Some updates and knocking a few things off my bucket list.....

Wow...

It's been a while, huh? This might be a looooooooooooong post. Just so you know!

I'm taking this psychology class right now that would call what I'm about to do 'self-serving bias'... Instead of saying it's been a while cause I'm a lazy blogger, I'm blaming my laziness and blog writing absence on technology. When it comes to technology, I. HATE. CHANGE. And in the last couple months, I have changed how I use my laptop by getting an extra monitor and wireless mouse and keyboard, and changed laptops so that Eli could take my old one (I'll explain that in a minute). And then in the middle of all that... Blogger changed A LOT!

So enough with the excuses, here's some updates....

School for me is going awesome. I'm still on the Dean's List at Ashford University Online. I only have 9 classes left, so unless God has other plans for me, I will graduate next April (on my birthday, in fact) with a BA in Health Care Studies and a minor in Psychology. No plans for pursuing my masters yet because honestly, I'm getting pretty tired of writing papers... maybe in a few years.

If you follow Matt on Facebook you'll know that he's started doing something he's calling "Feeling Better Everyday." He has a goal that the kids and I won't recognise him at the end of the summer (more about why the kids and I will miss his transformation later). His physical health has bothered him some in the past and made exercise painful, but he's been feeling sooooo much better that he's decided now is the time to get back into shape. He's trying to do something everyday that gets him out there and gets him active, and helps him to feel better about himself. Don't expect daily updates, he's not a really big fan of daily updates, although he's getting better at remembering he has a Facebook page. Yesterday, he went on a long bike ride (6.22 miles) and today he did some push-ups and walked to the grocery store with me and Eli and did some grocery store weights on the way back. (My back was killing me, so he carried the groceries home.) Tomorrow, there's a plan to go on another bike ride, this time with Sis. I'm so very proud of him!

Sis is doing good... school is going OK (her words). She's learning that when you forget to turn your assignments in on time, you don't get full credit for them and that Mom isn't the one responsible for making you do your work or turning it in. She's been in choir and with her choir teacher, she's learned that she's an alto and is blossoming where her singing is concerned. She has a BEAUTIFUL alto voice! Tolt has their spring music concert with the Choir Club, Drum Club and Band on May 30th at either 6 or 7:30. (They will have two different concerts at different times). I do believe that Sis has a solo in that one, but I'm not 100% sure. They're also planning to have a Choir Club concert on a different date where all the club members sing solos. I'll try to keep ya'll posted on that.

School is still not Eli's favorite subject, but he's doing pretty good. Some of you know how hard it has been for him to grasp the whole writing concept (both grammar and neatness) and how many of his teachers have chalked it up to him being a lefty and have let it stand at that. I was hitting abrick wall when it came to what I could do for my son and was about to pull him out and start homeschool. Well we've had some teachers this year who agree with me that it's more than having problems based on what hand he writes with and we're finally getting somewhere. We've learned what makes writing hard for him and we've learned what works at making it easier. Because one of the things that makes writing hard is having to rewrite things, he's been doing a lot on the computer, so that's why he has his own laptop now. Tomorrow, we have a meeting with the school to find out if we can get him a 504 plan (I think that's what it's called) to help as he continues with school and moves on to middle school next year. Please remember us in prayer as I meet with the counselors, psychologist, teachers, and administrators tomorrow afternoon. Next week (5/22-5/25) his school will be doing their outdoor education camp, so he's looking forward to that. He's my baby and I'm sad but as everyone keeps telling me... I'll get over it. He's just growing up so fast and I've been so lucky that he's such a sweet kid!

And now here's the most exciting update.... and why I'm knocking a few things off of my bucket list. My bucket list currently has about 30 items on it that I haven't checked. But this summer I'm knocking off a bunch of things because..... (Drum Roll Please!)

This summer the kids and I are going to visit my sister! In Italy! I'm so freaking excited I can't stand it!

I'm not going to share the specific dates because you shouldn't share those kind of things, especially online, when traveling internationally, but I will say this: 1) We'll be leaving soon, before school lets out. 2) We'll be gone over Eli's birthday but home in time for Sissy's. And 3) We will be gone long enough for Matt's appearance to possible change so much that we won't  recognize him right away when we get back. OK, I will because I knew him when he was in better shape, but hes gonna throw the kiddos for a loop.

So exactly what will I be knocking off my bucket list? Visiting Amber overseas knocks Items #1 and 3 off. Item #1 was to visit my sister for a happy reason. (The last time I saw my sis was 7 years ago at our Daddy's funeral.) Item #3 was a trip to Italy, one of the places we missed visiting when my family was stationed overseas as a kid.  I left the agenda for our trip up to Amber because she'll be working and we're sightseeing around her schedule, but I know that she mentioned a possible sisters only vacay (Item #4) and visiting Rome (Item #5). Item #6 is to share a European castle/palace with my kids, and I do believe some of those are on the agenda. Plans are in the works for Items #7 and 8, but I'm holding out on that until we know for sure. (Note to Amber: Feel free to post more of what we're doing in the comment section. :P)

OK, I know I'm being vague, but like I said... I left the agenda up to Amber so I don't know all the details and I am personally not comfortable posting an agenda online. (If you know the deets on dates... Please.... SHHHHHHHHH! ;-D) HOWEVER... I am taking my camera and computer (I'll still be taking my classes online while there so I need it) and my plan is to blog and most definitely Facebook. I know I've said that about blogging and have done horribly, but I'm going to ask that Amber and my kids keep me accountable. At least one blog post a week guys! The only sad part of this trip is that Matt won't be joining us. He's sad that our kids will be experiencing so many new things he won't get to see first hand, but not that we have this opportunity. That's one thing I LIKE about technology and why I am determined to share what I can as often as possible while we're gone. I can share with Matt what we're up to, he can see his kids enjoy a ton of firsts and I can keep going to school while we're gone. Just no more major changes in my technology please for a while please. :P Mmm K, thanks!

OK... so for now, that's all that's up around here. I'm all caught up with our everyday stuff and can't think of more to share and seriously freaking excited about the topic and my brain is too jumbled to put more specifics. I'll try to either Facebook what happens tomorrow or drop a quick blog note before the end of the week so I can share what happens at Eli's evaluation tomorrow.

SMOOCHIES!!!!! Love ya'll! :D