A busy end of summer

Whoo-hoo! School has started for Katheryn and Brian...hip hip hooray! And with the start of the school year, things tend to get booked and overwhelming. Gone are the lazy days of summer...not that we really had any lazy days with our move.

Matt took some leave last week and this week so we have been able to walk the kids to the bus stop together and pick them up. It's really rather funny that riding the bus is even an option. From our front porch, we can see the school and about the time it takes us to walk to the bus stop, Katheryn could be at the school.

Katheryn started school last Wednesday and Brian on Friday. Katheryn has made some friends and is getting quite involved and picking up some activities. She will be taking three dance classes...hip hop, jazz and ballet...along with instructional gymnastics. She is really excited about it. She is also going to try her hand at band. The school is introducing instruments to the 4th and 5th graders and Katheryn is interested in the trumpet, flute and violin. We'll see which one she decides on closer to the end of the year I'm sure.

Matt and Katheryn (1st day of school)

Brian has been doing well and is really enjoying school. This is the first year where I do not have to take him or pick him up. He going to a school adjacent to the local college here. I thought he would have problems riding the bus but I was wrong. We bought him a backpack and since we did, he has been attached to it ready for school. The first day of school, he had his back pack on hours before we needed to leave telling me that we needed to go or else we would be late. This was every ten minutes or so. Finally, it was time and we walked him to the bus stop. With his head held high and a huge smile on his face and without hesitation, he stepped up onto the bus. He got to his seat, looked out the window at us smiling and very happily waved goodbye to Matt and I. My heart melted. My little man was becoming independent of me and didn't need me to hold his hand anymore. And then today, he told me he was too busy to go to school. :)

Brian's first day of pre-k

Since Matt has been on leave, I've been taking advantage of it. Last Friday we went to the Regimental Ball in Crystal City and had a wonderful time. It was a much needed break for me away from the kids to spend time with Matt. With his hours, every minute we get together is nice. It was so much fun to dress up and be adults. The hotel was filled with beautiful people. We were tickled to be stopped and adored by the Marines of the Chosin Few who were having their own convention. We found it ironic that they would be thanking Matt for his service in the military after all that they have been through. We respectfully thanked them for their service in return. The war that they faced and the sacrifices they had to make are pretty miniscule compared to what we go through today and I realized that I need to remember that when Matt is deployed. Hopefully though, it will not be any time soon.

Matt and Teresa at the Ball

Matt cutting a rug

Today we decided to start putting in a patio. Who knew it would be sooo much work. We rented a tiller and Matt started to sledge hammer away the 2' x 4' slab from the back door. It's taken half the day just to get that out and it's still not completely out! Poor Matt's back is so red from the sun. While he was sledging away, I started up the tiller and went at it. I tilled up about a 12' x 10' area for a garden. The ground is really tough so I haven't made much progress at all. I've managed to rip up the grass and get a blister on my thumb. My thumb is okay so it's all good. I can't wait to have the backyard semi-finished.

Oh! I forgot to mention the biggest news of Matt's leave...well, two things actually. One being that Matt was selected for Major below the zone which is wonderful news....and Ethan finally had his cast removed. I've included some pics. He was really upset about the cast coming off...he didn't want it off. Anyways, enjoy the pics.

Ethan not so sure about the saw

Here we go

Off it comes

I want it back on!

Slowly Learning

Okay, so I'm trying to figure out this blogging stuff. It's a new concept for me but something I am willing to try and keep up so that our family and friends can keep up with our family. So, please forgive me if it's not that great...hopefully the more I work with it, the better it will turn out. Especially in the picture dept. I can't quite figure out yet how to add pictures but I'm getting there. I just got a replacement USB cable in the mail for my camera today so I thought I would try and post some pics on here.

4th of July...we're all huddled underneath a tarp

trying to stay dry. It really stormed but we got

to see some great fireworks!

This is the "mom's" hip-hop dance group.

We performed to a mix of songs to include

"Soulja Boy" for the '07/'08

dance recital.

Looks like I'm doing pretty good, but there has to be an easier way! LOL. Anyways, on with the blogging, our weekend was pretty good. We didn't have a list of things to do which seems to be the theme of our weekends lately. It was nice just to go with the flow. Matt took the kids to the library and park nearby and then out to lunch while I was able to take time to be with myself and shop. It was a much needed break. We then visited my parents at their flea market and spent the evening at home. Sunday was just as nice. We decided to go to the church by our home since the one we went to the week before just didn't seem to fit us. As soon as we walked in the doors, it was like we were back in Germany at a church we attended there. It was deja vu! We really enjoyed the church and the service. Katheryn asked us if we could continue to go to this church...she's never done that before. So, we signed the kids up for Vacation Bible School and their first day was today. Well, Katheryn and Brian anyways. They both seemed to really enjoy it. I know I did. While they were at VBS, Ethan and I went to the Y and I was able to get a decent workout in. I think tomorrow I will venture out and get the van registered and get Katheryn's and Brian's social security cards replaced. I have no idea where they are and Brian needs his to go in with his school packet.

We found out today who Katheryn's 4th grade teacher will be and Brian was accepted into pre-k at a school nearby. Pre-K is only part day here rather than full day like it was in NC but that's okay. That's just more time I will have with him to help him get potty trained. It's been a long uphill road. Well, that's it for now. I've spent too much time already on here trying to figure this out. I will keep on blogging though....I just hope it gets better. LOL.

Ethan's Arm update

Today Ethan had an appointment for his arm. The xray looked great! His arm has healed but just as a precaution, since Ethan is so very active, the P.A. decided to leave his cast on another two weeks. When we went to check out however, the P.A. or the doctor will not be in that week so he'll have to keep it on an extra week. Atleast it'll be coming off and there weren't any complications. His bone grew back and repaired itself just the way it needed to. So his next appointment will be the 19th. I can't wait to have it taken off his arm. When we got backhome from the appointment, I decided to hunt down a wasp nest. I had my can of spray and was ready. I saw a few here and there but no nest until finally I found one crawl in the decorative edge of a front window. I sprayed in there once but the wind kinda blew the wrong direction so I gave that up. I'll let Matt tackle that one. :) Then I decided to cut our grass. Well, I got about halfway until the mower decided to die. So much for trying to get ahead of the weekend. LOL. So, after trying to catch up around the house, dinner had to be made and I decided to try out some new recipes I received with my fall/winter paperwork for the home business. Katheryn actually helped me make dinner and dessert all within an hour. I was amazed. Especially with dessert. It's a lemon cake that you actually microwave and it's done in 5 minutes. I can't wait for Matt to get home so we can divulge into dinner and dessert. Everyone will get their own little lemon cake. They look soooo yummy and fancy at that too! Katheryn kept asking me if they were fancy desserts. LOL. Too cute. I also ordered a USB cable for my camera so hopefully it will arrive soon so that I can start posting pictures to our blog site. I think I have about 200 pictures on my camera now. I have no idea where the cable has gotten to but hopefully it's replacement will be here shortly.