Pictureless Rambling

We are STILL waiting for our new computer, but I figure there's no reason why I can't post an update anyway. We haven't had any extremely exciting or hilarious things happen recently, so I hestitate to do a post without pictures of the kids, but I'll ramble away anyway:). Tonight, Mike and I were sitting by the computer and he mentioned something that he just read on CNN. Earlier, after the kids went to bed, I had eaten dinner while watching TV. I said, "Oh yeah, I saw that on Good Morning America while I was eating dinner." Right after I said it, I realized how funny that sounded. One of those, 'we're not in Kansas anymore' moments.

As for our summer in Korea, it has been a busy one. We have done some fun things since my last post, and I have a lot of pictures. Once I can work with my pictures again, I'll make sure to get them up here. Avary did swimming lessons for six weeks and loved it. My parents came to visit, which was great! My dad stayed for a week and my mom got to stay for two. Earlier this summer we had tons of rain. Way more than last year. I heard that it was the most rain they've had here in 19 years. We had a couple of trees fall down in our neighborhood because the soil just got so wet. Now I understand the meaning of monsoon season. We even had some thunderstorms. I didn't think they really had thunderstorms here because I think I only heard a little thunder rumble once or twice last year. But, this year there were some BIG thunderstorms. A tree on post even got struck by lightening. Those are just a few of the things that have been going on this summer. When I am able to get my pictures posted, I'll have more to report of our activites this summer.

Other than that, I have been doing a lot of research on homeschooling. I've been thinking about homeschooling for several years, but was just putting off actually making the decision until Avary was closer to starting Kindergarten. But, one day this summer I was talking to a lady in the neighborhood and found out that she homeschools her kids, so we talked about it. One of the reasons I was hesitant about homeschooling was that I wasn't sure I would be able to do a good job working with the school-age kids while also trying to take care of babies and/or toddlers. But this lady has 5 kids under the age of 8, and they all seem like very happy, confident kids. Her 4 year-old is already reading, and would be starting kindergarten this year based on his age, but she will be starting first grade stuff with him because that's what he's ready for. So, apparently it is possible to successfully homeschool even with a lot of children of varying ages. Anyway, talking with her made me realize there was no need to wait to make a decision. So, I started thinking about it and doing lot of research. It's been fun to learn about all the different philosophies and methods, and I've decided that I want to homeschool. There are a lot of benefits to it. It works well with the military lifestyle of moving around a lot (sometimes in the middle of the school year), and not always living in a location where you have many choices of schools to send your children to.

Speaking of moving, Mike and I have also been doing plenty of research regarding possibilties for our next location. When we got to Korea, Mike was planning on becoming a Physician Assistant, and was really looking forward to starting school when we were finished with our tour here. But, last summer he hurt his back. His leg started hurting, and after several weeks, many physical therapy sessions, and an MRI, the docs finally figured out that the problem was compressed vertebrae and a herniated disc. Anyway, to make a long story short, the nature of the problem means that he is unable to qualify for the Army's P.A. program, and therefore couldn't apply like had was planning on. So, plans changed and he is now on the path to getting his MBA and MHA or MPA. We just found out this week that he will be able to do an internship after we leave Korea, and then go to school to get his degree. Kind of a backward way of doing things, but that's the Army. So now, our mission for this week is to choose our top two picks for where to go to do the internship. For a long time, we thought it was very likely that we would be in San Antonio, first because that is where the P.A. program is, and then because that is where the MHA/MBA program is. But, since he is doing the internship first, and the hospital there is full of interns right now, we will most likely not be going to San Antonio (although Mike will be there for a few months right after we leave Korea for training). So our possibilities now are these:

Fort Lewis, WA
Fort Bliss, TX
Fort Bragg, NC,
Fort Gordon, GA
Walter Reed, DC
Fort Hood, TX
Germany
Hawaii

Wherever we go, it will be for at least one year, and possibly three years. If we go to Germany, it will be for three years. We researched all the locations, and while researching Germany, we found out there is a town near the base called Frankelbach. It is a village of about 300 poeple, and we decided we have to visit it someday. Based on it's name, and how small it is, we figure the entire population probably consists of Mike's long-lost relatives. :)
They want to know our top two choices this week, so next week they can tell all the interns where they will be going. That will be so great if we really know where we will be going as soon as next week! We're pretty sure about our top two picks, but will ponder it some more for another day. Then, we'll wait and see what happens. Maybe they'll send us to the last place we would have chosen, but we'll be happy no matter where we go. It's weird to think that we'll be leaving Korea in less than 6 months. It will be sad to leave, but exciting to move on to something new, and especially exciting to get to spend some time visiting our families!

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post. If any of you readers actually made it this far, you deserve some kind of special award. I really, REALLY hope to have our new computer soon, so I can once again access my picture files. So sorry to the grandparents, aunts and uncles that haven't been able to see many pics of Will. I had great intentions of sending you all pictures and videos, but I guess it will have to wait.