news

There's good news, some bad news and some just plain ole' news.  I wonder when it ends that people automatically think you're pregnant when you say you have good news.  

Good news: for the first time in 8 years of being a mom, I hired a sitter to go out for myself.  Like a legit, babysitter.  Not a friend from church or youth kid, a real-live-sitter.  I went with some friends to the Mermaid Winery and then out for dessert.  This is the closest I've gotten to crossing "wine tasting" off my bucket list and it was SO FUN.  Funny part of it is, I met these women in Alison's 1st grade class...they're moms of Alison's friends and we were all at school parties and field trips and birthday parties.  Well thank goodness for our kids because I'm so thankful for them!

Bad news:  I found this on our porch.

This is the package we mailed Ben a few days after he left.  7 weeks later, it returned looking like it was dropped in the ocean and then given to a heard of elephants to play with.  Ben said that it probably was actually on the ship but they weren't organized enough to get it to him.  I was so disappointed, especially because he won't get it even if I mail it again.  So Ben, this is what you were supposed to get.  The kids had a blast eating all the snacks today.

Random news:  Alison took a picture of her dinner tonight.  It's in these moments that I see how we rub off on her in the little ways.

 

Somehow Colin all of the sudden has zero clothes.  Eli must have worn 3T in the winter or ruined all of the clothes he wore...regardless, we made a trip to a secondhand children's clothing store today.  It was an amazing store with really nice clothes for only $3.  I consider it a great victory that I've made it this far in our kids' lives on hand-me-downs.  The boys picked out new pj's (Eli still loves his pj's) and insisted on the footie ones.  They claimed that it made them run faster.

P.S.  I realized today why I've avoided shopping for so long.  Alison oohs and awes loudly over ev.ery.thing and the boys instantly begin playing some make-believe game where inevitably there's good guys and bad guys which results in loud sound effects and lots of bouncing around.  I think businesses would triple their revenue if they sold wine at the checkout. 

The news news:

Remember that serious conversation I tried to have in the middle of the check out line?  Well, the detailer contacted Ben on the ship and told him that we are "penciled in" to move to Yuma, AZ in March.  He'll be joining the Marine Corps Airwing and it's a 2-2.5 year assignment.  I'm sure I butchered that information, but like I said, communication has been difficult, so this is what I know right now.  I do know that things could change.  We don't have paper orders yet, so the timing or the station could change.

How do we feel about this news?  That's kind of hard to answer.  We feel good; we've only heard  good things about the assignment and location.  We're excited for really good Mexican food and to explore new territory like the Grand Canyon and San Diego.  The cons?  It's the desert.  I literally laughed when Ben told me.  I find it so ironic.  To be completely honest, we both have been feeling in the desert figuratively and now we are literally going to be the desert.  But, we're just going to add an 'S' to the desert and say we're going to dessert.  Fried ice cream city, here we come!

There's nothing like finding out you're moving when your husband is deployed.  It's hard to process.  I've been trying to plan our homeschool year and I just don't know how to plan a move in there and a move that doesn't have a set date.

Also wanted to add, that I'm sorry if this news offends anyone. It's not set news, so this is just sharing what may be happening in our crazy, not always seeming to be simple, life.