Boot Camp Graduation

I had the privilege of attending a Marine Corps boot camp graduation last week.  It was a neat experience.  I've always been fascinated by the military, the Marines especially, so to see it up close like this was really cool.  To see the guys do drill and to hear the stories and see the base and training facility was surreal.  And of course it was special to me to see my step-son graduate.  

I've only been a part of his life for 6 years, but I feel so close to him.  It was an honor to be included in this event.  In the last 6 years I've watched him grow and mature.  Joining the Marines was something that I knew would happen.  I think I knew it when I first met him and would watch him look at his father with a glimmer in his eye; wanting so desperately to be just like his dad and to have the same stories as his dad.  It wasn't a surprise to me in the least the day he came home from school and said he was talking with a recruiter.

When he left for boot camp 3 months ago, he left an 18 y/o kid who has been having fun his whole life.  When we saw him on Thursday last week, for the first time in 13 weeks, he was a man.  He matured more in 13 weeks than most men do in 4 years of college.  Things finally clicked.  All those lectures and life lessons that his parents tried to teach him finally made sense.  

When he saw a couple of his friends on Saturday they could tell instantly that he had changed.  He's not the hyper jumpy kid he was over the summer.  he's subdued and quiet.  More reserved.  He is part of an elite club now and they have a different mentality.

I'm so proud to say my step-son is a Marine.  He will make an awesome Marine.  He will make this country proud.

3 generations - Josh's dad served in the Navy during Vietnam and Josh was in the Marines in Desert Storm

Proud Parents (and sister)

Happy Little Sister

Happy Family

Platoon 3254 marching onto the Parade Deck

Platoon 3254

All the Marines (former and current) were asked to stand!

Gone .....

This past weekend, Josh, the girls and I went out of town to visit his mom for Paul Bunyon Days.  Andrew and Kymberly were spending the weekend with their mom.  It was Andrew's last weekend at his mom's house before leaving for boot camp.  Not 30 seconds after we had finished our conversation with Josh's mom about when boot camp graduation would be, we got a phone call from Andrew.  He and his buddy were being called up early.  They were to report at the recruiter's office on Monday at 11 am.

We high-tailed it out of there, wanting to be home with Andrew for his last weekend.  We thought we had another week, but the Marine Corps had other ideas.

Sunday morning we went to church as a family.  Andrew's mom joined him for the morning as well.  It was a nice time of worship.  And Pastor M. called us up to the front to pray for Andrew as he goes on his journey.

Sunday afternoon Andrew came over and hung out with us in a quiet house.  He played legos with his sisters.  He got last words of wisdom from his dad.  Then we all went together to his mom's house for a nice family dinner.  In 4 years, it's the first time both families got together for a meal.  Sure, we've had constituents together and been at large celebrations together, but this is the only time we've had a meal, just the 10 of us.  It was a nice dinner.  There were no tears.  Just chatting and fun and goofiness.  The girls enjoyed being chased around the kitchen and proved that kids can only have fun if they are screaming.

Then Monday the dreaded event happened.  We drove Andrew to the recruiter's office.  We gave hugs.  We cried.  We encouraged.  We loved.  We cried.  I took lots of pictures.  

Which brings me to today.   I'm not typically an emotional person.  It takes quite a bit to make me cry.  I did cry when we left him in the hands of the recruiters.  But it passed pretty quickly.  I've been the strong one in all this.  Ready to see Andrew continue on his way and mature and grow and gain direction in his life.  Knowing that this is what's best for him.  As his step-mom, I'm not as connected as Josh and Andrew's mom.  I've felt more pain in the last 24 hours than I realized I would.  I think about what Andrew is going through and my heart hurts.  My stomach gets knots.  And then sitting down for a few hours to edit 200+ photos of us saying good-bye to him.  And it hurts even more.  If I'm this sad and heart broken over him being gone, I can only imagine how his mom and dad and sister feel.

About 20 minutes ago we finally got the phone call we've been waiting 24 hours for.  That "Recruit Roosa has arrived safely in MCRD" and we'll hear from him via USPS in a couple weeks.  A COUPLE WEEKS!?!?!?!  I have to wait that long to hear from him?  That long until I can get his address to send him a letter?  I've already written one letter.  I'm sure I have another couple ready to write too.  His first mail from us will likely be several letters in one large envelope.

I'm excited for who he will become.  I'm excited to see his transformation.  I'm pleased that he has direction and a future.  The Marines will be good for him, and he'll be good for the Marines.

2 days down, only 12 weeks and 5 days to go.

 

Happy Graduation Day Andrew

Today is my step-son's last day of high school.  Tonight he becomes a high school graduate.


It has been a long and grueling education for him.  I've only been around since he was in 6th grade.  But he started having difficulty in 5th grade.  He's a super smart kid who just didn't want to apply himself.  So year after year, semester after semester, there were report cards and progress reports and notes from the teacher that did not make a parent proud.  We all knew he was capable of doing the work if he wanted to.  And he proved that in the classes he enjoyed.  And on his standardized tests every year.


His senior year of high school was a great year for him.  His best since elementary school.


This year marked another change in him.  Last fall he signed his life away (literally) and agreed to join the US Marine Corps.  So every Tuesday night and once a month he got together with a bunch of other kids who did the same thing and did PT.  Not only was he getting physically prepared for boot camp and the Marines, but he was getting mentally prepared.  There has also been a drastic change in his attitude toward life.


It has been a real pleasure and treat to watch this young man grow and develop and mature.  From an awkward 12 year-old who's voice is changing and is growing faster than the weeds in our back yard to a mature man who is ready to conquer the world.


Congratulations Andrew!  I love you.  I'm proud of you.  And I will always be in your cheering section.

Update on Andrew's Baby

Remember Andrew's Baby?  He did very well on his project.  But he was very tired.  His baby kept him up all night.  He was lucky to get 2 hours of sleep at a time.  And he was very frustrated.  He missed class because he had to feed his baby.


We kept reminding him that that is life with a baby.  But realistically, parent's have better accommodations than a HS student doing a project has.  And, as he so poignantly pointed out, we get the benefits of positive feedback from our baby.  Smiles, coos, playfulness, words, hugs, kisses, etc.  


After the project was over, he turned in his baby.  He told his teacher how tired he was.  He then learned this his baby was accidentally put on "hard."  There are three levels; easy, medium and hard.  All students are supposed to be on medium, but somehow his was on hard.


So ... mad props to Andrew for completing the project on the hard level.

Andrew's "Baby"

Andrew is taking a development "teach you how to be responsible" class and there's a unit on taking care of babies.  They have a doll that is programmed to act like a real baby.  You have to feed it, change diaper, etc.  So he had it home yesterday, and Annie and Audrey were so interested in it; Annie moreso.  I think Annie thought it was real.

Yard Work ... ugh........

Hello three-day weekend.  The first weekend in awhile with no real plans.  My Diaper Party  got canceled and Josh only had his drum lessons.  We had the teenagers so we were looking forward to a great relaxing weekend at home.


6:30 Saturday morning Josh wakes up and hits "go" on the coffee.  He went outside to feed the dog. Where's the dog?  Umm ... she's not in her kennel.  She's not on the side yard.  She's not in the corner.  Sheila?  Hello!?!?!  He heard her.  Oh ... there she is.  UNDER THE DECK!!!  Keep in mind last summer the deck was redone and constructed in such a way that she wouldn't be able to dig under the deck again,




She used to crawl under the deck regularly, but was able to get herself out pretty easily because of the nature of the deck.  But this new deck was built lower, had better cement anchors, and was put together with construction adhesive and nails and was not coming apart easily.


We were not happy.  We figured she'd come out when she was hungry and let her be.  A couple hours had passed and she didn't come out.  She was truly stuck.  We dug out a little bit and managed to get her near the hole, but she still wasn't able to get out.  THREE hours later, lots of mud, deeper holes and some serious frustration, she was removed from the deck.


We found ourselves needing to fix things so she wouldn't do this again, because we can't spend 3 hours every other day getting her out.  We made our way to Home Depot and picked up some paving stones, 12"x12", so make an edge around the deck.  We hoped this would deter digging just enough.

And as long as we were dirty and at Home Depot, might as well have our annual yard work day.  This is our 4th summer in this house.  Each summer we've taken on one or more massive yard work project(s) in an attempt to make the yard prettier.  It's not working too well.  One summer we added pretty bark to the back corner that didn't grow anything.  The next summer we took the bark out and planted grass seed (the weeds were growing and it was impossible to keep clean).  One summer we took out the previous year's annuals from the front planter box and replaced the bark.  Last summer we removed a bunch of dumb bushes that just killed the grass.  This summer our project was to get rid of the weeds in the front planter box, replace the bark (again) and plant something.  We decided to do it right and lay down the fabric weed block stuff.  


Rip out the weeds (and let the neighbor lady play with the toddler)

Trim back the rose bush 

Lay down the weed-block and figure out placement for the new plants

Lay down the new bark

Let the toddler pick up what spills

yes, she's wearing knitted mittens

Whack the weeds that are growing in the sidewalk (and mow the grass)

And then stand back and bask in the satisfaction of a job well done.

The stones are vacation souvenirs from Pike's Peak (the big one on the left) and Crazy Horse Memorial 

Father's Day

As a surprise Father's Day Present for Josh, I did a photoshoot with all 4 kids.  I had a lot of fun. We went to the park and did some posed stuff all together, then just let them play on the playground.  You would think 2 teenagers on the playground with a toddler would be awkward, but they were having fun and were totally in their element (what does that say about teenagers?).  It really is very natural for them to play with their baby sisters and it brings so much joy to me to watch them all interact.


Here are some of my favorite photos ... beware ... there are a lot.

Happy Birthday Andrew

Today is Andrew's 16th birthday. 


 Andrew is a great kid.  I'm very blessed to know him.


He tries to be tough and be a "skater" and at least have the rebellious look to him.  But not very deep down, he's just a big softy ... and that's fine with us.  He loves his family, and would rather hang with us on a Friday night than go outside and hang with his friends.  He goes out of his way to do nice things for people.   He sticks up for his younger sister.  He does housework without prompting.  He loves to play with his baby sister.


Happy birthday Andrew!!!  Thanks for being such a great step-son!!!