfortunately, my impatience and Adisson's fidgeting just made me stop before we were finished so we didn't get frustrated and angry. I was a little disappointed as we were going to start our Olympic lapbook today. But we'll get to it tomorrow and work on it this week.

Adisson's been pretty excited about the Olympics. He gets very excited when anyone does well and then yells when the United States does good. He made a few signs to wave around to cheer people on. It was then that I decided we should talk more about the Olympics. I don't know why I didn't plan a lapbook for the Olympics, it completely sounds like something he'd be interested in, but I guess it's not a big deal now as I've got everything ready for one now. :)

This weekend was nice. On Saturday we went with friends of ours to a farm...or someone's house with some animals in their backyard. Wasn't worth the $16 we had to pay but the boys had fun and I got to stop at fruit and veggie stand on the way home. I took pics of them and their friends but you'll have to wait until I have a second to get them up.

Yesterday we went again to the church we tried out last week. I reallllly like it. Adisson says he likes it. I wish I knew more of what they were doing in his class though as it seems like not much is going on. But he enjoys it so that's important. It's great and I hope to keep going. Last week, I invited my neighbor a few houses down and she went then and yesterday as well. She really likes it too and it's nice to have someone to sit with! :) She, well, her name is Magen, came over last night for a little while. Makes me clean up the house a little bit more when I know I am having company so I'm hoping to work on that.

We started to take a fresh loaf of bread to our neighbor yesterday as a thank you for mowing our grass last week and he wasn't home. I plan on taking it to him tomorrow although I was hoping it would have been nice and hot when we delivered it! Oh well. :)

I want to put some pictures up but I really need to get the kitchen cleaned up instead of hanging out online. I hope your weekend was nice and I hope your week of homeschooling or whatever you may be doing is wonderful as well.

God bless!

Chipmunks are good singers...

Today was a good day! The weather was so beautiful here on the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Had we not had plans today, we would have utilized our zoo membership and headed down there, but maybe next week.

Well our first week of school has come to a close. It was good. Really good. I'm pretty excited about that. Adisson did soooo good with his reading this week, exceeding what I had thought he'd be able to get done. His math is going well and his handwriting is going pretty good. I'm a little nervous that the A Beka books that we have for Science, Social Studies, and Health won't be fulfilling enough for him this year. He's technically in K, but we're using all first grade material and even that doesn't seem to be enough to leave him feeling full of learning. I've got some ideas I'm working on as to what to do about the situation, but I guess we'll just wait and see. We're going to let this month kind of work itself out and reassess what to do next.

The boys had their pictures taken today. Paige Kimball is a local photographer that I found on craigslist. She is reasonably priced and soooo good with the boys. :) Just really was nice and sweet to them, they just had a GREAT time. :) How people treat my boys is very important to me and I wasn't surprised at how she worked with them, but very happy. I'll be so anxious to see the shots!

I'm really overflowing with the things in my head lately. Which support group do I join (for homeschoolers), which co-op do we try out, what other activities should we commit to? I'm so very thankful that we have so many options that I'm having a hard time narrowing it down, but I really need to decide what we are going to do, weighing all the options for us. It's just a tough choice. :)

And of course, this is going to be an insanely busy time for us, the last four months of this year. We're heading to Ohio for a few weeks starting in September, I'm planning a baby shower for the end of September, planning a big birthday party for the boys in November, planning another baby shower for November, heading to Ohio for the holidays, getting reallllly busy here at home with a lot of redeployment activities, writing the newsletter for the Fisher House and my battery FRG, planning our vow renewal ceremony (which will take place next May)....oh, and I'm working on a family cookbook for my loved ones. :) Hoping to have it done by Christmas, which shouldn't be a problem....but see the previously mentioned list of things I also have going on.
Our God is an amazing God. And today after leaving the park having the boys all goofy from smiling so much, I was again reminded that nothing is too big for Him and nothing is too small, either. And I'm just going to keep praying and thanking Him for always reminding me of that. :)
God bless your weekend!

The Amazing Adisson and Zany Zander Show

So we finally got the van door fixed today! I guess I didn't realize how much I was used to having power sliding doors until one didn't work. And no, I'm not opposed to doing them manually, but they are heavier than other doors. It almost always took me twice to get the door closed.

School went well today, too. Yay! Adisson is a little more annoyed about the lack of more stuff to do. I keep telling him that there will be more. I worry a little, though, that we're going to end up going through these books pretty quickly and I'm apprehensive about starting 2nd grade level books when this is supposed to be his Kindergarten year. Today we did an art project. We do them more than just today. Adisson is very crafty, even moreso than his mom, so he's always doing something artsy. Today, though, it was a more involved project. It was a sunset silhouette. He painted a picture with watercolors and then drew out a scene on black construction paper and cut it out and glued it on the painted page.

It was a good day. I hate the feeling, though, that when things go well, that I'm on guard, waiting for the other shoe to drop. As an Army family, you take good news so lightly, regardless of what that news is. As a result, any time there's a good day, good news, whatever, in any aspect of your life, sometimes you just brace yourself for what's next. When Adam's home, he'll get home from work and say "We're heading to the field for a week." (Field exercise=camping for soldiers) Then the next day it's "No, we're not." The day after that "Yes we are, but it's two weeks now." Et cetera, et cetera. Just always has me on guard.

The boys get haircuts tomorrow as they are getting their pictures taken on Friday. It's the first time we're doing outdoor shots. We've always done pictures at a store that has a portrait studio. We're trying something new this time and I'm excited! We also have an FRG meeting tomorrow night. It's the first one we've had all summer, but will be the first one we make it to since January's meeting (they are every other month, sorta). I'm excited because it's getting to be that time, when this deployment is winding down and the buzz is in the air....just a few months left without our soldiers!!

Some things I've learned today:1. It really makes someone feel good when you apologize for something you've done. Sometimes, it's easy to just forget it and move on, but when someone says, "I'm sorry." for something they said or overreacted to, it's nice to hear. And I hope I can practice that a lot with my husband when he gets home. I try to be sure that I'm apologizing when I'm wrong, especially to my kids, but I want to be SURE that is the case.

2. I was talking to my friend tonight about praying. It's something I would like to read more about, not praying necessarily, I pray. A lot. God hears me rambling away to him all day long. But I want to pray with purpose and I hope I can do a better job of that.
I have to mop the floor in the kitchen and get to bed. :)

Reading and Thinking...

So I can't quite get to sleep tonight. First of all, my TOS magazine came today and I've been eyeing it all evening. I finally picked it up for a quick read....an hour later and I've barely gottne through 25% of it. And that's just looking at the pictures, saying "Ohhhh, I definitely want to read that..." :) It's hard to go through it when the boys are running around...I get so lost in the vast wealth of amazing information. :) LOVE IT!

And tonight my husband is heavy on my mind. I talked to him online today for a few minutes. While he's there, we usually talk online everyday via messenger. When we're busy, we leave messages for each other. And he was busy for the past few days, so when I finally got to talk to him today, I was aggravated that I had made plans and had to cut our conversation short.
Some days it's not so bad, him being gone. I don't want to sound flippant, but some days are easier to handle. Lately, though, our oldest son has been acting up like crazy and I know that his heart is heavy with thoughts of his Daddy. And those days are the hardest on me, and him of course. Hardest because I'm driven to the brink by the time bedtime rolls around and the hardest because I know he hurts and he misses his Daddy as much as I miss my husband. And my heart just breaks for him, and his little brother.

I know this deployment is eventually going to end. He's been gone two weeks shy of ten months. But some days, I ache for him to be home with us so much that it hurts.
(long pause, heavy sigh.....)

So, I should go to bed. :) We have to be at the car dealership for van repair in the morning.
We miss you, Adam. And he talks about you all the time. They both do. Stay safe, we'll see you when it's time. xoxoxo

Take Two...

Today was the last day of the Summer Film Festival at the theater we like. So we saw Horton Hears a Who with some of our friends. We've gone to several movies with them in the last few weeks, but wanted to make a point to go today as one of the boys starts school tomorrow. He's public schooled and today she told me if he was taking the bus to school it would pick him up at 6:25. I thought my eyes were going to fall right out of my head!!! Utter disbelief I guess.

School isn't taking us long to do. About an hour, to an hour and 15 minutes. Which is what I expected. Adisson is a bit annoyed, however, as he'd like to do some more stuff. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, though. I'd like to go a little slower for now and we'll get busier in a week or two. Besides, I know the day will quickly come when he's not wanting to do any work at all.

We're going to play at the playground with friends tonight. It's much easier to go at 7:00 or so than it is to play in the afternoon. It's toooo hot right now.

We've got enough other stuff going on this week as well. The van needs fixed (one of the sliding doors isn't working and a part had to be ordered) , we have an FRG meeting, the boy's have an appointment to have their pictures taken, and really there's a whole list of other things that need done, but y'all know the life. :)

If you don't mind praying for us, I've been requesting prayers from many to keep my husband safe while he's overseas and for a timely return. More specifically, it would be nice to have him home by Christmas.

Gratefully, there isn't much else going on. I appreciate the ordinary days because sometimes the excitement of a bad day far outweighs the joy in a good day. Yesterday was not such a good day. :) Today though, ....... today I don't want to mail them to their Dad. :)

First Day of School!!

Our First Day of School!!

Well, the day arrived. Adisson's first Official day of Kindergarten. It was supposed to start with a breakfast at IHOP, but that got the boot after Zander stayed up until three this morning not feeling so well. I did tell Adisson we could go to Sonic for ice cream tonight to make up for that, but that also did not happen. Our first day of school went wonderfully. The rest of the day however, was horrible. But that's not the point, at least not today.

We are using Explorer's Bible Study and began our day with that. We then moved into our Hooked on Phonics. (On a side note, I know HOP is like admitting to the homeschool world that I have the ebola virus or something, but it's great, it works, and we've been using it, so I love it!). Afterwards we did our A Beka Health and Math and a little bit of writing with Draw Write Now.
Adisson was good. He was excited. He had no desire to stop learning things and just really had a good time. I was thrilled. :)