New Wheels

We didn't get a new car but the kids and I have some new wheels.

During Spring Break our trusty old double jogging stroller went wheels up, literally. We were about a mile from the house when one of the wheels fell off. I managed to shove the wheel back on and we had to slowly roll our way home with one wheel up on the curb and the other on the street to keep it from rolling off again. Pathetic. We bought that stroller at a community yard sale shortly after finding out that I was pregnant with Peter. It was pre-diagnosis and things were so much simpler then. Its held up well and we've definitely gotten out money's worth.

The old stroller with the crooked wheel.





I went back and forth about getting another one. Olivia likes to ride but how much longer will Peter be content to ride? I looked for another gently used model but couldn't find one that I liked so I ended up on Wal-mart.com and found this one. Strollers have gotten pretty fancy in the last 4 years! I've decided to celebrate the arrival of the new stroller by doing one of those Couch to 5 K programs so I'll let you know how that goes....

Beach Retreat

In college my sorority sisters and I went on an annual beach retreat each year. Some of my favorite college memories are from those weekends. These were always "No Booze, No Boys" weekends. Just time hanging out with my sorority sisters, we played silly games, we cooked meals together, we hung out at the beach. We made goals for the the coming year. Fun Times.

This past weekend we went on a beach retreat with Mike's unit. In 2004 the Army began a program called Strong Bonds, it's a chaplain-led program designed to increase Soldier and Family readiness through relationship education and skills training. Multiple deployments and increased training and operations schedules have added significant stress to military families and the Strong Bonds program is the Army's approach to helping manage that stress. Preliminary studies of participants of the Strong Bonds program have a 50% lower divorce rate and increased marital satisfaction. This was actually the 2nd time we've been able to participate in a Strong Bonds retreat and we all had a great time! We made the short drive to Myrtle Beach and got to stay in a beautiful resort. Childcare was provided and while I was really nervous about leaving Olivia all the childcare professionals loved Olivia and she spent the day running around a huge empty meeting room at the resort. She had a blast! Peter also loved hanging out with other kids and was talking up a storm by the time we left. Peter would happily told me about all the cool toys he played with each day when we picked him up.

The curriculum for the retreat was based on the "5 Love Languages" (for more info you can check out the website http://www.5lovelanguages.com/). It was interesting curriculum and I do feel like we have some new tools to communicate with each other.

The resort had a beautiful waterpark and Peter and Mike had fun enjoying the slides an splash park while Olivia and I enjoyed the lazy river. Mike and I were able to enjoy some solo beach time which was AWESOME! It's amazing how different things are when you're not schlepping chairs, towels, umbrellas, toys, kids, snacks, sunscreen, etc, etc, etc! We also got to enjoy an early dinner date at a great Myrtle Beach restaurant (Sea Captain's House) where I had Hummingbird Cake for the first time--it was fantastic, a southern spin on carrot cake, so yummy!

All in all we had a blast, here are a few pictures of out weekend. For the most part we were having too much fun enjoying ourselves to be busy taking pictures. I did include a few of our attempts of a family shot on the beach. Apparently we will not be sending out a beach themed Christmas card this year If you are an Army Family and you haven't been on a Strong Bonds retreat you should check it out!

My Little Tattletale....

Peter and I try and meet up with Mike for lunch once or twice a month. Honestly some weeks that will be the only time Peter gets to see Mike since he leaves before Peter wakes up and often doesn't get home until after Peter is asleep.

Peter and I were running errands so we picked Mike up from his office and went to a quiet mexican place on base. It was later on a Friday afternoon and it wasn't crowded at all. The restrauant was near the nature trail and we ate outside and Peter had a blast running around and playing with his toy cars on the trail. We really had a great time. Then we headed back to the car and loaded up so that Peter and I could drop Mike back off at work. I was driving and I saw that the parking space in front of me was empty so I decided to pull foward through the empty space so we could be on our way. I'm sure you can all tell where this is going....there was one of those parking barrier things and I drove right over it. I froze, Mike started turning 5 colors of red as he gets out of the car to inspect the damage. He is LIVID, I'm sure you all can imagine. Seriously the way he was carrying on I thought the front half of the car was about to fall off. Mike doesn't want to say anything in front of Peter so we begin our ride back to his office in complete silence. You could have cut the tension with a knife. A few seconds into our ride Peter just starts quietly saying "Bump" "BIGGGG BUMP MAMA". Peter repeats this phrase the entire ride back to Mike's office. As Mike kissed us goodbye his only response was "Well, it's clear this happens often".

I would just like to say that 1. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the car, you can't even see a dent! and 2. That was the FIRST TIME IN MY ENTIRE LIFE I HAVE EVER DONE THAT. I may take the occasional speed bump a little too aggressively but I've never run over anything!

Thanks a lot Peter. Just you wait till you start driving.....

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost

For a couple of months now been at a crossroads. The uncertainty of the future has been weighing heavily on both of us and I have felt like I couldn't share much of what was going on for fear of jinxing us in some way. Mike's time in command is coming to an end and he has been busy researching different career opportunities for his next assignment. He is going to stay in the Army, that's is the one thing that we're sure of at this point. Mike interviewed for an ROTC instructor position at Tulane University in New Orleans. It's a bit of a dream job, it all seems too good to be true. We'd be in the same city as friends and family. When I was in New Orleans last month I toured a very special school in New Orleans for children with special needs. I believe that it would be an amazing opportunity for Olivia, it's a remarkable school and I know she'd fit in well there! I even started looking at job openings at local colleges and universities for myself. Mike was researching graduate programs and hoped to begin work on his Masters while we were there. Mike would not deploy for a couple of years. New Orleans has all the medical specialists that Olivia would need. The list of pros is long. Mike's current boss and his potential new boss both agreed that he would be a great fit for the position. But we're still waiting on approval from Army Human Resources. This approval is taking a very long time. With each day that passes it seems less and less likely that this will work out. It really does seem to good to be true.

Option two would be for us to stay here, for Mike to get a job within the special forces community as a Fire Support Officer. This is also a job that Mike would enjoy. He would most likely deploy in the near future but we could stay in our house, in our neighborhood. I've made friends here, I've learned my way around Eastern North Carolina. Olivia is all ready for school in the fall, I've even registered Peter for school in the fall. We have good relationships with therapists and doctors here in our area. North Carolina is growing on us, I don't love Ft. Bragg but I am growing to love North Carolina.

Mentally I've already begun preparing for option two but at the same time I just can't seem to let go of the dream of New Orleans. The uncertainty is starting to become stressful. I just want to know, one way or the other! It feels better to share about it finally. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. What's meant to be will happen, I know we'll be okay with either option, I just want to know!

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be
--Ray Evans