So many emotions.....

Earlier today I was leaving post to try for the third time to take my humanities test. As I approached the exit gate one of the security guards came running waving his hands so I knew to pull over immediately. This is all too common, busses, ambulance busses bringing injured troops the hospital on post. I waited as two came in and thought well two today is not bad. As of late I have noticed even one at a time so that must mean a decline in injuries. Not so long ago I remember seeing no less then three and often four. Every time I see this I am thrown into reality and stop worrying about the small trivial things in my life at the moment. Life is short and we never know what the road ahead is going to be.

Then this evening I learned of my cousin's car accident and once again face the reality of how fragile life can be. Being so far away I really do not know much about her, she is quite a bit younger, still in high school. There is nothing I can do, no support I can give, only prayers. I do not know if her path is to live or die, but I pray that my aunt and uncle, her siblings, my grandparents, all who are there with her or not far away can find peace. I pray they can be strong and get through the trials that lay ahead.

Happy Easter!

We had a fun, but different easter this year. We woke up to snow. The weather really hasn't been that nice all month then Friday the snow came. Saturday I took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who since we couldn't go any of the base egg hunts then we dyed eggs later that evening. Cody still has blue fingers and it was a frustrating mess! But the kids had fun so I guess that's what matters. Sunday morning the kids were up at 7 and too side tracked with eggs and candy to take time to get dressed. So the picture I have is a sloppy one, but at that point I was just happy to have all three in clothes! I also had a green sweater on so we all matched for the first time ever! I went to a friends house after church and had a nice lunch and some adult conversation! We had filled plastic eggs to hide, but the snow threw that off. We decided what the heck lets throw them in the snow anyway! So we did and the kids had a blast finding them all. Unfortunately the camera was acting up so I only have two pictures from it. Better than nothing I suppose. We had a great day and ended it with talking to Zach so that was the icing on the cake so to speak!

Very proud of Tyler!

About once a month the boys pick a day for me to come have lunch with them. I figure if I am having them eat the school food it wouldn't hurt to go eat it with them. Yesterday I went to have lunch with Tyler and while I was waiting I saw his teacher. First off I have to explain why he was not with his teacher. She team teaches with another third grade teacher becuse he focus and specialty is wriitng, reading and such. The other teacher does all the science, math and social studies. It works out really well and Tyler has gotten a much more balanced eucation by having one teacher in the morning, one in the afternoon. So the math teacher brings them in for lunch.

Anyway his assigned teacher, guess homeroom teacher, came over and said the counselor has recieved an updated deployment tracker list and saw Tyler's name. She said that he still feels he is doing ok and is not in need of the counseling classes and such that Ryan is in. Then she said that she didnt know if Tyler had told me, but earlier in the week 5 of the 6 boys in her class got in trouble and ultimately ended up in the principal's office. Tyler was the only boy that did not get in trouble and removed himself from the situation. She said that he told her he knew it was wrong and when he told them they didn't listen. He spent the afternoon in the class with 12 other girls! Not sure if that was punishment for him or not while the others were getting parents called.

We are so proud of Tyler! Little things like this worry me. So many influnces and such these days make it hard to just be a kid. It would have been so easy for him to just go along with the group espeicially since he had two really good friends in it, but he chose not to. His teacher has been impressed with him all year and how well he adapts to Zach coming and going and she said he constantly goes out of his way to help others, cheer them on when they are taking a speed test or just being thier friend. Tyler is a great kid and without him I wouldn't make it through deployments as easy and I am just so proud of him!

Moving again

Moving is not on the top of my list of things I enjoy. I am not sure it's on the list at all! Unfortunately this is not my choice so I have to deal with it. We received notice that our building along with 7 others on base are being cleared as part of the housing project for our area. Each building has 18 families living in it and there is not enough housing on base to move everyone to. There is a small number of townhouses that are just about finished, but rank gives priority for some of them. I took my worksheet in this morning and was told that now we wait. I did add that Zach was currently deployed and our situation with Cody so those two things should put us towards the top of the list when they start doing the one on one meetings to get families relocated. All moves are at the government's expense so that is nice at least, but if you move to anohter base or even a village close by it does not guarentee the kids stay in this school. Tyler and Ryan are very happy here and Cody....well to me it's not even an option to change his school on him. That's just not fair to him. There is really nothing I can do at this point but wait so that is what I am doing. Next week we have a townhall meeting about it so maybe once that is over everyone will have a little more info.

It's a miracle!

I am not good with keeping things alive, well guess the exception is the kids! I was so excited to see that my tulips from last year came back again this year! I got spring fever and bought flowers at the BX this weekend, but just a few in case it snows and I lose them all. Now I just have to figure how to hang the baskets.

Zach with the Japanese

It's amazing how many different countries Zach has worked with! He sent me this picture of him and the Japanese guys, not completely sure what they were doing. I think he said something about he was teaching them how to use some of his equipment or something.

Cody's Program

I have tried adding video and it never seems to load all the way so here is a picture. Cody had a class program, well actually both morning and afternoon classes. He did very well and had a blast! The last program he wouldn't participate in at all and just cried so I was so happy when I saw him up there trying to sing. He has made amazing progress! I owe it all to his wonderful teachers. They are absolutely amazing and I don't know what I would do without them!

It finally snowed enough to count!

Monday night at class a few husbands called to let wives know that there was snow in the forecast. I am not sure why it mattered since it wasn't falling yet and we were about to leave. I just kind of laugh about it anyway since snow to me is Alaska snow! Well sure enough we got enough overnight to put a thin layer on the ground. It snowed for a good portion of the day finally reaching big fat flakes. I think we got about an inch, maybe an inch and a half. It was enough to have some fun! I didn't buy boots for the boys, seemed silly considereing the winter before we never needed them, but Ryan and Cody had snow pants. So I bundled them up and out we went. We made two snowmen, very nice snow for that! As I was taking a picture of the bigger one the head of the smaller fell off! The boys had a moment of silence for the broken snowman which I thought was funny. We had a snowball fight as well then came in to dry out. I am not sure shoes will be dry tomorrow, but coats should be. The boys are hoping for more snow tonight so they can play again!