I'm pretty sure I haven't been on here in almost a year. What a year it has been!! My sister and her children have moved out. My brother has moved in and then moved out. I have finished my Master's degree. Arvelle is getting ready to ship off to Afghanistan. There have been a whirlwind of highs and lows in my family and through it all we are still whole. As the kids get ready to embark on another school year I look at them with pride. They have fought through so many obstacles and come so far. Being a military kid is never easy and they have taken each move we have had with grace and made the best of it and accomplished great things. I hope that they will always know how grateful and proud I am of them. We will see what the next year..and the Army hold for us...and we will take whatever is thrown at us and run with it...like we always do:)

What a crappy day.....

Well it started out good... as all crappy days do I guess. I was supposed to have a nice long four day weekend with the family, catch up on homework, relax. You know the kind of things people do when they are living a nice, normal life. Good family, good job, nice home. Trying to give back to others because we have been blessed. Well that was all shot to Hell in about 20 minutes today. There I was congratulating my sister for getting her license for the first time at the age of 27! Then bam! The emails start rolling in. The bossman wants to know where I am. Well, I'm enjoying my day off that you told me I could have 2 weeks ago! Only you've been so busy with your head shoved up the new girls wazu that you have managed to forget that you gave me the day off! So what do you do Mr. Bossman?? Do you call me to discuss it? Nah. Do you send me a text to see if I can come in? Nope. You send me a short, terse email...AND FIRE ME!!! So now while you and your family are living nicely and worrying about nothing and the new girl is enjoying my salary, since we all know you promoted her yesterday and you couldn't afford to do that without getting rid of someone, I will struggle to feed my family and pay my bills. You claim to be a Christian, well let me tell you here and now. The Lord doesn't like those that use people for their own gain and then throw them away when they are done with them!

The loves of my life...

Today I was reminded to never take a second for granted that I have my chidren in my life because at any moment they can be taken from me. Two teens at a local highschool lost their lives last night and two others were injured in a car accident. I spent the day grieving for the families of these children taken long before their lives could ever begin but also thanking God for blessing me with the 6 beautiful children I have and for watching over them for all these years. I think back to when Ireland was so sick as a baby and she pulled through so miraculously or the accident we got into with Mikey and Jennifer while I was pregnant with Ireland. Ryleigh and Mark have made it through multiple surgeries and Ireland has lived a life plagued with severe asthma, yet my babies have always been blessed to come out alright. God has worked miracles for our family. I will continue to be greatful for each moment I have to spend with my 6 beautiful children.

It has begun..

...the hardest semester of college work I will ever undertake. I was told by my Graduate advisor last semester when I was signing up for my Fall classes that I should quit my job before my classes started. I reminded her of how many children I had to support and the fact that I was married to a military man that could be sent off at any time Uncle Sam sees fit. So here we are. I am taking four of the hardest classes I can imagine taking, working a full time, high stress job, raising my own as well as helping to raise my sisters kids and still trying to find some time to be a wife in there somewhere. The good news....because I believe in always finding the good in every bad situation...when December 15th rolls around, I will essentially be done with my Masters degree! I may not have any hair left and I may have dropped another 10 pounds, my husband and kids may all hate me, but it will almost all be over and I will be able to say I managed to pull off getting my Masters in 1 year!

The Beginning of the End

Today my baby started school. It was a bitter sweet day to send our youngest child off to school. She looked so sweet in her little private school uniform, proudly carrying her bookbag like a big girl. As all of us anxious parents waited for our little ones to start crying and begging us not to leave it was us, the parents, who were having the hardest time. The kids were in their own little world of toys and new friends, oblivious to the idea that their parents would soon walk out the door and leave them with a stranger for the day.  There were no tears. There was no running after us begging us not to leave. Just a quick hug and kiss goodbye and a wave of the hand and our little baby was all graown up and ready for us to leave her at school:( As I reflect on this milestone I realize that Mikey will be 18 in a few short months and that the other 3 teens will shortly follow him out the door into adulthood as they graduate in the next few years and head off to college. Ryleigh starting school....my youngest child....starting school marks the beginning of the end of my time as a mother of little children. These years of childhood are quickly coming to a close. My babies are all growing up:(

Ryleigh's cubby at school

Ryleigh heading in for her 1st day of school

Mommy and Daddy with RyRy

All ready for her first day at Montgomery Christian Academy

Ryleigh in her classroom saying bye to us

Ireland's 1st day of 3rd grade. I know I know...the Justin Beiber shirt makes me want to puke too!!! 

Lessons Learned

We are a bit unconventional as a family in this day and age I guess. Our children don't do sleep overs. Our teenagers don't go to the movies or mall on the weekends with their friends. We believe in teaching our kids  that their bodies are beautiful and they should dress modestly. Our kids don't have freedom to just sit and play on the internet. Our family believes in family time and being together at home or out doing things together as a family. We are always together. Our kids bring their friends to our house instead of going to their homes. We are pretty strict with our kids I guess. We expect good grades and good behaviour and respect. In return we work really hard to provide our children with a very nice life and a stable home. Sometimes people, especially my family think we are too hard on our kids. Yesterday Jennifer got to learn a lesson about how important it is to do little things for others. It was her first day of highschool. I asked her to please let me take one photo of her. She looked very pretty so there was no reason for her to resist. I decided not to fight with her about it but to instead teach her a lesson about her actions. When she got home after school and wanted to go get her friend, I told her no, as she had told me no in the morning. When she asked me why I explained to her why she couldn't. She was less than pleased. Hopefully she learned how important doing little things for others is. At the end of the day I want my children to be happy but my job as a mother is to raise them to be educated, productive, decent members of society. It is not my job to just give them whatever they want whenever they cry and whine for it.