A quiet evening alone!

Ok, not really alone.  The two boys are getting their teeth brushed and going to bed and I think I just might follow them.  Sheldon had to go to ward council tonight.  I think this is the first night in a long, long time that I can actually control the remote, but alas, I'm tired and will not waste the evening channel surfing.  I know that next month it will come again and maybe I'll be better prepared for it;)

The day today ended up being nice this afternoon, so after school was done, I threw the boys outside and they stayed out for 3 whole hours!  My cricut machine came today so I have looking over the manual and seeing what neat things it can do.  I'm so excited I don't know where I want to start.  I'm not a really big scrap booker, but I would like to start since I think it will be great for when we are over in Europe, but the vinyl cutting thing is really exciting to me.  I want to do some testing with that to put on the mirrors and walls.  I know it will only be up for a few months, but at least I'll get some practice in.  This way I'll know what I want to stock up on before we leave.  

I got a letter from my mom today and I can tell in her letter that she is a little bit confused.  I'm hoping that things are going better for her now.  I'm really hoping that things are going better for my brother and his wife who she's living with.  They are such great people.  She is truly blessed.

I got to talk to one of my best friends in the world today.  It breaks my heart right now because her husband is over in Iraq right now in the thick of things and that is just so scary.  I can tell she's trying to not worry but you just can't help it and she's being so strong.  I wish there was more I could do for her right now.  If only I lived closer.  Her family has had to endure so many deployments with him over in the desert it's just crazy.  I hope that this will be his last one.  They deserve him staying home for good.  

We also heard from Lori, Ivan's wife (Sheldon's brother) that he's on his way home from Kuwait, but somehow got put on the slow boat to China again.  In fact, that is such a huge mess, but I know I couldn't type the way I need to to really tell the story right, but gosh darn it, there needs to be some changes in the command group over the Utah National Guard.  I'm about ready to leave an anonymous phone tip to some news agency to see if they could get him some help with his situation.  I have to stop because I really feel like saying some gosh dang words when I think about what is going on with him.  

Ok, I need to be nice, so.............

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  It's suppose to be even warmer than today and I'm hoping that maybe I can enjoy the outdoors a bit myself.  I have been so cold since I've been here. It's just weird.  I'm looking forward to spring weather so I can open the windows and flush out the old winter air and let in the spring air!  Ah the Cherry blossoms should be coming out soon?;)

Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my birthday.  It was low key but nice.  When I first woke up I didn't even remember about it.  That must be the age thing kicking in I'm sure;)  I walked out to get the boys ready for school and Malachi and DJ had written "Happy Birthday" on the white board with all the kids names on it.  It was so sweet of them.  Since we really couldn't take the day off from school we got busy with the days activities.  Sheldon called me during his morning break to send me his wishes and then informed us that he was getting out early.  oh, before I forget I also want to thank all of the sweet people who left me birthday wishes on facebook and by email.  It was great to feel loved. Being in a new place and not really knowing too many yet, it really made my day to have the recognition.  I was thrilled that my older two remembered the day also and both of them called.  Of course Christian seemed more thrilled about the lunch Kathy Troub brought to him and his girlfriend Danielle for their 3 month anniversary, but he did take time to call me during his lunch;)  Jori had her FHE group sing to me over the phone later in the evening.   

For dinner we drove out to Bowie, MD and ate at a Texas Roadhouse.  They have the best ribs I've ever eaten.  The meat just falls off the bones.  It's hard to bring the bones back for the dog to chew since there really isn't any meat left, but we did get a couple with a little bit on the ends so he had his treat last night after we got home.  Now I have to watch out for the bone shards in the carpet:(

I booked a ski weekend in the West Virginia mountains for next month.  The boys in the house are really wanting to ski one more time and the place we are going to has an awesome military special going on.  One of the guys from Sheldon's language class told him about the place so after looking at the info I called and booked a weekend.  It will be nice to see West Virginia since we didn't get to drive through it like we thought we were going too on the way here.  Now we need to find the snow gear that's packed away in the garage.  Thank goodness we have a couple weeks before we go.

Well, the boys are about done with their individual work so I need to get off and go learn some more;)  I keep reminding myself I love 6th grade math and 4th grade grammar.  I can only get smarter right!

Saturday is a special day....................

It's suppose to be the day we get ready for Sunday not driving around all day looking for Sunday shoes and gravy mixes.  I guess you can say that what I did today was to prepare for Sunday, but I wasn't able to accomplish much more than that.

Since we arrived, we have only been able to find one of DJ's Sunday shoes that I got him before we moved out here.  Coming to the realization that the other shoe was probably eaten by the sock monster who likes to eat the boys socks, I decided to give up looking and go out and buy him a new pair.  

We started out just before lunch on the adventure of looking for some shoes, and exploring the area some more, so we headed south towards the town of Waldorf, MD.  Now Sheldon and I we have discussed about venturing down that way since we found out they have a Red Robin and also a Costco, but still haven't taken the opportunity. It's a nice little drive and ended up being a nice little town.  It reminded me a lot of Vacaville, CA.  There are a lot of nice shopping areas and the mall was a good size.  I decided to go to JC Penney since we seem to have good luck there finding shoes that fit and on sale too.  It's nice to have a wide selection and be able to stroll around looking at other things.  After finding the shoes that fit without anything hurting (the kids the worst at trying on shoes) I told him we could have lunch at the Mall.  He got excited about the possibilities of what they had at the food court, and the court was really good size.  He decided to try an Hawaiin BBQ place after they gave him some samples of their chicken, and was so excited about having leftovers so he could share with his dad when he got home.  We also tried to find me a chocolate B-Day cake for tomorrows dinner, but non of the stores had any:(  We drove a little more around town seeing what else they had down there, a Toy-R-Us, a funstore that sells pokemon cards, and other memorabilia and lots of food restaurants.  I never was able to find the Costco because I knew we had to go and get Sheldon from the train station, so we headed home.  As we were buying the paint for his pinewood derby car Sheldon called so we headed off to pick him up.

I wasn't able to get much else done around the house today that I had wanted to today, but  one thing is for sure,  tomorrow when we go to church DJ will be wearing his new Sunday shoes and not his ugly, smelly tennis shoes.  I will be happy about that;)

The phone calls begin?

Last night I got a call from the Bishop saying it was important for him to meet with both Sheldon and I this afternoon.  Well, of course Sheldon just thought that it was about the calling for me, so he was feeling pretty calm.  We get to the church and he states that he has a couple more papers to print up and he will be right with us.  When he sits down he first says that he has never had to do an interview like this before being a Bishop, so of course our Brains start wheeling a bit.  He then proceeds to tell us that actually the calling should be extended through the Stake, but because of time and other things they asked the Bishop to extend it and once they knew the answer they could take care of things on their end.  So now both Sheldon and I are fascinated at what this could be.  He then turns to Shels and calls him to be the Executive Secretary.  Sheldon seemed a little stunned, but the word yes did come out of his mouth and the Bishop kept on rolling with the duties and what he needs to get done by this Sunday and yada, yada, yada.  So even before any sustaining he is starting the ground running and expected to have all the appointments and other things set by this Sunday.  Unfortunately my poor hubby will now have to be at church on Sunday mornings by 6:30am!  Yes, that's right 6:30am.  For those of you who know the hubby well, that is pure torture for him;)  he does love his sleep, especially on the weekends.  He seemed a little more excited as we drove home.  This is one area he has not worked yet, so he is excited about what he will learn in the next few months.

In another Phone call this morning, my brother called to tell me that things were going wrong for Mom the last couple days.  She got the flu really bad and then had adverse reactions to some med the Dr. put her on.  He was beside himself on how to keep her in her bed so she won't hurt herself, but how do you tell that woman to stay still.  He said she fell this morning and they are afraid she might have broken a rib so they were trying to talk with her doctor to find out what they should do.  It sounds like they are pretty tired with everyone being sick, and trying to get her to behave.  I feel so bad for them.  I pray that things will settle down for them, and she will listen to the Dr. and stay in bed.  I hope to hear from them soon to find out how things are going.  If you have some time say a little prayer for comfort.  

Eight days and counting.......

So, it took me 8 days to get back here.  I wanted to write last week but I had pulled a muscle in my neck that traveled down the shoulders blades and right arm so it was a little uncomfortable trying to sit and type.  Homeschooling is plugging along and everyday we get a little better at getting the work done.  I think we will need to double up a little with Kai on his work so I can get him done before we leave in July, but all in all it's going well.

The boys are having a great time playing with the kids in the neighborhood.  I can usually send them out in the afternoon and have some quiet time for a few hours.  I hope that once the pain is completely gone in my neck to get back to working on boxes and other things in the house that I want to get done.

We have really enjoyed attending this  new ward.  People have been so nice to us.   There is this cute older philipino woman who always tries to sit by me in RS every Sunday. We were put together for a discussion group the first Sunday I was here and ever since then no matter where I sit she come and sits next to me and makes her friend come too.  It's so cute.  She calls me her friend:)  This past Sunday she was in a wheelchair but she was there next to me in the row.

We have also had some opportunities to help the missionaries with some of their investigators this past week and have met some really nice people.  Friday Sheldon drove a couple up to the temple's visitor's center to visit and see some videos and then in Sunday we picked up a young woman with her adorable little girl and took them to church.  I took the young girl with me to SS so the young lady could go to gospel essentials and not have to be interrupted, and then held her as she slept during RS. Malachi and DJ  tried to keep her entertained during Sacrament but I had to keep them from getting her too excited;)  We've really had some great experiences here and I think the boys will be better for it.  They are really realizing how much they do really have compared to a lot of the people they have meet here, and they are so eager to try and help other's when they can.

Well, the neck is starting grumble a little so I think I should get going.  Back to the grindstone.

Change is inevitable?

I know it's been over a week since I have written.  This week has been busy with school and other things. 

First off, we found out after 3 weeks, that we were actually going to the wrong church ward.  When we first arrived we called and asked everyone if we lived in the ward boundaries and they finally convinced us and themselves that we did.  We had a couple missionary companions over for dinner and one of the elders who had served in the ward we were suppose to be attending asked us why we weren't going to the other ward. Come to fins out that the RS President lives 5 doors down, and the EQ President lives across the street.  So we called the new Bishop to get some counsel and when it was all set and done, we are now attending the new ward.  We felt so bad for having to leave the other ward.  We really enjoyed being there and were so looking forward to being able to help the little time we were going to be here.  I really felt sick to  my stomach about all this.  I also felt that since we are only here for 6 months what harm would it be to go to the other ward, but as the Bishop stated, that by going to an out of boundary ward you have to get approval from Salt Lake, and we didn't want to cause any hard feelings or problems down the road for the ward we were in. 

 

Malachi was finally ordained to be a deacon today.  Next week he will pass the Sacrament for the first time.  I hope he is excited about starting this new chapter in his life.  He just doesn't talk to us about things like that.  He always looks like he's going to get into trouble or found out about something;)

  

We like the new ward we are in now.  There are about the same amount of people as in the other ward, but more of the families have cars and there are more youth that are active in this ward.  I feel very welcomed here.  The scouting program is lacking somewhat, but I kind of felt like that was going to be the case so I  will need to get on the ball and get DJ going and finished with his Bear.  This will be how it is until we get back from Europe I guess.  Just trying to figure everything out still.  

I need some sleep.  School comes early now that I have to stay awake now and teach the boys.  I hope that I will feel better about this as the weeks go by.  I really do like the program we are going through, but I hate feeling like I have to rush through it.  I decided not to so we will see how it goes.