If anyone thought the 421 took their men away from their families.. try Alconbury. Sometimes we get lost in the moment and think that we have it bad when our husbands are working long classes and have to be at work late for a couple weeks but we are in month 2 and I think I saw Mat twice as much when we were in New Jersey than I do now and that is considering his times on the weekends where he was gone hunting. Yes I do get to see him at the end of the day but that might be over dinner and then he is studying for a little bit until he crashes because he is exhausted from the day and has to be up again at 3:30am. We rarely get to chat without interruptions because people are calling from the moment he gets off work until he goes to bed. Weekends have been much the same. He is up.. he is home.. but he is on the phone working constantly. I am waiting for things to get in order and slow down for him with work. But when you have to be on top of several Airmen it does not seem to end. He just called me and told me he has to work tomorrow. NICE.. Which means he can not even spend Halloween trick or treating with his kids. I am guessing that this will be a short Trick or treating session since I have no clue where I am going in Base Housing and do not want to get lost along the way. Sigh... back to being the wife of a man that works flight. ( Done with the grump session)
But we did get the accent wall painted... Or I should say... I got the accent wall painted.
So Monday went well... I had a conference with Paige's teacher that went well. She is very nice and very interested in getting Paige into the right place in the class. I think she is still trying to figure out where she is in regards to math and writing. Paige has told her that she did not learn how to connect letters together ( cursive writing) I think Paige did not understand what she was talking about because Paige learned cursive and knows how to use it. She also said we were on the right path with Literacy and her papers. I was concerned but now I am not. I am pushing her where she needs to be pushed and that makes me feel good. Mathematics she still needs to work on her multiplication. I have been trying to do it with her but this girl does not want to work on it. She thinks she can fly by the seat of her pants and not have to memorize them. Which is what her teacher wants. She has her on the lowest Math worksheet for homework so I asked her to send the middle level sheet home with her as well so that she can work on it and see if she can be lifted to the next level. It does not seem to me to be much different so I am sure she would be fine with the middle level. Reading she is doing well with but in school they sit with an aide and read chapters to them and she said her presentation of what she is reading is strong at first but then dwindles down as she gets into reading more. She has a good group of friends she said as well. Katie is her best friend now but she has assured me that she doesn't just play with Katie. She had Girl Scouts Monday night as well so we met Mat at the base. I filled up my little puddle jumper and headed to CAC where the girls meet. Mat was waiting there for us. We ran some errands while she was in there and then went back to pick her up. Saturday they have a First Aide thing at the Red Cross over in Lakenheath. Then tour of the Hospital there.
Tuesday was a typical day but we added the fact that it was also Picture Day at school. Then came the cleaning, dinner, reading, and bed. The kids seem to be doing well with the routine but Paige sometimes thinks she can change up the rules and decide bedtime was supposed to be later. We have had a few nights of that. When is it the right time to make bedtime later? What time do most Elementary school kids go to bed? I may be a stickler but I think they need their sleep and if I can get them into bed at a decent time, that allows them the sleep they need. Paige is usually up until 8 reading and Mathew crashes within 15 minutes of being put to bed. Only a few times do we have issues with the up and down the stairs before bed.
Wednesday morning happened like every Wednesday. Lunches packed, kids to school, house cleaned, coffee and relaxation for a little bit before more cleaning. Worked on Paige's blanket some. Picked up kids from school, made dinner. Mat came home... which he was not supposed to yet... He was supposed to run to Cambridge to pick up shelves I had found on Gumtree.com. The family was selling 2 for £10 a piece. I thought they were a good deal. I am glad that I found them because they worked perfectly for the office and all my craft things. They are much thicker than I thought that they would be so that makes me happy. I thought they might be the cheap thin pressed wood we have in the states. They still are the pressed wood but they are so much sturdier than that. Wednesday was also Mat's brother Mike's birthday. I can't believe it has been 3 years since he passed away. It truly feels like yesterday. The kids find it sad to talk about it and whenever Mathew brings Mikey's name up Paige says, lets not talk about it. It makes me sad. I wish Mikey would have had time to meet Mathew. But I think he lives in Mathew because Mathew is such a CRAZY kid! (Almost forgot... Mathew got to bring the stuffed bunny Courtney home with him Wednesday because he did well on his patterns and so he had to have photos taken with Courtney playing in with his toys and other places in the house.)
Thursday was the last day of school before Half Term. The children in the UK have more of a year around type schedule where they have have a month summer break and then several small breaks throughout the year. This makes it nice for us since it might not be the best times for us to travel during summer times. So I spent the day organizing the office and removed the kids computer into their study area. I like it much better there because now I can keep an eye on everything they are doing while on the computer and also my office... is MY OFFICE. = ) It still needs a bit of work as does most of the house but it is coming along. I really wish I could figure out how to hang things on the walls in this house. I hate the walls here! I also managed to get new photos into my frames... gooooo meeeee... it was about time since I had ones of everyone that were atleast 3-4 yrs old in there. So now... the pictures are all less than a year old.
Today, we are having a bum day. The kids are still in PJs as am I and we have had movie time, craft time, and now they are off and playing. We are about to have lunch so I guess I should get a move on it.
So now we are planning half term activities. Too bad Mat has to work!
Noah is the EXACT same way with multiplication. He thinks he knows enough facts to figure out the rest. But, he is at the point where he needs to know them and every time I bring it up or start throwing times tables at him, he glazes over. I even got him an app for his iPod and he refused to use it! So- I finally did what I said I would never do- bribery. I assigned him one set a week (this week, learn the 6's) and if, by Friday, he could answer all my questions I threw at him out of order and over and over so that I was satisfied he KNEW them, I pay him £1. He likes to save money, so it has worked.
ReplyDeleteAs for Matt- I feel for you. After 6 years at the EC, when DJ moved over to the flight line at McGuire it was a HUGE shock. I had forgotten what it was like to be a maintainer's wife! The last time I dealt with that, we had no children, so it wasn't that big of a deal. They were on 12's all the time and he rotated shifts and days off and it amounted to the fact that I had to pretty much quit everything I had been a part of because he worked nights and weekends all the time! This job is pretty nice for us, since he is back to the hours he had at the EC. Of course with that said, he has to participate in a fundraiser tonight from midnight-3am and is going to be CRABBY tomorrow because we booked an ITT trip and have to be at Lakenheath by 9.
Larry is Army, but I feel your pain. I hate when he's deployed, but at the same time it's a bit of a relief...I know he will be gone so it isn't a surprise like when he's held late or some crap. The so called family friendly military isn't so family friendly :)
ReplyDeleteThe multiplication tables thing is tough. Nate had to learn his last year. I know that they didn't learn them in order because it's actually easier to learn some of the higher numbers than the lower ones. And helping him remember that 3X7 is the same as 7X3 helped some. I'm glad they are making them memorize them though. Too many people can't do basic math these days without a calculator. Good luck.
I chuckle at your posts a lot. I think your two are a lot like my youngest two were, but mine are a bit older. Nate is in 4th grade now, but he resisted learning how to read for a bit as well. He's one of those kids that will do things when he decides he wants to, and if you push too much he just won't. But then he's so cute and lovable, people let him get away with it. The good news is he did learn to read, and now he devours books in a day or two. There is hope :)