Parent/Teacher Conference

First, I'm just gonna start off by saying...

This has become the PCS from hell...so far...

I'll share more about our headaches at a later time.

Right now, I really need to blog about something happy, so I figured I'd write about our first Kindergarten parent/teacher conference with Dannika's teacher.

Since we are moving next week, we figured it was a good time to sit down with her teacher, and just see how she is at school with the upcoming move and all the transitions she is about to make.

I couldn't be more proud to be Dannika's parent after today's conference.

When Dannika started Kindergarten, I had so many fears in regards to her age.

She's a "July baby", and for parents out there who have July/August babies know just how different a 5 years and 3 months old child is compared to a 5 years and 8 months old child (developmentally speaking).

I thought about holding her back a year, but her preschool teacher reassured us over and over again that Dannika, was indeed, MORE than ready for Kindergarten.

Dannika started Kindergarten as a young Kindergartener, and my fears were amplified when I saw how HUGE the kids in her class were compared to her.

Some of them were already 6 years old or turning 6 very soon!

After speaking to her teacher this afternoon, however, I am SO glad we didn't hold her back.

Her teacher told us that she is "leaps and bounds" ahead in development than most of her peers.

She's already sounding out words and writing sentences in her journal. 

To be honest, I had no idea that she was writing sentences until today when her teacher showed us her journal. 

Nick and I were both in shock

She is also considered the "quiet" one in her class which also came as a huge shock to us.

Lord knows we can't get that child the be quiet for a minute at home!

She doesn't like to "tattle tell" which is also her worst enemy in terms of her personality.

She tends to let things fester, and the teacher notices by her facial expression that she's upset.

Her teacher will ask her what's wrong, and THEN she will tell her, "so and so took my book" or "so and so pushed me off the slide".

I don't know where she gets the passive aggressiveness from, but it's definitely not from me!

Her teacher asked her today if it was OK if she stood in front of the class and answer some questions about Texas.

Apparently, our typically "shy" little girl, owned it.

She told her classmates that she was "never ever coming back here", "Texas is hot and doesn't snow", and "Texas has lots of beaches".

I'm super proud (and feeling braggy) about how great our conference went.

Her teacher had no qualms or worries about her transitioning to a new school.

She said she makes friends fast and easily, and said that she is a "perfect child to have for the lifestyle that you guys live."

My heart is full :)

She went on her first Kindergarten field trip this week to the apple orchard, and came home with a bag of McIntosh apples and a pumpkin that she picked herself!

Leaps and bounds ahead of her peers....lol.

On the way to the bus stop this morning.

New England Apple Picking

A popular New England fall time tradition is apple picking.

Yes, there are apple orchards in California, and yes, there are apple orchards in Texas...

There are probably apple orchards all over the country, but it's more of a "New England" thing.

In fact, I've never been apple picking in my life until I moved here. 

The first time I ever went was last Fall, and it was at that moment that I became an "apple snob".

After tasting a delicious, crisp, sweet, and crunchy apple straight off the tree, you'll never look at or eat a regular "grocery store" apple ever again.

In fact, for several months after apple picking season was over, I refused to buy apples from the store, because "they just didn't taste the same".

It's seriously just amazing.

This weekend (since it's our second to last weekend here), we figured we would go one last time to Belkin Family Lookout Farm in Natick to go apple picking.

Lookout farm is slightly overpriced, and we paid 65 dollars total for 3 people (Mattis was free thank God), and a medium sized bag to hold our apples that cost like 20 bucks.

Honestly, there are a TON of better orchards that charge a LOT less to pick apples than Lookout Farm, but we went there out of convenience.

We picked golden delicous, shizuka, honey crisp, and asian pears.

I've never had a shizuka until yesterday, and they were DELICIOUS (well they're ALL delicious straight off the tree).

Mattis ate an entire apple by himself....

nom nom nom

You can't leave the apple orchard without purchasing some good old New England Apple Cider Donuts!!!

They're serious SOOOOOO good!

We bought just 3 (one for each of us minus the baby of course), and had them with coffee (juice for Dannika) for breakfast this morning.

I probably won't buy another apple for a few months until I forget how delicious a freshly picked apple tastes from the tree.

8 Days and a Wake Up

That's how much longer we have here in New England!!

I feel like I've been the worst blogger ever lately.

I went from posting almost daily to posting every few days.
Truth is, I have a LOT to talk about and blog about, but the excitement of our upcoming move to Texas has totally taken over me.

Today is our last Sunday at our wonderful church.

We'll have movers at our house all day next Sunday, so we won't get to go to church.

It's a little bittersweet.

I've mentioned before on my blog about how awesome our church is, and it's one of the very few things our family will truly miss about New England.

However, our last Sunday with our church family here in Massachusetts also means we're one day closer to getting back to "the promised land"....TEXAS!

I know y'all know we are excited, but I don't think I could ever quite put into words just how excited we actually are. 

We are almost closed on a GORGEOUS home, and I am so excited to redecorate and make it our home.

Can I also just shamelessly add that I am ridiculously excited to be missing the horrific winter that New England is anticipating this year?!

I've already made sure to tell my friends here that I will send them lots of pictures of our "snowless driveway" in Texas.

Looking at the home that we live in now, I realize all the color schemes and decor I choose to put up is conducive to how I felt when I first moved here.

The colors I picked out to paint our walls are dark.

When I moved here, it was so cold already, I wanted colors that would make me "feel warm", but now that I think about it, it was all about my mood....dark and depressed.

I'm sort of "not in love" anymore with this home that we are renting here in Massachusetts.

I picture our new home in Texas to be light, airy, and just full of life....exactly how my mood is as we prepare to leave New England.

As I mentioned before, this last year is when Nick and I finally "chose" to be happy and take advantage of the time that we have living here, and we've been a better couple and happier ever since.

This weekend, we spent time with our neighbors and had a garage sale to get rid of unnecessary "stuff" that I was hanging on to for no reason at all.

When it comes time to move, I always find myself wanting to throw away, get rid of, or donate EVERYTHING.

Friday night, we went over to our neighbor's house to have homemade pizza, wine, and s'mores night.

It's become a bit of a tradition every Friday, and it's something we look forward to every week.

Saturday, we had a garage sale, and managed to get rid of a lot of big items!

We got one last use out of Dannika's "ice cream stand" from her birthday party, and used it as a lemonade stand.

We grilled some ribs, and sat outside in the gorgeous weather to eat.

Like father, like son...

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and I'm looking forward to taking some down time and catching up on y'alls blogs!

Semper Fi Society

The "Semper Fi Society" is a group of Navy ROTC midshipmen who are under Marine option contracts.

(There is no such thing as Marine Corps ROTC since we are a department of the Navy)

Most colleges with an NROTC program have a Semper Fi Society.

The best way I can describe it is comparing it to a fraternity...with slightly more mature college kids with (in my humble opinion) their sights set on a selfless career after college.

The biggest thing that Nick had a hard time adjusting to when he took this assignment is the lack of junior Marines.

Junior Marines give Marine leaders purpose.

It gives leaders someone to mentor and mold.

The closest we got to adopting a group of junior Marines was the Semper Fi society.

Honestly, for the most part, they remind me of junior Marines.

The difference between a LCpl and a regular "civilian" college kid is the level of discipline and maturity that they possess.

However, LCpls are still young, impressionable, slightly less than smart, and have a level of immaturity compared to more senior Marines.

I've always said, however, I'd rather trust my life with a group of 17-19 year old LCpls than with 21-23 year old college kids.

However, the college students that are a part of the NROTC program, and specifically the Semper Fi Society, tend to have a grasp on life moreso than their peers that sit next to them in their classes.

They're just like LCpls....still young and impressionable...but with a slightly higher level of discipline than the average "Joe".

I know Nick enjoyed aspects of working closely with the Semper Fi Society, because to him, it was like mentoring his junior Marines. 

So today, a few of the members from the society threw Nick a small "hail and farewell" at a small pub right next to Boston University called Cornwall's.

We enjoyed food and drinks.

I got to meet Nick's replacement Gy and his wife.

It was a great time, and we were so appreciative that they took time out of their classes and busy schedules to come see us off.

On our way!

The gift from the SFS.

We have an insane amount of challenge coins that Nick and I have collected over the years, and our little challenge coin holder had overflowed, and we had coins just sitting on top of our bookshelf.

Emilee knew this issue we had with our coin storage, and they came up with this awesome challenge coin holder for Nick!

We also got matching BU work out shirts!

All of our coins fit and we have room for more!

The inscription on it.

We're not sad to be leaving Boston, but we are sad to say goodbye to all the wonderful people that have been a part of our lives here!

I'm sure we will run into these guys (and gals) someday in the fleet, so until next time!!!

5 Things I'll Miss About New England

We're just a couple short weeks of saying farewell to Massachusetts!!!!

I've been doing a lot of reflecting on our time here with "the end" being upon us.

I'm sure if you follow by blog, you remember all the "hate" posts and "I'm so depressed" posts that I wrote about Massachusetts when we first moved here.

To be honest, this place has grown on me slowly and steadily through all the hate and discontent I had for this place.

(It doesn't mean I can't think of about a gazillion other places I'd rather live than here.)

While, I don't foresee our family ever moving back here (unless God has a sense of humor and decides to station us here again one day), I can at least say that I am thankful for the opportunity to live here for 2 short years (and 2 looooooong winters).

I am also thankful to be leaving and moving back home to Texas for a few years.

With our time winding down here, I figured I'd write a post on the top 5 things I'm going to miss about this place...yes...there are things I will miss....(shocking, right?)

1. Our church, Connect Community Church in Ashland, MA.

Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente, CA will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the church that I was saved at, BUT Connect is a close second.

I found Connect through a Google search one evening (while having insomnia) after weeks and weeks of trying out different churches in our area and not finding one that "felt like home" to us.

We went THAT Sunday, and literally, it was "love at first sight" when we walked in.

The worship, the service, and most importantly the over abundance of such genuinely and warm people made this church absolutely amazing.

Another blessing this church has brought us is Nick's spiritual journey.

He made the decision this summer (all on his own) that he wanted to get baptized at this church before we moved.

This church had a profound impact on Nick's walk with Christ, and last Sunday evening, he "took the plunge"!

I couldn't think of a more fitting way to end our journey here in New England. 

After constantly questioning why God sent us to this frozen tundra of all the other places we could have gone. 

After some very difficult trials...through prayer, it became clear to us this year that it was for the spiritual journey.

So proud of my husband, and I'm so glad that we made it to this point in our journey together with Christ.

2. Our Neighbors

Have I ever mentioned how absolutely AMAZING our neighbors are here?!

We seriously could not have asked for better neighbors, and I feel bad for people who will never get to experience a friendship like we have with people that live around us.

They've become like family to us, and I'm honestly prepared to shed a LOT of tears when we have to say goodbye to them!

I have the type of neighbors that are a close second to our military family friends.

This Summer, I was have a particularly rough day with Nick being gone.

I walked across the street at 8 in the evening (on a weeknight) to cry, and my awesome neighbor Linda sat there and just listened to me complain and poured me a glass of wine.

Nick has become better friends with the guys around us than anywhere else in Massachusetts.

I remember last year, he literally just sat outside with our neighbor, sharing a 6 pack with him, and staring at his garden....no words were spoken....but they were just bonding.

I really could go on and on about how amazing our neighbors are, but I'll spare you the details.

3. Nick's students

For the most part, young college kids bother me.

They're entitled brats who have never done anything outside of high school, and have opinions that aren't valid.

I think that opinion comes from the fact that I've spent 10 years working with 18-19 year olds who have gone to combat and have had the responsibility of another life. 

But, these "kids" that are involved with ROTC seem to have a slightly different outlook on life in general...a teeeeeeeeeennnnyy tiiinnnnnyyy bit more mature than the average college kid (teeny tiny).

I still laugh sometimes at the stories I hear about them from Nick, and there's no doubt that they're young and are making the same poor decisions I made at that age.

 But for the most part, I've taken a liking to a few of them, and I'm gonna miss them.

4. Spring Time

Spring time in New England is my favorite time of year, hands down.

I'm used to an EXTREMELY short spring in Texas (that leads straight into 'hell like' weather in the summer).

California doesn't really have a "true spring" since it's so nice there all year long.

Living in a place with an actual 4 seasons let me experience the beauty of spring.

After a torturous winter, I absolutely love it when I hear the birds chirping, the squirrels running around, and the gorgeous mild and sunny weather.

I was "unofficially" diagnosed by the VA today as having "seasonal affective disorder"...aka...I get super sad in the winter.

So for me, after being depressed, moody, and unpleasant for 5 months, when spring time comes, it's like a rebirth of myself.

A happy "me" emerges, and it's the greatest feeling ever. 

5. Lobster Rolls and Clam Chowder

I told Nick the other night at dinner that New England has made me a "clam chowder" snob.

After eating delicious and authentic clam chowder for the last 2 1/2 years, I don't think anything else will ever compare.

I totally picture myself turning my head in disgust at Texans who try and serve me clam chowder...lol.

Same with lobster rolls....one of my favorite native New England foods.

 

So there y'all have it!

 

I was gonna do a post on things I won't miss about New England, but I realized that it would turn into a novel.

I'm grateful for our experience here, but I don't want to come back....remember, I've been unofficially clinically diagnosed with being "anti winter"...

 

And some awesome photos of my family....just cause I can...

Watching HGTV with me with his legs crossed and eating his puffs.

We went on a date night......with both kids....womp womp...

This photo is fantastic...
Just so much wrong with it...
Nick totally ignoring our son because he's busy looking at toys...
The fact that our 1 year old is standing backwards in the car unsupervised...
Or the fact that I decided to snap a photo of it instead of fix the situation...haha.