WWWAT

I have decided to participate in this weeks Wordless Wednesday. This is my first attempt, and I am a little later than I planned because I am in school all day. So here goes. This weeks theme is Summer days/July. Check out the other entries here Rachel . July is a very busy month for us, check it out!

July is one of our favorite months. Being that my husband is in the military, we tend to be very patriotic. The fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays! No pictures of fireworks this year, but I did get the flag, where else, but at the pool.

Another favorite thing is the flowers in full bloom. Notice the red, white, and blue pansies? The smell is wonderful as you walk up our front steps.

July is known for its scorching days, last Saturday was one of those as we visited the NC state capital! A great water fountain to we the whistle.

Another favorite thing to do is water fights! It's pretty funny to watch my husband run from my little girl!

A huge part of our summer and July in particular is swimming. Both of my children are on the swim team as well as my good friends children. We practice 3 -4 times a week and have meets twice a week in July!

And you can't go to the pool without the essential supplies......

Don't forget, we celebrate 5 birthdays in the month of July! This is the cake I made for my friend! She's really 40, but you would never know it.

Both my children have birthdays in July as well. We celebrated Cale's tonight. Tori's is in 7 days, my friends daughters birthday in 11 days. Plus another close friend we celebrate with in July too! Whew! I am broke in July! And you thought Christmas was bad!



I hope your July is as fun as ours! Have a great summer!

Travel and Adventure ... Compliments of the USMC

Yesterday I went to a Key Volunteer meeting in Raleigh. The Marine Corps has a Family Readiness Program called the Key Volunteer Network. This program helps support the families of Marines. When we are in the fleet it serves as a tool for communication and support when the Marine is deployed. On Recruiting Duty it serves more like a planning committee. We don't have to maintain regular contact since the Marine is home. Yesterday we met to talk about the upcoming Marine Corp Ball. On a good day it is a 2 1/2 hour drive from my house to Raleigh. It took a litle while longer, 3 1/2 to be exact. But, lunch was tasty and I was determined to make a good day of it. It was a productive meeting, we decided on gifts and talked about next years Family Day. Did I mention I had to take the kids with me since hubby had to work? I wanted to make sure that the kids got to have some fun after sitting through the meeting and being on the road all day. So this is some of what we saw:

The State Capital

U.S. Presidents born in North Carolina

Statue of George Washington What seemed to leave the biggest impression was a statue in memorial of Vietnam Veterans. The look on my children's faces as we looked at the statue spoke volumes. We talked about the details on the statue. My son pointed out the veins in one of the soldiers arms. We talked about the equipment they were carrying and the expressions on their faces. I ended up taking several pictures. Look at the expression on their faces. I think this is the closest to how they imagine what their father went through.

I took tons of other pictures. I also learned that the best ones are not posed. My kids are terrible at posing for the camera. The moments I caught, like those in the above pictures, were the best. There were some funny ones too. I caught Tori sticking her head in a cannon. And another of her taking a drink of water. I also took some good shots of the surrounding scenery. There are several churches surrounding the Capital and I got a few shots of the steeples through the trees and they turned out pretty good. I have lived in NC for 13 years now and had never visited the state capital in Raleigh. It was neat. It also reminds me to take advantage of the opportunities around us.

One of the advantages of being a military family is travel. OK, so our family has been in NC for 13 years, but we get to see different places when we move every 3 or 4 years. Raleigh is one of those places. When we lived closer to Camp Lejuene we got to see the Outer Banks and several of the lighthouses. This is one of the ways I try to make the best of new duty stations. Sometimes being a military wife is difficult. We have to look for the positives when we move. Sometimes it's making new friends, decorating new houses, finding a new hairdresser (UGGHH!), or just figuring out where the keep our favorite things in the local grocery store. Military wives face a unique set of challenges. I applaud all the Mil Spouses I know. Each duty station, deployment, TDY, school, and move presents a new set of challenges. I don't always meet those challenges with grace, but I make the best of it wherever we go. I challenge you to do the same. Bloom where you are planted. It's one of those Mil Spouse motos. I live by it, do you?

oh...Soon, we will be getting new orders. Remind me of this when that happens would you?

A Winning Battle!

Today was a good day! We had a swim meet and had so much fun! The reason I am so excited is that Cale actually swam tonight. He has been avoiding it because he has tubes in his ears and hates to put his ears and face in the water. We have had several meets now and he has been feeling a little left out. I encouraged him to going to practice this morning and got him to sign up for tonight's meet (2 events).

He still won't put his face in the water, but even with his face above water he managed to win his heat and take 4th place overall. Go Cale! I am not going to tell him what he could have done better. I am proud of him for overcoming his fear. I am proud of him for getting back in the pool. The best part was when we got home tonight and I asked if he was glad he swam. He admitted he had fun. Then I asked why he waited so long. He said he didn't know, but that he was glad he swam.

It was worth the wait. You cannot force a child to do something they think they cannot do. I waited patiently for him to see what he was missing. I think I might have won this battle.

Got to love this face! She had a great night. Four 1st places and loving every minute of it!

Tomorrow I have to drive to Raleigh for a Key Wives meeting. I guess I better get to bed. I am satisfied. My son overcame a fear. My daughter is on top of the world. My children had a good day. My husband, well, we're working on that, poor guy had a meeting and missed the meet, but he was waiting for me when I got home.

There are times when it feels you cannot reach your child, spouse, or maybe a close friend. Don't give up on them. All of us have inner battles that we struggle with. It takes some longer than others to get past fears, doubts, and pain. Don't give up on them. It was so rewarding to see Cale's smiling face tonight. He knew he had dealt with his fear, he had beat it. And I knew, with time and patience, he could do it. I didn't push, he figured it out himself. Isn't that what growing up is all about?

Tough Mommy Decisions and Bursitis?

Today was a sad day. It is also the beginning of a new era in our house. Tori has been involved in gymnastics for just over a year now. She has done really well. She started at a beginner level last April 2007 and made team this last May 2008. She has been complaining of elbow pain lately, so I decided to get it checked out. The results are in and my darling has Bursitis. She has injured her elbow to the point of having to take a break. She will miss her first full season of gymnastics competition. I am sad. She worked so hard to make the team.

She has potential to do well, but I had to make the mom decision today. I had to decide what was best for her growing body. It was a difficult decision because she loves gymnastics. But here we are, out for the season. I am fortunate however that she is an active girl and loves many sports. She also swims and has decided to swim in place of gymnastics. I am proud of her. She understood the reasons for taking a break, and is looking forward to a new sport with open arms. Maybe next year she will go back to gymnastics, maybe not, it has been a good experience. She learned the value of hard work and made lots of friends. Mommy is proud of you Tori, let's have some fun together in the pool, OK?

Random thoughts...

I'm still new to blogging and trying to get into the habit of posting at least once a week. Final exams threw me off, but I'm back! I got my report card for the first summer mini-term: An A in History and a B+ in Economics, phew, I was worried about economics! I have started mini-term two, Spanish and Exceptionalities. I am excited about Exceptionalities, not so much about the Spanish, but I will get through it. I have to if I want to graduate next May!

Tori is still doing really well in swimming. She has been working on improving her strokes and looks better every day. Cale still won't swim for the team, but we have finally got him in the water and he is putting his face in! Yeah! I'm still hoping to get him to compete before the season is over, time will tell!

Our Fourth of July was uneventful, but good. We grilled with friends and had our own fireworks show. Of course, I forgot to take pictures, kinda bummed about that. We had a relaxing day, spent time together as a family, which is rare on recruiting duty, and generally had a good day. Saturday we went to see Aaron's parents and had another relaxing with them. Since my history class last semester, I have gotten interested in genealogy. I knew quite a bit about my family history, but not so much about his. Well, today I got to go through some old albums and look at the family tree. Very interesting. I am excited about digging a little deeper into their history and learning about where Aaron's family comes from, as it stands now, they have Viking roots! Wow huh? They even have a couple of Scottish Kings in their lineage. I am more excited than ever about digging into the past.

I think learning about your past and genealogy helps people to understand where we come from and why we are the way we are. I am German, with Slavic on my dads, moms side. This helps to explain my temperament and preferences. I am still trying to figure out Aaron's history, but I got a good start today. When I put this all together, it will be a great History for my children and hopefully they will treasure knowing where they come from.