Recovery

Well, I can mark off one more thing I did while my husband was deployed: foot surgery. I sit here laid up on the couch thinking of all the things I could be doing. So for me this is very fustrating watching eveyone else do things for me. I do not like losing control. :) My Aunt decided to come up to visit while I had my surgery and help out. She will be here for the next 3 weeks. Hopefully by then I will be up and about and feeling no pain.

The meds make me feel drowsy and sick to my stomach. There is no way I will allow anything to come up through my mouth so I just rexlax, pray, and take some deep breath. I can feel my foot starting to throb a bit and don't look forward to when the real pain sets in.

The kids are being very helpful and caring. They have been busy playing games, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping with Aunt Mel and laughing up a storm. I cannot help but laugh myself.

So here I lay on the couch watching everyone else do stuff. I know I should not be complaining about this but it is so hard for me to sit still. :) After a week or so of this I may just go mad. Thank goodness the kids are older and are able to do dishes and everything.

I did make things easy for them and prepared all the meals for the next three weeks. Most of the prep work has been done and most of the meat has been cooked. All they have to do is follow the menu and pull out the right meat. Feels good to have it all done. I use to do this when I was homeschooling and it made life so much easier. The hard part is cooking all the meat in advance. I came home last Friday and cooked about 6+ pounds of chicken, 4 pounds of turkey burger, 4 pounds of turkey susage, and pre made chicken pot pie, and twice baked potatoes. It was a long night. Usually, Hubby helps me with all this but with him deployed it was up to the kids to help out a bit. They worked the sealer bags and labeled the food. :)

I will do this all over in a couple of weeks in preparation for Marlins 2 week R&R. This way I am not stuck in the kitchen and we can spend more time as a family playing games and just being together. We only have about 40 days left and he should be home. CANNOT WAIT.

Until next time........

I

Fort Drum Mountaineers

Below is a little video of Tyrin's football season.
Enjoy

Time for an Update

Well, hello everyone! I cannot believe it has been five months since my last update. My kids are constantly after me to write on my blog. So this entry is for my children.....

My last entry was right before Marlin left for his year deployment to Afghanistan. He has been gone since July 10th and the kids and I are doing fine. There are days that are harder than others but we also know this time apart will not last forever.

To help the time pass by quickly we try to stay busy. Maybe what I should be saying is, "If you want time to pass you by sign up for football". Tyrin decided that he wanted to try out for the Fort Drum football team and so I signed him up. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. He started the season with a one week summer camp in July. I was using this as a test to see if this was something he really wanted to do. Well, if I thought he would change his mind; I was sadly mistaken. He was more excited than ever.

You should have seen me at Dicks Sporting Goods trying to buy football equipment. I was clueless to the items that Tyrin needed. I mean really.....why would a football player need a girdles? Isn't that something women wear? How tight is tight? Oh, and how about the cup? How is that suppose to fit? I mean really. lol In the end I managed to get him everything he needed with the assistance of some very helpful customers.

August 3rd, began his two hour, weekly practice schedule. We learned quickly that he needed to eat at least an hour before practice. We also learned that you shouldn't drink 48 oz of Gatorade in an hour and then run suicides. lol

The season was only suppose to last until the beginning of November. However, this team did so well that they made it all the way to the Eastern Division Championship game in NJ undefeated the week before Thanksgiving. They may not have won the game but in my eyes they overcame much more. This team if very unique because they are a team of military dependents. Not to mention the majority of the Dad’s are deployed. No matter what school the kids go to, if they live on Fort Drum they are required to play on the Fort Drum team. The kids on the team attend three different schools and come together every night and form a bond that was essentially unstoppable.

Tyrin usually played left defensive tackle but would also fill in anywhere on the defensive line if needed. I watched Tyrin gain more and more confidence each time he played. It was a bittersweet experience because Marlin wasn't here to watch his son play. I tried to take lots of video but I am not sure how much of it was of the sky or ground. :)

I have to say I really enjoyed watching Tyrin play however, sitting in 30 degree weather to do so was not my idea of fun. We learned many tricks to staying warm for a game. Next year, Daddy gets to experience that. Now, do I tell him our little tricks or let him figure them out on his own. lol

:)

Not Ready!

Well, the time is approaching rather quickly. I know I am not ready for the changes that the next year hold, but knowing God is by my side will make the difference. Tonight is Marlin's last night in the house. I feel like since we moved up to NY life has moved on to fast. It has been one thing after another. Not only will I take the next year to put our priorities in line but I will ultimately do it alone. I know I am not completely alone as I still have three children here with me but with them going to public school in the fall the house is going to be to quite. I am not good with quite on a daily basis -- makes my mind wonder and allows the devil to pry on my fears.

I am going to miss my husband very much. I will even miss the disagreements where I am usually right and well he isn't. Ok, there have been a few times when he was right but how can I admit that to him. LOL I will miss his smirky little grin and those dimples... or wrinkles they have become. I will miss our late night chats and banter. I will miss having him by my side in church! Most of all I will miss the way he holds me tight and kisses me goodnight.

As the days approach, I pray that God will wrap my family in his protection and hold us tight. I pray he will give us comfort like only he can. I pray that he gives me the strength to help my children through this time in our lives. I pray for patience as the Lord knows I need now more than ever. The courage to face all that is ahead. I pray that he walks with my husband as he embarks on this path. That as a soldier of God he will make a difference where ever he may go. I pray that God would give Marlin strength and protection as he does the job that he LOVES. I pray that God would give him courage and direction as he leads his men. Above all Lord protect him and bring him home safe. In your heavenly name....Amen.

Game Time!

It has been many years since Marlin and I have allowed the kids to play sports. I think it may be like 6 -7 years. We decided a while ago that we didn't want to be running around and pressuring our children to play sports. We thought we would wait until they showed an interest and than do what we can to make it possible. Well, that time has come. Trey has expressed an interest in playing baseball for the last couple of months. I found him a team that plays off post, in a little community called Black River. There are a total of 4 teams and they will play each other till the end of June. Trey only had 2 practices before the game today.

He was very excited and couldn't wait to get on the field. He actually has a very strong desire to be a pitcher. However, due to the age group (8-12 year old) he was told he probably wouldn't be able to pitch. Coach started Trey on third base and he did awesome. I am telling you he total surprised his dad and me. For him just to get out there and give it a try really made me proud. Especially, since the last time he played ball with a team was when he was 4 or 5 years old. I am not sure what inning it was but I saw Coach take Trey to the side and had him throw some pitches. I thought surely they aren't going to let him pitch......but they did.

Trey getting ready to pitch!

I will admit it brought a tear to my eye. To see my son get a chance to do something that he wanted to do was just plain cool. He looked so happy to be on pitcher mound. He was able to throw some strikes and he only hit one boy (not on purpose and he does feel bad about that). He looked really good standing up there. He has a lot of practice to do but I know if it is something he wants to do he will work at it.

I would have to say the best thing we ever did for our family was to stop all the activities and running around when the kids were younger. They are now at the age that if they really want it they are more focused and are willing to work hard to achieve their goals. I am looking forward to supporting them all in their future endeavors.

The Castle Ball

Well, yesterday I realized that there are some things in life I am just no good at. For example, I spent all day Thursday trying to figure out what to do with my hair for the ball. No matter what I tried it just didn't look right. I was so frustrated. Then after heading to New Attitudes Spa and Salon for a much needed eye brow wax it hit me. There are people in this world with gifts that I don't have, I will never have, and never care to have. So after getting in my car to drive home I put it in reverse and went back in and made an appointment for a updo. Amazingly enough they actually had an appointment for Friday afternoon. When I got there on Friday for my appointment the lady asked me if I had any ideas of what I wanted her to do. I said, "No, at this point I am so out of my element that you can do what every you want just make it look nice and make it last all night". LOL She was like no problem, I love doing stuff like this. God bless her, because I could never create what she was able to. The kids couldn't believe that that was my hair.

So, with my hair done, all I had to do was paint my nails and do my make-up. By 4:30 pm I was slipping into my dress and putting on my heels. I felt like such a princess. LOL I felt so pretty. Not to mention my date looked pretty hot too. Something about a man in uniform. This man in particular makes my heart melt. :) With us dressed and ready to go, Cheyenne took charge of the camera and started the photo session. Some of the pictures didn't take really well, but we will work on that for the next dance. LOL For some reason the camera made a lot of the pictures grainy. No, big deal.

I was getting a little nervous as we headed to the ball. Well, it was my first ball. We have never been with a Battalion that had a ball before. So for Marlin and I this was the first. It won't be the last because from what we heard this Battalion likes to have balls. The next one is slotted for when the guys get back next year. So, that means I have one year to fit into the other dress I have. LOL

I will tell you once we got there and I saw what some of the other wives were wearing all my nervousness went away. I couldn't believe some of the men would let their wives walk out of the house wearing what they had on. First of all this was a formal......dress code: below the knee or to the floor gown. Some of the ladies had on short (above the thigh), see through, and even dress pants. Some of the ladies had huge tattoos over their entire body, piercings all over, and some just looked down right trashy. I had to laugh at the ladies who were pregnant. It was like they tired to squeeze their now body into a dress made for their before body. It was a sight. Now, I the majority age of Marlin's Battalion is between the age of 18 and 25. That could explain a lot. LOL

Needless to say, once again I didn't really have the opportunity to meet anyone that was my age or with children the same age as ours. We were seated a table with 3 of Marlin's soldiers 2 of which were single and one young married couple. With the majority of the company being so young a lot of them are just beginning to have families or are still in the party mode. Marlin and I are so different than we were 13 years ago. I am sure I will make connections soon. I must be patient.
We spent the evening listening to speeches, traditions, and enjoying some good food. The formal part of the ball was over around 9:30 and the dancing began. At this point Marlin and I were just sitting around the table by ourselves. I told him I wanted to dance and he wasn't sure. I had to coax him a bit but finally he got up and shook his thing on the dance floor. LOL It was so funny because I have never really seen him dance. I really don't care to dance but give me a line dance and I am in. LOL They played a lot of dance club music that I am not familiar with but we danced and worked up a sweat. :) It was all good. I love him for just getting up with me instead of sitting around the table all night (that would have been boring). It would have been a lot different if we had made some friends before attending the ball and were able to hang out there with them, but that's not what happened so we just enjoyed each other's company.
Around 11:30pm we headed home to the kids. They were still awake but clearly very tired. We tucked them in, prayed with them and I think before we turned out their lights they were asleep. LOL It has been so weird being able to go out and have a date with my husband without children. It has taken me some time to get use to this new way of life, but the kids are older now and with that comes some freedom.

7th Engineer Battalion Castle Ball

630th Clearance Company

Some things are meant to change.

Well, the kids are registered for fall classes at Carthage Central High/Middle School. This was not a decision that I took lightly by any means. I was actually quite shocked when Cheyenne mentioned that she had been thinking about attending public school. All these thoughts started going through my head. Yes, all the self-doubt notions. I am very pleased that Cheyenne opened up and expressed her feelings to her dad and me. I know it wasn’t easy for her to tell her mommy that she wanted a new teacher. LOL

From the very beginning, I have told the kids that when they were ready to go to pubic school they could. As long as the school was acceptable. Of course, with Cheyenne toying with the idea of attending high school, I opened the discussion with the boys. It was a very funny conversation. Trey’s first response when I told him Cheyenne was thinking about going to public school he called her a “Traitor”. LOL Then his next question was would he have to be in the same class as his brother. I told him I wasn’t sure but probably not. His response was “YESSSS”! Of course he wanted to know if he would get his own locker.

When I talked to Tyrin about the whole idea his first response was, “Don’t you want me to stay home with you, Mommy”? I told him I wanted him not to worry about me but to tell me what he wanted. His next question was, “Will I have to be in the same class as Trey”? I said, “No”. He said, “YESSSS”! Of course the next thing he asked was if he was getting his own locker. Cheyenne and I about fell on the floor because those two boys are so much alike.

I told the kids that we should pray about the decision and after spring break I would call the school and see about getting a tour and an appointment to meet with the guidance counselor. On Friday, of last week the boys and I sat down with the middle school counselor and learned about the different classes that the middle school offers. They also had the opportunity to walk around the school for a tour. They were pretty excited. Cheyenne had to wait until this past Monday to meet with the high school guidance counselor. She was so excited. I could see that she was not going to decided to stay home another year. They counselor sat her down and did a four year plan with her. She basically picked her classes for the fall and the only thing holding her back was me putting the registration paperwork in. The thing the school has that I cannot provide is theater and sports.

If the laws up here weren’t so strict; and if the kids could participate in the school sports nothing would have changed. However, I know that they want to make new friends and I believe that God will watch over them and allow them to be a light. As weird as it may sound, there are not many kids where we are. Yes, we live on a military post and yet we cannot find the kids. Mind you there are little kids but not many their age. We just have to give it some more time.

Like I said before, this was not an easy decision. However, with God’s help I will make it though this transition. I love being with my kids and enjoy homeschooling them and I never really thought the day would come when they would want to go back to school. Things change. LOL I think I may be experience some abandonment issues. LOL Especially since Marlin will be deploying and the kids will be heading off to school. What will I do? I will be alone for the first time in 13 years. OH MY!!! That thought scares the day lights out of me. I know I will eventually get use to it. LOL For starters the idea is to go back to school myself and finish my degree. Only have 12 classes left for my BS degree.

Well, I better head off to bed. It is getting late and tomorrow is the military ball. I also have to register my baby for football…….why did he have to choose football. They run into each other. LOL Tyrin better run fast and never let anyone touch him. LOL

Below are the lyrics to a song Cheyenne shared with me. She was trying to explain to me why she wanted to go to public school and she told me to listen to this song. It broke my heart. I love you Cheyenne!

"Let Go" Check out the video:

Changing,Everywhere I am
I been stuck in a rut,
I been caught upYeah, it happens fast
Moving,
To where I wanna begin
I wanna find new life and see new eyes
And breathe again
(I'm gonna) stop now, take a breathIt's all so crazy


[Chorus:]

But I'm ready to let go
Looking forward to don't know
Forget about yesterday, get away
And live in the right now
Yeah, I'm ready to let go
And I'm ready follow
Anywhere the road bends
Where it ends I don't know
So let go


Oh, we live in the future
We got our regrets
Cause we don't live in
The present tense
(It's) hectic in my mind
(Gonna) leave it behind


[Chorus]

Don't wanna over think it
Don't worry so much
Gonna live this life
And not lose touch
I'm gonna let go


[Chorus]