Back and Bigger than ever!

You may have noticed I dropped off the face of the blogging earth… my last post was over a year ago (terrible, I know). I have wanted to write but life seemed to speed by faster than I could catch my breath. Wondering what we’ve been up to? Let’s see if I can sum it up:

• I’ve gone from homeschooling 3 older kiddos, to teaching one K’er. How did this happen? Our oldest is doing independent study overseen by me and the two older boys are now attending our local middle school. That’s a bit of a long story that I will save for another post…
• Our fifth child was born on Easter Sunday, 2013. Meet Jack Alexander! He is named after my Grandfather and he is our 4th boy…

Jack @ 5 days old

• We survived our first deployment. My husband was in Afghanistan from November 2012 thru mid June 2013. Which means he missed most of the pregnancy and the birth. We were so thankful for Skype during these months, especially since we were able to Skype the delivery!
• I was finally able to breastfeed successfully after trying with my previous babies and giving up. I exclusively breastfed for the first 5 months before weaning for personal reasons (again, I will save that story for later). I am so glad I got to!
• My husband reenlisted for another 5 years while he was deployed.
• Joey, our now 5 year old, started Kindergarten at home. We also had his speech evaluated and he will be doing regular therapy, and we have a referral to an OT to check for possible SID.
• Joey also FINALLY is fully potty trained! We struggled for 2 years to get him to go #2 in the potty. We still aren’t sure WHY he had such a hard time, but I sure don’t miss cleaning messy underwear daily!
• I started working towards my Bachelor’s degree, but have had to step away to focus on my family.
• We have a new puppy! He is a 6 month old St. Bernard whom we named Gallifrey. Yes, it’s a reference to Doctor Who :)

While there' has been a lot going on in our family the past year or so, these are definitely the highlights. I will spend my next several posts catching up and sharing what’s been going on with each of us since I’ve been away in more detail. SO many changes! Stay tuned!

Blessings,

Cassie

Where did the time go?

It's February and already I am falling behind on my blogging. For some reason, life has gotten even busier than I expected. A week ago, my husband left for training in the desert. That means I am the only one here to get things done. I haven't had any trouble staying busy. I've been doing a lot of work around the house organizing and redecorating. Our living space is the nicest we have ever had and I am really proud of how it's turning out. I have a few things still left to do, but once it's done I will be sure to post pictures. And of course, there's always school work to be done. By myself and the kids! We haven't had much of a routine lately, we mostly concentrate on taking care of our priorities on a day-to-day basis. Some days, our focus is on academics. Others are focuses on getting things done around the house or running errands. We have also had many days where we have spent time doing crafts or playing educational games. We even managed to have a PE day at a local play area with tons of bounce houses and obstacle courses for the kids to climb through. We all had a blast, and after four hours we were all exhausted! I even managed to help Joey get over his fear of bounce houses. The older boys enjoyed several rounds of laser tag. And I even managed to get someone on one adult time with a good friend.

I really just wanted to check in and let you all know that I have fallen off the face of the earth! I haven't forgotten to blog, I have just been so very busy. Tackling a honey do list when your honey isn't around isn't exactly easy. But it's nice to know that the list will be smaller by the time he gets home.

Blessings,

Cassie

A Scary Day

Today I had to endure something I have always dreaded - watching someone I love go into surgery.

A week ago, my husband was participating in a joint training exercise a few hours from home. He had been gone for almost a month and it was the day before they were to return home. He was helping to tighten down a load when he lost his grip and fell off the truck. His feet were stuck under a pallet and he hung by his ankles - backwards - for several minutes before someone was able to help him get unhooked. He ended up with two injured ankles. Later that afternoon he sent me this:

 Needless to say, I was appalled. After almost a year in the Army and many opportunities for injury, he gets hurt falling off a truck! He worked on it all day and was sure it was just a sprain. I however was sure there was no way he could have gotten off that easy.

The next morning he returned home and we took him to the ER on post to have it looked at. After several x-rays and a few hours of waiting, the ER doctor confirmed it was broken and put it in a splint and told us to meet with the orthopedic doctor the following Tuesday. When we saw the doctor he told us hubby had already been scheduled for surgery on Thursday. He showed us the x-rays and explained to procedure to us. Hubby would have two pins inserted to realign the broken bone in the ankle joint and to help it stay in place.

Today was D-Day. His surgery was scheduled for 11 am, but as surgeries usually go, they didn't take him back to prep until 1:30pm. The nurse told us the surgery would take about two hours total and that we were free to go home and eat and relax for a little while. Since we only live a few minutes from the hospital, we went and grabbed some lunch and had a little picnic by the pond. Byt the time we returned to the waiting room, it was 3pm and I was then informed he wouldn't be done until around 4:30. by this time our oldest was home from school, so I took the boys back home to play and came back to the hospital a third time to wait.

They finally called me back to recovery around 4:45. the first thing the nurse asked me was if my husband had sleep apnea. I told him not that I was aware of. Come to find out, he had stopped breathing for a short time when he was under anesthesia. That was more than a little unsettling. When I got to him, they had an oxygen mask on him and were harassing him to keep him from falling asleep. After my arrival, that job became mine. After a while, he was able to remove the mask and stay awake with no problems. Before we left, they administered a pain reliever in his IV as well as gave him a block to block out some of the pain.

I finally brought him home around 6:30. He struggled with nausea for several hours and the poor guy hadn't had a thing to eat or drink besides water since midnight the night before. Other than that and some pain, which is to be expected, he is doing well.

I am praising God that there were no major complications and that the surgery went well. Now it is time to focus on healing and rehabilitation. He should recover full, normal use of his ankle within six months.

I told him he had better not plan on putting me through something like this again. :P

New Beginnings

Welcome friends! For my first post for this new blog, I thought it might be helpful to explain why I decided to start a new blog in the first place and give you a little bit of background about where our family is headed and how we got here.
The most pertinent thing I think I should share is that we are a new Army family. My husband enlisted and left for basic training November of last year. He finished in January and then spent 5 weeks in AIT (advanced individual training) for his job as an 88M (motor transport operator). Before enlisting he was a truck driver for 4 years, so it just made sense for him to go into the same field and use his on-the-job experience to earn an advanced rank through the Army Civilian Acquired Skills Program.
Our family spent 4 months apart through his training process and it was a huge learning and growth experience for all of us! There were some very real struggles on my part to keep things together in his absence, but all in all I think we did pretty good. Had it not been for my faith and my family, I don’t think I could have made it through as well as I did.
A week ago, after the movers came and packed up all of our belongings into a tractor-trailer headed to WA, we hit the road to make our 37 hour drive to Ft. Lewis – our first duty station.
The trip was absolutely amazing! For someone who has never been close to a mountain or has never seen very much of the country, I was very much in awe of the beauty of God’s creation. We experienced and saw so much on our trip – rolling hills, mountains, lakes, gorges, rivers. We even made a detour to stop and see Mt. Rushmore in all it’s beauty! Traveling here is an experience none of us will ever forget.

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After 5 days of traveling in a minivan we were more than ecstatic to finally arrive. Ft. Lewis is absolutely beautiful and I can’t believe this is where we are going to love for the next 1-3 years! Within a few days of arriving, we were offered a beautiful three-bedroom house (it’s actually a duplex attached by the garages) in a nice neighborhood on post. the housing is in a newer neighborhood and is surrounded by nice large yeards and lots of trees and is very close to the PX and commissary. We can’t wait to get our keys on April 6th and start getting settled.

(These pictures are not of our specific home, but taken from the housing website.)

So as our new life here begins, we are very busy taking care of paperwork and getting to know our surroundings. We have found a few churches we would like to visit and we know that God will lead us to the right one, the same way He did with our previous church. And so the process of putting down new roots begins!!

Blessings,

Cassie

Hey There… Remember Me?

Things have been crazy, crazy around here since my wonderful husband left to start his BCT at Ft. Sill, OK. I am busy getting a lengthy update written, but in the meantime I wanted to share something from our wonderful holiday with you. Bobby was able to come home for two weeks over Christmas and it was such a blessing to be able to spend that time with him, smack dab in the middle of his training. As you can imagine, we had missed him like crazy!! Here is a video of the entire family going to pick him up from the airport… get the kleenex ready and ENJOY!

Blessings,

3 Days Down–46 More to Go…

Monday morning my husband left on a bus from the MEPS center to the airport to begin his training as an US Army soldier… We were there to him get sworn in and see him off. It was a really tough day. That night he arrived safely at the reception battalion and that was the last I heard from him til the following evening.

Bedtime was rough. All the kids cried and were pretty much a mess. It’s hard to tell your kids they have to be strong when all you wanna do is melt into a puddle of tears yourself. But I did good, I calmed them down and comforted them and got them off to sleep. I was emotionally and physically drained from the last few days’ activities and went right to bed myself. That was the end of day one.

Tuesday was a better day. I was feeling much more rested and concentrated on getting myself back into the swing of things by cleaning up a bit around the house and hanging out with the kids. I got a 10 minute phone call from my soldier hubby when the drill sergeant came in and hollered for them all to be lined up by their bunks for roll call. After another 10-15 minutes, I got another call. It was so good to hear his voice and hear what his day had consisted of. He was pretty choked up and missing us all badly. I made a very conscious effort to stay upbeat and positive and encouraged him that we were fine and that things would get easier. That night, Joey ended up in bed with me. I wouldn’t have minded but that I really needed some down time to myself. That was the end of day two.

Today I spent a lot of time online windows shopping for a new family car. Ours is on it’s last leg and we are going to be in a much better financial position to purchase a new one. This is what we are leaning towards purchasing:

It’s a 2009 Dodge Journey R/T. It has 3 rows of seats and accommodates 7 people. This model has all the extras like leather interior, sunroof, and DVD entertainment system, and it fits into our budget. I will probably not end up with this exact car, but this is the model we are looking for.

My pretty decent day was almost ruined by a major mishap – I dropped my phone (which I carry with me everywhere in case he calls) in the toilet. Yup. I immediately fished it out, took it apart, and dried it the best I could. Shortly thereafter, hubby called. About 3 minutes into our conversation it shut off without warning. I couldn’t get it to turn back on!!!! I was flipping out thinking this would be the last phone call I would be getting from him until I could afford a new phone (which wasn’t going to be anytime soon). So I again took it apart and took the hair dryer to it. I managed to get it dry enough to power back on and hubby called me back. The audio was funny sounding, so I used the speakerphone. We ended up getting to talk for almost an hour!! I was on cloud nine. He sounded sooo much better and said that he had had a much better day today. He got to talk to the kids (except Jazz who is spending time at her mom’s) and they enjoyed hearing his voice. Soon after I put the kids into bed (without incident) and now I am laying in bed with a heating pad, getting ready to sleep. So ends day three.

All-in-all I think we are all handling things quite well. It’s not difficult for me to stay busy and distracted during the day, with four kids to take care of and teach and a houseful of cleaning to be done. But in the evening, it’s a different story, being able to speak to him each night he is in reception has been a blessing to say the least. I am really dreading the end of the week when he moves into barracks and will be lucky to make a short Sunday call home.

I have connected with an awesome group of new Army wives on facebook who are going through all of this right alongside me. It’s so nice to be able to chat with ladies who know exactly what I am going through. just about any time of the day, there’s someone on there to be a listening ear, or to just make me laugh. The Army really is one big family, and I am so proud and thankful to be a part of it.

In 46 more days, hubby will get leave and will get to come home for Christmas for a few weeks. The timing of his training is really awesome, since this break will split his BCT just about in half. I can’t imagine how I would cope If I had to go through a full 12 weeks without seeing him!!

I want to thank each and every person who has offered prayers for our family through this challenging transition. Please, continue to pray! Especially for my husband. I hope to be journaling our journey as much as I can over the next 4 to 5 months and beyond. It is my hope that it will be an encouragement to others who travel down this road as well!

Blessings,

25 Days and Counting…

I hate how time can seem to drag on at some points and race by faster than you can blink at others. Today marks a little over 3 weeks left before my dear hubby leaves. For those of you who missed it, he enlisted into the Army several months ago and was given delayed enlistment status. So on October 31st, we will drop him off at his hotel so he can then be processed through MEPS and transported to basic training in Ft. Sill. And so will begin our journey and transformation as a new Army family… and his transformation from civilian to soldier.

This is a decision that was very tough and well thought-out. We truly feel as if this is God’s will for our family. When we made this decision, I agreed that I would support and enable my husband to follow this dream, wherever it may take us. That being said, I’m having kind of a hard time right now.

On one hand I am really excited and hopeful about this complete shift in lifestyle. So much about our life as a family is going to improve. We will have great healthcare, drastically better income, opportunities to travel and live in parts of the world we have never seen, job security, money for college (for ourselves and our children), and a retirement plan. Right now we have none of these things. I am excited (and anxious) to see what things are in store for us. The other side of that coin is this – my husband is leaving us. Yes, to get the training he needs to succeed in his new profession as a soldier, but nonetheless he will be gone. He will no longer walk through the door every afternoon after work, hug the kids, give me a kiss, and ask about our day. When the kids have a bad day, I won’t be able to confide in him and ask him what to do about it. I won’t even be able to pick up the phone and call him or text him with a quick question. I won’t lay in bed at night and hear his steady breathing as he sleeps beside me, or cuddle closer to feel his warmth. This, and much more, is the hard, cold reality that is smacking me in my face.

I am not handling it well, and he is not even gone yet. I long to spend every moment of every hour that he is home with him, talking, cuddling on the couch, laughing… but the reality of everyday life is that I have 4 children at home with me every day. Four precious blessings that make messes for me to clean up, have lessons I need to teach them, and have needs to be met. I have a 3 bedroom townhouse full of carpets to vacuum, dishes to wash and put away, piles of laundry to fold, and messes to be straightened. I have meals to prepare, grocery lists to be made, coupons to be clipped, and schoolwork to be planned and graded.

Now more than ever I feel the need for more energy and a few more hours in my day. The reality? That’s not going to happen. I have to make due with the time and resources God has given me, and make the very best of it all. I am having a really hard time balancing it all. Not to mention we have a pretty decent list of things that must absolutely be done before he leaves. Most days I feel like I’m treading water and never getting closer to that island I can see in the distance, and it’s slipping further and further away.

I’m lost. I don’t know what to do or how to start doing it. I don’t know what changes I can make. I just know I must find a way to treasure these next 3 weeks with my husband, because life will soon change forever, and we can never go back. I am in prayer, because that’s the only thing I know to do. I pray for the time to go by slower, for the guidance to balance my desires and responsibilities, for the wisdom to not fall apart in the face of everything bearing down on me.

I can’t even really imagine what things are going to be like while he is away. I can’t make that leap because it is so far removed from any reality that I have ever existed in. I can only focus on right here, right now. I know I am not the first wife and mother to go through this. There have been many before me and I am sure there will be many after. Yet I feel so alone.

So if you don’t see many posts in the next few weeks, now you will understand why. Though I am quite sure I will be pouring my heart out on these pages often during his absence. If you have the time, or the desire, please pray for my family over the next few weeks. You may never know how much it is needed and appreciated.

Blessings,

Homeschool Blog Hop #12

SO this week there is no preset theme for the hop, which means I get to be creative and come up with my own!
This evening, I feel like writing about all the big changes that we are about to embark on. I have posted previously about what kinds of changes we are going through – having another baby in February and becoming an Army family – but I have a lot of thoughts, emotions, and concerns that I haven’t shared.
First of all I am THRILLED to be having another lil one on the way! But I am also really worried. I’m not even going to sugarcoat things – getting through Joey’s first 6 months was really tough. The entire first year or so of his life presented a lot of challenges for me, but those first 6 months were especially tough on me. When I gave birth to Drew, I was 20 years old, full of energy and confidence. I was also alone, but we won’t go there for now, lol. But everything seemed so much easier back then. When Joey came along, I was 28 years old, more mature, and much less energetic, lol. It was so hard to get through everyday before he was sleeping through the night. There were nights that I held him and cried with him out of sheer exhaustion and frustration.
Now I am 30, and I will be 31 when our new little blessing joins our family. Joey will be a few months shy of his 3rd birthday, and the way it’s looking he will also still be in diapers. My husband will be two states away, completing his AIT training, and I am going to be one very exhausted, stressed out Momma!
Another scenario I encountered after Joey was born was homeschool related. I knew it was going to be challenging to homeschool with a baby/toddler, but man was I in for a complete shock! Those first 6-9 months, I fought for every single completed workbook page. I don’t know how to describe our schooling during that period of time other than to say – it was the single most frustrating and challenging era in our homeschooling career. We are STILL playing catch-up from the ground we lost during those months.
Granted, I am now equipped with the experience and knowledge to not allow it to happen again, but every baby is different and our entire family is going to be going through a lot of changes during that time. I would think it’s pretty obvious at this point that without my husband here to help me through, I am going to be relying on the Lord a whole, WHOLE lot to get us through every day.
Now we will address the second part of the coming changes – which is actually a whole lot of little changes, but we will get to that. With hubby joining the Army, we are looking at 4-5 months of training where we will only see him a handful of times, and rarely get to talk to him on the phone. That’s not my main concern though, seeing as how later on down the line, we are going to be looking at much longer periods of time where he is away overseas.
A lot of the changes that are coming as a result of his enlistment I am really excited about. Our finances are going to improve a lot. We are going to have top of the line health, dental, and vision coverage that isn’t costing us a dime. We are going to be able to build up retirement funds (which we have been unable to do up to this point) and provide college funds for our children through the Montgomery GI Bill. We are going to be able to improve our overall quality of life, have job stability, and get to travel to and live in different places all over the world! The only drawback to all of this is that we will be spending considerable amounts of time without my husband around, all while he is off on dangerous missions and such in another part of the world.
We are going to have to adjust to life without him when he is away and I am going to have to hold down the fort and make a lot of decisions without him. I do not doubt our ability to grow together and stay together as a family through all of this. I know we are strong enough. We have been through a lot and are better for it. This situation will be no different. Don’t misunderstand, I know it’s not going to be easy. It will probably be the single hardest thing I have ever done. But we will get through it!
Right now, I am getting through each day by looking forward to all the little blessings that are coming our way and by being thankful for those blessings we have already been given. I am focusing on the good, and we will deal with the bad when it comes. I have taken on the frame of mind that I am determined to sit back and enjoy the ride, regardless of whatever bumps and detours we encounter along the way!
Sorry for the long. rambling post! Blessings,