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We have thirteen days until Keith is home where he belongs. My stomach is turning summersaults, I haven't been able to sleep at night and I am so excited that I can barely stand it. I miss him so much it hurts and I can't wait until I see his sweet face walking up the airplane ramp. I swear I'm going to grab him, hold on to him and not let go. I can't wait to hug him and feel the warmth of his neck. I miss every single thing about him. I am so excited about everything (Germany, infertility treatments) and I just keep counting, counting, counting. I've been through this counting "procedure" several times now and it doesn't go any faster or get any easier. I know there are some military families that go 15 and 18 months withough seeing their loved one and I can't imagine how that must feel. My heart and prayers go out to all the members of the military and their families. Tyson and I are scurrying through his Kindergarten curriculum to be ready for 1st grade in September. He is doing so well! He really dislikes math, and right now that's half of his curriculum. Starting in September, he'll have six subjects, so it will spread out more evenly. I've looked through his curriculum again recently and I know he'll love this upcoming school year. I'm so excited for him to start it. He's been growing by leaps and bounds. Lately, when Tyson gets into trouble lately and he says, "I'm sorry mommy." when I put him in the corner. I always say, "Thank you for apologizing, but you have to finish your time in the corner." He replies with, "God wants you to say you're sorry too mommy and God says I don't have to stand in the corner!" Smart little guy! Yesterday when Keith called, Tyson talked to him and said, "Daddy, I want you to come home RIGHT NOW!" And he was serious too! Poor Keith, he's heard that so many times! I keep telling him that Daddy wants to see him just as bad! Aniston is doing well too. She misses her daddy so much and has been very clingy with mommy! I don't mind a bit! She's a little helper with everything that I do during the day. She is so excited to help unload the dishwasher, carry in groceries, fold laundry and clean the floors! She just gabs and gabs with me while we're doing the daily chores! I love my mother/daughter time with her. I know these moments are precious. I will be sure and post photos of Keith's homecoming. We're having a party for him in Ogallala and I will be sure and post photos of that too. I will keep everyone updated. Love you all!
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The fertility drugs have arrived! The awesome thing is, Keith was on the phone with me when they came! I decided to post a photo. I decided to blog about it to help us through it. It's a journey for us.
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My daughter Aniston is so creative. Tonight she decided to play gardener and pulled all the weeds in our backyard. She then transplanted them into anything that stood still! I had so many little pots in my house that I finally told her that we had to take them all outside so that the sun could shine on them. Just what I needed....more weeds!! As we were taking them outside, she started planting some more and she said, "Grandma Reed is going to love these flowers! See I planted a flower and it will grow into a bigger flower!" My grandmother had to go back into the hospital and we prayed for her last night so Aniston connected the two and knew that flowers "weeds" would make her feel better. Like I said, it's the simple things. I'm getting ready to call my sweet Grandmother in the hospital and tell her all about it. I know it will brighten her night.
She even planted her flowers "weeds" in Tyson's shoes because she ran out of pots! Let's just say it's bathtime! |
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I came across a blog tonight that touched my heart. If you have time, please stop by and read it. It's about a man who has recently lost his beautiful wife after she gave birth. It's his daily story about raising their beautiful daughter. What a man. What a little girl. What a tragedy they have been dealt and are dealing with. The good news is....he is dealing with it and doing a wonderful job. I just know by reading his posts that his wife is very proud of him. I know I would be. It's exactly what I would want my husband to do if something happens to me. Blessings Matt! You will be in our thoughts and prayers! |
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Keith will be home in 19 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids and I are so excited we can barely contain it! Everything has settled down considerable around here lately. My friend Kelly came back from her family emergency, so the kids aren't staying here anymore. Tyson is done with language and we're finishing up his math, so he's almost completely done with Kindergarten, my dad's spider bite is feeling much better and my grandma is about the same. I've cut almost all the stress I've had lately and it's made a world of difference. Now, I'm thinking about seeing my husband, making babies, spending family time together and our upcoming move, which is right around the corner! At least things have started to slow down and I feel at peace now that I know when Keith's coming in. I can't wait to see him. The kids and I have missed him so much. I'm starting to make piles in the house....Goodwill, express shipment, garage sale, long term storage and move. I'm starting to take down things we don't want anymore and things that are going into long term storage. Our spare bedroom looks like a war zone! We have every single room in our house to go through with a fine tooth comb. I am ready too! The kids have hit a growth spurt, so I've recently gone through their closets, but even that has to be redone. Anything too worn or ignored is going! The day after Keith gets home, we have to start the garage and storage shed. We'll be leaving that next two weeks for Omaha for our infertility stuff, so we will need to take all of his "Grandma Truck" stuff out to the farm. We want to have all that stuff gone through (which is A LOT) so that when we come back home, if I'm pregnant (God willing) Keith won't have to do all the heavy stuff by himself. We'll also need the room for storage (express shipment, Goodwill, move, long term storage, garage sale). As soon as we get home from Omaha, Keith is going to take the vehicle to the port in Texas to ship it off. I don't know what I'll do without my Excursion! When Keith gets home we'll start scheduling all of the movers (three times) to come. We're hoping to have all of our household stuff gone at the beginning of November so that we can get it earlier on the other side. So, as you can see, Keith will hit the ground running. That's not including the facts that he'll have to inprocess from his deployment just to turn around and out process for Germany, which takes a long time! We have so many "appointments" for everything that we don't have one single down day until we are on the plane for Germany! I don't mind though, I'm ready to leave and as long as Keith is home, I don't care if we're running to all of our appointments, packing, storing, sorting, moving, or staying in billeting, as long as he's by my side, I don't care. We're going to keep our Aero bed behind so that we can stay in the house as long as possible instead of billeting. It'll be like camping! I'm actually looking foward to it! I think the thing that will drive me crazy is having things taken down off the walls (already started), certain things gone for the express shipment (already started) and having my things in piles (already started). I am extremely OCD and those sort of things drive me nutty! I'm just trying to keep my eye on the final prize....family time! 19 days! 19 days! 19 days!
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My children have associated Keith coming home with going to Chuck E. Cheese! They know mommy doesn't think it's safe unless Daddy's here to go with us. My kids run like crazy in there and there's no way I will take them by myself. I'm too paranoid. Lately they keep asking, "Mommy, is it time to go to Chuck E. Cheese's yet?" I always say, "Well, Daddy's almost home!" Here's our last photos we took at Chuck E. Cheese while Keith was on R&R....honestly, I can't wait to go! I love watching how much fun my kids have there!
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I took the kids to my favorite store today-TARGET!! We always browse the clearance aisle (I love a bargain!) and we found this shark tent. It was priced at $30 and marked down to $12. It's safe to say, the shark has eaten the kids because they've stayed inside of it all day long! What a buy!
Well, they have to come out at some point...after all, they have to take their nightly bubble bath! |
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Flashcards purchased from the store??? Not me!
These are so much cheaper & fun to make! |
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Hello to everyone! Lately, I've been so busy that I haven't had much of a chance to blog about homeschooling. We're trying to finish up Tyson's kindergarten year so that he can begin first grade the 1st of September. He's doing so well and I'm very, very proud of him. Aniston will also be starting Preschool the 1st of September. Mommy's been having a hard time with that one. I can't believe how much she's grown up. Keith and I were talking yesterday about how she was 4 months old when he had to deploy the first time and now that he's getting back from his second deployment, she's 3 1/2. Keith is doing well. He's ready to come home AND as of today, he will be here in 31 days. There's a possiblity that he will be arriving 5 days earlier than that, but we'll have to wait on the final word when he gets his plane tickets in hand. I was planning a welcome home party for him, but it looks like we won't. We'll just have a quiet evening as a family and then my family will have a nice get together for him when we travel through to Omaha for our infertility treatments. I was really looking forward to a welcome home party and so was he, but things just worked themselves out for a party being thrown for him in Ogallala, which is fine with both of us. I can't believe that we're at the end of our second year long deployment. I have missed Keith so much that it's been unbearable at times. I have worried more about him on certain days more than I have ever worried in my lifetime. I am so grateful that he's coming home. God has worked on me every single day that he's been away, shaping and molding me and giving me the strength to be a better wife and mother. I am so grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us this year. I have such a good support system in my family and friends. I also appreciate all of you who have prayed for my husband during his year away. God definitely planted hedges of angels for protection around him. We have applied for a one month extension to stay here. For those of you who are military, you understand that Keith has to in-process, get his orders for Germany and then turn around and out-process. It's a very long process that takes a lot of time and scheduling. It especially is hard because Keith works about 20 miles from our home at another base, so he has to drive back and forth. We have been under a great amount of stress lately and are more than ready to leave for our next base, but we have a lot to do in a very short amount of time. On one hand, I hope we get it so that we can spend one more Christmas with family, but on the other hand, we are ready to leave due to the stresses that have been surrounding us. All I want is for my husband to come home safely and it seems like we have had to deal with everyone else's issues and I'm tired. I am very, very tired. I am suppose to start fertility treatments next month and all my doctor told me was, "Keep your stress levels low. They can affect your chances of conceiving.", and it seems like things have been coming out of the woodwork that have added a great deal of stress on me and on my husband. I have also been watching two other children for a good friend of mine who has had to leave to Washington due to a family emergency. They have been with me for almost two weeks now and it looks like they will be here at least one more week. The kids have enjoyed them so much! I've also been glad because it's helped the time go by a little faster. They are very good girls and I'm so glad they are with me. I will surely miss them when their mother comes home. I'm used to having four children around me now and I have to tell you, I actually love the chaos!
Also, my grandmother has been in and out of the hospital the past two weeks, so if you could remember her in your prayers, I would appreciate it. She has been having medication/cold/flu/stomach issues and is having a very hard time getting well. She has had a hard with everything dealing with daily functions and she just can't get her "pep back in her step". Along with all that craziness, my father was bitten by a brown recluse spider and was in the hospital for what seemed like forever. His blood sugars were elevated to the 600's due to the infection. He's out of the hospital and doing better and healing, but he sure gave us quite a scare.
So, as you can see, things have been pretty stressful and hectic. We're just waiting on Keith to come home safely and start our infertility treatments. Those are the top two things on our minds right now. I will go and pick up our fertility meds in five days! I'm so excited because it feels like the ball is rolling in motion. My fertility drugs are going to run us a cool $1600.00 for ten days (tha'ts WITH our insurance covering about $500), but it will all be worth it when we are holding our next child in our arms. I am so worried about our chances to conceive and pray that we will be blessed with another child. Keith and I have always wanted a large family and I pray that it comes true for us. Please pray for us to conceive and also for a healthy pregnancy and birth. I'll post updates. I promise to be better about it! As for schooling, we've done so much, but I haven't taken photos of anything! Things have been crazy and it's been the last thing on my mind. We have so much planned for September and I am bursting at the seams to start schooling both of my children! I am so grateful that we have chosen for me to be their teacher. In closing, I wanted to share a photograph that I took yesterday. It was raining and yucky out and over the mountains the sun shined through the clouds and it was absolutely breathtaking. It was then that I took a big deep breath in and slowly blew it out and realized that everything is going to be okay and that God is watching over our lives and asking us to trust in Him.
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My husband doesn't have internet access to my blog, but he will be leaving base soon and will be able to check it and he always checks my blog, so this is for him. Keith, I just want to take some time and tell you how much I appreciate you and everything you do for our family. You are a blessing to me in so many ways. We only have three and a half more months until we can be together as a family again. I am looking forward to our move in December. I am so glad we were chosen for Germany, but I honestly don't care where your career takes us because I would follow you to the end of the earth. Thank you for being such a great father, a great husband and also for being a great provider. You always take care of everything and I am thankful that you always go the extra mile when it comes to the kids and I. We are so proud of you for doing the job that you do. We miss you terribly, but we have so much pride in our hearts! I am so proud of you! You have done such a great job with college. I know it's been extremely hard for you to finish your degree over where you are, yet you are getting it done. You have also done it financially on your own without help and I applaud you for that. I know when you retire from the military you will be rewarded with a very good job from all of your accomplishments. I know it's been hard for you, but you're almost finished with your Bachelors!!!! I love you with all of my heart and I can't wait until the next chapter in our lives begin. It's been a great past ten years and I am looking forward to the next ten! I miss you so much and I'll be counting down the days until you come back home....where you belong! I will always love you, Angie P.S. It's another day closer!! xxooxxoo
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One of my favorite homeschooling stores, Mardels, was having a book sale the day before Keith went back. I was only there to laminate a few things and make a couple of copies and look what we found! Books, books and more books! Most of them were $14.99 regularly and we got them for $1.24 each! They were all marked down and then it was 75% off the marked down price! What a buy! We'll be heading to Germany soon with no t.v. and it will be nice to have a full book shelf! Here's Keith's stack he picked out:
Here's my "small" stack!
Did I say how much I loved Mardels? |
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We printed these off www.pbskids.org today! My kids like Arthur!
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I miss you sweetheart! Things just aren't the same without you home! We love you!
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Today the kids and I drove Keith to the airport to say goodbye again. He had us just drop him off out front. We've decided that long drawn out teary goodbyes only make things harder on all of us. It was very hard watching my husband say goodbye to his children. I can't imagine how he must feel knowing he won't see them again for 4 months. I don't think I could do it, and yet so many men and women do. My daughter just kept saying, "I love you daddy" and my son just cried and cried. Keith watched us leave and all I kept thinking as I watched him in the rear view mirror was backing the car up, loading his bags into the vehicle and driving back home where we could stay a family for a little longer. Just a little longer. One more day. As I checked myself back into reality, we all sobbed the whole way home. I've decided it's okay to do this in front of the children-for one day. They need to know that it's okay that we miss daddy and want him to come back home and sometimes getting a good cry out helps. I went through the Air Force base gate and the guard was extremely rude. I wanted to get out of the car and spew verbal garbage from my mouth, but I kept a lid on it and drove as fast as the speed limit would allow me so that I could get home, shut the door and hide away for the rest of the day. As evening is drawing near now, I can see his keys on the countertop, I see his coat hanging by the doorway, his shoes are by the side of the bed and his empty drink can is in the vehicle. His dirty laundry is in the hamper, a little of his shaven stubble is still behind in the sink (he never does a good job of cleaning it out) and it feels like he's going to walk in the door any second. But I know that he won't. He can't. He's got a job to do that's very important. I know that I'm going to have to go to bed alone and wake up in the morning and take a "big girl pill" and get on with daily life without him. It just never gets easier saying goodbye to him. Along with all of the sad feelings also comes waves and waves of blessings. (You ALWAYS have to look for the blessings, because they ARE there). We fell right back into step as a family unit the second my husband stepped off of that plane and into our arms. We had a wonderful 18 days together and took advantage of every minute. I held my husband as close as I could to me when we went to bed at night. I studied his face while he was sleeping, listened to him breathing and felt his heartbeat. I knew I would need to remember that. Most people take advantage of that every night. I don't. I try not to take anything for granted anymore. There are so many blessings that come with that alone. I trust my husband when he says that we are both under the hands of God. I know that we will get through this deployment and come out stronger on the other side. Please keep Keith in your prayers as he finishes his last four months there. I would greatly appreciate it. |
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Boy does time fly....it doesn't slow down when we want it to and it speeds up at the most inconvenient times! Having Keith home has been so nice. The kids and I have enjoyed our time with him immensely! I was so worried about Aniston reuniting with him. She was a little cold to him last time, but she went right into his arms at the airport! Since then she hasn't let Keith out of her sight. She won't let me do anything for her--it all has to be done by Daddy! I don't mind, I needed the break to be honest. Tyson LOVES being Daddy's little helper and is always waiting to see what Dad's next project is. Let's just say that Keith has enough little hands to help with EVERYTHING!! We recently got back from our infertility appointment in Omaha. We really love our doctor there and feel very comfortable. We set up a game plan and have decided to wait until Keith comes home in September to start our treatments. It's going to be much tougher than it was last time. We'll have to drive nine hours to our doctor and then stay there in Omaha for two weeks so they can monitor me. They have prescribed me injections instead of oral medication, so they have to monitor me with blood work and ultrasounds every other day. Keith and I talked about it and it will just be too hard to do with both kids on my own, so we're waiting until September. I am so happy to have a game plan for the infertility and be on the same page as our doctor, but it looks like this is going to cost us an arm and a leg. We checked on the medications that were prescribed and the costs of the ultrasounds and we're looking at $6,000 per try. That's not including gasoline (we have an Excursion) or the cost of a hotel room and meals for two weeks. Needless to say, we've decided to put off our family vacation. Keith's going to have to use all of his time off that's owed to him with the kids and I in Omaha, so we won't have the extra time to go for two weeks on vacation. I feel aweful about it, but Keith assured me that there's Euro Disney and a Lego Land in Europe and that our kids will be just fine. Our insurance will cover ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! Last time we got some reimbursement on our blood work and ultrasounds, but this time we will pay everything. We know that we have been incredibly blessed and we'll just have to work this out. We've given ourselves a limit of two tries, so if we don't conceive during those tries, we will be thankful for being able to get pregnant twice and look into adoption. I don't want to go into the "poor house" and that's very easy to do while dealing with infertility issues. My parents have been extremely generous by letting us use their car to drive back and forth, so that will help greatly with the gasoline expenses and my mom is also going to be spending some of her time in Omaha during those two weeks to watch the kids while Keith and I are seen by the doctor. Believe me, we are counting our blessings! We have exactly one more week together as a family. Tonight we're eating spaghetti and curling up on the couch for movies. I'm shutting the ringer off on the phone and shutting our blinds and we're going to let the world fade away as we cherish the last few days we have together before Keith leaves again. |
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As most of you know from my constant chatter about it, my husband came home today for R&R!! It was so great to see him! The kids ran and attacked him with hugs and kisses at the airport. I waited my turn and then I did the same! He was very tired, but he was in excellent spirits! His plane was delayed about 15 minutes, and although that doesn't sound like a long time, it seemed like it was 15 hours! When we got home Keith huddled the kids and I around the three bags he brought back and told us he had lots of presents for us! It didn't take long for us all to crowd around him. He opened his bags up and I thought Santa had visited us! The three of us went wild over opening stuff up! Keith bought me a beautiful set of pearls! It came with earrings, a necklace and a bracelet! I guess that's one of the things that Qatar is known for is their pearls! He also brought me a little jewelry box made out of camel bone, a camel ornament and a COACH purse!! I about fell over! Aniston received a set of pink pearls that included earrings, neclace and bracelet, but we'll keep them to the side until she's old enough to appreciate them! She got stuffed animals, a great big camel piggy bank and a princess purse! Tyson got a camel piggy bank, 2 hand held games, a flashlight and four games for his x-box! Then.....the big surpise came.....it was a Wii! Keith bought all the accessories that go with it like the sports pack, guitar hero, etc....(I can't remember what all it has) and he bought 10 games for it! The kids have played it all night. If you don't have one...GET ONE!!! It's the greatest gaming system! He also brought home about 15 movies for us as well! He spoiled us to the max! He also brough lots of candy and fun little stuff for all of us. He said that with all of the trips he's been on he receives a hostile fire pay depending on where they go and he's been saving it to the side so that he could spoil us on his trip home and boy did he. I've said it before and I'll say it again....I HAVE THE SWEETEST HUSBAND!! I love you Keith! |
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We received Tyson's 1st grade curriculum in the mail yesterday! I took the larger books to Office Max to have them put a spiral binding on them. If you haven't ever done that, it makes life so much easier! That way, Tyson can look at one page at a time and not have to worry about the workbook flopping over! Here's a few photos! He's taking Bible, History & Geography, Science, Language, Math and Health!
Happy homeschooling everyone!
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Tyson and I always start our mornings with Language and then he practices his reading. Then in the afternoon we draw and then finish with math! My kids love separating their school subjects with drawing in between!
This is such a good way to keep your kids on task. All I have to do is tell Tyson that as soon as he finishes his work, we get to draw! |
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I cannot believe how quickly my dear son has grown up. He's about to turn 7 and he will be starting 1st grade in September! Where does time get off to? This year we are using LifePac through Alpha Omega Publications. www.aop.com I am so excited to start! This will be the first year where Tyson will be using a full curriculum. He will be studying math, language, social studies, science and bible. Tyson is also starting piano and his elective class deals with health and the body. We ordred that one through Horizons. I am also doing the Veggie Tales bible study on Sundays! I've already ordered everything and it should be arriving in a few days! There's not many things better than getting curriculum in the mail! It's so much fun to open it up and go through it all and start planning the new year! (I never thought I would be excited over homeschool curriculum!) |
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Today we did our normal routine of math and language with schooling and added elephants! I have a children's beginning dictionary that I've gotten out so that I can start showing Tyson how to look things up he is interested in! He loves hearing about different animals and is now showing interest in learning more about things and the way they work! I love watching how his mind is growing!
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