6 years later...... We are thankful for so much!

Veterans Day

Today is Veterans day! We are so appreciative and thankful for our Soldier or as we call him Daddy! It was only six years ago on November 17th that we said good-bye to our hero as he was leaving for basic training. What a journey we have been on since then.

We left our family and headed to Oklahoma, our first duty station. When we first arrived all I could think was where did he bring us too. It was so different from anywhere we had ever been, but it grew on us. Not even a year after we arrived we added a new member to our family, Brady :) We went through so many changes while we were there, and had some awesome adventures. We also made so many great friends that will always hold a place in our hearts. But we missed out on many of things we weren't use too, holidays, birthdays, and even the births of some nieces and nephews.

Shortly before we left Fort Sill, Steven re-enlisted for 4 more years of service and that re-enlistment brought us to Fort Bragg North Carolina! Not to long after we got here we found out that Steven would be deploying, we always knew this was a possibility and we prepared the best we could. We took the kids out and made some really fun memories and on October 19, 2009 we said good bye to our Daddy for a short while.

Steven missed a lot that year, and we missed him. We all made it through, there were many tears shed but many smiles too! One of my favorite memories was Steven watching the kids open their presents on the web cam. Luckily we were able to talk to him almost daily and it helped to make us miss him a little less. With the love and support of our family and friends we all made it through Steven's deployment.

Being an Army Family can be hard sometimes, and we miss being close to our family and all things that happen when we can't be there. Even though we miss out on a lot we have had some great experiences, our kids have seen so many things and experienced a lot more than I could ever imagine. We love our life, and all the people that have come into it since we became an army family.

We are so proud of our hero, and are thankful that he was able to come home safely to us. We just want to thank all the Veterans in our family that have given so much we are so proud of all of you and thankful for your sacrifices. Also to all the Veterans for all they have given, and especially to those who gave it ALL!!

SGT Steven Sloan 

WE LOVE YOU!!

Sometimes life gets crazy and you get lost in the craziness!

So it has been forever since I have posted, I am kind of upset with myself because I really wanted to write often and keep track of all the great things that happen to our little family. So much has happened in the months that have passed we had a whole summer filled with amazing memories.

The kids have grown and changed, and started new journeys. We decided to take a break from home schooling, Lilli started 8th grade this year and she is doing amazing. I was so worried about her skipping a grade and being away from the public school setting for 2 years. She made some great friends the very first day and is a social butterfly. Her grades are great too, I could not be any prouder of our princess.

Jason is now in 1st grade and growing up so fast, I remember when he was my little monkey and all I did was fuss over him now all he wants to do is run away from me and be with his friends :) Oh Brady that little booga started Pre-k, and he's mister popularity everyone seems to just fall in love with that little guy. I'm in big trouble when he grows up ;)

Andrew's year has been a little more difficult for him and me. Because of his autism and a lot of things we have been going through I really wanted to make sure that he had everything he needed in place before he started school It took so many phone calls, emails, and meetings so I could make sure that he would be successful in school. He is now going into his 3rd week of 6th grade, we are starting off easy he goes half days for now and we will gradually increase his day. We are hoping to have him in full days after Christmas.

Steven and I are both still in school as well working hard towards our degrees, I am hoping to start substitute teaching within the next few months. Steven still doing great at work I could not be more proud of him and all he does for us. 

I am hoping I can get back on track and keep up with posting our adventures for everyone to see!

Andrew got braces!

So this past Thursday I took Andrew in to get his braces. He has literally been counting down the days he has been so excited about getting them.So I took him in and he started to get a little nervous, and asked me to stay with him I was so scared for him but I could not tell him that.

He sat like this for over an hour, and for Andrew that is a huge accomplishment this is a kid who can't sit still for a 30 min science lesson. He did not move, or complain I don't think I could have been so good.

The end result, my handsome little man. He has been so good these last few days everyone has told me he was going to be in so much pain the first night I was so worried that I would not be able to help him but he has not complained once. He has been so great about keeping them clean and not eating anything he shouldn't. I can't wait to see how much more handsomer he gets as they start to straighten out his adorable smile!

Adventures in T-Ball

So this spring we decided to sign all the boys up for baseball and Lilli for softball. This is the first time all 4 kids have been involved in activities, and it seems overwhelming worrying about getting them all to their different practices, along with our other activities we are already doing but so far we are making it work.

They have all had their first practices, and Lilli and Andrew are doing great considering this is their first year I am very proud of them, they are so enthusiastic it just makes me smile to see how much fun they are having!

Brady was really all over the place, but he loved hitting the ball, he has a pretty good arm but not to much attention for a 3 year old, but still it makes me so happy to see him play.

 Waiting his turn!

Practicing his swing.

 He hit the ball, YAY!!!

He made it to first!

He was worn out after about an hour of practice but I had fun watching him!

Jason was so great today at his first practice he went right in and introduced himself to the coach, practiced fielding ground balls, and throwing he's got an arm! And man can that boy swing a bat, and run I heard one of the other moms say "that boy has legs built for running!" I think Steven had more fun watching him, and helping him learn than Jason did playing!

Fielding ground balls!

Rounding second!

Going for third!

Getting in some hits! While Daddy cheers him on!

getting some advice from the coach!

I am so proud of all my kiddos!!!! Can't wait till they get to play in some games... 

Stay tuned for more adventures in T-Ball to come!

Things have been a little busy around the Sloan house!

I feel so bad for not posting anything in over a month things have been pretty crazy around here lately. We had some sick kiddos for about two weeks, along with two birthdays and some Cub Scout fun and other crazy adventures thrown in there.
Lilli turned 12 last month, crazy I know seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home form the hospital, now she is a young woman!

Lilli 4 months old

Lilli and her friends at her 12th Birthday Party!

We had our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet on march 1st, after a lot of work, the night was a great success the boys and their families had an amazing time!

And Jason turned 6 on the 12th, my little man has come such a long way in his life. You would never know how sick and frail he was as a baby to see him running around today. He is such a big boy, and so strong I am so proud of him every day and thank God for his health and the amazing Doctors that helped us those first few years of his life!

Jason 1 Day Old

Jason on his 6th Birthday!!!

Our lives are going to be a little crazy these next few months, all the boys are playing baseball and Lilli is playing softball. Add Cub Scouts, and Young Women's activities, church and life in gneral and it makes for a busy but fun life!!!!!

Crafting away!!!

So I got my silhouette the other day!! I was so excited I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. I have been crafting ever since :)  My sister complained because I haven't written anything lately so here are some pics of what I have been doing :) I promise to do a family post soon!!

I made an awesome Patriots decal for Steven's car ;)

 Labels :) So cute, I think I could label everything !

Of course another recipe board ;)

 

4x4 tile with the cutest quote!

So I think everything in our house might be covered in vinyl soon :)  I have so many great ideas wish I had more free time! I am sure more pics will be coming.

This weeks advetures are brought to you by the letter "C"....

Even though it is only Tuesday I feel like we have had enough fun to fill the whole week already.
Brady is working on the letter "C" this week, and we found out Jason is at school too!!!

So lately I have been annoyed with the kids becoming zombies playing Wii, and play station and just vegging out on the computer. So last week we went with out the video games on school days, and this week I decided no computer either. All I heard is we are going to be so bored what are we going to do all day?? Then I thought I never had a computer and we did not play video games anywhere as much as kids do now, so I told them they would find plenty to do, I had so many adventures when I was a kid and I did not need a computer. So it has been awesome to watch the kids put away the electronics and just play! Andrew and Lilli even got in on the fun!!! They made up some type of game where they are all at war Lilli and Bardy vs. Andrew and Jason I had so much fun watching them play, and taking pictures ;)

Not sure what look he was going for but It was too cute!

First prisoner of war! Sentence, death by cap gun ;)

Oh no Jason has defected to the other side poor Andrew!

This went on for hours and all without electronics. I love watching the kids play all together!

Also we had some excitement later on that night when Jason lost his first tooth! He was such a big boy he even let Daddy pull it out. He was running around telling everyone, I think I was more excited than he was. Then Brady tried to pull out one of his teeth telling us it was loose, to cute!

Sharing my story!

A few weeks ago Bishop Penrod asked me to speak about my conversion, I of course said yes but as soon as I did all I could think was man I really don't want to talk in front of everyone I'm not ready for this. I worked for about a week trying to write down my story, the whole time thinking there is nothing special about my story, and wondering what he wanted me to say,  and really how do you write about yourself. 

I talked with friends about how nervous I was, they assured me I would do fine and that they couldn't wait to her me speak. Man the pressure was on. So everyday I would write, I think I wrote my speech at least 10 times over the course of a week. Then the day came I was so nervous not only to talk in front of the members of my Ward but also in front of all the visitors and President Catlett, President Ratledge, as well as the missionary President and his wife. Steven was going to be there so I knew that I could just look at him when I got nervous.

So It was my turn to speak, I got up there I shared my story of conversion, and the only thing I read from what I wrote was a scripture reference for D&C 64:33 "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great"

I guess I didn't have to write anything down I just needed to speak from my heart.

Well I did not pass out to my great relief, and everyone seemed to enjoy my story. I guess no matter how insignificant you might think your story might be others might find it inspiring and uplifting. I will never worry about sharing my story again :) I also realized how happy I am to be a Mormon!

The Book that changed my life!

Brady is such a big boy now!!!

When we started school this year I tried so hard to get Brady to sit down and do activities with us but he was not interested at all. So I just let him be himself and play once in awhile he would color but nothing to hard. So since we started back up after Christmas he has been telling me "I wanna do school too!!" So I started off easy with letter coloring sheets, then we made some letter books I found online, but today he has shown me how grown up he really is.

We started the letter B this week and he knows his name starts with "B", and I thought that was it. Boy was I wrong, I made him a sheet with the letter B on it and I glued it to some blue construction paper when I sat him down and gave it to him he told me "Mom blue starts with B too!" I was so shocked and happy because I did not think he was really remembering things, that he was just coloring and having fun with me.I realized that pushing him less and letting him learn on his own time has really proven to me that kids really do learn at their own pace and no one child is any smarter than the other they just learn at different speeds.

I am so proud of how patient he was today, his activity was to glue beans on his letter B, I didn't think he would really sit to long, and maybe he might just dump out the beans and say he was done. But he sat there for about 30 minutes placing his beans one by one and he was so happy when he was done and couldn't wait to show Daddy when he got home form work!!

Starting off, he even colored his B brown :)

30 minutes later he is still hard at work.

All done what a good job!!

How we made learning about cells fun :)

So last week and this week in science we have been learning about cells, and what they are made of, and how they work together. I was trying to think of a fun activity for Lilli and Andrew to do to help them learn more about the cell. Then I remembered making an edible 3D cell in 6th grade so we decided it would be fun for them to make a 3D cell of their own, Andrew decided to make an animal cell, and Lilli made a plant cell. I let them decide on what materials they were going to use and just let them have fun I think they came out really good. They had a blast working on them this afternoon, and by the time they were done they new all the parts of the cell :)

Andrew and his Animal Cell

Lilli and her Plant Cell

I think it is funny how much of their own personality shows in their projects!!! I think days like today make me so glad that we have decided to homeschool!

Seriously one of the coolest toys ever!!!!!!!

So my cousin Jason sent Brady the coolest toy for Christmas and I think I have had more fun with it than the kids lol!! It is just like a toy we had when we were kids and I could not remember the name of it for the life of me so I spent 2 hours searching the internet for the name and it was called Disney Magic Omagles. I remember Jason making the coolest things for me and my sisters to play with and now I feel like a little kid again playing with Brady. Isn't funny how playing with the toys can make you so happy, and bring back so many amazing memories. I am so glad that the cool toys always come back ;)

 

Brady in His spaceship!

his toy is called "No Ends"

This toy was so much fun!!!!!

Our First Pinewwood Derby

So this Tuesday is our Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and I have been working on all the details for awhile now, and I hope that it is a great day for the boys. So this is Andrews first Derby and we worked really hard on his car trying to make it "awesome" as he put it :) It was not as easy as I thought it was going to be but after a lot of hard work, sweat, and even a little blood our car was finished. I think we did a great job and I can not wait to see how well he does racing! I  love that I get to spend this quality time with Andrew and all the great memories we are making. Unfortunately this is his last year in Cub Scouts so I will have to wait till Jason turns 8 to make another car.But I think we might be practicing because once I figured out what we were doing it was really a lot of fun.

Car 108

10 years later....

So yesterday was our 10 year wedding anniversary we have come a long way in those ten years. We were 21 and 23, had two kids under the age of 2 and we were both working 2 jobs each. Now we have 2 more children have moved just a few times lol, I don't work and Steven has been in the Army for 5 years. Our journey to this point has been full of hills and twists and turns but I would not trade one day of it. I can honestly say Steven makes me happier every day which I never thought was possible, and when I look at him I still get those little butterflies in my stomach like I did the first day I saw him almost 18 years ago.

I know the next 50 or more years are going to be as good as the first 10.......