Week of December 26 - January 1

Hi Guys!!  :)

Now that we can breath a little from the Holidays, I thought I would let you all know of some of the fun that is happening in our corner of the world.  Happy Reading!!

• We have been enjoying spending time with our Sailor Girl.  Elizabeth had to go back on Tuesday, but we did have 10 beautiful days with her and I am so happy for that time.  We almost did not get her home for the Holidays, but my own Christmas Miracle happened!  So blessed!  She is doing well....finishing up things with her current level of schooling and will soon make it out to California for A School.  She is keeping busy and seems to love her Navy Life.  And to put this mom's mind at ease, she looks wonderful! 
• We are getting a new computer system at work...which means our computers are not working...so it has been a very long and very dull week for me. I like to keep busy, so the lack of work is not good.  Hopefully things will be up and running soon!!
• It got insanely cold here this week!  I know a lot of you are up north and saw snow storms... my prayers were with you.  I know I could not handle that.  I am a FL girl through and through and my hat is off to you!!  One morning, I let the dogs out and saw frost on the grass!!  And there was ice on my car!  Such an odd sight for South Florida!  And more than enough for me.  Please pray for our farmers...they lost a lot of their crops due to this frigid weather.
• Melissa continues to explore the military....keep her in your prayers.  I will keep you posted as to what she is up to. 
• I have been totally rearranging and reorganizing things....and currently have the house torn up a little.  All in the name of progress!
• Stitch and Bitch is back!  :)  This is a crafting circle where a bunch of fun loving ladies get together, socialize, and craft.  Lots of fun and making progress at the same time!  Please let me know if you would like to be involved....I started a group on here to keep us all close! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Praying that 2011 is a very blessed, very special year for all of you!  Give yourself a hug from us!

So its been a little while since I blogged....

Hello guys! :)

I hope this message finds you all well!  Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!!  Many blessings to come to you and yours during this Beautiful Holiday Season!

I am sorry I have not been able to keep this going like I should.  The Holidays have been keeping me busy (just like you all, I am sure).  Plus, I had the most amazing gift this year...my daughter was able to join us.  I am so relieved that she was able to get leave and come home for the Holiday.  Unfortunately, we put her on a plane today to head back to her base, but we were able to spend 10 beautiful days with her!  I feel so blessed.

As for our "life and times," we are all doing very well! 

• Elizabeth looks wonderful and it was awesome to be able to catch up on those hugs I feel like I miss out on.  She seems very happy.  I know she is looking forward to getting out of the frigid North and into something a bit more tropical.  :) 
• Melissa is about to start up college classes again.  She should be almost done with her AA.  She is also still working on getting into the Navy...will keep you informed of her efforts.
• Patrick just earned his yellow belt in Karate, so he is very excited.  He is also doing well in school and still working very hard on advancements in Cub Scouts.  He should have his Arrow of Light very soon!!

My kids are all doing so well...and I could not be prouder!  They really are amazing kids!  It is so awesome to me.  I am truly blessed! 

Again, I hope you all are enjoying a truly Joyous Holiday Season!  Sending love from our home to yours!

11/14-20

What a week this has been!  Normally, I can say this every week, but this week was exceptional.  I should have known by how this week started.  On Sunday, we discovered that our 6 month old pup was in distress.  Apparently, she attacked a toad, which was poisonous and we came very close to losing her.  It was a very difficult day, but thank God she is doing better.  She spent the night at the hospital and really has come back strong.  I am so very thankful. 

Other than this trauma, the theme of the week has been "science project."  Of course, we always have stuff going on, but no matter what we were into this week, you bet that at some point in the day, we were working on the science project.  Monday...finishing up the ramp.  Tues...running experiments and taking pictures.   Wednesday...finishing up conclusions, creating nifty charts, picking up pictures and starting to work on the board.  Thursday...finishing touches on the board.   Friday...the darn thing is finally turned in!  I am glad that this is over with!  Enter "sigh of relief" here!

The other fun that I managed to get into this week:

• Work - always an interesting experience...and it keeps me very busy.  Something very exciting happened this week though - National Adoption Day was Friday and five of my families are now forever families. Such a joyous day!  And one that I am so happy that I was apart of.  It makes my life's work so worthwhile!  My judge said it best, "Of all the children of all the world, this mom chose you!"
• I FINALLY was able to get my daughter's care package out to her!  I tried to include comforts from home as well as things that I thought she could use.  She has a habit of missing meals, so I made sure to give her stuff that she can eat when the galley is closed.  I also sent her stuff to keep her warm.  In addition, I sent her laptop so now we can skype!!
• Scouts - Patrick began working on his Readyman badge!  This will be his last badge that he needs to complete the Arrow of Light and he is so excited.  Of course, he will need to be a Webelo for 6 months before that honor is bestowed upon him, but at least all the hard work is done for it.  Also, Saturday, he was working on his Naturalist and participated in a clean up of invasive plants in the area.  As always, we are busy scoutwise. 
• Harry Potter - Earlier in the week, we watched the last Harry Potter movie to gear up for the weekend.  On Friday, we went saw the new movie.  Bittersweet!  It is the beginning of the end of the journey that I have been so blessed to have taken with my children.  Before the girls were old enough to read big chapter books, we started the fanciful journey into the World of Harry Potter by reading them as a family.  I honestly believe this is one of the reasons why I have such avid readers!  Now we are close to seeing the end of the movies on the silver screen. 
• The Wonder Year - I have embarked on a new journey.  As many of you know, I love to play around with my camera.  By no means am I any good, but I am learning.  A friend of mine has challenged me to take a picture every day for a year.  So, that is my new project!  :)  I am so excited...it is a lot of fun and I hope to grow as a photographer.
• Eli's Birthday party - no not my Eli (pronounced Ellie) but Eli (like the beautiful baby boy).  He was born very premature (I think he was born at 29 weeks) and has really grown into a handsome young man of One Year Old!  What a blessing!  God is good!!
• New Palm trees - thanks to a good friend, I now have two new palm trees to put in my front yard. :)  I will be heading out there in a few minutes to put them in.

Well, that is all I can think of now.  I think that is enough, dont you?  haha :) 

Sending you all hugs and smiles across the miles,
Mary

Welcome to the Family Blog - Week of 11/7-13

Well, I thought it was finally time to work on a blog.  We have so much going on in our lives that I tend to lose touch with those who matter to me.  In the spirit of bringing us all together, I have decided to follow in the footsteps of some of my closest friends and document "The Life and Times of this Crazy Family."  I do hope that you enjoy the read. I will not be dedicating the blog to anything specific....just rambling through.  I hope we can keep it interesting.  :)

This week has been a rather rough one for us.  My dear boy was sick and that threw everyone for a loop.  I stayed with him on Monday and he went to the doctor.  He ended up staying home Tuesday and came home early on Wednesday due to the cold.  Thursday we were off (Veteran's Day), so he got an extra day of rest.  He finally returned to school on Friday and made it the whole day!!  Yay!!  He seems so much better now!  Thank goodness!  I was really worried because it was taking him so long to throw it off.  Now he is back to his happy and hyper self.

Melissa has been pretty busy this week too.  She had a math test, which was concerning for her.  Anyone who knows Mel well knows that Algebra is a completely foreign language to her.  She is muddling through.  I am sure she will pull off  a terrific grade in that class...she is working so hard. 

Our dear Sailor is doing well.  She is happy, although freezing her little butt off.  I have been working on stuff to send up to her.  She texted earlier stating that she passed the test for the unit that she has been working on.  This particular subject matter is completely foreign to her, but she is getting it...it just takes a little time. :) She is looking forward to coming home for Christmas...we will see what kind of time she has.  I cannot wait to hug my daughter....I miss her so  much.

As for Tom and I...we had a very spicy Saturday night <sarcasm>.  I baked some cookies, worked on a scrapbook, and played mind numbing facebook games while he played a game on the Wii.  Yeah, we are just party animals!!  Watch out!  In all seriousness, I enjoyed this night very much.  We are always on the go, and to have this down time tonight was so wonderful. :)  Such a blessing!!

I guess that is all for now...hope you enjoyed the read!

Sending Hugs and Smiles!!
Mary