Back to the Grind (aka School) (August 2018)

So, the time had come for back to school.  Nobody really wanted summer to end, but we were starting to get to that turning-into-slugs-lounging-around-the-house-all-day stage, so it was time.  

Lots of big milestones this year.  Kate was starting 6th grade and going into middle school - MIDDLE SCHOOL! It was a little scary and nerve wracking on all sides, but Kate took to opening her locker like a champ and after practicing walking to her classes a few times she was good to go.  (Lise helped her come up with ideas on how to decorate her locker.  She posted pictures of herself when she was younger and with her friends and cousins.  Super Cute!)

Kylie will be in 3rd grade this year and my only elementary kid!  Crazy!!  Kylie has two teachers this year, Ms Carpenter for English & Social Studies and Ms Hill for Math and Science.  They both seem great and I think it's going to be a fun year.  

I now have two high schoolers - Lise is a Freshman!!!  So Lise is also in early morning seminary now.  The first day of school she was up at stinkin' 4:30 in the morning turning on lights and banging cupboards.  I've had to teach her the art of stealth mode while everyone else is sleeping.  This early morning rising though did enable me to get a first day of school pic with my high schoolers.

This year Aly is a Junior.  Only 2 years left with this kiddo.  Crazy!  This year she has no 1st or 2nd period. (Thank you online classes).  So she goes to seminary, drops Lise off at school and then comes home to do homework or study for an hour and a half.  It's been a little weird sending my middle schooler out the door and then having my high schooler come in to eat breakfast with my elementary kid, but it's been kind of fun as well. 

Kate had me walk her to the bus the first day but did not want me to take pictures of her getting on the bus.  We tried all summer to get her waking up by herself to an alarm, but that has only worked a handful of times since school has started.  Mostly it's me rolling her out of bed.  Luckily she's come with a good attitude.

Kylie did not want me to come  to the bus stop on the first day, but I did anyway.  I had to get at least one bus picture.

So, a successful first day send off.  I even managed to make first day of school chocolate chip cookies.

The beginning of school means extra curricular and sports.  Aly started out her cross country season looking good, but then started to have some heat exhaustion issues - getting dizzy, blacking out, etc.  We've been working on good sleep/nutrition/hydration trying to get her back up to speed.  She loves it though - always loves it.

Lise performed in her first football game and looked great!  Way to spin those flags!!

Another first for Lise was her first youth dance.  Hooray for being 14!  This one was combined with 3 stakes and it was a seminary kickoff fireside/dinner/dance.  Woot, woot!  We've got great youth in our ward/stake and the guys are good at asking so Lise got asked to dance A LOT.  I'm pretty sure she had a good time.  She and Aly came back with some good stories and smiles on their faces.

With homework back on the table and hence less free time, Kate and Kylie are taking time to enjoy the little things . . . like chocolate dipped strawberries . . .

. . .  outfits with belts . . .

. . . and finishing massive Perler pictures that require 4 PERLER BOARDS to complete.

  And as for me?  What have I been doing now that the kids are all back at school?

  Well, first of all, I've been spending a lot of time with friends.  Helping friends clean their houses to move (*sniff*), going out to lunch (multiple times!), 

Going to football games to cheer on my daughter (and the team, of course),

and going out on "single" ladies' nights with other husbandless friends. 

Romantic walk on the beach with the ladies. hehehe

Oh!  And I've been BLOGGING, of course!  I have been doing nothing but trying to catch up on this blog since the girls started school. (I had to start back in February!)  And hooray!  I'm finally caught up.  Here's to hoping I can stay a little more on top of it.  Now on to the next project . . . 

When Chris Leaves . . . (June - Aug 2018)

So, for about a month before Chris deployed I started singing my deployment theme song (thank you Whitesnake):

And here I go again on my own.

Going down the only road I've ever known.

Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.

(Imagine me headbanging to this awesome song in my car)

So, there's a not-so-funny joke that whenever Dad's gone, the house knows it and throws a temper tantrum (aka everything breaks).  (Actually probably not totally true, but it is uncanny how many thing go haywire when he's away.) So anyway, while Chris and I were in Boston, guess what happened?  TERMITES!

My dad was staying with the kids and kudos to him for having to deal with a swarming termite colony in our attic above the garage while we were gone!  Since it just happened to be termite season (aka Spring), all the contractors were booked and this lovely discovery could not be dealt with until the end of the summer.

Another lovely happening - FRUIT FLY INFESTATION! I noticed a day or two before Girls Camp that there were a few fruit flies flying around so I left out a couple apple cider vinegar traps for them while we were gone . . . and came home to this nastiness.  Which would have been fine if all of them had been dead, but unfortunately we had hundreds more swarming the kitchen sink, the garbage, and  the bathrooms.  Disgusting.

And finally on the disgusting bug scene - I found this repulsive bug crawling around in my toilet.  Looked it up and it is called - wait for it - a rat tailed maggot.  EW, EW, EW!!!  Needless to say I've had the pest control people over here multiple times trying to get things under control.  I AM SO SICK OF BUGS!!

In addition to bug issues, the following things have broken/had to be replaced since Chris has left: 

*The door handle/lock leading out to the garage - bought a new one and installed

* All 3 vacuums not working (totally took one apart to de-clog it, had to replace the other ones due to a crack and a missing belt)

* Car Battery went kaput - had to buy a new one

* Flat tire - patch job

* Spring on Garage door broke - had to be replaced

* Truck headlight went out -  replaced

*Kylie punctured a hole in her eardrum - looks like it is going to heal on it's own.  Phew!

Kylie said to me one day, "Mom, do you think we're going to survive the summer without Dad?"

Me - Um . . .I think so, why?

Kylie - Because me and Lise are about ready to kill each other!!!

Ironically, my other theme song when Chris is deployed comes to us from Kelly Clarkson,

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,

Stand a little taller,

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone.

Hahaha.  But seriously, there are times when even I wonder if we're going to survive the craziness that is deployment.  But if there's one thing that I've learned over the years, it's that if we put our trust in the Lord he can make all things for our good.

I think the thing I've learned so far on this deployment (3 months down, 10 more to go!) is to not be prideful in my self sufficiency.  I was actually feeling that I was doing okay, that maybe I'd finally - finally! - figured out this whole deployment thing (Deployment #8 People!) And then I was reminded otherwise. I was reminded how weak and vulnerable I am.

At the same time I was reminded of the Lord's tender mercies and of all the good people He puts in my path to help me and let me know I'm not alone.  So, despite "everything" breaking, I am grateful:

*Grateful for my neighbor Brother Strickland who tells me to call him night or day and means it (especially after jump starting my van, fixing my tire, and giving my girls priesthood blessings before school starts!)

*Grateful for all the friends that have said, "Let's get together" and done it.

*Grateful for Kylie's Heart Murmur that turned out to be nothing, and Kate's could-have-been broken wrist (The week before school started) that wasn't.

* Grateful that eventually things get fixed, and despite the stress and strain of it all, I feel that I grew and learned skills through the process.

*Grateful for everything that isn't broken in my house - pipes, electricity, computers, roof, toilet, appliances, blow dryer, functioning vehicles, etc., etc., etc.

*Grateful for my girls who are really good kids that are willing to help, still like Mom's company,  love their siblings (for the most part), and are just doing their best.

*Grateful for the best communication we've had with Chris during a deployment so far (15-20 min. Face timing almost every single day and Marco-Polo videos for the kids)

*Grateful for a hubby who sends the kids (and Me!) birthday presents on Amazon just from him.

*Grateful for my husband.  Grateful that even though I know he does not want to be away from our family, he still gives his best to keeping his fellow soldiers safe.  At the same time he still tries to stay connected at home and support our family in what we're doing.  My husband is a rockstar.

Face timing with the fam.

On another Chris/Deployment related note, for Father's Day we made a pillowcase for Chris with a bunch of cute notes and inside jokes on it.  It turned out amazing!!  Also for his birthday I used leftover camp beads to represent 43 reasons I love him.  It was great.  He's good to put up with my craziness (and I think he secretly loves it).  Sure do love that guy.

Back to the Real World (July/August 2018)

While it was so good to be home, there was no time sit and dilly dally; the vacation was over and it was time to jump back into the thick of it.  Aly immediately started practicing every morning with the XC team (at 6:30 am, hence no pictures) and Lise started up with her Color Guard Practices.  They had a theme for every day.  She was a Power Puff girl with two of her friends on Cartoon Character day and  made her own batman logo shirt out of Styrofoam sheets for Superhero day.  Love seeing the creativity.

Lise had practice twice a day every day learning Flag Routines and also the choreography out on the field.  She put in a lot of hard work, but I think she had a lot of fun too and it was nice to be doing something fun with friends while also making new ones.

Of course it wasn't all work.  We had 3 weeks of summer left and we were determined to enjoy them.  One night after dinner we went to the beach with a couple of friends.  5pm is the perfect time to go to the beach!!! No sunscreen and not so blazin' hot!

About a week after we got home it was my birthday. (My 40th birthday.  Shhhh!)  Chris sent me some beautiful roses as well as a couple presents in the mail.  Aly made me a CD of songs I wanted, Kylie bought me a bracelet with her own money, and my friend helped me pick out a new purse.  I also went out to dinner and a movie with another friend.  And on my actually birthday the girls made me dinner.  All in all a pretty great birthday!

The girls were also very excited to hang out with their friends they hadn't seen all summer.  Whether it was creating plays, swimming, going to movies, or just playing at each other's houses.

We went to see Christopher Robin.  Ellie and Lise dressed like Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, respectively.  Love it.

We had another birthday coming up - Kylie's.  We decided to go roller skating and invite some friends.  At first Kylie was a little shaky, but then she really took off!

Within 5 minutes of getting there, Kate fell on her wrist pretty badly.  She could still move it all around and so I was hopeful it was just a sprain.  It did end up swelling up but ended up to just be a bruise.  Thank goodness!

Aly rockin' the rink like she was back in 8th grade. ;)

Everyone needed a turn with the roller walker

When we got home from the rink we opened presents online with Chris and had brownies and ice cream.  Happy 8th Birthday, Kylie!  (Kylie is waiting to be baptized when Chris comes home for R&R.) 

Of course there is always the after birthday spending of birthday money from Grammy.  This year both Kate and Kylie got a Webkinz.  I love how that obsession has resurfaced with the Younger two.  We haven't been this into Webkinz since Louisiana, when Aly and Lise were in 1st Grade/Preschool.

Love this random picture of Kate.  She looks like an upside down pineapple.

So, an awesome thing that happened when we got back to Florida is that Analise was awarded her Young Womanhood Medallion.  She had finished her last project of putting together a recipe binder for me and finished the Book of Mormon right before we went on Vacation.  Way to go Lise!  Proud of you!

Also, Aly received her Honor Bee for 40+ hours of service (hello Leadership Class and Paraguay!) and reading the Book of Mormon again (thanks Seminary!)

And finally, I re-earned my Young Womanhood Medallion as well (mine from when I was a teenager had been stolen in the move from Louisiana to California.)  It took me 4 1/2 years to earn it, from  the time Aly turned 12, but it was a neat experience working on Personal Progress with my girls, knowing what they were working on and also realizing that it is always a good time to try to improve yourself, develop talents, and improve your relationship with your Heavenly Father and Savior.

Love Aly's stickers she got to decorate her lap top

This summer, even though we were gone for most of it, we still also had a few goals we were working on.  Aly took an Online Finance class and passed with a 97%.  Go Aly!  Aly also did a major de-junking of her room and redecorated with new pictures from EFY and the past school year.

Analise also did a major de-junking of her room and would practice Flag and Italian in her spare time to get ready for school.  Go Lise!

Kate and Kylie learned how to do their own laundry this summer, they both worked on their typing skills, Kate learned how to do her own hair, and Kylie learned how to tie her shoes.  Woot, woot!  Super proud of all my girls that continue to grow into awesome people!

On the rare moments when everyone is getting along, you've got to capture it with a picture!!  Love, love, love that family of mine!