Settling in


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We are getting into some sort of a routine.  Well, as routine as we can in temporary housing without 99% off our stuff.

School is working well for the kids and they are happy to get back to it.  We had a fun little spelling bee today (sort of).

I bought some “sight word” cards for the girls.  I’m all for phonics in most cases, but let’s be fair; the English language doesn’t follow it’s own rules.  Lucy is getting to the point where she can read most things but gets frustrated with words that don’t follow the rules.  So I figured I’d get a list of common sight words for the girls to just know how to say because they see them.  This deck (from Walmart) also happened to have cards for to, too, and two.  So we worked on that a bit.

For Lucy we did a traditional spelling bee, Emma had to read the word on the card, use it in a sentence and then spell it (but she could look at the card).  I asked Spencer to use the word in a sentence (so he didn’t feel left out) but he ended up just saying “use in sentence” every time.  It worked out really well because they didn’t feel like they were competing against each other.

We walked to the playground after lunch and the girls had running around and the boy had fun stealing other people’s bikes and scooters.  There was a golden lab puppy there that tried to eat our shoes and was very cute.  Poor Lucy is having a hard time making friends.  I’m in the same boat she is.  Church is fine and everyone is really nice.  But while we’re on base, we go to the playgrounds and there just isn’t anyone there.  We seem to be in the middle.  There are a lot of families with older kids (the youngest is 5 or 6) and a lot of families with kids 3 years and under.  To be fair, the neighborhood with the playground is a block or two from where our house is and maybe that will make a difference.  Emma seems to get a long fine (she also doesn’t mind playing alone) but the kid’s Lucy’s age are all boys and she’ intimidated and is shy around them.  As far as the mom’s are concerned, we’ve been back twice and haven’t seen any mom’s out with their kids since the first time we went there.

While I really crave friendship and kinship with another woman, I’m also fine with being alone most of the time.  I have my distractions, and I have my Matt.  Poor Lucy doesn’t have that.  She asked if she could go to public school because she wants to make friends.  I feel for her.  I really do, but I can’t get myself to put her in school.  I have a lot of reasons for home schooling, but what it mostly comes down to is that it is just easier!  They are nicer, I like them more, we have much more free time and life and schedules don’t have to change when Summer or Christmas vacations come around.

There are quite a few things that do love about life here.  I love the fact that we have traffic laws on base and that they are obeyed!  I come to a stop sign and I know that there is plenty of time for me to pull out in front of the oncoming car because I know that they aren’t speeding.  And if someone talks on their cell phone while driving, you don’t just get ticket, you get your driving privileges revoked for a year.  No wonder everyone drives under the speed limit.  It’s awesome!  I love that when the national anthem is played at 4:30 every day, everyone stops what they are doing, faces the nearest flag and puts their hands on their hearts.  I LOVED watching my kids do that today while we were on the playground.  Spencer doesn’t, but he does slow down a touch.

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