Many reasons to be thankful

There are too many to write down...
Friends and family of course without a doubt. The gospel. A myriad of things.
I must say though it may sound weird, i ALWAYS thank the Lord for the opportunities he lay before me, the trails i must face and the burdens i must bear. It's not cause I'm a masochist, i just appreciate life, my life in a sense and living it how i must. I've come to accept it along with all its dysfunction and dismay. I've always fought against what was happening to me never realizing it was happening for me, sure it might sound dumb, but i've come to terms with how things are. Maybe because of the turmoil in my past, i don't feel like i'm living less i tread a path of briers and thorns. Not to say i like it, i don't, i kick and scream and throw a fit like any reasonable person, then i just deal with it and move along. I expect things to happen, that's life, all life, but i guess i have more of an appreciation for the times when things don't happen. Which, i wouldn't mind having a "dull and uneventful" life, but then it wouldn't be MINE.
We had a great conference experience with both Dondan and Mike. Dondan's teacher was so pleased with his academic performance, she could not stop boasting about him. He has mastered all areas and is top of his class. He has currently achieved the end of the year goals for all subjects. He is in his own category with the reading groups. I am so happy and grateful at the same time. It was such a difficult struggle learning his quirks and how to deal with him. All the doctors we've seen and the different diagnoses, it was all so trying. Now we are at a comfortable level where he can engage in a classroom environment with little aggravation and strife. Just those extra things we can implement to help him out. Giving him extra work, challenging his mind, engaging in his occupational therapy and having a teacher who is amazing to work with. When we move i will be so nervous, holding my breath with my eyes closed hoping for the best. I don't know what will happen at a new school, with a new teacher, it will take much coaching and prep. Perhaps a change in our current methods, we shall see. Not looking forward to it. I will just bask in this good feeling for the time being.
Mike, UUUUHHHHH!!!!!! I am SO glad something has finally kicked in with him. Not fully, but SOMETHING!! I fear for the world he ever uses his full potential, can you say mad scientist. We have been down that same struggle road with doctors and meds, but there are still things to iron out with him. As for now, he is on the HONOR ROLL with a 3.4, this is a HUGE change. Last year he came close to failing with D's and F's. He brought it all up at the last minute because that's what Mike does. My feeling is that he likes keeping us on this emotional roller coaster of pride and disappointment, encouragement and scolding or maybe it's just a kid thing or better yet a teenager thing. These teen years are insane, it's a wonder how we managed to reach adulthood without our parents killing us, but then again how much do we remember of our own teen attitudes, i seriously don't remember being such a butt hole. I'm sure my parents viewed it differently. Anyways, his teachers gave rave reviews, they all enjoy him in class and say he is very respectful and polite. His weakness however, is that he rushes to get the job done. His literature teacher almost cried when we talked about moving. She says she loves his poetry and short stories and claims he is a very creative and gifted writer. I think he gets that from my dad, he is ALOT like my dad.
(while i'm giving updates on the kids)
Nona still naked.

mooooving right along...

in the literal sense...the storage stuff is on its way to storage. it was a total of 2400 lbs.
leaving us with 6600 to play with, correction the 200 lbs Toenail shipped counts against our total weight, so... 6400.
uncle mike is taking a little trip, lets hope it's uneventful. i mean that in a good way.
Toenail returns in 10 days!!!
he has been gone what seems like FOREVER!
he returns home to:
-an honor roll student, who is now his same height (5' 11")
-an exceptional reader, who is able to engage in normal classroom activity
-a potty trained tomboy, who hates clothes
-a wife who has learned a little more patience... the hard way

i imagine it will be somewhat challenging to come home and readjust to our home life again.
his children will "break him in" with a quickness, without fail. we will have him washing dishes and cooking in no time. um, i mean, relaxing and enjoying family, lol.

one more set of movers to go and we will be on our way. this last move will be a pain in the butt.
soooooooo looking forward to it.

Nonas boo-boo

here are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago.
Nona was playing around in mike's room, jumping on his bed. the lights were out cause he was suppose to be sleeping.
and.......
she falls and hits her face on the window sill












the swelling went down a bit before i took the pictures












nice side view of the lump












this was 4 days later













she started getting black eyes, as the blood moved down her face.
it started looking worse everyday.
today it's very faint, she just looks like she has bags under her eyes.

ditchin' stuff

so the moving companies did their estimates on the weight we will be bringing.
our max weight is 6000 lbs TOTAL.
our move items are 7000 lbs
our storage items are 3200 lbs
i kept doing the math...and...no matter how hard i tried...this does NOT add up to 6000 lbs!
not good.

so after some bitching and complaining to the right people...
we are now allotted 9000 lbs TOTAL.
that's a little better.
now we or should i say I have ALOT of work to do...
here's to down sizing. hooray for sucky things.

more FUN! i have to go through everything, again! i am getting rid of more than half our stuff.
if i can't give it away i'll just toss it! bulk pick up is coming on wednesday.... i have till then.
so, i will be busier than usual.

i can't wait to wrap this all up and get some major down time. Nona has been so good entertaining herself and i try to take breaks to play with her. i just feel like i'm neglecting her a bit. she has deciphered the fridge lock again, this is the 4th one. this one was more difficult and my fridge was safe for a few months. i think i'll just leave it unlocked and see what happens.



Ninja Turtle elbow pads make great saddles!



dondan has been doing great with his reading and he is in the "super readers". this is great except now it puts him in a different category with his spelling. regularly he gets (8) spelling words, which are what you would expect from grade 1, like; pond, doll, got, box, etc.
in addition to those words he is tested on (8) more, which include themed words like; family, father, children, people, picture, etc.
i think it's a bit much and demanding, i don't want him overwhelmed or stressed. it's the first grade!
yet, at the same time i am really curious to see what he is capable of. he is doing quite well and nailing the words. toenail can't believe dondan's even reading. it's funny. then i realize, WOW he has missed a great deal of their lives. nona is 2 yrs 3 mths old and toenail has enjoyed less than 6 months of her existence.
speaking of WOW, the new expansion is really cool. mike has preoccupied himself with it, though he can't play yet (yes, i'm so mean) he can't stop talking about it and does everything else with the game but play it.
the expansion launch was wednesday at midnight. Darci and i hung out for a bit then headed to walmart. we arrived at 12:05ish and there was a line. go figure, airway heights, ha!
we waited for about 30 min or so, which isn't bad considering this is a huge deal!
DEATH KNIGHTS!! FTW!!
i talked to several people in line. yeah, geek speak galore. come to find out most of the people there were college students from EWU. we had great conversations about our toons, servers, guilds, instances, etc...
Darci had this look of, "what the hell are you saying?" on her face, it was kinda funny. she kept leaving the line to shop the nearby shelves. i tried to keep her engaged in the conversation, but i don't get to talk to fellow wow heads much. i haven't played in a long time, trying to concentrate on the priorities of late.
i'm so glad Darci got to go with me, we could only buy 1 game at a time and had to get back in line again. since she doesn't play, i got to buy 2 and we only had to get back in line once more. it was a fun night filled with lots of laughs, energy drinks and wearing mismatched shoes, lol. she is such a great sport to deal with all my shenanigans, but do not be fooled! she gets us into trouble too.
i will definitely miss all the people i've shared these last few years with. UGH, not thinking about it!

You got to move it, move it...

That's pretty much my theme song lately...

But also for Madagascar, which we saw today. i decided it was time for a little sanity break, so the kids and i piled into the car and headed to the mall. we had a great time and enjoyed the movie, it was pretty good.
it was good to get a little break. lately i feel as though i'm running this marathon and everyone is speeding past me to get to the finish and i am just taking a snail's pace. the time is going by way too fast!
i really wish toenail was here already, but that would mean the movers would have come and gone and we'd be leaving in a week.
Darci has been lending an extra hand when she can, in between all of her chaos.

wanna build a snowman?

cause there's snow, lol
i can't believe it's flippin' snowing...
this Washington weather is crazy, rain, snow hail...
wow, it's crazier than Fort Walton Beach, there it would be bright and sunny and...raining
it's really coming down right now

Crazy Hectic

is the best way to explain these days, present and to come.
so many things going on at the same time, my head is just spinning.
movers coming on wednesday and thursday, hopefully i can get things partially
organized by then. trying to maintain sanity between conferences, maintenance appts,
squadron and school activities, doctor appointments, UGH!
oh and Nona's black eyes are fading sorta.
well, back to the grind...

Halloweenies

We had plenty of fun and CANDY tonight. Oh yes, i think the sugar rush has worn off, cause everyone is crashed out.

Lots of tricking and treating this evening. Let's just say Mo gets a little taste, for once. I don't think anyone really pranks her, especially after Heathen left. Yet Mo manages to tag us all when it comes down to the Air Force vs Army football games. She did it up good tonight, i'm sure there will be pictures and bragging about all her mischief. But this year there's a little change from the norm. I figure since it's my last year here and all, i'd give her a little extra laugh. I don't think she'll be expecting it. Like i said no one pranks her much.

It was nothing big, just a sign.....

Oh, and some packing peanuts shoved in her doorway, no pics of that cause it wouldn't have made any sense.

Enjoy!

free stuff

anyone need or know anyone who needs a used washer and dryer? apparently we aren't bringing ours with us and it's not going in storage. i was promised a new set when we return to the states. you can take them as early as dec. 10, that way i can get one last load in. not sure if airmans attic will take them, but i would hate to bulk trash 'em cause they work fine.
let me know they'll be here.
so far that's the goods, there's other random stuff to be rid of but i haven't tackled the basement yet. that will be a whole other battle i am not looking forward to.

it's much closer than i thought

oh. my. GOSH! i can't believe it, it seems more real now than before. we have TMO dates, *gasp* and three of them for that matter, ugh.
the first set of things will leave a week before thanxgiving, that's for storage. then Dec 8 for the stuff that's going with us (will take 2 months to get there). then Dec 9 the stuff that we will need right away, which will go by plane and cannot exceed 875 lbs.
so i'm packing, packing and packing.

oh and while i was on the phone (for 30 min) with toenail, discussing all these issues and such, rinoa decides to do this:

why yes. that is my couch. oh, her medium? why SHARPIE permanent marker of course.
and her response to the tragedy....

well, if we don't laugh we will all go insane....