A year makes a difference!

Well hello! Fancy meeting you here!

It has been a really long time since i have last blogged......No real reason for my absence, just finding time to sit still long enough to gather my thoughts and type them out is a rarity lately! while slade is at school i clean, do my shopping, get kendal napping, and other odds n ends, that sitting at the computer for over an hour just seemed like something i "didnt want to do", until today! Its cold, its soggy, and well, sis is coloring at the coffee table watching "my little ponies" so i thought, no better time to sit and cuddle at the same table, under the same blanket and be "creative" together! When i sat with her she says "momma you cudder wiff me?" i said "im going to blog while you color, is that okay?" ... " oh yeah mommy,i wike that!". So here we are!

Even though its been well over a month since i have last wrote on here, there isnt any MAJOR things that has happened with us! Aside from the every day things, and the plugging along with school and such... But i know there are a few of you whom likes to read about my days so if not only for myself to look back and read someday when my kids are grown, some of you can enjoy it now.

So the last time i wrote, slade had JUST started school, and had already been bullied..... Turns out, he is doing great in school and he is well liked. All the teachers seem to like him, the kids are his friends and there hasnt been a case of "bullying" that i know of. One thing is for certain, that if he doesnt ride the bus he acts like someone peed in his cherrio's and gives you the "look of death" --(something he is getting rather good at). And also, picking him up from school early is a BIG NO NO as well. That kid LOVES school and he would rather be there than home.

Last week sladen got his tv in his bedroom taken away, and all tv watching privileges away. Now since Kendal didnt do anything wrong, she got to watch cartoons in the living room when bubb was home, but he wasnt allowed to pick out any movies or any shows, he had to watch, what we watched. So that was hard for him, but the little PUNK needed it. What did he do to get grounded you ask? Well he bit kendal on the arm and nearly drew blood, and left a nasty bruise on her forearm..... He also kicked marci in the face to the point of her yelping and running to her cage (her safe spot)..... I am not sure where this came from as he is normally so good and so NICE.... but i guess they learn things at school. And my little angel is growing horns. Hopefully he finds his place and he will return to his normal self, or not, but for now i will just continue to search for patience and let my grey hairs grow(which i have a ton to begin with... i call those deployment greys!)!

Slade had his walk-a-thon yesterday at school! they had music playing and a path to walk on. Parents were invited to the school to walk with them..... Not very many parents showed up which is sad, but luckily brian had a break in between classes and showed up to watch! BUT slade didnt want us there....... he ran away from us and walked with his friends instead. As much as we know his intentions weren't to hurt our feelings, and it all comes with the territory of being a parent.... it did hurt our feelings. Kendals feelings weren't hurt or bothered by his antics at all! she was making new friends and thinking she was part of the class, running and walking and talking to the other students! she LOVED IT! Aside from the hurt feelings, it was cool to see that he loves his school, teacher and friends. It was a very unorganized event- but glad we got to share it with him- even though he ran away from us...ha. Slade raised 130 dollars for his school by you sponsors, so thank you very much!! We find out if he won the prize of raising the most money later this week.

Kendal is doing great. We cant seem to shake these sicknesses though, keeps going from kendal to slade, slade to kendal, despite my germ killing efforts.... it too comes with school, unfortunately. She had thrush a week and a half ago- she is still on meds for, but before that she had a nasty cold and virus, then slade had a nasty virus, then a cold, now keni has a cold.....again....and the cycle continues! YUCK. I think i run behind her with tissues 90 percent of the day!

Aside from the sicknesses kendal has become fully potty trained! she only wears diapers to sleep in. she poops and pees on her potty, and she is already transitioning from her KID potty, to the big potty! she is doing great, and she drove that bus..... she told me she was ready, and she held the wheel for it. No forcing, just followed her lead. She goes to the bus stop in undies and comes back dry. I even took her to the store (which is SCARY) without a diaper and she did great! sometimes she still has accidents, but that will happen from time to time. She also is pacifier free. Now mind you, she only slept with it and she didnt have it AT ALL during the day, only to nap/sleep. She now sleeps with "yeah" (named by my dad- i will tell the story in a minute). so she is really becoming a big girl! She says so much, she does even more, she is just an amazing little being! She sings her ABCs (not very far but she sure gives it a try!)....... Moving on up that girl!

So the story of "yeah". On friday my dad missed us so he gave us a call. Keni had just gotten back from picking out her new "pacifier", a doll. in exchange for her paci to sleep with, she picked a doll. so we told that story to my dad on the phone, and kendal was all excited... this is how their conversation went:
Papa- "did you get a new doll today?"
Kendal(excited!)-"YEAH!"
Papa- "did you name her?"
Kendal- "YEAH!"
Papa- "what is her name?"
Kendal- "YEAH!"
Papa-" that is a silly name for a doll isnt it?"
Kendal- " YEAH!"

Hahahaha! so when we went to visit them, dad kept calling her baby "yeah".... so now thats her name! it stuck! haha.

Brian is doing well in school! he had his first completely solo flight last week. He is getting the hang of it, and he is doing great. I can hear him on the traffic tower station, and it makes me beam in pride. Its amazing to think that this time last year he was on  ship in the med, and this time this year he is in school for his dream job! its crazy how life turns. Im so proud of him, he studies hard and is so serious about it all the time. He has that silly smile when he talks about his flights..... and the kids are so proud of him. We just celebrated brians birthday yesterday. its fun now that the kids are old enough to understand, sign the cards and pick things out! kendal baked his cake even!

As for me.... I am doing okay! I was feeling not so well last week, and i went into the doctors office. they changed my thyroid meds because my levels were out of whack. Now that they put me on a new dose, i feel more like myself. Less anxiety, better energy, fog-less head, my hands arent numb anymore. I just feel better- finally!

We finally have insurance again and even though we have to pay alot for it, it feels good to know that we have it. we had to take kendal to the docs without insurance and that was scary-- not knowing the price, unexpected tests, perscriptions, it was just scary. It all worked out and didnt dent our wallet TOO bad (thank the lord!)

Not much more is going on! we are just enjoying the colors that the tress are giving us! taking in the michigan weather and trying to prepare us for the COLD weather that is about to come. Its that time of year for pumpkin farms and cider mills. We live in a great city for exploring. So fall is going to e fun. We already had to rake our leaves about a bazillion times, and since the trees arent even half bare, sadly, we arent done with all the raking yet!

Im still adjusting to living here in michigan. Its still hard to me. I constantly think about virginia beach and my friend that is still there.... I miss her very much. I also miss the salty air, the beach days, the boardwalk and most of all.....THE SOUND of the crashing waves. Sure, michigan is BEAUTIFUL. The colors it brings, the water color here in traverse, the light houses, the many outdoorsy things to do. But i still miss virginia...... I think i always will. But the friends I made, i keep in contact with. And out of the 3 i hung out with most......only 1 is still there! Meghan is in california, soaking up the nice weather braving quakes, the other is in japan loving life of being back and braving typhoons, and lindsy, the one still in VB is basking in the nice weather haha. Those 3 girls are very special to me.

Making friends is hard, but we found a family out here, they live in our "park",and slade and adelina are in the same class! they also have another little girl that is the same age as ken! so it works out, they are very kind people and fun to hang out with. Things are looking up!

Halloween is coming and this year i have ONE costume to make. Slade requested that i NOT make his, he wants to go pick it out. But i have all the supplies to make Kendals so i have to start on that soon, since we have the trail of terror to go to at my aunts (its a yearly to do!) We havent gone since PRE KIDS. haha....... its good to be able to do family things, and go to weddings and be invited to things that you KNOW you can attend!  We also have a baby sitter so we have had 2 date nights since we have been here and that too, is great!

I think i have babbled on enough and Kendal is on her 50th "sketch"...... time to get off of this computer and into the shower! then to clean, clean and more clean!

i hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
What is everyones plans?

love to you all.until next time!