Wind, Rain and...HAIL!!!!

So we had our first big storm here this afternoon which actually brought hail!! It was pretty nasty outside for about an hour. I'm sure to the locals here it wasn't a very big storm but to us it was BIG! The kids were sitting at the window just watching the rain and then the hail started. They were so confused as to what hail was, haha! I tried to explain but me myself was not very hail educated, lol!! I opened the back door so they could see it when it landed and they were amazed!!

This picture is very blurry but this is the hail we had today.

I love when the rain rolls thru!!

Diorama #2

He's a pro now! Cory already did a shoebox diorama while at Condor Elementary in 29 Palms. He did such an awesome job on that one and here he is with his 2nd shoebox diorama in less than 5 months! This time he did it on the Sand Tiger Shark and he did it in class so I had no idea what it was going to look like. Parents were invited to come and view their childs work in class. When I arrived it was like a Diorama show! All the kids had their desks pushed up against the walls and they all had their work on display. As you walked around the classroom each child gave you a brief description as to what their diorama was all about. It was really cool! Cory did a really good job...even better than last because he was experienced, haha!!

I'm Active For...

myself, my kids and my husband!

Today I went and purchased Wii Active by EA Sports. I had been seeing commercials for it and became really interested! It's been really hard for me to get into a workout routine here for many reasons. I thought if I had something I could use in the house I'd be more willing to do it. I tried it out tonight and was very impressed! I really enjoyed it and in the 20 minutes I worked out, I burned 100 calories!!! It has a 30 day program and I'm eager to see what it does for me! The picture below had been deemed my "before" photo. Cory was taking pictures of me being "active" haha! I'm swallowing my pride and putting it up here because I'm making a promise to myself to look (and feel) better!! I want my health to be good for my children and I always want my husband to view me as a sexy lady! :)

This is my Wii character. She looks just like me!!

Today I am at 163 pounds. I have a goal of 140. I did it before, I can do it again!! Wish me luck!!

Next Step...

All weekend I have been worrying that when I called to get Caiti an appointment it would take close to a month to get her in. However, that was not the case when I called this morning! They gave her an appointment for tomorrow (Thursday the 28th) at 10am! First off we thought Caiti would be going to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD instead she will be going to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC. I am so glad we won't have to wait too long to get some answers. She is supposed to receive more blood tests to get more in depth answers. I do believe that everything is going to turn out okay but I am worried at how Caiti is going to handle all the testing. She had her first set of labs only a couple of weeks ago and she did not enjoy it. However, she did handle it pretty well. She cried but learned how to take deep breaths to control herself. I am not sure how long it will take for us to hear results on the lab work that is going to be done tomorrow but once we hear what is going on I will update this again. Please keep Caiti in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. Thank you!

Movies and Basketball!

For those who know Cory know that this little man LOVES to play basketball. It's all he did when we lived in 29 Palms. Well, since we've moved here he has not had the opportunity to play when he wants. There are no basketball courts near where we live. Tonight we went to see a movie on base and Cory asked if we could go over to Q-Town to play basketball and lucky for him I had the basketball in the back of my car so we took him. He was so happy!! He had so much fun shooting the ball!!

Jason has been working a lot lately and we really haven't been able to spend much time together so when he said he'd be off in time to go to the movies with us we were so excited!! We all really enjoyed the movie. We saw Monsters vs. Aliens and it was a great family movie! Lucky for us it does not get dark here until about 8:30pm so when we got out of the movie it was still light out and we were able to have some more family time while enjoying the beautiful weather outside! It was a great night!! :)

Just the Three of Us

Today was a beautiful day in Virginia so I decided to take the kids to the park and have a picnic. We drove all the way to Curtis Memorial Park in Fredericksburg and the park was a lot of fun but i enjoyed the drive out there much more!! It was the type of road you'd let the top down on your car (or for us that don't have convertibles...open the sunroof..haha) and just cruise along as your hair blew in the wind! It was so beautiful!! We took another route on the way home and I fell in love! Daddy was not able to join us today because he was working. It would have been nice to have him share this day with us but we enjoyed ourselves...just the 3 of us!

First we had lunch (from Chik-Fil-A) while sitting on the grass and then the kids ran to the park to play! I had plans to let Cory go play at the skatepark but all the big kids were over there so we didn't do that. They played on the swings, went on the slides and chased eachother around screaming and laughing!! We took a walk along a trail and the kids put on a show at the little ampitheater we found.

I was telling Cory how nice it would be to come back with Daddy and make it an all day family event and he was very excited about that!! So I'm sure you will be seeing more pictures of us at this park!

Outside Fun

We have had a lot of rain since we arrived here in Virginia. I don't mind the wet weather at all but it started to drive the kids crazy, haha! They haven't had many opportunities to enjoy the big backyard we have here because it's been rainy and muddy. Well, the weather is finally changing and we haven't had as much rain and it's warming up a bit. The kids asked if they could play outside with the water table and it was so beautiful outside I couldn't say no.

Since moving to Virginia the kids have not made very many friends. Cory knows Logan and Gracie and Caiti just knows Maddie. They play with them every chance they get but most of the time it's just the two of them playing together. They have formed such a wonderful bond this past month. They still have their moments of sibling rivalry but have become a lot closer and it makes me so happy to see them play together in such a nice manner. They have become more aware of eachothers feelings and their love for one another has grown.

It used to be when the kids were outside playing I had a friend to sit and chat with. It's not like that now however I do have more time to sit and enjoy my children. I have been going thru a lot since we moved here, struggling with tests that God gives me but I am starting to see that no matter what I've lost with this move I have so much to gain. This is my opportunity to become a more involved mom. To see my children play together. To have more time to focus on myself and what makes me happy. It's nice to have friends around but sometimes I get caught up in everything around me and I forget about the more important things. I plan to take each day and live it to the fullest, not to sit and sulk because I miss how life was. I'm never alone...I just need to pay more attention to what's in front of me!

The kids love playing with bubbles. They blow them, chase them, pop them and I love watching them laugh!!

Here is Caiti chasing bubbles...

Cory blowing a bubble...

When we first moved into this house the yard was full of weeds!! Jason and I have worked very hard on getting the yard to look nice. It still has a lot of work but we can see a difference already and we get compliments on it from people in the neighborhood!! Below is a picture of the side yard.
This is the front yard. It's a lot of mowing for Jay but he enjoys it!!

Life...

So life here in Virginia really hasn't been what I expected. I am always the one to say "you are in complete control of your happiness" and I never understood how someone could let the area they live in affect them but I do see now. I think I expected too much before coming here. I left a lot behind in California. A very easy life with my amazing group of friends. Yeah we dealt with deployments there but life was different. It's really hard being a military wife living in the civilian world. When you move base to base it's much easier. But when you make the decision to live off base, it's just not the same. At least for me it isn't. I live in a decent neighborhood...not what I would have chosen if I came and saw it firsthand but it's a home for us. The biggest downfall (besides the ridiculous neighborhood behind us) is that we are surrounded by civilians. Civilians who never come outside of their homes. When you live on a base you know you are bound to meet at least one or two of your neighbors because they all understand your life. You move from spot to spot and being the new person isn't always easy. Military wives (most of them) make you feel welcome. Not here...I have yet to meet any of our neighbors. Not by our choice but because they never come out. It's kind of sad. I'm used to walking outside and always seeing a friendly face and hearing a friendly hello. I have not had that for over a month now and it's finally starting to get to me. In about 9 months we will be putting in to move on base and I feel like these next 9 months are going to be the longest 9 months ever!! I am in my house majority of the time because of this neighborhood behind us. I don't feel comfortable going out and letting people see too much of my routine. The last time we were friendly with someone, they ran off with our jumper cables. GEEZ!! I just keep to myself now. I have no interest in getting involved with anyone around here. My kids don't have friends in the neighborhood like they did in 29 Palms and that hurts me. I feel so alone here. I would give anything to go back to 29 Palms. To go back to having someone to chat with while the kids played outside. Jason and I talk about how much we miss it. I think that when we get on base we will feel somewhat at home. I don't feel at home here in this house. I feel like it's just somewhere to wait out the next 9 months. Then the fact that Caitlyn has been diagnosed with Alopecia Areata has made things even harder. I know that her condition right now is nowhere near what some of the Alopecia patients are going thru but I worry that it may get to that point. I wonder how she will handle it and how I will handle it. It's like being here so far has done no good. I support my husband in every career and life decision he makes but I think we are both on the same page when I say we can't wait for these next 3 years to be up! Jason really enjoys his job and the people that he works with but is not a huge fan of Virginia, neither am I. It's beautiful here with all it's greenery and I think that's about all I like! I'll make the best with what's been given to me. I really can't complain because I do have a "home", somewhere to sleep at the end of everyday so I have to remember to be patient and be thankful. That doesn't mean that I don't wish our life here could be like our life in Cali.

Mothers Day

8 years of being a Mommy! Nothing in life compares to the feeling you get when you become a Mom. God has blessed me with two loving, happy and healthy children. I am very blessed and each and everyday that I wake up to see my childrens faces I realize more and more how beautiful God's love is.

As moms we experience so much thru our children. My children teach me a lot on a daily basis. There are things they learn from me but there are also so many things I learn from them and they don't even know it. They are so free and their hearts are so open. They keep me grounded. They keep me going each day! My heart is full of love for my sweet babies!!

When God blessed me with Jay I never would have thought He could bless me any more than that! Then He gave us our first child and four years later another. I couldn't ask for anything more!! Sharing the love I have for my children with this amazing man is like living a fairytale! These three make my life the best life ever!!

I had a good Mothers Day this year. Just having Jay home to be a part of it was big to me!! We attended Church and then I let the kids pick where they wanted to go for lunch because really...I wouldn't be a mom on Mothers Day if it weren't for those two. So Cory chose Taco Bell, LOL!! Not the best but it's what he wanted and I do love some Taco Bell!! Then we went over to Walmart to pick a few things up, came home and I got to relax while Jay worked on the yard. Then after a while I got bored so I went outside to help him and let the kids play in the sprinkler! Then Jay made me dinner and the day ended beautifully!