Apparently once a year is all I have in me, lol.

After reading my dear cousins blog many days in a row now, due to her and her husband's happy news of becoming first time parents, I realized that I still have this blog, sigh. I am utter FAIL. So what's been new with me?
1) Ryan is with us!!!! Yay!!!! He moved to Ellensburg at the end of March and has only left us a couple days at a time to make the trec down to his mom's place to do some work around her massive house. Nothing like the 6-8 month deployments/seperations we have had to go through the past 4 years. It makes me happy. He has also started at CWU and will be majoring in Graphic Design.
2) I have not finished my degree yet and it has been put on hold until at least next fall, as we are trying to figure out finances. My GI Bill only has three months left on it and that will not be enough to cover the 18 credits I need to obtain my BS. I am slightly dissapointed, but on the bright side, this gives me the break I have deperately needed after attenting school non-stop for 30 months. No joke, I would have a week in between quarters and I went to school year round. I deserve a little down time even if this does mean putting off my degree at such a late point. Only 18 credits left though, so I will bust those out in 2 semesters once I start back up. The FINISHED.
3) I have a job, but it is only at a grocery. Nothing to get excited about, but it gives me plenty of time for my family and this helps when Ryan needs to study or if the kids are feeling poorly. I usually work nights, so I am asleep when the boys go to school, but I am awake before they get home and I do not leave for work until it is almost bed-time, so I get to spend a majority of their home-time at home with them. Ideal in that, not so ideal in the pay, oh well, we must make allowances where we can.
4) The flu hit us all hard last week. All 4 of us got it and were out for the count. I never, and i mean NEVER, want to be sick at the same time as Ryan ever again. All men are babies when they are sick, how many of us have heard this statement? I know it is true for Ryan and while I don't usually mind, because I love taking care of him, when I am sick and feeling poorly myself, I really hate to hear the whining and 'poor me' that comes from him. Not to sound mean, but it's too much for me to handle, lol. Next time we are sick together, I am sending him to his mothers house, lol. We are all over the flu now, thank goodness. We can go back to business as usual.
5) This holiday season may be espeially difficult for me, as my hubby and kids are more than likely heading to NV without me. My brother, who is stationed in Hawaii, is coming home, as well as my pregger sister, who lives in NC. My mom wants to have a psuedo-family reunion for this event and I will more than likely have to work during that time. I will not have to work on Christmas, as we are closed, but since I work with mostly college kids and I am the newest hire, the odds of my boss approving time off for me during the holidays is slim. So, I am sending Ryan with the boys, so my family can at least enjoy the kids and the in-law in their midst, even if I can't be there. It's kinda weird that it may be like this because Ryan has missed the last 3 Christmas' with our family and now I will probably miss this one, bizarre.
6) As I stated in 5, my baby sister is having a baby. I am uber-excited to be an aunt again and while I really don't care what she has, I am secretly hoping for a girl. My sister is about 12 weeks right now and had a miscarriage scare this past week. Turns out she had a slight placental abruption, baby is fine, but my sister has to be careful for a while. We are all praying for her and the baby. If that isn't difficult enough for her, her husband is SF in the Army and is out training right now, so he has no idea that my sister is having these problems in her pregnancy. There is a way for my sister to let him know, but she does not want him to drop his trainging and have to go through it all over again, so she is handling it on her own. She is such a strong woman and her baby seems to be taking after her.
7) Brenyn and Euan are getting super big. Brenyn is now 6 1/2 and Euan is 4. Brenyn started first grade this year and is loving it. His reading is advanced for his age and his writing and math skills are right on target. Our first parent-teacher conference is Nov. 18 and we are really excited to see his progress through this year. Euan started at a new pre-school and while, educationally, it is good, I SO miss the pre-school Brenyn went to in Hawaii. The fit seems off, but this is the second Pre-school he has been to and the first one was too much like a daycare. We are running out of options for pre-school and so we are going to keep him in this one. I am just glad he starts kindergarten next school year!!!!
OK, that is all for now. I must head off to bed. I hope to not be away almost another year before I post again, but knowing me, it will probably be July before I get on here again, we shall see. Much love to my family. Smoochies!!!!!