I'm Going To Be Honest.....

In 5 days school will be starting for us. On one hand, I'm totally ready to boot their little butts right out the door and not think twice about it.......but on the other hand, I'm a little sad, a little worried, and somewhat dreading it!

I'm a little sad because all 4 of my "babies" will be in school all day. Even though Noah was in school for 1/2 days last year, this year will be different. This is elementary school and the start of his little future. There's a big part of me that loves having my kids around. I love seeing them play and hearing them laugh during the day. And it's sad that except for during the summers and school vacations that that part of my life--having a child not in school yet-- is over. I know that most moms are jumping for joy and don't get me wrong, part of me is jumping for joy, but part of me, a big part is sad.

I'm a little worried, because with school comes worries and temptations and worldly "stuff" that I can't control. I know that Myshel and Vance are experiencing things that I really wish I could shield them from. And I have to hope that I've taught them well enough to handle high school and middle school on their own and to make good choices. I think that's scary. With McKaylie, she's been forced to change schools yet again. She has a great attitude and I know that she'll do great, but I can also see the worry and fear in her eyes about starting something new. And it's there because of the choice I made to change schools. It breaks my heart a little. And, Noah...Noah, Noah, Noah. He has challenges to face that my other kid's didn't have. His speech disorder is going to be a big thing to overcome. I worry about him. I know he can and will do great, but it's hard as a mom.

The dreading part, well that's easy. I dread getting up early every morning for seminary. (I am NOT a morning person!) I dread getting 4 kids ready to go on time. I dread all the running around that school brings. I dread 3 different school's parent/teacher associations. I dread homework for 4 kids. I dread all the paperwork that comes at the beginning of the year. And I dread trying to make time for everything that is suppose to fit into the day.

But, no matter how I feel today, on Tuesday school will start and I'll learn to deal with everything and it will become just life as I know it. And it probably won't be as bad as I anticipated it!

Catchin' Up....

Well, let's try and get caught up.....

We finally convinced the school's superintendent to let us change schools. It was exactly what I wanted, but I was a little nervous about it still. We went in to register the kids at the new school and have their records transferred the very next day. From the moment we talked to the ladies at the front office, I knew it was the right thing to do. They were so nice and helpful and friendly, the complete opposite of what we had at the other school. I felt so much better, and the icing on the cake was that Noah got the teacher we wanted. I actually asked if he could get into her class, but was skeptical about whether they'd consider it. They were really really nice about it and put Noah in her class! YEAH!!!! The teacher we wanted for him is in our ward and I've just been completely and totally impressed with her from the moment I met her. I was talking to another lady at church this last Sunday (her son is in Noah's class--another Yeah!) and I was telling her how excited I was that Noah was in this teacher's class because I just loved her so much. Her response was, "Oh, Cindy, Sister____ has a gift with kids. It's not that she's great with them, she has a gift with them!" Which made me that much more excited about this school and where Noah will be for his first year. I really feel like our prayers were answered. Even McKaylie seems very excited about the new school is ready to go.

Chad's continuing to do well with his recovery. He gets his staples out tomorrow. I think he's a little nervous about it, though, because then he'll have to start exercising it more, which is going to hurt. He's pretty tough. I think he'll do fine. He definitely doesn't like to be waited on, so maybe that will help him get through the pain. We're enjoying having him around. We just don't get very many chances like this with the navy. I think he likes being home, too, but they call him almost every day asking him about things. It makes you wonder what they'd do if they couldn't call him.

I think all my kids are ready to go back to school and I am very ready for them to go back, too. I'm not usually one to completely appreciate schedules, but I think we'll all benefit from it this fall. This summer has gone by so fast, though. It doesn't feel like we've had much of a summer at all.

McKaylie will start soccer this week. She begged and pleaded for us to find her a soccer team to play on and assured us that she'd play and be happy about it. So, we signed her up for soccer, paid the fee and took her to the first meeting, where she announced to us that she didn't want to play anymore. Ohhh she makes me crazy! I'm not sure what we're going to do. We can't get our money back now and I don't know if we can convince her to play. Chad and I still have to "talk it over". I don't want to force her, but I'm also not happy that she knew we were paying for her to play and then she wants to quit before she even gets started.
I think that's about it for now....

Myshel's Artistic View...

Myshel took these pictures while we were on the temple grounds. I think they're great! Her art teacher told us once that she has an amazing, artistic eye. I can see why she would say that!

Travel Logs....

My sister has all the different states/countries that she's been to and the ones that her husband has been to on her blog. I was showing it to Chad and we thought it would be fun to do, too. So, here's our list

Cindy
United States
Wyoming*Montana*Idaho*Utah*Washington*California*Nevada*
Colorado*Virginia*Florida*Maine*Massachusetts*New Hampshire*North Carolina*Louisiana*Illinois*South Dakota*North Dakota*Maryland*Georgia*
Kentucky*West Virginia*Alabama*Arkansas*Connecticut*Delaware*Tennessee*South Carolina*Rhode Island*Pennsylvania*Wisconsin*Oklahoma*Ohio*Nebraska*Indiana*
Iowa*Kansas*Michigan*Minnesota*New York*New Jersey*Mississippi*Missouri

Canada
New Brunswick

Overseas
None

Chad
United States
Wyoming*Montana*Idaho*Utah*Washington*California*Nevada*
Colorado*Virginia*Florida*Maine*Massachusetts*New Hampshire*North Carolina*Louisiana*Illinois*South Dakota*North Dakota*Maryland*Georgia*Kentucky*
West Virginia*Alabama*Arkansas*Connecticut*Delaware*Tennessee*South Carolina*
Rhode Island*Pennsylvania*Wisconsin*Oklahoma*Ohio*Nebraska*Indiana*
Iowa*Kansas*Michigan*Minnesota*New York*New Jersey*Mississippi*Missouri*Oregon

Canada
New Brunswick

Overseas
Spain*Italy*France*Greece*Croatia*Portugal*Israel*China (Hong Kong)*Malaysia*Singapore*Malta*England*South Korea*Egypt*Puerto Rico*
Albania*United Arab Emirates*Bahrain*Sicily

Bodies of Water (He's sailed on--we may have missed a few)
Atlantic Ocean*Pacific Ocean*Mediterranean Sea*Suez Canal*Red Sea*Arabian Sea*
Adriatic Sea*Persian Gulf*Indian Ocean*Philippine Sea*Yellow Sea*East China Sea*
South China Sea*Gulf of Mexico

Chad's Update....

Chad's doing pretty good. His surgery went really well. This picture isn't a great one. It makes him looks worse than he actually did. It was taken Friday night after his surgery, before the nerve block wore off. They removed the bone spurs and a lot of scar tissue. The tendons weren't torn, which is really good. They were surprised by how much scar tissue there was, though, and said that that's why he was having so much trouble lifting his arm. The doctor also told him that the bone spurs were really sharp (they're usually smooth) and they got them out just in time. Because, they would have really torn up his rotator cuff if they had been there much longer. He has 9 staples, which Noah and Vance think are so cool. McKaylie thinks they're kinda cool and Myshel refuses to look at them. She says it makes her hurt too much. I don't think it's that bad. They gave him some medicine for the pain, so most of the time he's either in pain, or asleep. I took this picture Saturday afternoon and he asked me on Sunday when I took it. So, that tells you how coherent he is when he's taken them. But most of the time they just knock him out. He's actually cut back on his dose today, so the pain is subsiding, slowly.

He is doing good, though and he's in good spirits. We're both relieved that the surgery part is over and we can just concentrate on the recovery. We're very grateful for all your prayers and thoughts on his behalf and we'll keep you posted on his progress.

When Stress Comes, It Comes In Truckloads!

First of all, this is my 600th post!! Is that wild or what! I'm actually thinking that's pretty cool!

Second, this has been and still is a very stressful week for me.

Chad's surgery is on Friday. Sometimes I think the anticipation of an "event" is actually worse than the actual "event" and this is one of those times. Chad and I both are getting anxious about his surgery and will probably feel better once it's over. Well, at least I'll feel better, Chad will probably be feeling a whole lot of pain! And, if you really think about it, I bet for the first day or two, he's not going to be feeling much of anything.....I'm sure he'll be very grateful for pain meds, though!

I've also been trying to deal with the school and the superintendent of special services to find out what's going on with Noah's speech therapy that he should be receiving through the school. We were told that he had to have an updated evaluation, which we got and faxed to him, 3 weeks ago. I've left several messages, but never got a return call. Finally this morning I actually got him on the phone. He assured me that Noah would receive services, but that we'd have to have another IEP meeting to finalize everything. (I knew they that's what they would do!) He said it would be in the first 2 weeks of school. I don't believe that, though. I think it will be sometime in the first month, if we're lucky. So basically, we're really no better off than we were before. Except maybe, that I've conceded to the fact that this is a battle I just can't win.

Which leads us to the 3rd stresser......I/we decided to try and switch McKaylie and Noah to the "other" elementary school that is here in Topsham. Technically, the navy housing we live in is in the "other" school's boundaries anyway, but the school district decided that they'd divide the "navy kids" up between the schools to keep the numbers more even. We tried to get McKaylie in the "other" school last year, but they wouldn't budge. This year with Noah and the trouble we've had with the principal and the speech therapist at their current school, I've been more adament about getting them switched. Plus, I also know that their current school has a huge number of kindergarteners starting this year and the "other" school doesn't. Finally the school district's superintendant agreed to put in our request, and now it goes to the school's I guess. We're suppose to hear back in a couple of days. Meanwhile, we don't know for sure where they'll be going to school, who their teachers will be and where to send the info about Noah's speech. It's frustrating. I think the "other" school will be much much better for Noah, but McKaylie loves her school now and has lots of friends there. She will be very disappointed if we switch her. It's hard when you try and to the best thing for one child and know that by doing that, it will disappoint another.

The dogs are being a handful, lately, too. I don't know what they're deal is, but they're making me nuts. They're stressing me out, too, probably because I'm already stressed and they're just adding to the madness! But they're on "the list" this week!

The last "streser" this week, I'm not going to get into here. Sorry, this one I keep to myself, but it's a big one for me. It's not the end of the world. It won't make or break me/us, but sometimes it just feels all-consuming and with everything else I'm dealing with right now, it really seems to be a heavy burden, right now. I think it's my fault and I think Chad thinks it's my fault. He's never said that, but he hasn't said it's not either. That seems to make it even more heavy. It's not going away any time soon. I can't just fix it and be done with it. But, I'm ok and we're ok and it will all work out in the end, it's just one more thing that's added to my stressful week.

I'm hoping next week, will be better....

Historical Boston.....

It was very cool to see a lot of the historical buildings/grounds in Boston. There was lots of walking that day, but it was a fun day. There was also lots of things we didn't get to see, so we'll just have to make another trip! The weather was perfect for us, though, overcast but warm. The rain held off until the very end of the day. It was sprinkling when we walked back to our car in the parking garage, and pouring when we drove it out! Talk about great timing. It's amazing to see building that are around 200 years old. Very cool!

Swimmin' at the Hotel.....

....when we stayed in Boston, actually, we stayed in Waltham, MA.The kid's favorite part about staying in a hotel is the pool. It's always the first question they ask...."Does the hotel have a pool?"They had a great time swimming in the pool before dinner and were very disappointed that they wouldn't be able to get back in it the next morning!
Sorry kids, maybe next time!

Boston Massachusetts LDS Temple

Last Friday we went to the temple. It was fun to see McKaylie and Noah's reactions to it. It was the first time they had seen the Boston temple. I love the "oooo's" and "ahhhh's". McKaylie said it "amazingly beautiful". I agree with her. It really is. I love just being on the temple grounds with my kids. We got our traditional picture of the kid's touching the temple. We get it with each new temple that they get to see. I am grateful for their love and reverence for the temples. It was even more wonderful that Myshel and Vance were able to go in with the other youth from our ward later that afternoon. And, that Chad and I attended Saturday morning. We hoped to attend 2 sessions during our trip, but were only able to squeeze one in. I was grateful for that session, though. The peace we found there was so needed!

If You Listened to Your Mom.....

You would have worn tennis shoes instead of sandals when you went fishing!
And you wouldn't have one broken toe and a whole lot of pain! Poor Vance!He tripped when he was walking up the rocky bank while he was fishing with Chad. The first night it didn't look too bad, but the next morning it looked terrible. It's not the best picture, but his entire toe is black and blue and swollen. The bruise continues over the top of his foot, about 2 inches!

I Love a Great Deal!

The Navy Exchange is not always my favorite store to shop in, but sometimes I love it!!! Especially, when I can catch their clearance sales! Every so often they have these great deals on their apparel, where they'll take an additional 30%, 50%, sometimes even 60% off the already marked down price, if it ends in $.97 or $.96.

It is so great, because you can get such a great, low price on brand names, that are brand new! A few years ago I bought some Timberland shoes for $7 and some Eastland shoes for$6! Cool, huh!

Well, these are my newest deal. I bought these last week at the exchange while they had their "deal" going on. So, I got these Sketchers for $10! We also bought Vance some Vans for school for $10, too. Who doesn't just love deals like this!