Halloween

Well, I am not going to make this very long but I wanted to update after Halloween so that everyone could look at the boys' costumes. Ryan did a lot of trick-or-treating and Colin went to a few houses as well. They both looked great and got enough candy to last the year as usual.

Also a bit of new news on Ryan...he can spell three words now four if you count his name. He can spell and therefore read the words "yes", "no", and "mom". He is always coming home with the new things that he has learned that day.

Anyway, I better go, I have homework to do!

Holiday

This will be the second time I have updated the journal although after I typed the last one Colin reached up and pushed a button to delete it, so here it goes again. Today is Columbus Day so we are all off of work and school. I got to sleep in today because Matt got up at 5am to watch the Cowboys play. Actually, I think that he watched the two am game as well and just stayed up all night. He is in bed now and wants me to wake him up at about 4pm. Colin is asleep as well and so Ryan and I are being very lazy!

Ryan loves school and is ahead of his class in most ways as far as counting and writing his name. He is very impressed by one girl who can tie her own shoes though and even calls her his girlfriend. He loves his teacher and that is a big plus as well. He is also still loving football and will often times ask to watch it on TV when Matt isn't even here. There goes any TV time I had left! Ryan has been sick the past two weeks and I had to take him to the emergency room. It turns out he had a very bad ear infection and his eardrum burst. He is feeling much better now.

Colin is doing well and is a pretty good listener. He lays down when I tell him it is time to change his diaper and gets his shoes out when it is time to go. This is quite the opposite from Ryan who I used to have to force to the ground for a diaper change. He also says "Uh-Oh" all the time now. It is very cute. Colin has been sick as well and went to the doctor on Friday only to find out that he as well has a very bad ear infection. He is beginning to get better already. You gottta love those antibiotics.

Matt just finished up his government class and now has a two week break until the next term starts. He is still playing flag football and really enjoying it. Right now his team is undefeated and so we are excited about that. Work has been slow and boring for him lately, so nothing much is new there. Matt has also been playing basketball every saturday which is also a lot of fun for him.

I am sick as well and have been for the past 2 weeks or so. I started getting sick on our Anniversary so we ended up not going snorkling and playing very little tennis. I also had a birthday this weekend and so I went out for a sort of girls night on saturday. I had fun but I am sure I got sicker in the process. I am also getting ready to sign up for next term of classes, I am still not sure if I am making the right decision, but I guess I will only know in hindsight.

Anyway, Happy birthday to all of you who just had a birthday in september and the beginning of October. I hope this finds all of you well and that you enjoy the pictures above. The pictures of Ryan are from his first day of school.

Sunday News

Well, I haven't updated lately, but mostly due to a lack of anything interesting happening. We have been busy, but it has just been much of the same. However, here it goes...

Ryan starts school tomorrow and is very excited. I hope he stays as enthusiastic and then I will be happy as well. His teacher came here to our house for a home visit and he really seems to like her. On that same note and even better, she really seems to like him. That sounds a little silly since she is a teacher, but there are many adults who, by no fault of their own just don't like Ryan. I can pick those people out almost as soon as we meet them. Ryan has also been really into football lately. He runs around the house throwing it up at himself and being his own commentator.

Colin has been saying quite a few more words now. Although he says them only from time to time instead of constantly. He is getting so hefty with his big belly that a lot of his clothes are starting not to fit. I guess it is about time to move up a size. He still loves water. We went to a birthday party yesterday where they had a pool and sprinkler and he wouldn't hardly get out of the water, not even for cake! I wish now that I would have taken my camera over there.

Matt is finishing up his this term of school an dso he is happy aboput that. If we can find a babysitter we are going to be taking a class together this next term. It will be a Spanish class, this way we can practice together. Matt has been taking plenty of days off of work lately, mostly due to his frustration with everything and everyone there. He gets mad and he takes leave so he won't have to be there. Matt is playing flag football and has his first scrimmage today. Then we are going out to eat a day early for his birthday. He has his birthday off, so he will be going golfing and also taking Ryan to school for his first day.

I have been busy taking care of too many kids and trying to do other things as well. I got up early yesterday and went to tent sale they had for all kinds of toys. I have finished shopping for Ryan and now just need to get him a couple of small things. I got Colin a couple of things too, but even though he doesn't have much I probably won't get him too much more. We have so many toys already. After the tent sale I went to a yard sale they had on base and got tons of clothes for Colin. Matt and I have an anniversary coming up, so we have a babysitter for half of the day. We are going to go play tennis, so snorkling, go out to eat, and then go to the movies. I am very excited and I just hope the weather is nice.

Anyway, I have to head to grocery store for my weekly visit. I hope all is well with all of you and I hope to hear from you soon.

Note: Believe it or not Ryan loves tacos now and actually ate most of what was on his plate in that picture above.

Just a Short Note

It looks as though Ryan got into the pre-K program. I haven't officially gotten called but I have an inside source who says his name is on the list. I think they are supposed to call tomorrow. The school starts on the 19th of September which is a week later than I thought, but that is okay. I am hearing that there is an orientation on Friday of this week. That would be great.

I am taking the daycare kids to Mona Kids Jungle, that inside playland type place tomorrow, so it should be fun day. I called today to see if the school here had recieved my transcripts yet and they have so I am going to go in on Friday to have them do an official evaluation to see which classes I need to take and which ones will transfer over. I should be able to get a good idea of how long it will take me to finish then.

Matt and I have both been trying to get back to gym lately and Matt has his first test in goverment on Thursday.

Well, like I said this is going to be short. We love you and miss you all.

Another Exercise

 Hello to all who read this. I apologize for the lapses in updates. Things have been very busy here getting ready for the school year to start on top of everything else. Even though as of right now we don't have any kids starting school, I swear it is just the time of year and the busyness of everyone else that makes it busy for us.

Matt is taking part in another exercise. Just in case you don't know this is when he works 12 hour shifts, runs around in chem-gear, and pretends he is in the middle of a war. It means incredibly hot, irritating, and long days for him. He has also started taking his governmetn class which he says is okay. It is nice that the terms are only eight weeks here. It kind of lets you get done with a class before you get too sick of it. Matt is already in bed tonight, so hopefully he will feel a little more rested tomorrow.

We had an addition to our family over the weekend. We adopted a kitten. She is very cute and the kids love her. As much as we want to be dog people, we always end up with cats and that suits us just fine. Colin has never laughed so much all at one time. He just follows the cat around laughing all the way. We named her Bella, which means beautiful in Latin.

Ryan just finished up soccer and I am going to try and put up a couple of pictures of him in his soccer uniform. He is addicted to the playstation now and is alarmingly good at it for a four year old. we have had to set a limit on it now, as he was choosing that over anything else including playing outside and even going to the pool! We find out this week if he gets into the Pre-K thing. He has had trouble adjusting to having lots of kids here for the daycare and seems to be rebelling even more lately.

Colin has officially said two words. He said Mama twice the other night and then the day after we got the cat he said Kitty in the form of "Titty" two times as well. I know that is what he said because he pointed right at her and said "Titty!" It was very cute. He has also gone back to sleeping through the night and getting up at about 5:30am. I feel a little more rested this way though, so it is better. Colin has added a high pitched scream to the list of things he does now. He is definately deciding what he wants and uses that scream to let us know!

I have finally finished that baby sweater that I started forever ago. I will put up some pictures of it. It is a size 6-9 months but I needed a model so I used Colin. I just have to finish sewing in the loose strings. I am also working on getting my financial aid paperwork into the school so that I might be able to qualify for that this term. We shall see. I need to get my butt in gear though if I want it to go through in time. I have been busy with the daycare again. Everytime I think "Gosh, I don't have any kids lined up." I start getting a million calls. It is good though as I wanted to get some things paid off before Christmas.

Okay, I think that I have updated on everything and everyone. Thank you to all of you who continue to read this and thatnk you to all of you who I have recently been getting a couple of emails from....Allison, Nikki...I appreciate it. We love you all and miss everyone. I will try to upadate next weekend again.

Murhl, the picture of Colin on the phone is when he was talking to you the other night. Sorry it took me so long to get it up there.

Just an Update

Well, it has been forever since I have updated so I figured I better get to it. I got my camera fixed and have new pictures to post, but for some reason the website is not taking them right now. I figured I would just write and try to add pictures later. Everyone is doing okay here and we hope everyone out there is doing well.

The boys have both just gotten over some sort of virus. They have both been very sick stomach wise, but it looks like we are coming out of it now. Colin had it for a whole week, but Ryan only got it for about 24 hours. Thankfully, we can all sleep a little better now that they are feeling better. We have been staying inside a lot lately so as not to be out too much in the heat, but we try to go out in the evenings after dinner to get some fresh air. However, just like in Texas when we were there, it is too hot to go out in the daytime and there are tons of bugs to eat you alive in the evening.

Matt and I have been keeping busy. Matt starts back to school this term in about another week and he will be taking an American Government class. Government and history are two things he has an interest in. I say more power ot him because I would be asleep in seconds. I have been busy with the daycare. I am actually full everyday this next week and then in about two weeks I am going ot start caring for a two month old.

We should also be finding out in about two weeks if Ryan is going to get into the Pre-K program here or if we are going to have to find an alternative for him as far as that goes. I keep my fingers crossed on a daily basis that he gets it, but we shall see. Colin has been getting some more teeth in. He chews on his fingers so hard he leaves marks all up and down them and needless to say the pain is interrupting his sleep again.

Anyway, I am sorry to be kind of brief, but I have to get to bed at a decent time so the kids don't drive me crazy tomorrow. We love you all! 

4th of July

Well, Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope you all had a great holiday. We all had a long four day weekend and the weather was actually nice. We went to the pool one day, to the beach the next day, and we had a cookout with the neighbors on the 4th. Then we all went down to the park on base where they had little carnival rides, games, and food. After we stood in long lines for eveything we sat down and listened to the band play and then watched fireworks. The fireworks were great! It is truly a special thing to celebrate the 4th of July with only military people. There is so much emotion and so much pride. I had tears in my eyes several times between the tribute to those who are deployed and the patriotic songs that even the kids knew all the words to. I felt so proud to be standing among all of these wonderful people who do so much everyday to keep alive exactly what we were celebrating. Matt had class, so he had to miss most of this, but it was still a great night.

Ryan is doing well and he really enjoyed the fireworks. We are still having our usual battles for good behavior with him, but I am not so sure this will ever end. I took him to the tennis court on Monday and we had a great time. We staye dout the in the heat for almost two hours and he was begging to stay longer. He isn't that great at it yet, but with his knack for sprots I am sure he will have it soon.

Colin is doing okay, but is running on very little sleep these days. He has decided that he wants to sleep in our bed now, which for those of you who know us well, this is not an option. He wakes up everynight at least once and cries. I can't leave him in his bedroom to cry, because he will wake up Ryan. So I bring him into our room and put him in the portable crib. He then screams and throws everthing out of the crib. He can keep doing this for and hour or more, but as soon as I pick him up he is out on my shoulder or in my arms. Last night I finally got him to go back to sleep after more than an hour of cying, but he woke up and hour later. I was too sleep deprived to fight him anymore so I just layed him down in our bed and he was out like a light. If he only had his own room, this would be much easier. Hopefully this is just a phase, because I need more than 5 hours of sleep a night!

Matt is doing well and looking forward to his much needed time off of work when my parents come. He also can't wait for this terms classes to be over. This late night class that lasts until 11pm is killing him. He is taking not getting his promotion better than I expected although he is definately upset, he is not as mad as I thought he would be. Hopefully, they will offer some good classes next term and he can get on track with a new goal. I am trying to get him to play football with his squadron, but he doesn't want to because it is only flag football and wouldn't be as much fun. Whatever!

I am pretty busy with the daycare. I actually have kids all day everyday this week. I am also looking forward to the two weeks I am taking off when Mom and Mark come. I can only hope the weather stays as nice. I kind of fell off as far as my gym goal goes. I did well for the first two and a half weeks and now I have barely been going. I am just too tired most nights to even consider it. I am also looking into doing some volunteer work at the clinic or the hospital over here to keep up some of my nursing skills. I have my CNA right now, but if I don't do some work I will lose it. I am hoping to volunteer maybe one afternoon a week once the school year starts and then maybe every other saturday. I don't know yet, but I want to do something. Even though I am now doing this daycare and contributing to the income, I still feel stuck (if that makes any sense). Oh, and now I have another friend who just found out she is pregnant. That was my last person to workout or go out with. I have got to put up an ad or something that says, looking for friend who is not pregnant and who is not going to be pregnant in the near future.

Well, I should go. Colin just woke up from his nap and I should get him a snack. Sorry again for no pictures, my camera is still broken! Love you all.