The weeks are growing few until this deployment is finally over! And I am SO HAPPY to say that! I cannot wait to have my family whole again and my heart whole again. Just the past few days, it has hit me how soon Scott will be coming back, and I have so much more joy than I have for a looong time. I wouldn't say I have been depressed or anything, but I have been...incomplete. I can live without him, I can even enjoy life without him, but I really, really like it when I get to live with him.
Ecstatic. Thrilled. That's what I feel when I realize how close redeployment is. And there is lots of other exciting stuff going on right now, too. Child Thing #1 has her first dance recital. We're planning a birthday party for both the child things before we leave. We're packing up our stuff to go to Hawaii. We have secured a rental house (just a block or so from the beach, if I may brag a little bit). It's all so exciting!
Of course, in the back of my mind lurks the question, "what if we don't like each other anymore?" And it's a valid question. The Army counselors/chaplains say couples develop coping mechanisms to deal with life alone and to deal with war, and those don't always mesh well when it is over. And they say the spouse left at home has had no other choice but to become very independent and self-sufficient, which makes the soldier feel unwanted. And the soldier has experienced the horrors of war, and that changes a person. Then throw in the fact that both are used to their independent routines and have to re-learn how to live together, and you have the potential for a big mess!
Maybe it's foolish of me, but I'm not expecting this "adjustment period" to be quite as rough as the last one. We have been there before, and we made it through and still love each other. So we know that if it seems bleak for a while, things will get better. As far as I can tell, this deployment has not been nearly as traumatic as the last, so perhaps Scott will be less affected by the "horrors of war."
So there's that, but for now I'm just going to be excited that he's finally coming home! And that my kids are about to turn 2 and 5! And that I will soon get to see my little girl on stage in a tutu! And that we are about to move to Hawai'i! And that we are going to live on the beach!
God is good to me!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
7 Places I have Lived
Dang! I'm late. This month my 7 on the 7th list is actually on the 9th. We were out of town for Mother's Day weekend, so I'm just now getting around to it. But for the month of May, we are writing about 7 places we have lived or visited. This list is a piece of cake for a military wife. So here they are...7 places I have lived.
1. Houston, Tx--I grew up here and have lived here this year while Scott is deployed.
2. Abilene, Tx--I lived here 4 years while I went to college. It was quite a change from the huge city of Houston. It's a much smaller town in the middle of windy, dry nowhere. But I actually enjoyed my time there a lot.
3. College Station, Tx--This is where Scott and I lived our first year of marriage because he was finishing up school at TAMU. Neat place!
4. Columbus, Ga--This was the first place the Army sent us, and out of all the places we have lived, it is my least favorite. I think it has to do with the first time I was really far away from my family, and the fact that we only lived there for about 9 months, so I never really thought of it as home.
5. Manhattan, Ks--Our next station. When I first heard we were going to Kansas, I'm sure I wrinkled my nose a little bit. But I was pleasantly surprised. The northeast part of Kansas is gorgeous, with green rolling hills. Plus Manhattan is a small town with a big university, and I thought it was a great place to live, and it reminded me a little bit of College Station.
6. Augusta, Ga--Yes, my husband got to go see the Master's. I didn't. I have good memories of this place because of the two friends we knew in Kansas who also ended up there at the same time as we did. Having good friends makes living in a new place so much easier, so I was so glad to have their company.
7. Wahiawa, Hi--Lucky us! We managed to get stationed in Hawaii. It is beautiful there with perfect weather, and we have experienced so many cool, exotic and new things, and a cool, exotic new culture because of the time we have spent there. It is a little different than I expected, however. There is a lot of poverty there, and at times, there is some tension between the military and the locals.
Here are the other blogs that do 7 on the 7th. Check them out, too! And if you want to play, you're welcome. Just get your e-mail to me, and I'll send you the topic for next month. :)
http://harkertravels.blogspot.com
http://schoolroomoflife.blogspot.com
http://romanfamily4.blogspot.com
1. Houston, Tx--I grew up here and have lived here this year while Scott is deployed.
2. Abilene, Tx--I lived here 4 years while I went to college. It was quite a change from the huge city of Houston. It's a much smaller town in the middle of windy, dry nowhere. But I actually enjoyed my time there a lot.
3. College Station, Tx--This is where Scott and I lived our first year of marriage because he was finishing up school at TAMU. Neat place!
4. Columbus, Ga--This was the first place the Army sent us, and out of all the places we have lived, it is my least favorite. I think it has to do with the first time I was really far away from my family, and the fact that we only lived there for about 9 months, so I never really thought of it as home.
5. Manhattan, Ks--Our next station. When I first heard we were going to Kansas, I'm sure I wrinkled my nose a little bit. But I was pleasantly surprised. The northeast part of Kansas is gorgeous, with green rolling hills. Plus Manhattan is a small town with a big university, and I thought it was a great place to live, and it reminded me a little bit of College Station.
6. Augusta, Ga--Yes, my husband got to go see the Master's. I didn't. I have good memories of this place because of the two friends we knew in Kansas who also ended up there at the same time as we did. Having good friends makes living in a new place so much easier, so I was so glad to have their company.
7. Wahiawa, Hi--Lucky us! We managed to get stationed in Hawaii. It is beautiful there with perfect weather, and we have experienced so many cool, exotic and new things, and a cool, exotic new culture because of the time we have spent there. It is a little different than I expected, however. There is a lot of poverty there, and at times, there is some tension between the military and the locals.
Here are the other blogs that do 7 on the 7th. Check them out, too! And if you want to play, you're welcome. Just get your e-mail to me, and I'll send you the topic for next month. :)
http://harkertravels.blogspot.com
http://schoolroomoflife.blogspot.com
http://romanfamily4.blogspot.com
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Taking it Easy
With less than a month left in the school year, I have decided to scrap the remainder of my lesson plans and have a fun and relaxed end of the homeschool year. The last couple of weeks in public school are always a joke anyway, right?
The Child Thing finished her Pre-K reading curriculum long ago and is more than half way through with the Kindergarten curriculum, so this isn't going to cause her to get behind. And to be perfectly honest, I think both of us were kind of getting bored with the routine and not having fun anymore. So...no more phonics and no more structured lessons.
For the last few weeks we are going to learn about the 7 continents and be very relaxed about it. I intend to spend 3 days or so on each continent, and here's what I have in mind:
Day 1: Read a short exerpt from What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know about whatever continent we're studying. Color map of continent. Color any other appropriate pictures. I found free printable coloring pages and maps for all of the continents at http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html
Day 2: More Coloring Pages, animal sticker book (which groups animals by continent), cut out images from magazines that apply to our continent, read library books about/set in our continent
Day 3: Combine all cut out/colored images onto a poster to make a continent collage. Watch a movie set in our continent.
I'm hoping this laid back approach to our last few weeks of homeschool will break the routine some and restore the joy of learning, so that we are fresh and ready to go next year. I suppose this end-of-year burnout is normal. I was never homeschooled, but I know I sure felt that way by the time the last month or so of school got there. Any knowledge or advice on the end-of-year blues?
The Child Thing finished her Pre-K reading curriculum long ago and is more than half way through with the Kindergarten curriculum, so this isn't going to cause her to get behind. And to be perfectly honest, I think both of us were kind of getting bored with the routine and not having fun anymore. So...no more phonics and no more structured lessons.
For the last few weeks we are going to learn about the 7 continents and be very relaxed about it. I intend to spend 3 days or so on each continent, and here's what I have in mind:
Day 1: Read a short exerpt from What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know about whatever continent we're studying. Color map of continent. Color any other appropriate pictures. I found free printable coloring pages and maps for all of the continents at http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html
Day 2: More Coloring Pages, animal sticker book (which groups animals by continent), cut out images from magazines that apply to our continent, read library books about/set in our continent
Day 3: Combine all cut out/colored images onto a poster to make a continent collage. Watch a movie set in our continent.
I'm hoping this laid back approach to our last few weeks of homeschool will break the routine some and restore the joy of learning, so that we are fresh and ready to go next year. I suppose this end-of-year burnout is normal. I was never homeschooled, but I know I sure felt that way by the time the last month or so of school got there. Any knowledge or advice on the end-of-year blues?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Easter
Easter was a long time ago, wasn't it? I suppose I have been rather busy and rather not motivated lately and have let my blogging slip. So, a few weeks late: here's how we celebrated Easter.
Before church, he of course had an egg hunt. I wanted to buy cute matching Easter baskets for the child things, but as soon as the baby saw this football basket he reached for it, saying "ball ball ball!" So, we ended up with the tacky football basket. But oh well. At least his outfit was cute!
Once outside, Child Thing #1 raced around the yard picking up so many eggs that her basket overflowed and started leaving a trail of eggs behind her.
Her brother was not in much of a hurry, however. Every egg he picked up, he stopped to open it and check out its contents before putting it in his basket and searching for another. He certainly did not find as many eggs as his sister did. But he didn't really care.
In fact, he soon lost interest all together and decided he wanted to go for a swim instead.
I just love Easter! The egg hunting is fun, making the child things wear hats is fun, and for me it is truly a day of rejoicing over Christ's victory over death! I hope that everyone out there had an Easter as fun and blessed as ours was!
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