Week One

First and foremost, I still hate how my Blog looks, and everytime I try to fix it, it gets worse. Of course. So, we all just have to deal with the gaudy horrid wallpaper, and try to just read it!

We are on day three of Jasin being gone. We are used to him working second shift, and not seeing a whole lot of him on weekdays anyhow, so the girls hardly kinow he's gone. Joe has had some adjustments to make though! A good friend of ours, and Kaila's best friend's mother, has decided to become a stay at home Mom, and work on her Nursing Master's degree. So, she offered to take Joe all day on Mondays while I am at the hospital, and then for an hour tues. through fri. between me leaving for school, and him having to be at school. In exchange, I pick her school age kids up and bring them home. GREAT!!!! Joe hates it. The conversation this morning was thus: "I don't WAANNNAAAA go to their house!!!!" "I am sorry, Joe, but you have to." "But my belly has a headache!" "It will feel better, I promise." "I will cry!!!!" "Will a bagel before you go help? I was going to make one for me anyway." "Alright. But I still am not going to those nasty buggers' house!" "JOSEPH!!!!!!!!!!" "I will walk." .... He went. He lived through it. He was threatened with awful things, if he referred to ANYONE as a nasty bugger again.
Jasin, on the other hand, is not faring so well. He is miserable, homesick and not at all sure he wants to be a Corrections Officer anymore. Part of me wants to say, "Okay honey, C'mon home" and part of me is like; "WHAT?!!! After everything we have ALL gone through to get you there; you are staying put, damnit!" But, I told him the decision is up to him. When all is said and done, there is no point in him being miserable for the rest of his life, either. We'll see. He comes home Friday night, and is supposed to go back Sunday morning. He will make up his mind then.

And it's a......

And baby is still a mystery! We went for our big ultra sound this morning. After everything was located, weighed, and measured; (baby weighs 13 oz...) we found that it was in breech position, and all curled up. We couldn't see what we are having. The lady doing it said at first she thought it was a girl, but then changed her mind, because you just couldn't tell. I laughed and laughed; we really didn't WANT to know, it would just be convenient to know! I am still saying it's a girl, though, because thats what my gut feeling has been all along. We will, however, be buying everything neutral!

The Big Call

About a two and 3/4 years ago, Jasin began the process to get into the New York State Corrections Officer Academy. We knew, going into it, that it entailed 8 weeks of a boot camp style training, and then a year away at a Corrections facility. From there, you have to work your way back toward home. We knew it would be a sacrafice, but worth it in the end. The entire process took almost a year, with all the testing and interviews. Then it stalled out. We heard nothing more about it. We actually almost forgot about it! I began nursing school, and we just hoped that Jasin wouldn't be called at least till I was finished. As timing goes around here for big news... He finally recieved the Big Call this past Friday. He is to report in Albany Sept. 27 for training. He will graduate Nov. 20, and from there, go to Clinton Correctional Facility, on the other side of the state, past the Aderondacks, on the borders of Vermont and Canada. My reaction was, "NOW???!!!!!!" It's an opportunity that we just cannot pass up, but we won't see much of him for the next few years, at best. In talking about it today, we realized we have not ever been seperated in 13 years. Just what a hormonal going to school, working mom wants to think about. Panic was my first reaction. But, we can do this, and we will be okay. Right? So, because Jasin has to leave in 2 weeks, and today is the only non working day either of us had together untill he goes, we took the kids to Rock City Park for the afternoon, and took lots of pictures, and just ignored the phones and the news for awhile.... Rock City Park is this amazing place, about half an hour from here. We go there a few times a year, at least, and the kids love it. It begins way up on top of what seems like a mountain. From there, you decend down a narrow set of stairs, about 80 or so feet, as Lexi is doing below.

Once at the bottom, the rocks are huge, some towering far above, some in formations. The kids LOVE to climb all over. The trail goes for just over a mile of rough terrain. PERFECT for kids!

Joe likes it!

I absolutely love this picture of Kaila!

This picture I liked so much, I had it blown up to an 8x10 and framed it. You cannot BUY this in a studio!

I did discover that this is an exhusting place, while still recovering from a 14 hour bartending shift the night before! Below is one of many breaks! Not quite sure what Lexi is doing here...

Holding up the 100 ton rock.

Another break

A Lexi pic! That child is SO getting a camera for Christmas!

Once at the top, the view is amazing. You can see, (According to the sign), for over 100 miles. We asked someone to get a picture of us here.

This bear is stationed near the entrance. The kids climbed up, and we HAD to get this picture!

And, while we aren't sure WHY there are liquor bottles hanging in this tree, it amused the bartender in me, so I took a picture of them, too.

And, last, but not least, I drive by this sign at least once a week. You have no idea how hard I laugh, every time I see it. It's been up for a month or more, and I don't think the owners realize how this looks. Since we had the camera today, I asked Jasin to stop and get a picture. (No, NYS doesn't do take out booze.)

I will try to put up a post Wednesday, with the news of what the baby is... have a good week!

Back to school and summer updates

Yesterday was the First Day Of School in Franklinville. So hard to believe all our kids are in school now! Too bad I can't stay home and enjoy it!!

And here is a picture after the second day of school. I will pull this one out for the future wife of my son someday! He slept for almost 45 minutes like this.
And, of course, we are still getting lots of rain. Might as well work with it, right?

The girls had a week of mega sleepovers recently. There were lots of extra little girls running around the house almost every night for a week. Jasin was SO glad he works second shift! In his defense, he does do great with weekend sleepovers when I am at work.

And, hey, I am pregnant, working, going to school and tired!!!! Below, Lexi and Joe make dinner...:) Please ignore the kitchen badly in need of being chopped off the house and re-built.

A Lexi picture. 'nuff said!




Lexi lost her first tooth a few weeks ago. OH THE TRAUMA!!!! She discovered it was loose about 30 seconds after I tucked her in one night. She came tearing down the stairs, shrieking and wailing in a way I have never before heard. Or, the neighbors, evidently, judging by the way they were craning their necks and staring from across the road... I have never heard so much drama over a loose tooth in my life! The whole road knew about it, eventually, and people would stop by every day, to check on the progress of said tooth. She even had my boss interested in the action. He cautioned her to be sure not to swallow it when it finally came loose. More drama, more tears, more worries. Thanks, Boss!

And, just because it was cute, I included a photo of Joe and his new dumptruck.

Thats about all I have right now... I am back to school as well, and life is just a whirlwind at this point! I will try and
keep the 'ol Blog updated though! Expect one next Wednesday, when we find out what we are having! (I am almost sure it's another girl...:0)