Crazy Hair Day

....and purple day.

 

 

 

Lucey is having fun with all the "special" days that go along with grade school and kindergarten.  Today was crazy hair day.  Lucey told me  this as I was doing her hair.  She is on top of things and has a great memory.  Sure enough...there was a tiny slip of paper in her backpack that I had missed letting me know that they had earned this day.  For whatever reason.  This is what we came up with.  Loops like puppy ears on top of her head.  Not too crazy.  She was a bit reluctant.

It also happened to be  "Purple Day" for the kindergartners.  Every Wednesday the kiddos are supposed to wear the color of the week.  It sure keeps me on my toes to check the calendar daily. Not to mention....gym day, library day, art day etc....and it changes....these specials do not always fall on the same day of the week.  Why????  To confuse the older parents????  (I have to remember to put her in her tennis shoes, remember the library book and to make sure she has something to wear that can get paint, glue or whatever medium that they happen to be working on in art.  Do your schools operate this way?)  Back to "Purple Day"--Lucey does not have much purple in her wardrobe. hmmmm....we had to get a little creative. Lu had purple leggings (lavender) and purple curly hair bows and a peter pan collar shirt that had lavender flowers.  So this is what we came up with. 


            { Lucey wearing her hearing aid--and not wanting the flash of the camera in her eyes.}

I was so please that Lucey's teacher emailed me to let me know she was ready to learn how to use Lucey's hearing aid.  This past Tuesday I took Lucey and her hearing aide to school and we showed Mrs. D. how it works and how to put it on her head.  It's not as easy as you would think.  Lucey loves to hear from both side of herself....it helps with localizing sound and for her to raise her voice a little too. (she is the only child I know of that we have to ask her to use her outside voice inside....).  Lucey is deaf on her right side but with her bone conduction hearing aid, her hearing is almost within normal range.  The only problem is that it is worn on a soft band and the band hurts after awhile.  It also slips down or up and pops off.  It's not easy to get into place.  It can be frustrating.  She can't wear it on the playground because it will come off and it's very expensive (we sure wouldn't want to lose it).  Her next surgery will be to place an abutment (snap) on her mastoid bone that will eventually hold the hearing aid.  We are hopeful that she will be ready for this by the first of the year.

Fore

~ I'm Taking Golf Lessons ~

 

 

 

Yesterday I had so much fun with my golfing buddies.  We are on our 4th lesson and I must say, with the little bit of instruction, I have improved.  I left the course with new found energy.  The sun was shining, the air was crisp and I laughed.  With all the moving and all the changes for us I had been a bit down.  It has been quite awhile since I had done something for me.  About 9 years ago I was on a women's golf league.  I don't think I have had a club in my hand since.  So my clubs are a bit outdated....a little on the heavy side and not very aerodynamic.  Who cares....all that matters is that I am having fun.  Oh and I am practicing my shouting "Fore"--I have a feeling I will not be driving straight.

Gettysburg Day 2





Gettysburg on Columbus Day

 

 

Our Target Starbucks was offering two for one mochas yesterday morning.  We treated the boys-- and us--- to a salted caramel mocha.  Oh so yummy.  What a great way to start our chilly morning driving tour of the Confederate part of the Gettysburg battle.

and a few of these.....it's a holiday, right?  Splurge!

Miss Lu was the best girl way back there in the third row.  She had a big bag of toys, books and artwork to keep her busy on the 4 hour tour.

The boys love History and this is their 4th year studying American History.  They were not too happy when they found out they had to take the class again. We move so much so they have to take the required classes.  They are in honors History so it's challenging for them and we live near Historic places so they get to see what they are studying.  It's a winning combo.

Eternal Light Peace Memorial--dedicated in 1938 (Oak Hill)

Ron giving the boys a lesson.

Lucey enjoyed getting out of the car and running around.  A little bed-head.  We rolled out of bed and got on our way and it shows.

Christian brought school work with him since he had much to catch up on after being sick last week.  Multi-tasking.

Ron should be an instructor...he loves to teach. 

The Virginia Memorial.

 

 

 

Andrew was behind the camera here.

 

Ron instructing once again on Pickett's Charge.

I love how Lucey is be-bopping along behind the guys.


                                     

We will go back in the next couple of weeks and drive the Union side.  We had such a fun morning.

Apple Festival and Gettysburg

The National Apple Harvest Festival

 

 

 I suppose, since we live close to our nations capital....every event around here is considered a "national" event.  :-)   We had such a great day yesterday!  There was a chill in the air and it was a bit drizzly which made the hot apple cider even more delicious.  We took a bus ride from the parking lot to the festival....so fun!

Andrew and Christian enjoying the petting zoo....not really.  They were good sports.  They mostly loved the eating part of being at a fair.  Lot's of junk food we typically do not partake in.

 

Lu was thrilled with her pink puppy balloon. 

Waiting for the guys to meet us. 

 We also went to Gettysburg.

 I was here about 11 years ago.  The new visitor's center is beautiful!  I can't wait to go back and explore it a little more in depth.  We had limited time.

Christian has not been feeling well.  His asthma has not been in control.  He has also been fighting an infection.  So he needed a little rest and TLC while we had a bite to eat.

Lu was her silly happy self.

Ron bought the driving tour on CD.  It is amazing--very well done.  It's a 90 min. detailed audio of the battle.  We are heading there today to take the tour.

Ron gave us a little background yesterday since he has studied the battle.  He took a trip there last week with his War College Class.  We are so excited about getting the full tour today. 

The goodies we picked up at the festival yesterday.  We tasted tested each of them and wow, so yummy.

Home Sweet Home~Again {this makes 13}

Home is where the Army sends us. Our 13th move.  We adopted Lucey 3 1/2 years ago and this is her 4th home with us.  Can you believe that?  This is the interesting thing....In 8 months we do this all over again.  We have no clue as to where we are going.  So for now...this is our new front porch.  I took this with my phone during the unpacking in July.

 

 

 

We live on the military installation in a duplex.  It has been a very long time since we have had to share a wall with a neighbor.  Since this is a military school and Ron is a student, we live in student quarters.  They are very nice and new and have a little bit of charm.  It's a lot smaller than our last few homes so we have had to put some of our furniture in storage but I have to say...I like the more simple flow of the home.  I took this picture when we pulled up the first day.  We couldn't wait to see where we would be living. 

Summer 2012 will be remembered as one of the most emotionally draining summers for me. On one hand I am so incredibly grateful for Lucey's successful surgery (more on that to come) and her quick healing. She truly amazes me. But....even as I type, I am still trying to make peace with all the ups, downs and complete frustrations.  I plugged along while we were in the midst of it all but now, my health is suffering a bit.  Thankfully I can slow down a little and put some time into my healing.  We live in a great location for wellness and that is what I am working on.

More about Lu and the rest of The Troops soon!

Picture Day

Lucey posing on picture day. 

Kindergarten

 

She was being silly here.

This is a great shot of her

very long hair. Yesterday we had 2 inches

trimmed off. She finally agreed to it.



 

Another silly pic of Lu.

I'm back to packing lunches.

My kids will not eat the school lunches.

Lucey's first lunch box.  Lands' End.

Andrew and Christian

had monogrammed Lands' End boxes when

they were her age. A brown sack is the only way to take.



 

The fish bread makes me smile. It's so happy.

5

 

Our Sweet Lu turned 5 this year.

 

 

More to come.....

I've Been AWOL

{AWOL: Absent With Out Leave}
I'm back--I hope you forgive me for taking a break---I can't believe it's been 3 months since I have been back to my Blog.  I didn't intend to be gone for so long. The past three months have been incredibly busy, somewhat crazy and a little bit emotional. In the coming posts I'll give some highlights on what we have been up to.

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday.  I was thrilled to have a good picture of the 6 of us.  Get this...it was taken by the sweetest lady....and she is traced back to Lucey.  Let me explain....we are in Oklahoma, right?  We lived in Kansas last and we adopted Lucey while in Illinois.  Ron's job in Illinois was previously held by a man who has since adopted three precious little ones from China.  He and his family (The V Family) were in the process of adopting their first child and shared their experience with us.  We used their agency and their caseworker and now our dear friend....Carol.  Mrs. V.'s Mom goes to our church her at Ft. Sill, OK.  Yes, our church.  She sat in front of us one Sunday and told us all about her grandchildren who seemed vaguely familiar to  me.  We made the connection right away.  The sweet lady who took our picture is Mrs. V.'s sister who was in town visiting her Mom.  A small world?  Or a Divine appointment.  I believe in the second.  This family is such a blessing.  Another group praying for our sweet Lu.  God is so good!

A very quick snapshot:
1. Today is the last day of school for Andrew and Christian.  We are all so thrilled! The last two finals are today and they are ready to be done.
2.  Our packers arrive in 13 days.  Less than two weeks and we do this moving thing all over again.  We have only been here for 10 months and it went by in a blink.  We are heading to the US Army War College in Carlisle, PA.
3.  Lucey has surgery in 4 weeks.  It's a big one.  We make a stop in St. Louis for a month while Lucey has appointments, surgery and post-op appointments.  We could use a few extra prayers.  Thank you so much!
4.  Adam is with us until August and then he is off to college....over the ocean he goes.  I will have to say good-bye to him all over again.  This boy certainly tugs at my heart.  I'm so proud of him.

It's so good to be back.  Thank you for checking in and leaving your notes.  I am looking forward to reading about you too!

xoxo
(I don't even recognize the new Blog settings...it looks more user freindly.  I'd better take a tour.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Loving my precious family this day and everyday....praying that they feel the Love of Jesus as they take each step today.


Chocolate chip muffins to start their day. {They were a healthy version}

My love brought me beautiful red roses. Thank you, Ron!

Lucey and I have been working on this little craft project. While she was sick, this kept us occupied.

She loves to cut! She is quite good with her scissors too. She is careful.

Our cardboard heart is ready.

We have three colors of tissue paper....red, dark pink, and light pink. I wonder how many tissue paper squares we cut for this endeavor?

Have you ever worked on a float or made other projects requiring pomping? We used the end of a pencil, wrapped our tissue paper square around the end and dipped our tissue in glue. Lucey loved doing this. I must be a little nuts...not remembering how time consuming this is. I think I made our cardboard heart a little too big. ;-)

It took a few days.....every so often we would sit and pomp. It was a blessed time with Lucey. She is such a talker and there is always so much to talk about. These times with her are so precious to me. Lucey and I love the song by Taylor Swift...."Never Grow Up." The words can choke me up. For Lucey--she just loves the tune and when she sings it...she sounds so cute.

"Oh darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up, just stay this little. Oh darling, don't you ever grow up. Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple

The final project complete and hanging on our living room mirror. Whew...I don't know that I will ever do this project again but I will always remember my time with Lucey when I hang this up over the years to come.

Wishing you the love of Christ on this Valentine's Day! xoxo