Report Cards

Joslyn made all A's again! Her teacher wrote, "Joslyn's excellent work is a reflection of her fine attitude and effort. You can be extremely proud of the wonderful job you have done in raising her. It is a real pleasure to work with such a conscientious, well-mannered child!"
Oh, I'm one proud Momma!!

Allison is "developed" in all areas. For some strange reason 2nd grade is graded by either "developed" or "still developing". In the public school system Allison was given letter grades in 1st and I would have liked for her to receive number grades this year. Oh well.
Allison's teacher wrote, " Allison displays an excellent attitude toward school. She shows initiative and thinks things through for herself. Allison is well liked among her peers. She has a sense of humor we all enjoy. Allison needs to start working on her handwriting. Practicing writing smaller. Allison has 72 reading points!" I'm so proud of Allison!

I recieved a very nice blouse from my mom. Thank you mom! I really, really like it a lot and it fits really well !!

Flowers in Winter

The girls and I went to a little shop after school today. They picked out flowers they liked from the garden area. The flowers supposedly grow well outside in the cold weather...we'll see!

Suprise from Philip

When Philip left of course the girls were sad. One of the special moments Joslyn and Allison said they would miss was when Philip would come home from work with special surprises for each of them. Well even though Philip is far away he is still sending the girls surprises! They were so excited! I'm so thankful he has such a caring a giving heart especially when it comes to Joslyn and Allison!

4 Day Weekend

The girls had Friday off for Parent/Teacher conferences and the teachers had a work day. The girls and I just stayed home all day and did a few chores around the house. It also snowed so we bundled up and went outside, but the snow flurries quickly turned into heavy rain drops so we came back inside. Saturday we finished up our Valentine's Day shopping and shopped for my mom's birthday which is on the 13th of February. I can't tell you what we got her because she reads my blogs! We went to a birthday party at our neighbor's house. The party was over at 4pm but a couple of us stayed until 6pm talking about our summer plans, Valentine's Day plans, our husbands and so on. I'm ready for this week to begin. The sooner this week begins the sooner it ends and February begins!

Still celebrating Christmas!

The girls recieved a couple packages today in the mail so they had a great surprise waiting for them when they came home from school. Their dad sent his first round of presents with promises of more to come. Some friend's from our home church back in San Antonio also sent Christmas presents to Joslyn and Allison with a reminder to never stop celebrating the birth of our Savior! The girls played a game on the computer that came with one of their gifts and had so much fun!



The girls watching history take place even though we're on the other side of the ocean, in another country, we were still able to witness the inauguration and history in the making!(came on at 4pm our time)

Review and New Book

I finished reading the book The Shack. At some points during the book I fought back tears. It was really different from any other book I have ever read. I am passing it on to my mom and want to hear what she thinks about it. It took me a while to really get into the story and Im not sure I agree with the way the author portrays God and some of the things the author has God saying in the book. Just my opinion. I would not discourage anyone from reading it.
Now I am reading The Next Door Savior by Max Lucado. My mom gave it to me for my birthday. You can NEVER go wrong with Max Lucado!

Martin Luther King Weekend

The girls had a 3 day weekend. Friday Allison went to a friends house for a sleep over. I was so nervous. She has never spent the night at a friends house before. I checked with her so many times to make sure she really wanted to go to her friend's house. I made sure she had her bath before she went. Joslyn and I picked her up Saturday eager for a full report of her first sleep over. Allison admitted to us that she was scared and cried a bit. She was so happy to be home and back in momma's bed Saturday night!
We went to our neighbor's birthday party on Saturday night. I met the girls P.E coach at the party, he was there with his family and he told me that I had really great girls and how well behaved they are! We also were able to talk to my mom on the web cam!!
Sunday the girls and I went to church and came home to enjoy a relaxing afternoon at home.
Today- Monday the girls and I went shopping for Valentine's Day cards. We wanted to get good cards before they all disappear. I needed to quickly get one for my hubby, most of the husbands are deployed so the Husband's cards would be the first to go. (All the Daddy cards are already gone). We ate dinner at the food court. We had planned on going bowling but when we arrived at the bowling alley, we discovered it was closed in honor of MLK. So the girls and I came home and we made brownies and worked on our Valentine's day cards! Well its time for us to go to bed, good night!

Presents from Philip

Yesterday I went to my Dr's office for my 4th iron injection, Im halfway to the end, only 4 more to go! Joslyn had a Dr appointment yesterday too. She has been complaining about a stomach ache for about a week now. The Dr gave her Maalox and powder fiber to mix in her drink. The Dr was thinking about running some lab work, to see if maybe her stomach ache could be something a little deeper, but we are going to try the fiber and maalox for about a week and see what happens. I'm sure its nothing. She is probably nervous or excited about something, even though she denies she isn't neither excited nor nervous. She is joining the Science Club at school, Spring soccer registration has begun and she is performing in a play with her G.T. classmates (which will be recorded and sent home on a CD so I will post it up. Anyhow my intuition is, nothing serious is going on) Joslyn is doing fine and was so eager to get back to school, she did not want to miss her G.T. class. We were in and out of the Clinic and Pharmacy within 30 minutes!
I recieved my birthday present in the mail from Philip. It is a very pretty necklace, I love it! He also sent the girls a case of Disney videos for Christmas.
The girls and I went to a Battalion Potluck last night. Our company was in charge of bringing drinks. A rep from Army Community Service's (ACS) came to talk to all of us about the deployment and give us encouragement, support and ideas to get us out and make new friendships with each other. I didn't have to cook either! The girls and I tried to make it home by 7pm to watch American Idol but "Momma talked too much" so we were only able to see the 2nd half of the show. The girls have a 3 day weekend. Not sure yet what we are going to do!
(27 weeks pregnant) Modeling the necklace Philip gave me!

My 29th Birthday!

Yesterday I turned 29! I feel a little old just saying my age now. Joslyn and Allison went to school, I stayed home most of the day and just relaxed. I went to the post office and my parents birthday present arrived right on time! I went to the commissary and picked out a red velvet cake mix. When the girls came home they did their homework and when they finished Joslyn and Allison began making my cake for me. While the cake was cooling the girls and I went to eat at Popeye's for dinner (I didn't want to cook on my birthday and I'm not familiar with very many restaurants around town so we just stuck with American fast food) We came home and the girls decorated my cake, sang happy birthday to me and I opened presents! Joslyn gave me an aromatherapy bath set (I tried it out last night and its GREAT!) Allison gave me lotion, body spray, and a massage tool! They both made the sweetest birthday cards I almost cried reading the notes the girls wrote! My parents gave me 2 great books, The Purpose Driven Life and Next Door Savior by Max Lucaedo. I can't wait to begin reading them! They also sent me a baby book. Thanks mom, I really didn't want a German baby book, and they sent me very pretty jewelry! Joslyn and Allison made it a point not to fight with each other all day and they did great!! This was really a wonderful birthday and I'm so blessed to have my girls here with me to celebrate my birthday with! The sun was shining bright all day and not a cloud in the sky...God was celebrating my birthday with me too!

Shopping

This evening the girls pulled out their piggy banks and began counting their money. They wanted me to take them to the store so they could buy a birthday gift for my birthday. we put on our jackets and the girls grabbed their purses. We went to the PX. It was different. Usually my mom or Philip would take the girls shopping for my birthday. We went to the perfume section of the store and I gave the girls some ideas of what I would like. I also strongly suggested the girls stay under $10. While they we looking I stepped a few steps away into the clothing section. When they were finally done, the girls came to me with their presents behind their backs and told me they were ready to check out. I watched from a distance as they paid for my presents with their own money. It was the cutest thing ever! On the way home the girls told me they both went over $10, but they know I will really like the gifts. They are sooo sweet, I love it!! When we came home, Philip was online "buzzing" us on yahoo messenger, so we were able to talk to him for a bit. Well its about that time for us to go to bed and begin another week of school...Good night!

Staying Connected

Joslyn was able to talk to her best friend from Ft. Hood today on Yahoo Messenger. They were even able to play checkers online together. I'm so thankful for all the technology we have, it makes it so much easier for us to get through the next few years, living so far from family and friends!

The Sweetest Gifts

Allison came home from school today with a picture for me that just melts my heart! I love receiving pictures from my girls! They are the sweetest, most precious, gifts that just put the BIGGEST smile in my heart!

Still Opening Christmas Presents

Allison received a Christmas present yesterday from her Godmother, Leah in Chicago. It was a Princess Calendar. Allison just loves calendars and writing school events, birthdays and other important dates on her calendar. She also loves to count down to special days on her calendar. She loves the pictures and was so excited to see that her absolute favorite princess, Cinderella was the princess for her birthday month - November!




One of the Christmas presents for Joslyn from my parents was a subscription to Stone Soup Magazine. Its a magazine by young writers and artists. Which is right down Joslyn's alley! She was soooo excited to receive the magazine! We came home from the post office and she began reading and flipping through the pages eagerly! So excited to show me pictures drawn by kids her age and read the stories. She loves this present! The camera just can't capture her all her excitment!

More snow falling!! Can't wait till Spring!

26 Weeks Pregnant

My belly is growing! So this is how I look at 26 weeks pregnant with my baby girl (we don't have a name for her yet, still working on it)!!

What a Day!

This morning the girls went back to school after a 2 week vacation. It was snowing this morning so I decided I would drive the girls to school instead of the girls riding their bikes to school. I then drove downtown (in the snow) for my my 25 week check-up. I was early to my appointment but had to wait an hour to see my doctor...I guess that never changes no matter what country your in! My doctor was able to get a pretty good picture of our baby girl, and really great video's of our baby moving around at 25 weeks. My doctor also noticed that my iron level is super low so on Wednesday I will start receiving iron injections through an IV twice a week for 4 weeks. This way the iron will get into my system immediately as opposed to waiting days for the iron pills to kick in. The baby is doing great, growing well and moving like crazy! She is just having a ball inside my tummy! However all my iron is going straight to her and I'm not getting much at all. I have been feeling very weak, but didn't realize it was this bad. I'm not too excited about going downtown twice a week and especially if its snowing. So keep me in your prayers. For this "South Texas", "Never driven in snow before" girl is scared to drive downtown!!

Just Blogging

Well we didn't go to church today. I woke up and felt soo weak. I have a Doctor's appointment tomorrow and I am going to ask if it would be okay if I start taking iron pills. The prenatal pills just aren't giving me enough iron.
I wasn't really looking forward to going to church anyway. It's sad to say (and I am praying about it) but the chapel on post isn't really helping me grow in my relationship with God. I continue to go because I want my girls to go to Sunday school and learn more about God. I sit in church, which has been difficult for me physically, especially these past few weeks (I hope once I can start taking the iron pills a lot will change and I will be more comfortable and have more energy). I pray the night before and ask God to draw me closer to Him through the words of the preacher on Sunday. The sermons just aren't uplifting to me. The songs we sing throughout the service give me more spiritual food for my soul than the sermon. I wish I had more options and I could try out another church. I will of course keep praying about this and I will keep attending the chapel services (when I'm not feeling so weak) I will also attended the weekly Bible Study at the chapel (it is led by the women of the chapel). Because I don't feel "spiritually fed", encouraged, or my relationship with God strengthened I have turned to other resources. I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study online, I am reading a couple of books that are giving me more wisdom about God and His word. It is just frustrating because I really want to go to church every Sunday morning and walk out closer to God!! So please pray for me and for the Chaplin's and their messages!
On another note, it snowed last night so this afternoon the girls put on a couple layers of clothes, jackets, hats and gloves and headed outside to play in the snow before it melts. Tomorrow they go back to school. Its hard to belive but we made it through the first half of the school year. I have been counting down the months until Philip comes home and going back to the states(I'm still very homesick/ USA homesick) Anyway, I've been looking at 2009 like this, starting with this month...My birthday in January (hence my blog background), February- Valentines day, March- getting EVERYTHING ready for the baby that will be here in, April- My parents come for the month, our family grows from 4 to 5 and Philip should be home for a couple weeks, May-just one more month until, June-which is when I plan on flying back to the states for the summer(keeping my fingers crossed that our finances allow for 3 overseas plane tickets!)Come home in August-the girls start 3rd and 5th grade, and only 3 more months until Philip comes home in late November. Now of course these are my plans and may not be God's plans for us, so I'm praying about all this. You too can keep us in your prayers!!
Okay well here are some pictures of the girls playing in the snow today! It was too cold for me to go outside so I quickly took pictures from our balcony. For some reason they like to go straight to my car and draw in the snow on my car. They were outside for about 30 minutes and came back inside with little red, runny noses. I had them sit in a warm bath and made some hot chocolate for them to warm their insides! Well I'm off to do my evening routine... my bible study homework for today, cook dinner, make sure everything is ready for school tomorrow (watch Super Nanny and Wife Swap) have the girls take their baths, read their books to me, say prayers and go to bed!



Since Philip has been gone my bed has acquired 2 more bodies! Joslyn and Allison are now sleeping in my bed with me. It is very crowded and seems more and more uncomfortable as my belly grows and it seems as though the bed is shrinking. I have suggested that maybe they take turns sleeping in bed with me at night, but neither one of the girls are comfortable sleeping in their bed alone since they are in a routine of sleeping with me. Oh well, at least they are still at the ages that they like to sleep in bed with their momma and read books to me! So I will just treasure these times we share at night together!