Feelin' good!

Yikes! My last post was over a month ago! And I was doing so good there for a while! Ugh....typical of me!

In my defense, I did have a couple of weeks where I was pretty miserable feeling, and didn't do much of anything. Praise the Lord for a fantastic husband who's ready and willing to jump in and do what needs to be done when Mommy is out of commission!

So far, the pregnancy is going great - we've already gotten to see the baby once (nice strong heartbeat - yay!), and we'll get to see it again in a little over a week. For my first doctor's appointment, Michael was gone on overnight drill, so he didn't get to go, BUT, my sister was here visiting so SHE got to go! It went really well, and I really like my doctor. :)

We had a great Thanksgiving - we thought it was just going to be the 4 of us, and when it's just the 4 of us, we go to Golden Corral and let them do the cooking and clean-up! A few days before Thanksgiving though, we had some friends of ours invite us over to their house, and we had such a wonderful time! We're so thankful for great friends.

Right now the next big thing we're gearing up for is Christmas! I have about 1/2 of my Christmas shopping done (maybe a little over 1/2), but I haven't even STARTED doing my Christmas cards yet, and to be honest, that's stressing me out more than my shopping is - lol! We got our tree this past Friday night, so I think we're going to decorate it today. We were going to decorate it a couple of days ago, but Laynie fell asleep really early that night, and we didn't want to do it without her, so we waited. I'm excited the kids are big enough to have fun with decorating the tree this year - they're so excited!

Well, I'll sign off for now - hopefully it won't be another month before my next post - we'll see!

Eventful week!!

Since my last post I had a relatively eventful week. It started out Tuesday morning with a positive pregnancy test! Yahoo!!!!!!! Since losing the baby last year, we have wanted to get pregnant again, and haven't been able to, so we are thankful the Lord finally answered our prayers! AND I get to be pregnant with two of my sisters-in-law! Also, there's a girl at my church who's only a few weeks ahead of me, so we get to be "pregnancy buddies." I'm so thrilled!! I'm already feeling the nausea and extreme tiredness, BUT - I'm THRILLED to have these symptoms!! Lol!! You will not hear me complain!! :)

When we told Jared, I asked him what he thought. He thought about it for a minute, then said, "Well Mommy, I'm very excited....buuuuut.....you KNOW this is going to be a very big responsibility!" Lol!! Such a deep thinker!! He also told me that if the baby is a girl we should name her Alice (after Alice in Wonderland), and if the baby is a boy we should name him Jared 2. Not Jared the Second, just Jared 2. So creative! Laynie was excited too - we let Jared tell her (mainly because we love to hear him explain things). He did a great job, and when he was done, I asked her if she had any questions. She quite innocently asked, "When the baby gets out of your tummy, may I please have a baby in MY tummy?" Hehehe....we told her she had to get MUCH older, and get married first, THEN she can have a baby in her tummy! So she went around telling people at church that when she gets bigger she's going to marry daddy so she can have a baby too! So sweet!

Tuesday afternoon, two ladies from my church and I left for Hammond, Indiana for the Christian Womanhood Spectacular. We had a wonderful trip - the drive there and back was just beautiful - all of the leaves are turning, and we saw such beauty!! The conference itself was amazing - as usual! My preacher's wife got to speak at one of the sessions, and as usual, she was awesome - absolutely hilarious! Usually I walk away from conferences like that under conviction about being a better wife, but this time I was more under conviction about being a better mother. One lady who spoke had lost her 17 year old son in a car accident a little over a year ago. It just really opened my eyes to the fact that you just never know how much time you're going to have with your children. I was reminded more than once (by different speakers) that you never get to have the child rearing years back - once they're gone, they're gone. I decided to make a concentrated effort to spend more QUALITY time with my kids, and I'm already having fun!!

Happy Monday!

Well, today I have a huge "to do" list, but I've already got a big part of it nailed! So far, I've cleaned the dining room and kitchen top to bottom, I've cleaned both bathrooms, 2 of our 3 bedrooms (it's pointless to clean Laynie's before she goes to bed at night - it'll just get messy again!), and the living room. I'm on fire today! I also got caught up on grading Jared's school papers, and he corrected all of them that needed corrections. I still have to file them, and have him do today's sheets, but that shouldn't take too long. I'm wanting to get the house completely cleaned, and some goodies baked up, because I'm going out of town this week for a ladies' conference. I'm super excited, because I'll be seeing my mom and my sister!! Yay!! Michael was able to take vacation days for the rest of the week so he's got some fun activities planned with the kids. I'm not away from my kids overnight very often, so I'm a bit apprehensive about that, but I'm definitely looking forward to this meeting. Anyway, short post for today, but I've got lots to do, so I can't sit here too long! Have a great day!

Company!

Well, last Friday I got a call from some good friends of ours in Indiana (Tom and Anita), and low and behold, Tom is being sent down here to Atlanta for some training for his job! THIS WEEK!! Lol!! It was kinda last minute, but we're so excited to have them staying with us for just a few days. Yesterday was great - Tom went to training, and Anita and I just relaxed and visited all day - it was so nice! Then today we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play games (we don't eat there - makes me sick every time!), and they had SO much fun!! I had a coupon to get 180 tokens for $25.oo, then they gave us a bonus 20 tokens, just "because" so we got 200 tokens for the kiddos to split! We ended up with over 700 tickets to spend on useless junk - AWESOME!! The kids had such a good time - and to be quite honest, so did Anita and I!! I hit the jackpot on Skee Ball (sp?). Come to find out - I'm really awesome at it! Lol!! And it's addictive! Luckily, there was a game right beside it that Laynie was completely enthralled in, so I got to play for a while while she threw bouncy baseballs at a target! (It was great - she couldn't throw hard enough to hit the target, so the game kept giving the balls back to her to try again - kept her occupied for quite a while! Lol!!) Jared had a great time too - he did really awesome at the basket ball games! He loves anything that involves sports, so that didn't surprise me at all!

In other family news...I found out that we are expecting a new baby...NIECE!!!! Yay!! Justin and Jacqueline found out that they are having a little girl in February - so exciting! In about a week we will be finding out if Angel and Kenny are having a boy or a girl - we can't wait! Of course, we're kinda hoping for a little boy for them, but another girl would be so much fun too!! I'll keep everyone posted!

Coupons!

I'm not sure if anyone who reads this uses coupons, but I just got some really good ones today.

I'm registered with a site called Mypoints (check it out!), and they send you e-mails with different offers where you can earn points that you can cash in for merchandise. I was a bit skeptical at first, but so far I've earned 3 $10 Wal-Mart giftcards, and I'm about to cash in my points for another $50 gift card to TJ Maxx!

You get 5 points just for clicking on the link in the e-mails they send you, then you get extra points if you actually participate in the offer. (I RARELY do this - actually, I pretty much NEVER do this - I just click on the link and get my 5 points!) Occasionally they send you an e-mail where you can earn extra points for taking a survey - I usually do those and get a few extra points that way.

Anyway - what does this have to do with coupons you ask? On their site, there is a section you can go to that has several pages of coupons you can print off. You get points for redeeming them, PLUS the good deal that the coupon offers. Some of them are REALLY good - lots of "$1.00 off" ones! It's free to register with the site - just make sure to put my name down as the person who referred you! (If you do that, I get extra points!) :)

Fall Cleaning!

I started to type "spring cleaning" but obviously, it's not spring, so I improvised! :) Lately we've been working extra hard at getting the church spic and span (I'm sure the pastor's daughter's upcoming wedding has NOTHING to do with it! *wink wink*). Normally I clean the church myself - occasionally someone helps out here and there, but I do most of it. Well, a couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine from church came to me and said she'd like to start helping me with it! What a blessing!!! So we met there today and got TONS done! We did all of the normal stuff, plus a bunch of extra things that needed to be done before the wedding. It was so nice to have someone there to work with!

We still don't have a working washing machine (long story), so I've been taking our laundry to different places (church, laundromat, friends' houses, etc.) to wash it, then bringing it home to dry. Well, I decided to start cleaning out the janitor's closet at church, and throw in all of the nasty mildewy rags with my whites, since they needed to be bleached. Well, dummy me - one of the rags was a dark red color, so guess what color my whites are! Yep - a beautiful shade of PINK!! Lovely! For the most part it didn't ruin anything important - mostly socks and undershirts. I think the only thing I'm going to have to replace is Jared's Patch Club polo shirt. I don't think he's going to want to wear a pink shirt...call me crazy! Lol!! Thankfully, they're only about $7 at Wal-Mart, so the damage wasn't too horrible. Of course, I have to endure the teasing from my husband, but I'm used to that, so no biggie! ;) Hehehe....

Doctor's office here we come!

We're headed over to the doc's office today for our Laynie girl. She's had this odd rash for a few days now, so I figured we'd better have it looked at. Thank goodness it doesn't seem to be anything serious - I'm just so glad that we get to keep our old pediatrician. We love love love Dr. Benson!! She is just great with the kids, and when we switched to Tricare, I was afraid we may have to switch, but hallelujah - she's in our network, so we get to keep her! Yay!!

I also have to swing by the mall out there to pick up Jared's shoes for April's wedding. Have I mentioned that Jared and Laynie are going to be the ring bearer/flower girl in a wedding next Friday night? I can't wait! I think they'll do great - they did awesome in Holly's wedding (which I JUST posted pictures of - woops!), so they should be fine in this one. I ended up buying Jared's tuxedo (or as HE says "TEXedo). Waaaay more economical! I can rent one for over $100, OOORRR I can BUY one for right around $60, then resell it on E-Bay and get a good portion of that back. Hmmm.....what should I do??? Lol!! Needless to say, I didn't have to think on that one long! The only downside is that it doesn't come with shoes. That's ok though, I'll just buy a pair then sell them with the tuxedo more than likely.

We got Laynie's flower girl dress for $25!! Brand new on E-Bay - I'll post pics of it when I get some - it is absolutely ADORABLE! She calls it her princess dress, and she can't wait to wear it!

Pictures of Holly's wedding

I realized I didn't post any pictures of Holly's wedding, so here are a few!



Laynie decided after she got to the front, that she needed to pick up all of the flower petals she had dropped!


Laynie and Haley


The two most adorable kids in the whole world! :)


The happy couple! (Who had not kissed before this day!)


So cute! :)


Laynie and Haley


My handsome lil man


The bride with the two flower girls

Off season clothing...UGH!!

This was always a time I absolutely DREADED when I was a kid! When the weather started cooling off, my mom would pull out the huge bins of winter clothes, and we'd have to try EVERYTHING on to see what still fit and what needed to go to Goodwill, so we could figure out what we had to buy for the season. Now it's time to do it with my kids, and I still hate it!!! I pulled out everything today, and the good thing is that I have nice winter coats for the kids that fit great, so that is one thing I won't have to buy this year - yay!!! I was able to find several outfits for Laynie when I was out shopping yesterday, so I shouldn't have to buy too much for her, they're both set for winter jammies, and I think Jared is good to go. He may need a couple of new pairs of jeans, but I think that's all - shew! This year looks like it will be pretty easy in this department.

Well, I'd better scoot. Church is tonight, so I need to get J's Patch Club outfit ironed, and figure out what Laynie and I are going to wear to see if anything else needs to be ironed! Maybe...just MAYBE, I'll have time to squeeze in a little nap today!

Homeschooling has begun!!

Well, we finally got school started for Jared - yay!! He's doing well with 1st grade, and enjoying his new teacher. We still feel like he isn't being challenged enough in the reading part of his videos, so I decided to remedy the problem! I called my mom (who is a teacher at a Christian school), and got the reading list for their 4th graders, and we're going to start working through it. Right now he's reading Charlotte's Web, and it's going great. This is definitely more of a healthy challenge for him, and we feel like he is learning more this way.

I just started today teaching Laynie to read. I'm using a book that worked really well with Jared, called "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." The first few lessons are super easy, so we did the first 3 today, and she absolutely loved it! She's a little on the young side (not quite 3 1/2), so we'll probably go pretty slow, but since we are starting so early, we have plenty of time!

We also did some "Mommy/Daughter" shopping today - it was a lot of fun! Laynie is in desperate need of shoes (I swear the child's feet NEVER stop growing - she grows out of shoes so fast!!). So we hit 2 children's consignment stores and Payless. I ended up finding 3 pairs of shoes for her, plus several wintery outfits (since her legs also seem to never stop growing, and her dresses get too short before I can even blink my eyes!). She did get a little frustrated that I wouldn't let her buy flip flops at Payless. Crazy kid - she has such an obsession with flip flops! She couldn't understand that pretty soon it would be too chilly to wear them - they were pink and sparkly, so she thought she needed them!

Speaking of shopping, I NEED to go shopping for some things for myself. Seriously...my wardrobe is seriously lacking...the thing that stinks is that my absolute FAVORITE clothing store - CATO, doesn't have any branches close to me. Well, there is one that is 40 minutes away, so I'll probably just have to bite the bullet and make the drive out there. They have such cute things for so cheap!! If anyone knows of any other good clothing stores, let me know! I like stores that have cute modest clothes at reasonable prices. I'm NOT one to spend $20 on one shirt - I know that doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but it is to me, and I just can't spend that. So any suggestions would be great!!

Oh! We also found out yesterday that we will be having a baby NIECE in February!! We are so excited! Justin and Jacqueline went in yesterday to have the gender ultrasound, and from what they could see (or rather, COULDN'T see, hehehe...) they predict that the baby is a girl! I can't wait to meet her - I just love love LOVE babies!!!

Ok, enough babbling for now! Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Homeless no More - praise the Lord!!!

Shew! We now have a home! The Lord gave us an absolutely AWESOME house - yes, I said HOUSE!! Not an apartment - wonderful! Also, since our church is in a pretty nice area, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that in order to be close to church, we'd have to go w/a 2 bedroom in order to find something in our price range. Miraculously, we found a THREE BEDROOM house with a huuuuuuuuuuuge yard and tons and tons of storage in our price range!! Granted, it was at the tippy top of our price range, but when we went to sign the lease papers, our landlord told us, that he and his wife had decided to drop the rent to lower than what they originally told us! Can you believe that?!?! We hadn't even asked if they'd be willing to take less - we were just so thankful to find something so wonderful that was w/in the price range. God is so good to us!

The last couple of weeks we have gone about furnishing our house. The only furniture we had was a dining room table (no chairs), a mattress and box springs for the master bedroom, and a bed for each of the kids (though no mattresses for them). We had pretty much gotten rid of everything when we moved out of our apartment back in January, because we had decided to use Michael's signing bonus to treat ourselves to some new furniture. (Something we've never had in 9+ yrs of marriage!) Over the last couple of weeks, we've hit Craigslist and yardsales, and gotten some AWESOME stuff!! I'm telling you - the stuff we have found may as well be brand new, and we've gotten it for a FRACTION of the cost! I am just amazed at the wonderful deals the Lord has dropped in our laps! I tallied up everything - figured out how much it would have cost to buy everything we have brand new from the furniture store - it came up to just under $6000 - we have spent only $675!!! We have a beeeeeeautiful armoire entertainment center (the kind that has doors you can close, which is what I've always wanted!), a beige microfiber dual reclining love seat, a beige microfiber couch, a burgundy rocker recliner (something else I've always wanted and never had before!), an antique desk that we are using for a computer desk, as well as two freestanding islands and a very nice solid wood (heavy!) toy chest for Jared's room! I'll try to take pics in the next couple of days and post them!

So that has been our lives the last couple of weeks. I finally got Jared's school stuff ordered, and it all came in yesterday, so we will be starting school on Monday! Not too bad - just about a week behind when I wanted to start, so I'm pretty pleased w/that.

Homeless!

Yep, it's true - we are officially homeless! Lol!! Michael is officially done with AIT, and is awaiting orders for the next part of his schooling. They've told him pretty certainly that no more schooling will be done before the start of 2010, so we're in the process of finding a place to live - preferably close to church. (Any prayers regarding this matter would be HUGELY appreciated!)

At this moment, we are at my parents' house - we've been in GA for the past couple of weeks, and TN (visiting Michael's sister, brother-in-law, and nieces) the week before that. We had to come back to MO to get some of our things, though we can't get all of it just yet, since we have nowhere to put anything! Lol!! I think for now, we'll be staying at an extended stay hotel (probably just for a week, maybe two at the most), until we find the home where we will live. We've been searching diligently. Even from here in MO, we're still checking listings online, and making calls left and right! I must say, I'll feel much better once we get all settled.

I haven't even ordered Jared's 1st grade school curriculum yet - ugh! I'd love to get started, but I'm afraid we'd get started, just to have to take a few days off to get moved, so I'm just going to wait until we're all settled in to our permanent home then start him. He's a sharp cookie - we'll get caught up in no time!

Oh, and I have MORE big news!! In my last post I announced that my sister-in-law (brother's wife) is expecting their first baby. Since that post, we've also found out that one of my OTHER sisters-in-law (hubby's sister) is also expecting!! Woo hoo!!!! This pregnancy is a particularly special blessing, as it was not planned by anyone other than God!! I just love surprise pregnancies!! Anyway, Angel and Ken are super excited, though somewhat shocked!! Their little bundle of joy is due at the end of March. I can't believe I'm going to get TWO little nieces and/or nephews in a period of 2 months!!! I can't wait!! Now, if Jen and James, and Holly and Jim could just get on the ball, we could up that number to 4 - hehehe!!!

Ok, so I thought life was supposed to get LESS crazy once school let out for the summer! Lol!! Ok, I guess it has been a LITTLE less crazy - but not much! The kids and I go to Ft. Leonard Wood pretty much every weekend to see Michael - we miss him so much and are so thankful that the Lord allowed him to do his training close enough that seeing him on the weekends is even an option!

We've had a little change of plans (shock shock!) - we thought Michael's entire AIT was going to be done pretty much all at once. The first 1/2, then a short break (no more than 2 weeks or so), then the 2nd 1/2. Well, we've just found out that there may be a larger break than just 2 weeks between the 2 parts. In fact, he may not even get to complete the 2nd half until next year. We just have no idea at this point. We're just praying for the Lord's wisdom during these next few weeks, as there will be some relatively large decisions that need to be made.

Next week, the kids and I are going to Tennessee to visit Michael's sister, brother-in-law, and nieces! We can't wait! We always have so much fun, and the kids play so well together. I'll be sure to take lots of pics, so I can post them. After that, we'll be heading down to GA to visit for a few days, then pick up Michael from the airport! He finishes up AIT on August 10th, then they'll be flying him down to Atlanta to report to his unit. It works out perfectly for us to go get him, since we'll already be down there!

My absolute biggest news, as of late, is that............(drum roll please).....................I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so so so soooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!! I have been praying and praying and praying that the Lord would allow my brother and sister-in-law to have a baby, and He has finally answered that prayer!!! Justin and Jacqueline are expecting baby #1 on February 12, 2010!!! I've seen an ultrasound picture, and he/she is already absolutely adorable - of course!!! ;) ;) I just can't wait to see my sister-in-law w/a cute lil belly! Actually, it will probably end up looking big, since she's so teeny! We'll see!!

Anyway..that's all for now folks!

What's been happening since Graduation....

Ok, seriously, I have GOT to get better about posting! Ugh!! Well, Michael is at Ft. Leonard Wood right now completing his AIT (advanced individual training). So far it is MUCH less rigorous than basic training, and two HUUUUUUUUUUGE plusses are that #1, he is allowed to have his cell phone, and #2, he is close enough that we can go see him every weekend! God was so good to us to allow Michael to do his schooling so close! Is He awesome, or what?!?!

Right now we are in the throes of remodeling! My mom and dad decided a while back that they'd like to put an addition onto their house that would put a master bedroom, full bathroom, and laundry room onto the main floor of the house. (There are no bedrooms, or full bathrooms on the main floor.) Basically they're thinking that eventually they will get to a point where they can't (or shouldn't) physically be able to climb the stairs, so they're just thinking ahead. In the meantime, that room will be a pool room/art gallery to display my dad's artwork.

Weeeellllll.....you'd think tacking on a quick addition to add a master suite and laundry room wouldn't be that complicated, right? Not so w/my parents! Lol!! The house they live in is almost 100 years old - it's a really pretty old, kind of Victorian-style house. My mom really didn't want an addition tacked onto the back of the house, where it would be highly noticeable that it was not part of the original house soooooooo..........they decided to take the addition all the way up - yep - they're adding a 3 story addition! It will be a total of 6 extra rooms, plus a HUGE storage area. They put new siding on the outside of the house, so you can't even tell where the "old" house ends and the "new" house starts! It looks great, and is going to be so wonderful when it's all done!

All that to say - we're at the point of PAINTING! Well, painting/wallpapering, you name it. Praise the Lord, it seems that there MIGHT be a light at the end of this tunnel! So last Monday Laynie spent the day w/Aunt Bebe, and tomorrow she'll be there too, so Mom and I can focus on getting the painting done. (It is sooooooooo much easier and FASTER w/o a 3 year old underfoot!!)

Jared has been busy losing teeth - 4 total now. This last one he lost, he almost swallowed! Crazy kid - he didn't even know it had come out! He's enjoying his treats from the Tooth Fairy. :) And Laynie keeps sadly reminding me that she still has all of her teeth. Hehehe....

Well, that's all for now - maybe I'll actually get another post up here sooner than several WEEKS from now! :)

BCT Graduation and AIT!

Me and my suuuuuuuuuper handsome soldier!

Ugh...I've waited way too long between posts, but Jessica inspired me - lol!! Thanks Jessica! Hehe...ANYWAY........

Family day and Graduation went quite well. The ceremony was super cool, and my husband looks soooooooooo good! WOWSERS!! When I saw him for the first time (it had been 74 days since the last time I'd seen him) he looked deflated! Literally!! He looked pretty awesome when he left for BCT, but when he was DONE - he looked even better! I couldn't believe it! You can scroll through my blog to see "before" pictures, and I'll post some "after" pics with this post so everyone can see the difference.

It was so so soooooooo good to see him and be with him. I didn't take the kids with me - mostly for selfish reasons. I wanted him all to myself for the first couple of days! :) Family Day was on a Thursday, then graduation was on Friday, then we came home on Saturday - the kids were BEYOND excited to see Daddy - Laynie wouldn't take her eyes off him. It was so precious! We got to spend Sunday and Monday with him, then we had to take him to Ft. Leonard Wood (MO) so he can complete his AIT (advanced individual training). This will take approximately 19 weeks - he should be done around the end of November/beginning of December. It stinks because we can't be w/him during this time, BUT he does have free time on the weekends, and he's only about 2 hrs from my parents' house, so we can drive down on the weekends. Also, he's allowed to have his cell phone, so the kids and I can actually talk to him every single day, which is WONDERFUL!!!

AIT is definitely easier than basic training, but I must say that I'm ready for this to be over. The kids and I are having a great time w/my parents - all is going well - but I just love our little life we have together, just the 4 of us, and I'm ready for things to be back to "normal." I'm really hoping these next 6 months or so go by quickly. I miss our home in GA, our church in GA (though we have an AWESOME church to go to while we're here!), and most of all, our LIFE in GA - I'm so anxious to have it back! Hopefully I don't sound too whiney! Ok, off to post some pics....

Jared and Daddy



My handsome soldier counting cadence for his platoon.



CW4 Schnellbacher, and Specialist Schnellbacher


Michael's company




Marching out to the field through multi-colored smoke grenades - very cool effect!!

It's winding down........

I can't believe we're down to the last few days of basic training!!!! I thought these days would never come! Jared and Laynie are sooooooo excited about seeing Daddy again. They miss him so much! Next Wednesday I'll be flying to South Carolina so I can be there first thing Thursday morning for Family Day, then graduation is on Friday! Then I get to have a nice looooooooong road trip with my Sweetie (and my in-laws, who will also be there for the graduation), back to Missouri. Hopefully things will stay super busy between now and then so the time will fly by quickly!

Nine more days!

Well, I'm glad to report that a light at the end of the tunnel has been spotted! Praise the Lord! I was starting to wonder if this was EVER going to be over!! I haven't gotten to talk to Michael in over a week now (which isn't the longest we've had to go, but still a long time!), and I'm so excited to get to not only get to talk to him soon, but to SEE him!! Woo hoo!! :)

The kids are also very ready to see Daddy, of course. Laynie says to me every single day, "I want my Daddy!" Several times! And he was worried she would forget him!!! While he's been gone, Jared lost his first tooth, learned to ride a bike without training wheels, finished his Kindergarten year of school, he'll also have his graduation and first speaking part in a play before Daddy gets back. Thank goodness for video cameras!

This Friday is the last day of school, though J has been done with his work for a week now. He does still go to reading class with the first graders, art class (twice a week), and Bible class, but he's done with all of his videos. Sunday is Kindergarten graduation, awards ceremony, and elementary school play, then on Wednesday is when I fly out to SC! It's coming up quickly!

I want to thank everyone who has prayed for us throughout this difficult time - I truly don't know how people make it through difficult situations without prayer! I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post again soon! :)

He's half way done!!! Woo hoo!!!

Well, yesterday marked the official half way point of basic training - hallelujah!!! I couldn't believe it - on Tuesday afternoon Michael got to call me (totally unexpected since the other times he's called, it's been on Sundays), then later on that evening, he got to call AGAIN! The second time, we got to talk for a little over THIRTEEN minutes!! I think if you combine all of the times I'd talked to him before that, it wouldn't have added up to thirteen minutes! What a treat it was to hear his voice.

He was just getting over a cold, but sounded in good spirits. He said he's really been enjoying target practice (w/his M16) - he said he's surprisingly good at it! I think he picks and chooses what he tells me about - he doesn't want me to worry, but he just sounded so good, I was so thankful that I got to talk to him! Also, he was able to tell me several things he needed that I AM allowed to send him (there's not much I'm allowed to send at this point!), so I was super excited to be able to send him a package with some things he needs.

Again, if there is anyone at all who would like to send him a letter or card, please let me know - I know it would be such an encouragement to him to hear from anyone! I think the hardest thing for him at this point is being away from everyone. He's told me several times, he's taking things one day at a time, and even then - he kind of breaks the days down further. He focuses from making it from breakfast time to lunch time, to supper time, then to bed time. It seems to help him to have smaller goals - even though he is kept very busy, the days are really crawling by slowly for him. (For us too!!!) Anyway - I want to thank everyone for their prayers - we truly do appreciate it. At times, I feel like, "Wow - I can't believe we've already made it half way!" Other times, I feel like, "Ugh..we still have another half to go!" Lol!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I'll update again soon!

I got to talk to Michael today!!! Woo hoo!!!

Well, as the title of this post says - I got to talk to my sweetie today! :) :) :) He actually sounded pretty good. I get worried about him not getting enough sleep, but he said he's getting about 6 hours a night, so I was very glad to hear that! He did get a bit choked up when he talked to the kids - I know he misses them so much. We got to talk for 3 minutes and 44 seconds, so it was short, but very sweet. If anyone would like to write him a letter, please let me know. I know it would be such an encouragement for him to know people are thinking of him and praying for him.

He told me in a letter that right now he is going through what is called the "Red Phase." It lasts 3 weeks (though we are already a full week into that - yay!) and it is by far the hardest part of basic training. He said he'll have to ask permission to do EVERYTHING. After that he will have the "White Phase" which of course will still be hard, but not quite as hard as "Red Phase." It is also 3 weeks long. The last 3 weeks are called "Blue Phase" and are the easiest - though still hard, of course! His graduation will be on May 22nd, and I'm planning a little surprise for him. I'm not telling though - don't want anyone to spill the beans! Lol!!

As far as me and the kids go - we're busy with the same ol' same ol'!! Mom has a horrible abcess (sp?) tooth right now, and will be getting that taken care of tomorrow, so I will be teaching her class tomorrow! Exciting! I'll take Jared with me and he'll do his videos so he doesn't get behind. Laynie will be staying with Aunt Holly, as she likes to do! Oh, and a big announcement! Jared will receive his first visit from the tooth fairy tonight! He is sooooooooooooo excited! Lol!! He has had a loose tooth for several days now, and today it pretty much just fell out - I was so disgusted! Lol!!! I was so glad my mom was here to do the deed. She basically just took it out of his mouth - there was no pulling involved - it was completely ready to come out! He giggled, and thought it was the greatest thing! (I don't do pulling teeth! It completely grosses me out - in fact, I almost couldn't finish my lunch, it grossed me out so bad - and for those of you who know how much I love food, you KNOW what a big deal that is - lol!!)

I appreciate all who read this - it means a lot to me that people care to keep up with the happenings in our life. I truly appreciate all of the prayers - thank you all so much!

He's gone - waaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!

Well, my Sweetie is officially gone. We're now at the mercy of the Army (drill sergeants, perhaps?) as to when we get to talk. I'm not counting on anything any time soon. We've been apart before, but NEVER for this long, and never w/o the ability to talk on the phone several times a day. The kids are already asking for him (ugh!), I can tell this is going to be a long road! So....9 weeks, 4 days and counting! Just thought I'd post an update! :) If anyone is interested in sending him notes of encouragement, please let me know, and I'll e-mail you the address.

What we're doing now!

Well, as I believe I stated in a previous post, Michael is going to be "shipping out" (this is the term they use, even though I don't believe there is any actual ship involved) ;) on March 10th. Since we thought he was going to be leaving mid-January, he took me and the kids to my parents' house and got us all settled in right around New Years. Perfect timing, right? No such thing w/the military - lol!! A couple weeks after Michael took us to my parents' house is when he was told that he would be leaving March 10th, not mid-January! Grrr..... Anyway, after spending the rest of January w/my parents, we decided it was stupid for us to be separated when we didn't HAVE to be, so the kids and I came back down here to GA to enjoy some quality family time until he leaves. We've been having such a good time, and it is so good to see everyone down here again!

Michael absolutely spoiled me rotten for Valentine's Day!! He arranged for a sitter for the kids, and booked us a great hotel room w/a jacuzzi in the room! Fun fun!!! He took me to Provino's - an Italian restaurant that is ABSOLUTELY deeeeeeelicious!!!!!!! My mouth starts watering just thinking of their food!! He also let me go shopping for some new clothes and shoes, which I was REALLY needing! Oh, and I got to get a manicure! Is he awesome, or what?!?!

Ok, we finally know something!

Yay! Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE not knowing what's going on. (Though I have gotten a bit better over the last few years.) So, while I have mixed feelings about the way our lives are going to be this year, I'm at least glad to know SOMETHING! Lol!!

Michael has officially sworn in! They gave him a start date of March 10th. We were definitely disappointed w/that date, as he would have loved to start MUCH sooner than that, but such is life with the Army! He will have a 9 week boot camp at Ft. Jackson, SC, then a few days off, then he'll start AIT. Unfortunately his AIT is a pretty long one (19 weeks!)...BUT he will only be about 2 hours away from me and the kids at that time, so we'll get to see him every weekend! Praise the Lord! I really thought it was going to be a huge prolonged time that we wouldn't get to see him at all, so to find out that we'll get to be together every single weekend is a huge blessing! He will be training as a Chemical Operations Specialist. He said it's also referred to as 74 Delta, or NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical). Makes him sound smart, huh? Well, he is! Lol!!!

So that's the latest update for Michael. The kids and I are doing pretty well, other than battling a pretty nasty flu bug that has been running rampant at church and school. Laynie got a pretty mild version of it, but poor Jared - he got hit pretty hard. It's so pitiful when they're sick! I think they're both on the mend now though, praise the Lord!

Teaching P.E. is going very well - I'm really enjoying it! I'm having a contest with the girls to get them exercising outside of P.E. time, and they are so motivated! I told them that I would take the person who got the most points from now to the end of the semester to go get a manicure and boy, that was all the motivation they needed! They're pumped! They're really great girls.

Anyway, I think that's about it for now. Hope all is well with everyone, I'll try to stay on top of things and keep this updated!

Quick update

Just thought I'd post a quick update. The kids and I are now with my parents. Michael goes to sign this Saturday, and will leave within a few days of that. He took advantage of his days off around the New Year to bring us here and get us settled.

Right now the kids and I are trying to get settled into a new routine of going to school with Grammy (my mom) every day. She teaches at her church's Christian school, so we're tagging along! My schedule is filling up fast. I've already joined the choir and orchestra (didn't really have a choice about that one since my brother is the music director - lol!! - but I would have joined even if he wasn't!) . :) Also, I'm teaching the high school girls' P.E. class this semester! That is something new for me, but I'm super excited about it. I'm also temporarily working 10 hrs. a week for a friend of mine who has a home daycare. In addition to that, I'll be working probably one morning a week for yet ANOTHER friend of mine who has a home daycare! Needless to say, I just got myself a planner book so I can keep track of everything! I'm afraid I'm going to forget something w/all that's going on!

Jared is getting back into the swing of things with his home-schooling, and doing great. He gets to go to Bible class with "Uncle Mike" (my best friend Bethany's husband), then he does his A Beka videos for the rest of the school day. He also gets to take recess and snack breaks with the elementary class, which he is loving!

Laynie is doing great - just kind of tagging along wherever I go for the most part! She is talking more and more, and just says THE cutest things! I love it when they're this age and they have their cute little baby voices!

Michael is working hard, and we're trying to talk as often as possible. Obviously, when he leaves for boot camp, we won't be able to talk at all, pretty much. (I've heard there's a possibility of a couple of short phone calls towards the end of boot camp, but I'm not counting on anything at this point!) So we're trying to get in as many phone calls as possible! He talks to the kids several times a day as well. They sure do miss him!

Well, I'd better stop for now - I need to get to bed! 5:30 sure does come early! I hope all is well with everyone, and I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible!