Saturday Sunshine

We woke up to SUNSHINE!! We have been so deprived here in the Pacific NorthWest we almost forgot what that bright globe in the sky really was.....YAY!! It made for a perfect day for me to get out and get my walk in with Banyan. Then we all got ready to head to the lake for the neighborhood Easter Celebration. We had fun getting a balloon sword for Jeremy and coloring pictures with Miss. Valerie. Banyan was happy to be there even though there was a ton of distractions from little dogs to food lying on the ground. He did really well considering the chaos of so many people in one small place. Jeremy was disappointed that he didn't find any eggs as he was out run by the older faster kids  :0/ But some super sweet children he knew from school stopped by to say HI. When they realized he did not get any eggs they gladly gave him three each of their own! Let me tell you Jeremy didn't ask them for eggs nor did their parents suggest this- they just gave them freely. Sure made this mom's heart happy because it made Jeremy's whole afternoon better. The egg hunt was the only thing he was super excited about and to not get any eggs was very sad. Thank you to those lovely children who gave away their eggs with candy today for my little guy. I hope everyone else enjoyed a great Saturday & has a very blessed Easter Sunday.

I Won't Give Up

It's funny because I keep hearing this new song everywhere this week. I really love the words. I feel like God has me listening to it over & over this week so I know I can do all the things that are set before me on my overflowing plate at the moment. I have the four boys going in all different directions in their lives. I always feel like I'm missing something where they ae concerned because there is only one grown-up in the house at the moment. I get so exhausted at times and hate when I hear myself saying "later I'll do such & such later with you". But yesterday at their parent teacher conferences all I heard was compliments on everything from their behaviors to their school work. I heard that my youngest is beyond smart & social. He is making huge strides in his behaviors this year. I learned that Jeremy for the first time EVER had conquered all his Occupational therapy goals!!-WHOO-HOO!! His OT thinks he could even not need her next year if his progress continues! This is HUGE as he has been going since he was 5 years old.

Then when I went to my oldest son's conference he presented an amazing Powerpoint presentation full of animation. He already has his future mapped out through to his graduation of Law school to passing the BAR. WOW! I look back and remember I was the same way only I just wanted to graduate from four years of college with a teaching degree. His schedule for his sophomore year is hard & he picked his classes all himself. He is so excited & enthusiastic still about school that I prayed last night God let's him succeed so his enthusiasm remains. His grades where good & his teachers love him-YAY Next came son number two who has always been the one to know which of my buttons to push. He has struggled the last two deployments only at home with me & his behavior. At times I want to scream at the top of my lungs "why why do I get all the sarcastic rude comments but you behave for everyone else?". I know this is just part of his anger about his dad being gone alot as well as his personality. He came out screaming & has never looked back. But his teachers where giving him high marks and praise. His English teacher who gave him an A actually told him " You could do better if you paid closer attention". That made my day to know she thought he could get an A+ as he has to work his tail off for his good grades unlike son #1 & #4 who are just naturally good at school. I left all the conferences thinking maybe I wasn't doing such a horrific job with the boys these past ten months on my own after all- thank you Jesus!

Then came time for the puppy- the wonderful ball of soft squishy golden fur who demands almost all my time. It was time to head to puppy class where I honestly never know how Banyan will  behave. It's gotten to the point where I was dreading Wednesday  night class every week. Last night Banyan showed up with his best service dog brain WORKING!! He did everything I asked the first time & even shocked his teacher. I train him everyday all the time. He is rarely not learning something. Even when he was swimming this week at the lake. At one point I had him come sit & wait by me while he had to watch Panzer swim. He was shaking with excitement it was very hard for him. He did so good last night it gave me hope that I am not messing up the dog either.

It's hard as a single parent even for just one year every other year lately to not get overwhelmed. I have about eight different balls I'm juggling & if one falls they all seem to crash. As I heard this song played every time I turned on the radio this week , I sang along. I realized if I just breathe and keep plugging along never give up on the kids, the dogs, the friends, or myself we will be just fine. That I have to try and be more positive when I hear other wives complain or whine (because that's what it sounds like to me ) when they only have one or two children who are ALL Healthy about how hard their life is at the moment. That this moment to them is hard!  I have to stop thinking "lady try living in my world for a day- you would not be complaining". I have to stop thinking like that so I can keep going and realize even though I have a whole big bundle of things on my plate- God knows I can handle it if I just trust him. That he has sent people into my life this year to help  me along my path if I just let them. Which I admit is hard for me to do, I hate asking for help. Another thing I think multiple deployments has made me, very overly independent. It's not a bad thing just something I need to work on for myself to not feel so overwhelmed. 
Anyway back to the song, I love the words and the sound. It makes me teary every-time because it reminds me so much of all the struggles as a wife & mom I go through while Paul is away. That I know I won't give up- I can't because I love my family to much.

I live for my family & they ask for a lot in return my love- oh wait that isn't hard to give. The boys love me no matter what kind of day I'm having. Even the dogs love me when I'm exhausted and the tears flow. They know mom's good she won't give up on us, even though the skies have gotten rough. She never has before & she never will.

Learning to Swim

Banyan got his first chance today to hit the lake with Panzer our three year old Weimaraner. He had no service vest or leash on & was full of excitement! It took him a while to figure out it was ok to go in the water but when he did I thought I would never get him out! We uploaded some video to YouTube- not sure why they cut the sound. But he had fun & we look forward to more fun lake days.

Wet puppy after he learned to swim!

Dog-Gone Cold Easter Egg Hunt

All American Dogs that helps with Banyan's training attended the annual Dog-Gone Easter Egg hunt in Lacey, WA. They asked if we could join them to show off our handsome boy & explain how they have helped our family. Here are a few fun pictures. We really froze to death with the wind it felt like it was 20 degrees instead of the 43 my van reading showed. We stayed about four hours before we had to call it a day so we could all warm up- our fingers where numb! But we had fun & Banyan did a great job hunting for eggs!

 

This was as we where leaving- the only sun all day.

 

Me with Banyan - Liberty & Jean. Jean is one of our  AWESOME Trainers.

Our great poster about Banyan & Jeremy that we made.

Jeremy fell in love with this Handsome guy who came to see our booth.

Jeremy's other friend.

The kennel the boys stayed in while we talked with people .

Setting everything up for our booth.

We did have fun hunting eggs & seeing all the beautiful dogs. But the cold finally won out & we left very cold. Banyan is worn out & has slept the whole time we've been home. We hope to be able to attend future events for All American Dogs 

Jeremy & Banyan "Our Journey" 

This is where you can find us on Facebook to keep up with all our daily activities.

More of the Same

It's strange to me to wake up & see all these recent post from my new friends I've made while Paul has been deployed these past 9 months. Their husbands are finally leaving for a deployment. Sometimes it's seems unreal to me that Paul has actually been gone already for 9 excruciatingly long at times months. That we are FINALLY on the down hill slide. I hate to see the Facebook post of the new wives who've never done a deployment as their heart breaks as they send their loved ones off to war. Those wives who are hanging on the best they can as they send their soldier husbands off ....again. It seems like my world always revolves around more of the same. Paul home for a year then gone for a year. That friends I make come & then move away. I know this is what the Army life is about, but it still does not make it any less heart wrenching to watch & especially to love.


What do I say to those friends who now face the next 9 months sleep deprived & glued to their cell phones. There really aren't that many comforting words so I'll just do my best to hug them, hold a hand, take them out on a girls night if a sanity break is needed. I will try to reassure them that they can do this for the first time or one more time. I will continue to pray daily for all our military who are serving around the globe. I will just be here if they need something because most of them have been here for me for the past 9 months even when their husbands where home. Deployments are never something you get use to & they are never all the same. I always explain them as a roller coaster ride and all you can hope for is that you got on the roller coaster with the least amount upside down loops.

My countdown to Homecoming has began but so many others are still right in the thick of the deployments or at the beginning. Please keep them all in your prayers until they all come home for good. Here is a great song I just heard on another Bloggy friends post whose hubby just left. It sure says it all about how you feel when your going through the throws of a deployment.

Super CUTE Pups

I love these super adorably cute Pups I found while visiting over at Skinnie Piggie's Blog.

 

They are made by Troop Paws  and you can get Army, Airforce & Marines! Sorry Navy land it's against Navy regulation for some silly reason. They are too cute to pass up! If you go Follow Skinnie Piggie you can also enter to WIN one for FREE!!

A portion of all the proceeds goes to charity so you are also helping out a great cause! Go check out their adorable pups & get to ordering. Now my boys will have a great new deployment snugly besides their Daddy Dolls which are nice, but these are so much cuter! Thankful for companies like these who help keep our children connected when their special soldier is deployed.