WOW. I am so far behind on this blog. I haven't touched it since the spring and here it is September. I'm going to go for a new look and a new commitment to at least TRY to keep updated the happenings of our family.
The kids are all growing by leaps and bounds.
Rob is in the 9th grade. He made the Varsity cross country team and is doing very good keeping up with the upper class men. He has almost made his Life Scout. He only has two more months and he will make Life. That is quite an accomplishment.
Patrick is in the 2nd grade and doing very good in school. He is looking forward to starting his CCD classes in a few weeks. He will be receiving his First Communion in the spring. He starts his second year of flag football in October. He will also be starting Cub Scouts in September. He strives hard to keep up with his big brother. He is writing his own blog. If you want to keep up with it, you can do so here.
Rebekah & Rachel are in Kindergarten.
Rebekah is doing very well in school. Her teacher says she is at the top of her class. She loves to be a helper. She loves to write her letters and her name. And will probably be reading before we know it.
Rachel has made so much progress. As I look back at where she was just a few short years ago I am so pleased at where she is today. She is testing out at mid to late kindergarten level for education. From very early on with all of her delays, I always said my goal was to have her completely mainstreamed for kindergarten. I received the call today to tell me that her resource help would not be every day any longer. It will only be on an "as needed" basis. If there is a specific skill she is having trouble with, they will use the resource teacher to help her with it. She is completely in a "normal" kindergarten class. That was my goal for my baby. And we made it. From completely no verbal skills at 2 1/2 to this at 5 1/2. Just 3 short years, she has come so far. And she has worked so hard. I am so proud of my baby girl. Both girls are looking forward to football season starting. They will be cheering for the flag football league on post.
Looks like it's going to be a pretty busy fall around here! But we wouldn't change it for the world.
We sure are happy to have Robert home. He's busy with work, but not too busy. The "down" time of this cycle in training has been nice. His promotion to SGT should be finalized before the end of the year. We've had lots of questions from family and friends about what the army has in store for our family in the near and distant future. Here's the story as we know it right now. Subject to change before I finish typing this and hit send. LOL!
For the time being, we will remain here at Fort Polk. Robert's unit is not scheduled to deploy until early 2011. That could be moved to late 2010. Robert originally signed a 6 year contract when he enlisted. He can re-enlist 2 years before that contract ends. That means, he can re-enlist in Jan 2011. He does plan to do that. Good Lord willing, he plans to stay in his current MOS (Cav Scout). Most likely, the army will PCS (Permanent Change of Station) us after his next deployment. NO, we do not know where that will be. YES, we can ask for where we would like to go. NO, the army doesn't have to give it to us. YES, they can tell us when he re-enlists they will give it to us to get him to sign the contract AND they can change their minds. So, bottom line.......we have no clue. But, it is pretty firm that we will be here for at least 2 more years.
Right now, we're just enjoying the time that God has given us to be a whole family. And we are thankful for each and every day that we have together. Being separeted for 13 months really makes you appreciate what you have when you get it back. Suddenly those little things that use to grate on your nerves really don't matter so much. The toilet seat being left up, the cabinet to the glasses not being closed, little things like that.....how important are they really? Just something to think about!
That's about it from the Benca home front. Hopefully I'll do a better job of updating and keeping everyone posted on our happenings.
Love to all, Jennifer
