WOW It has been a long time!

I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted. I have been keeping up with viewing friend's blogs while I have neglected my own....
Let's see.....First of all we are preparing for a year without Dennis. He leaves in a few short months (September) to go to Korea for a year. During this time we are hoping that he will be able to come home for a month during his mid-tour. He will get back to the states for good in September 2009, by which time the kids and I will have already moved onto our next base. The kids and I will move after school gets out next June. We will drive across country and stay with my parents for about a month and then move onto Florida. I want to have our house setup prior to Dennis coming home and the kids beginning school. The kids are excited about moving to Florida since we will only be about 60 miles outside of Orlando on the east coast. The base is located about 200 yards from the beach.

Ryan just completed his baseball season. He did really well for playing in a league that was really new to him. He has only played Little League in the past, but we have personal issues with the Little League offered here on base. Since we wanted him to play in town, he had to play Pony League or what Dennis and I like to call "real baseball". He learned to lead off and steal prior to the ball crossing the plate (real baseball). He learned how to pitch from the stretch in order to pick off base runners (again real baseball). I am really proud of all that he was able to accomplish.

Autumn has been keeping us really busy with all of her dance activities. She has been taking her regular hip-hop class and she continues to dance on her competition team. She had a competition in San Jose last weekend, they took first place in their class and overall champs in their division. All of us moms were very proud. She has another competition this weekend, I hope she does well. Then next week we are beginning to prepare for her recital. She has two dress rehearsals, then a show on Friday, two on Saturday with a final show on Sunday. Then we have a week off............YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once the break is over she will begin taking a musical theater class on top of all of the other dancing that she is currently doing. I love that my daughter isn't afraid to perform in front of large crowds, because anyone who knows me knows that I wouldn't be able to do it.....But all of these activities can sure make a mom crazy.

As for me, I quit my job as a Financial Coordinator and I am now working from home for a dental consulting firm. I have been working for them part-time for about two years, but now I am more of a full-time/part-time employee. I like it so much better. I get paid to stay home with the kids and do work on the side. I create my own hours and complete projects on my own time...it is FABULOUS!!!! I was left with no choice (morally) but to quit my job, they were kind of shady people. It wasn't apparent at first, but over time everyone tends to show their true colors.

As time gets closer Dennis to leaving, I will probably be writing more. This will be a difficult time for me to remain in California with limited friends and no family, but I have wonderful family and great friends that are only a phone call away. I have chosen to stay in California for the kid's schooling. Ryan has a difficult time making friends and with him transitioning from 6th (elementary) to 7th (junior high), we felt it was best for him to do so with kids that he knows and with his friends by his side. Autumn doesn't struggle at all when it comes to making friends, she can make friends with someone even if she is the only person in the room....she will find someone to be friends with. People tend to fall in love with Autumn and her energy; however, Ryan is more like Dennis and me (when I was younger), very timid and private with a very weird sense of humor that only a few people tend to understand. Hopefully Ryan will learn how to make friends and will come into his own this next year, which will help with the move to Florida. I also hope he just grows in general, the boy is vertically challenged....he is about 3 inches shorter than Autumn. I do have to say that Autumn is tall for a 10 year old (she is 5' 2" tall), but Ryan will be 12 on the 27th and he isn't handling the height difference very well. I just keep telling him that girls grow faster than boys.....he doesn't want to hear it ;-) Oh well, he will be such an amazing man someday regardless of how tall he is.