First week of school!

Colby started school on Monday at Lackland Elementary. It is much smaller than his previous school and we are very excited about this change! His previous school had around 200 kids in his grade and Lackland has about 50. His teacher is Ms. Carrion and so far she is great! She even called our house on Friday afternoon to see how his first week of school went and if we had any questions/concerns! We have seen a complete turn around in his behavior/attitude this week. He is also going to the Youth Center after school instead of daycare. We have gone 5 days without a meltdown, he is more relaxed, eating better, and more respectful. I think it is because he is feeling less stress. His teacher from last year told him that 3rd grade was going to be hard. So, he has spent all summer dreading 3rd grade! Poor baby! So far I am very impressed with Lackland Elementary and if his attitude remains this way it will be well worth the drive every morning!

YIPPEEE!!!

We got the call last Thursday that Colby was accepted into school on base! We are so excited about this change! Lackland ISD holds a lottery for those kids who live off base. So, we registered for the lottery with the hope that his name would be drawn. Sure enough, he won the lotto! LOL There are only two 3rd grade classes, as opposed to 6-7 3rd grade classes at his old school. He will be going to the Youth Center after school everday. This is what he is most excited about. He has been getting really tired of daycare the last few months. Colby has not made any real friends at school since we have moved here. So, I am hoping going to school on base with other military kids will help him find that common ground.

We have a busy week ahead of us. We have to go to orientation at the youth center this evening, orientation at the school on thursday, and meet the teacher on friday. We are super excited about the new school year!

Back to School!

I can't believe that it is already time to get ready for back to school! Where did this summer go? I also can't believe that Colby will be a third grader! The good news is that the legislature finally wised up and made it to where they do not have to pass the TAKS to be promoted to 4th grade. The TAKS is still attached to promotion in 5th and 8th grades but hopefully we will either be out of Texas by that time or they will wise up about those grades too! We are trying to get Colby into the school at Lackland. They hold a lottery for those children who reside off base. We got him all registered for the lottery and they will hold drawings after their registration on August 12. Pray that he gets in! This would mean that he would have smaller classes, be around other military kiddos, and we just haven't been all that satisfied with NISD. He has a hard time relating to other kids whose parents have "normal" jobs. He has not really made any good friends at school. His best friend is another instructors son who is a year older than he is but does not go to the same school.

In other school news, I am taking the final course in my masters program. YEAH!!! I had to wait a whole year for them to offer it. By the end of August I will have M.S. after my name!

There is talk in Steven's squadron about moving him to academics, so he would no longer be pushing flights. This is great! It means more time at home, less stress, and a normal work week. It took him a while to get excited about the idea but he is coming around. I, of course, am praying that it does not fall through! I am so proud of all his accomplishments as a Military Training Instructor, but two solid years of 18 plus hour days is enough! I would like to be able to enjoy the remaining time we have here in San Antonio.

Surgery

Well, I had the cyst removed from neck on Friday the 26th. It is healing well. The pathology came back that it is benign and contained respiratory epithelials (respiratory cells). The doctor thinks it was related to the "fluid sacs" that were there when I was born. I am sure you have all seen the scar on my neck from that, although you might not have known what it was. The surgery went very well, but recovery has been rougher than expected. They put in a drain to make sure that it doesn't come back. The drain was in until monday. It was gross! Stitches came out on thursday and I am getting back to feeling normal.

Colby could not take it so he went home with my parents on Sunday the 28th. He has been having a blast at the farm. We will pick him up when we go to the lake on Thursday. He is saving his money to buy a DSI. So, he is getting paid for the "work" he does at the farm. I won't be surprised if he doesn't come home with enough to buy his DSI.

It has been very quiet around the house without him but Steven and I have not killed each other. We are glad that we have at least 10 more years before our empty nest years!

Sweet words....

Colby made me a beautiful card for Mother's Day. It said I love my mom because...she makes me laugh and she's supportive and she's nice. My mom loves me and good. My mom has my heart. It's good to have a mom in the house.

*Tear* I love my baby boy!

Sex, Sex, Sex

Okay, so apparently a congressman from Virginia wants to ban Viagra commercials because they are too sexually explicit. Really? He says he cannot watch a ballgame with his grandchildren without worrying about them asking what erectile dysfunction is. Okay, so why not ban all birth control commercials, commercials advertising menstrual products, and Herbal Essences commercials while we are at it? I do not understand people who wish to keep sex such a secret from their children. It is perfectly natural and healthy to enjoy sex. If it were not such a taboo subject, we might have a lower teen pregnancy rate in the US. I have no problem explaining to Colby what an erection is. I would much rather he know what it is and that it is normal before he experiences it! I am reminded of the scene in the movie Carrie where she starts her period and thinks she is dying. There is just no reason for this. There is nothing wrong with educating our children about the natural processes of the human body. It does not have to be explained in an explicit manner. Colby has a book called, "What's the big deal?" and that is exactly how I want him to view sex. If it is not taboo, there is no reason to rush to break that taboo.

People need to realize that we are no longer in the Victorian age. Wake up to the reality that 750,000 teens become pregnant every year in the U.S. (Center for Disease Control). Educating teens about birth control makes them MORE likely to USE contraception when they begin having sex. Teaching abstinence does not impact the age at which teens begin having sex. They are going to have sex. But if educating them about contraception makes them more likely to use it when they do have sex, doesn't that make more sense? I see kids....KIDS!!!...every day who have absolutely no business having children who are either pregnant or already have a child! My co-worker is supervising a 12 year old girl...no, it is not a typo, I said 12!...who is pregnant! Think about that for a second. When she is a senior in high school, her child will be 8 years old! When she is 24 years old, and should be enjoying her young adult life, she will be raising a pre-teen! Now, if you are okay with this, by all means continue to keep your head in the sand. If you are not, I would encourage you to write to your congressman, city councilman, and school board to include contraception education in sex education programs around the country.

Neck Lump Update, Sleepover, and Spaghetti Sauce

Okay, so the results of the CT scan show a cyst at the base of my neck. Cysts are benign most of the time and rarely cancerous. However, I am scheduled to have an MRI on April 29. After the MRI, I will be referred to ENT for a surgical consult. The doctor said there is no reason to prolong having it removed. It can grow but there is no way to know if it will. Because of the location, if it does grow it can affect breathing, swallowing, and possibly compress veins/arteries in the neck affecting blood flow to the brain. We all know that I cannot afford to lose any blood flow to my brain! LOL! Steven is getting mad at me for making jokes about this all the time. So, it looks like surgery to remove the cyst will be in the near future. I am okay with that because pathology can then be done to determine exactly what it is and if it is cancerous.

On another note....we survived our first sleepover last weekend! The boys were great. They stayed up until midnight watching a movie and then were up at 6:30 playing the Wii. There were no fights and everything went smoothly! Colby had a run in with a jar of spaghetti sauce on Sunday morning. He was trying to get the syrup out of the pantry and knocked down a jar of spaghetti sauce in the process. He was covered in spaghetti sauce and glass. The jar hit his big toe and he will probably be losing that toenail! He had to wear flip flops to school yesterday but was back in tennis shoes this morning. It was chaos at the moment but pretty funny now! I watched the whole thing and it felt like it was in slow motion. I yelled at him not to move a muscle and lifted him out of the mess. I passed him to Steven who took him to the sink to wash the spaghetti sauce off and make sure he didn't have any glass anywhere. What a mess!