What is normal. I thought I was normal but am starting to think I am abnormal. Without airing dirty laundry I just want to say that my eyes are being opened to others lives. I don't want to know these things but they keep coming at me. How people live, what they think is good and bad/right and wrong. It is heartbreaking to know some of the turmoil people in the military deal with on regular basis on top the average stress that just naturally comes with military life.
I am thankful each day for my husband and family. No we are not perfect but believe that God keeps up from falling off the deep end. Do we screw up?....sure we do, however when we put our faith in Christ, we trust him to sustain us.
What ever happened to the people who stood by you, told you that you were stupid when you needed to hear it. Our beliefs have become so vast that we have no common ground with others so when things do happen that are bad in our eyes, we just say to ourselves "well they don't believe or hold that value so who I am to butt in their lives".
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Number 7
This will make Tim's seventh deployment. Cole and I have endured all of them together. This is Nora's first, it is hard to see her wonder where her Daddy is and learn that the only place she can find him is on the phone or computer slide show.
We are into our second week of Tim's 7mth deployment. He has not yet reached his destination, he is still in training. These next few days he gets to sleep in a hotel instead of bunking in a shack with 8 other guys.
So far we are all alive but have been better health wise. It started with fevers and viruses the day after Tim had left and coughs and runny noses continue to linger. My car battery has died, and the computer monitor went out, so far these are the only disasters. I have several deployment theories. 1. It takes 2 weeks to get into a new groove. 2. Things will break when they leave. I don't know why, I just know it happens.
The good things are that we do have more time to do school, watch the Olympics, and read. The weeks that build up to a deployment are really stressful. We are cramming in all the "lasts". Last dinner with friends for a while, last phone calls, last sit down and explain how the bills go, last trips to the BX to pick up socks, underwear, etc....It can be exhausting but it must be.
Tim lost his camera and something else (I don't know what it is). Pray that he finds these. He was going to take a picture for Nora to have a daddy doll made but can't.
Nora asks everyday about her Daddy. She now has a laminated pic of him and her to tote around. Cole is his normal self who keeps his thoughts between him and him, Sydney has pitched in like she always does and is Nora's second mother.
Mack had the most emotions of all. It hit him the night before Tim left and he stayed close to Tim for the rest of the time. Mack even gave Tim every bit of money out of his piggy bank. Tim assured Mack that he didn't need any money and wanted him to keep it to buy an ice cream one day.
Now that the sickness is subsiding and the silence of Dad not coming through the door no longer seems strange we are trying to keep ourselves busy. I do have my college classes to keep me busy and I am grateful when Tim returns I will be down to 2 maybe 3 classes left in finishing my BS. Nora and Mack have a new sand/water table to play with and the older two are trying to raise tadpole for a science projects. I hope they don't die before they have a chance to grow legs!
We are into our second week of Tim's 7mth deployment. He has not yet reached his destination, he is still in training. These next few days he gets to sleep in a hotel instead of bunking in a shack with 8 other guys.
So far we are all alive but have been better health wise. It started with fevers and viruses the day after Tim had left and coughs and runny noses continue to linger. My car battery has died, and the computer monitor went out, so far these are the only disasters. I have several deployment theories. 1. It takes 2 weeks to get into a new groove. 2. Things will break when they leave. I don't know why, I just know it happens.
The good things are that we do have more time to do school, watch the Olympics, and read. The weeks that build up to a deployment are really stressful. We are cramming in all the "lasts". Last dinner with friends for a while, last phone calls, last sit down and explain how the bills go, last trips to the BX to pick up socks, underwear, etc....It can be exhausting but it must be.
Tim lost his camera and something else (I don't know what it is). Pray that he finds these. He was going to take a picture for Nora to have a daddy doll made but can't.
Nora asks everyday about her Daddy. She now has a laminated pic of him and her to tote around. Cole is his normal self who keeps his thoughts between him and him, Sydney has pitched in like she always does and is Nora's second mother.
Mack had the most emotions of all. It hit him the night before Tim left and he stayed close to Tim for the rest of the time. Mack even gave Tim every bit of money out of his piggy bank. Tim assured Mack that he didn't need any money and wanted him to keep it to buy an ice cream one day.
Now that the sickness is subsiding and the silence of Dad not coming through the door no longer seems strange we are trying to keep ourselves busy. I do have my college classes to keep me busy and I am grateful when Tim returns I will be down to 2 maybe 3 classes left in finishing my BS. Nora and Mack have a new sand/water table to play with and the older two are trying to raise tadpole for a science projects. I hope they don't die before they have a chance to grow legs!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Well Facebook has taken over the blog but I still would like to keep this thing going if possible. I haven't really been able to get into scrapbooking, heck I cannot even finish a baby book. So, I am going to attempt to keep up something.
After we got back from Idaho, Tim's parents came to visit. A first for them to see Hawaii. We went as many places as possible. Dole Pineapple plantation, Polynesian culture center and a small tour down the strip of Waikiki.
Still doing school. Most likely going to get a B in this class I am in. Cultural Diversity. Guess I am not too diverse.
Tim tested for E8 in Dec. It sure would be nice to see him promoted although its still early so I am not holding my breath. Thinking about him having to study again next year when he comes home from his deployment is not the way I want to start off the holidays next year.
Going to take down the Christmas tree before New Years Day. I need the space and Nora is going to ruin the ornaments.
Cole went to his first ever campout this week. It was hard on a mom to see her boy go. I hope he showers atleast once:)
After we got back from Idaho, Tim's parents came to visit. A first for them to see Hawaii. We went as many places as possible. Dole Pineapple plantation, Polynesian culture center and a small tour down the strip of Waikiki.
Still doing school. Most likely going to get a B in this class I am in. Cultural Diversity. Guess I am not too diverse.
Tim tested for E8 in Dec. It sure would be nice to see him promoted although its still early so I am not holding my breath. Thinking about him having to study again next year when he comes home from his deployment is not the way I want to start off the holidays next year.
Going to take down the Christmas tree before New Years Day. I need the space and Nora is going to ruin the ornaments.
Cole went to his first ever campout this week. It was hard on a mom to see her boy go. I hope he showers atleast once:)
Monday, November 02, 2009
2 classes down, 2 A's and 11 more to go. I will be finished with my BS by this time next year hopefully. If not atleast by the turn of 2011. So far so good. I have an instructor now who is a father of seven....he and his wife homeschool. I like this class....Critical Thinking. I am sure I could use an extra dose of that but mostly it is applying common sense and things I already know then putting a fancy term to it!!
We had another space A experience that turned out quite well. On October 5th we started our journey from HI to CA. We finally made a flight out on a C5, Tues afternoon that was headed for San Diego. When we landed at this little Marine Corp base it was a shuffle to make it to the ertz rental car in time to grab a minivan and get on the road....a 13 hour journey to Inkom, ID. We did not know where we would end up. It could have been WA state, Sacramento but San Diego was an unusual route for the AF.
We were in luck. Becca Clemmons now lives in Vegas and we were driving in her direction. We made it to Vegas by 1130 that night and drove down the strip just to say we have been there. The kids liked it but they weren't impressed with their version of the Roman coliseum. Been there done that.
Found the cheapest hotel around, which is not hard to do in Vegas. Tim was please with our $59 dive. Up at 0530 to see the Hoover Damn and the sun rise. Then it was off to see Becca's new house and eat at the IHOP with Gabrielle, Isabelle and Becca. It was great to catch us and lay eyes on the kids.
We made it to ID without any issues. Utah, Arizona and Nevada made the drive beautiful. Time to have some deer stew. Deer, the reason for the season. More later on our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house and hunting season.
We had another space A experience that turned out quite well. On October 5th we started our journey from HI to CA. We finally made a flight out on a C5, Tues afternoon that was headed for San Diego. When we landed at this little Marine Corp base it was a shuffle to make it to the ertz rental car in time to grab a minivan and get on the road....a 13 hour journey to Inkom, ID. We did not know where we would end up. It could have been WA state, Sacramento but San Diego was an unusual route for the AF.
We were in luck. Becca Clemmons now lives in Vegas and we were driving in her direction. We made it to Vegas by 1130 that night and drove down the strip just to say we have been there. The kids liked it but they weren't impressed with their version of the Roman coliseum. Been there done that.
Found the cheapest hotel around, which is not hard to do in Vegas. Tim was please with our $59 dive. Up at 0530 to see the Hoover Damn and the sun rise. Then it was off to see Becca's new house and eat at the IHOP with Gabrielle, Isabelle and Becca. It was great to catch us and lay eyes on the kids.
We made it to ID without any issues. Utah, Arizona and Nevada made the drive beautiful. Time to have some deer stew. Deer, the reason for the season. More later on our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house and hunting season.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Nora in Idaho
Nora's first cold weather experience!! She loves it. Having fun at Grandma's house playing on the farm, loving on the horse Bumpy. Sunday, September 20, 2009
Online School
Last night I found out I made an A in online class. I have not been to school in over 8 years. I have been raising children as most of you know. Tried to go back to school when Sydney was a baby but Tim kept getting put on TDY and I would have to find a babysitter until 11pm at night.
Then online became popular. Sceptical at first because it is so new.....Could one really get an education that the workplace would recognise. Sounds familiar to you homeschoolers out there? Well it is good to question things. I spent my time questioning possibility, looking for the school that would give the most credit for past classes and then give a good price. Online classes are expensive.
Thankfully the military gives me an edge in the financial area. MyCAA is a program where spouse's are given money to go back to school. Its probably from Obama's stimulus but to all those taxpayers out there-your money was going to be used whether I took it or not so I promise to do something worthwhile even it is just being a better homeschooling mom.
The first class was easy but this next one is a little harder. None of them will be easy. I spend a lot of my time staring at this computer. Not doing FaceBook though.... researching, writing papers, figuring out the APA style and learning to maneuver in these online classrooms.
I hope to emerge from this stress in about a year. Tim says that there will never be a time that is good for going back to school. He is probably right.
Then online became popular. Sceptical at first because it is so new.....Could one really get an education that the workplace would recognise. Sounds familiar to you homeschoolers out there? Well it is good to question things. I spent my time questioning possibility, looking for the school that would give the most credit for past classes and then give a good price. Online classes are expensive.
Thankfully the military gives me an edge in the financial area. MyCAA is a program where spouse's are given money to go back to school. Its probably from Obama's stimulus but to all those taxpayers out there-your money was going to be used whether I took it or not so I promise to do something worthwhile even it is just being a better homeschooling mom.
The first class was easy but this next one is a little harder. None of them will be easy. I spend a lot of my time staring at this computer. Not doing FaceBook though.... researching, writing papers, figuring out the APA style and learning to maneuver in these online classrooms.
I hope to emerge from this stress in about a year. Tim says that there will never be a time that is good for going back to school. He is probably right.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
#4 HAS A #1
Pictures from this summer
Sydney Smiles
Nora likes the tutu, I think someone took something from her. This is MAD!
Cole got to deploy for a day. This is his flight the FALCON
WHO RULES THE SKY? WHO FLIES HIGH?-THE FALCONS
Summer is finished. Soccer is over and we have already begun school. Mack hasn't really embraced school with enthusiasm as the others did. Oh well you gotta have one that bucks the system or life isn't interesting.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Beach Girl
Nora is just too cute. She is the life of the party....all my children seem to be very lively babies. She loves to pose and have her picture taken. I didn't have a camera on me at the time and thankfully one of the mom's did. It was a great day to capture happy faces.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
So much to do
Well Facebook has taken over the blogs. I still want to keep this thing up though. It is the closest thing I have to a family scrapbook.
We have had a busy summer thus far. Still catching up from having baby last year and Tim's deployment. He has been home 8mths now. I don't remember having him here this long before and with just one tdy thrown in the mix. Yes this should be a good thing however, it just makes the deployments that much harder to endure when you get too use to having them home. It is best just to keep coming and going.
Tim is doing well. He has been taking a class here and there. Hopefully he will finish a degree by the time he leaves the Air Force in 5 years. He has 2 years 5 mths left to this tour. Hawaii is nice. Weather just about perfect all the time but we still long for the seasons. Drinking coffee when its cold and having an excuse to sit indoors and read because weather doesn't permit would be nice. I sure have struggled homeschooling this year due to the want for outside pleasures.
Cole will be in 6th grade this year. He swims and still plays the violin. Sheryl Shohet his violin teacher has been great for our family. She plays for the Symphony in Honolulu and is a very serious teacher who knows her stuff, makes it fun but demands good work from Cole and myself.
Sydney takes ballet and swims on the swim team too. We took Sydney to an audition for the Missoula Children's Theatre on base yesterday. She didn't get picked for a part. Tim called 3 times during rehearsal to see how it was going. We left and walked back home with tears in eyes. A very quiet walk with not much to say. She did her best and was crushed. Hard lessons. Nothing like Dad at the end of the day to give little girl a hug and tell her he loves her. It does make things better.
Mack....Well what do you say about him. You know, you give a kid a name like that, I guess you should expect him to live up to it. We struggle daily. He sad he can't help being bad he just does it. This brings us to a lot of biblical discussion. I hope the Lord continues to pierce his heart as he grows into the man God will have him be.
Nora makes everyone smile. All my kids have. They just seem to be magnets to the rest of the world. She is a show stopper in the grocery, beach and all around. I do get sad that she cannot share her joyfulness with those we are closest to. In Germany, Idaho, and NC we always have folks who genuinly want to see the children and can't wait to shake hands, hug or love on them. We don't have that here in Hawaii. We really haven't formed close relationships with anyone particular here.
There are seasons for everything I guess. I have begun to get more involved with Tim's squadron and the deployed spouse program. It involves calling and talking to others, checking in on families and finding out if they have needs that are not being met. Sometimes I get grateful folks who are thankful for the call other times, I get hung up on. I have pondered going back to school. Online is making that more possible. I hope that I can accomplish this while we are here. Like I don't have enough to do but here goes it needs to get done sometimes.
Time to start school again. Still need to order books and such. We are using Tapesty of Grace this year with Veritas for Bible and Teaching Textboks for math. I don't want to speak too soon but I think I may have found my groove with my curiculm.
We have had a busy summer thus far. Still catching up from having baby last year and Tim's deployment. He has been home 8mths now. I don't remember having him here this long before and with just one tdy thrown in the mix. Yes this should be a good thing however, it just makes the deployments that much harder to endure when you get too use to having them home. It is best just to keep coming and going.
Tim is doing well. He has been taking a class here and there. Hopefully he will finish a degree by the time he leaves the Air Force in 5 years. He has 2 years 5 mths left to this tour. Hawaii is nice. Weather just about perfect all the time but we still long for the seasons. Drinking coffee when its cold and having an excuse to sit indoors and read because weather doesn't permit would be nice. I sure have struggled homeschooling this year due to the want for outside pleasures.
Cole will be in 6th grade this year. He swims and still plays the violin. Sheryl Shohet his violin teacher has been great for our family. She plays for the Symphony in Honolulu and is a very serious teacher who knows her stuff, makes it fun but demands good work from Cole and myself.
Sydney takes ballet and swims on the swim team too. We took Sydney to an audition for the Missoula Children's Theatre on base yesterday. She didn't get picked for a part. Tim called 3 times during rehearsal to see how it was going. We left and walked back home with tears in eyes. A very quiet walk with not much to say. She did her best and was crushed. Hard lessons. Nothing like Dad at the end of the day to give little girl a hug and tell her he loves her. It does make things better.
Mack....Well what do you say about him. You know, you give a kid a name like that, I guess you should expect him to live up to it. We struggle daily. He sad he can't help being bad he just does it. This brings us to a lot of biblical discussion. I hope the Lord continues to pierce his heart as he grows into the man God will have him be.
Nora makes everyone smile. All my kids have. They just seem to be magnets to the rest of the world. She is a show stopper in the grocery, beach and all around. I do get sad that she cannot share her joyfulness with those we are closest to. In Germany, Idaho, and NC we always have folks who genuinly want to see the children and can't wait to shake hands, hug or love on them. We don't have that here in Hawaii. We really haven't formed close relationships with anyone particular here.
There are seasons for everything I guess. I have begun to get more involved with Tim's squadron and the deployed spouse program. It involves calling and talking to others, checking in on families and finding out if they have needs that are not being met. Sometimes I get grateful folks who are thankful for the call other times, I get hung up on. I have pondered going back to school. Online is making that more possible. I hope that I can accomplish this while we are here. Like I don't have enough to do but here goes it needs to get done sometimes.
Time to start school again. Still need to order books and such. We are using Tapesty of Grace this year with Veritas for Bible and Teaching Textboks for math. I don't want to speak too soon but I think I may have found my groove with my curiculm.
Monday, June 22, 2009
New Member of the Family....Chubs the Cockatiel
That is what the lady in the pet shop gave her. (We are saying a "she" for sake of argument)
Today we got her out of the cage and let her play. Up until then we were wondering if she liked us but I think we just needed to learn how to handle her properly. She was a bit scared at first. Everyone hates change. She really likes Mack.
We are looking for a Hawaiian name. So far we have Maui, Koa, Shaka....Any ideas.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday at Hickam Beach. This is the second year in a row, I have driven to the beach before church to take pics near the water. We had Easter Brunch at church followed by worship service. The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house with a short trip in between to the beach (inlet area) the kids enjoyed catching crabs and Nora gets to play in the water for the first time.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Passover Dinner
Our house for Passover dinner. It was a house full with the friends from church. An experience for us all. Wish my house was bigger to take it all in. Thursday, April 02, 2009
An Essay from an online educational newsletter I receive monthly from Veritas Press.
Entitlement, Owning the Problem, and the Classically Educated
I'm like any other red-blooded American who wonders how we are going to pay for all of this. Our federal government has been on a spending spree to rival . . . well, this kind of spending actually has no rivals-ever. Recently, trillions of dollars have been (or will be) "invested," spent, or otherwise disposed of in the name of getting our economy back on track. Consequently, we, the citizens, are the owners of a failing insurance agency and the largest lenders to two of the largest and unhealthiest auto companies.
Now I realize I'm being a bit sarcastic, maybe even cynical, here. I also realize you are as tired of hearing about this as I am, but that is partially my point, so hang in there for a minute. I also realize there is much that is hard for us, the average citizens, to understand. However, this is really quite a disturbing set of circumstances when all things are considered.
Coupled with all this spending is a new strain of entitlement-one that believes the federal government has both the obligation and the right to look into details of private transactions and make unilateral changes to contracts and existing agreements. Talks of even scarier intrusion are quite common.
It's been said that America had better repent of such financial recklessness or we will receive the judgment of God. A pastor and friend had a different take. He indicated that this is the judgment of God. Is what we've done not a bit like the man who has lost his job and promptly goes out to buy a new $75,000 recreational vehicle with borrowed money to help the economy? Taking on more debt-a lot more debt-hardly seems a wise approach to getting out of debt.
Yet a bigger problem remains. It's the problem of ownership. No one owns the national problems we face. I feel little ownership of the federal debt. I feel little ownership of the process that includes the foolishness that tacks on huge pork-barrel add-ons to popular congressional bills. Summarily speaking, I feel little ownership to community, cultural, or collective sin. I don't have a clue as to how to repent of it, either. Do you?
We might bury our heads believing that these problems were not caused by us and can't be fixed by us. And, at a micro level, we might be right. But who does own them? Who really takes responsibility? May God give us a clear sense of what it means to corporately confess our sins as so many of us pray every Sunday. And may God give us wisdom to carefully and collectively follow that repentance with godly actions-actions that include strategic efforts to bring concern for biblical wisdom and righteousness into the public square, actions that include an understanding of what God's Word means when it says that judgment begins with the House of God.
Frankly, we need godly politicians. We need godly pastors, too-ones who won't shrink from tackling the difficult or equivocate on complex matters such as these. Finally, we need godly, articulate, bold lovers of truth in the rising generation who will be not only the next politicians and pastors, but businessmen, parents, citizens, laborers, and friends of the lost.
Summarily, we need a people who know the facts, think well, and articulate their thoughts in such a winsome way that they are able to conceive what it means to own a corporate failing and know what to do about it. That is why I believe a classical Christian education is so important, because I believe that is exactly what it produces.
But we need more than that from these people. We need them "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God." May we become those people, and may we raise a generation of those people.
Marlin Detweiler
Entitlement, Owning the Problem, and the Classically Educated
I'm like any other red-blooded American who wonders how we are going to pay for all of this. Our federal government has been on a spending spree to rival . . . well, this kind of spending actually has no rivals-ever. Recently, trillions of dollars have been (or will be) "invested," spent, or otherwise disposed of in the name of getting our economy back on track. Consequently, we, the citizens, are the owners of a failing insurance agency and the largest lenders to two of the largest and unhealthiest auto companies.
Now I realize I'm being a bit sarcastic, maybe even cynical, here. I also realize you are as tired of hearing about this as I am, but that is partially my point, so hang in there for a minute. I also realize there is much that is hard for us, the average citizens, to understand. However, this is really quite a disturbing set of circumstances when all things are considered.
Coupled with all this spending is a new strain of entitlement-one that believes the federal government has both the obligation and the right to look into details of private transactions and make unilateral changes to contracts and existing agreements. Talks of even scarier intrusion are quite common.
It's been said that America had better repent of such financial recklessness or we will receive the judgment of God. A pastor and friend had a different take. He indicated that this is the judgment of God. Is what we've done not a bit like the man who has lost his job and promptly goes out to buy a new $75,000 recreational vehicle with borrowed money to help the economy? Taking on more debt-a lot more debt-hardly seems a wise approach to getting out of debt.
Yet a bigger problem remains. It's the problem of ownership. No one owns the national problems we face. I feel little ownership of the federal debt. I feel little ownership of the process that includes the foolishness that tacks on huge pork-barrel add-ons to popular congressional bills. Summarily speaking, I feel little ownership to community, cultural, or collective sin. I don't have a clue as to how to repent of it, either. Do you?
We might bury our heads believing that these problems were not caused by us and can't be fixed by us. And, at a micro level, we might be right. But who does own them? Who really takes responsibility? May God give us a clear sense of what it means to corporately confess our sins as so many of us pray every Sunday. And may God give us wisdom to carefully and collectively follow that repentance with godly actions-actions that include strategic efforts to bring concern for biblical wisdom and righteousness into the public square, actions that include an understanding of what God's Word means when it says that judgment begins with the House of God.
Frankly, we need godly politicians. We need godly pastors, too-ones who won't shrink from tackling the difficult or equivocate on complex matters such as these. Finally, we need godly, articulate, bold lovers of truth in the rising generation who will be not only the next politicians and pastors, but businessmen, parents, citizens, laborers, and friends of the lost.
Summarily, we need a people who know the facts, think well, and articulate their thoughts in such a winsome way that they are able to conceive what it means to own a corporate failing and know what to do about it. That is why I believe a classical Christian education is so important, because I believe that is exactly what it produces.
But we need more than that from these people. We need them "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God." May we become those people, and may we raise a generation of those people.
Marlin Detweiler
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