I am back! I will be keeping up my blog now! I want to keep a journal and this is how I am going to do it. I will share my love for my family and my enjoyment of cooking for them. This means I probably have to do a better job at taking pictures too! So much has happened the past 2 years, I will not update you but life has been wonderful, stressful, and full of love.

My Japanese brother...

is coming home!!! He has been stationed at the Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa. I am so excited to see him. I am so proud of him and the work he is doing over there. We are going today to pick him up from the airport.

Garrett will be baptized Saturday at 5pm. We had talked about doing it January 3 but we gave Garrett the choice to do it then or wait for Uncle Trevor to be there. He was so sweet and wanted to wait until his uncle could be there. I love my little boy, he is so thoughtful.

Garrett's enrichment scores are great! Here they are...

His verbal score is 128 which is the 97th percentile. This score is above average.

His nonverbal score is 107 which is the 68th percentil. Average

Garrett's composite IQ score is 121 which is the 92nd percentile. Again, above average. The 92nd percentile means he performed better than 92% of other students his age on this test.

He is amazing! We are going to the zoo tomorrow and in preparation he has studied the silverback gorilla, okapi, and tapir!

Did I mention he is very athletic too...he is just like ME!

Field Trip

Today was so great! Adam did presentations all day so he has this evening off! He picked up both the kids and we met at home to go out to the OSU dairy barn. Garrett's class had an after-school field trip. We were a little worried about the smell, many of you know how Garrett is with not-so-pleasant smells and sights. He did great. Madison looked like Rudolph because she pinched her nose so hard and for so long. Garrett saw how they milked cows and then got to pet a calf. They even brought bottles out and he got to feed one he also put his hand in the calf's mouth to suck on his hand. He pulled his hand out and it was slimy, he did great with that too, I hope he is getting over his weak stomach. It would be an understatement to say that Madison did not like the calves. One actually got spooked and jumped over the fence and Madison screamed liked I have never heard her scream before, and she is a screamer. She was very frightened. It was fun even though it stunk and Madison screamed and cried most of the time. Yea for family time!

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

I greatly enjoy Cowboy football. I was so excited to hear that Adam got home team escort and the Friday night assignment. Friday nights the team stays at The Atherton at the Student Union and Adam gets there at 5pm and gets home at 1am. This morning he had to be there at 7am and won't be home until midnight. The upside is that we get overtime money and the DOWNside is that the kids and I don't get to see Adam. He also is still doing homework and going to class and mowing yards! He is such a hard worker. I can't wait until he graduates so he can relax and we can spend time together. We will have a normal family life! And I won't be a 'single' mom much longer! A blessing among all this is that I know that he comes home and when I wake up he is there next to me.

Garrett and Madison's Grammy came up last Friday for Grandparent's Day! Grammy doesn't get to come up very often so they really anticipate the times she gets to come. Garrett's school celebrated Grandparent's Day by inviting them to eat lunch with them at school. She bought Garrett a couple of Magic Tree House books and Madison some "shakers". (a.k.a pom-poms)

I love my weekends with my kids, it goes by so fast. It seems like I am always cleaning and not getting to enjoy my time with them. After school everyday I have to clean up from the morning then I have to make dinner and clean up dinner. Then it is time for showers and bedtime routine. And my weekends are used for more thourough cleaning. And there is laundry, unending laundry.

We got up this morning to see Adam on "The Walk". The team and coaches walk from the Student Union to the field every game day. We go to see Adam walk, it is so much fun to see him out there. Everyone is cheering and screaming for the team but the three of us are there just for Adam. We are so very proud of him.

The Primary Presidency was dissolved and I am in Young Women's now. Just when I thought I was stressed to the max I get something that takes more of my precious time with my kids. I have to bring them with me to Wednesday night activities and they don't have dinner until 9pm. We don't have it before because I am cleaning and preparing things as soon as I get home until it is time to go. I know the Lord will help me through this and I know He will bless my children. It is just so hard.

On top of all this stress, my parents have court on Wednesday. I am so worried about my mother and father. I am so envious of my California family, they are everything that I want. Adam and I just have to look forward to making our own extended, happy family. That is something that we anticipate; our own happy family.

School, New Offer

My sweet Garrett started school today. He was so excited, he loves his class and teacher. He was so thrilled that she had Magic Tree House books. She even let him check one out of her personal library. He went to singing and he sang all the songs to Madison and I. He said he will always choose reading for his center time. I hope that he will be challenged, over the summer he was learning about the Revolutionary War, Pyramids, and Tsunamis. His favorite thing to do is go to wikipedia and search topics and read about them. He wants research guides instead of books he says. He can't get information fast enough. Not only does he read it, he learns it. He will spout off facts weeks after he reads something. I can't forget Madison, she is smart as well. She loves doing letters and writing. Today she wrote her name, Daddy, Elayna, and David (from the No, David! books) a lot. I was getting bored of it but she loved to write. I did not discourage it. She loves to read as well, her reading is memorization which of course is a precursor to reading. She has a handful of books that she loves and has memorized. I love my babies and I am so proud of them. I look forward to the years to come learning and growing but I cherish the time when they are young.


I have a new job offer and I am very much at peace with this job. It is to be an assistant to a 2nd grader. I feel so comfortable with this that I might actually take it. I feel like this little boy needs me and I could help him. Madison would go to school two days a week and go to a dear friend's home the other times. Adam would take off Thursday and Friday so we don't have to pay so much out for care. The reason I tried getting a job was to put ourselves in a better spot financially. I still hate leaving my sweet Madison but she is really excited to be with our friend. She called Grammy and told her even! I just hope I always have enough energy to make my children my focus and my top priority and not less stress and tiredness get to me. If I accept I will start on Monday.

Jobs

I finally got a call Tuesday afternoon to set up my time for the interview. It is today at 4pm. Thanks to wonderful Brooke she will be watching the rugrats while I go sit in the hot seat. I have never had an interview before, we'll see how it goes. I will let you all know. Also some great news with Adam's job...he was chosen as Police Officer of the Year in all of Stillwater. They choose officers who go above and beyond the call of duty. Adam has been doing presentations for campus and workplace violence to MANY groups. I can say MANY because he is never here. I am proud of him. I hope he knows I am supportive of him, but I think he only hears me saying that I miss him and he is not here enough. I do try to make a point to tell him how much I appreciate him and that he is a great father and husband. So I hope I will know soon about my job and I will let you all know.