Monkey on reading among other things!

Well, as some of you know, my son (Monkey) is 10. He has ADHD and he was also diagnosed with dyslexia last year. It has been a constant uphill battle to get him to read. He does not have the easiest time at it, and is significantly behind in his reading, which effects alot of other sections of his education, well, actually, almost all of them! Last night, Monkey actually brought me a book and asked if we could read! I was so happy! A couple of weeks ago, we had a conference with his science teacher, and he was in his homeroom right across the hall. He actually got out his book and started reading on his own!
What's the change, you may ask. I think it is a combination of a few things actually. We started buying him books that he really enjoys! We bought him some Diary of A Wimpy Kid and some Bakugon books as well. I'm just glad that he is wanting to read and is actually starting to enjoy it and not scream and cry every time you said it was time for reading homework. Go Monkey!!

In other news around the Charwood house, we're getting rid of cable on Tuesday. Totally not my idea, and it couldn't happen at the worst time! On Wednesday I'm having sinus surgery and will be laid up for a couple of weeks. When I asked Sam what I was supposed to do all day while I was alone, at home, with nothing to do but lay on the couch and talk to the dogs. He said that I could read. I guess that's not a horrible idea.

Oh yes! I started college! I'm actually going to an online school called the Animal Behavioral College! I'm taking Veterinarian Assistant and Dog Obedience. Almost all of the curriculum is online, and then you have to do an externship to complete the course and graduate. It was all actually paid for by the government because I am a military spouse. It's called My Career Advancement Account, and it pays for up to $6,000 to help with college. It's been a big help!

Tomorrow is the Marine Corps 234th birthday! I am proud to be able to say that my husband is a Marine. He is far braver than I! We won't be going to the ball again this year. Wednesday, which is also Veterans Day, I'm having sinus surgery! Of course, Sam didn't tell me when it was this year, so, I scheduled my surgery 2 days before. God love him! My best friends, J, is probably going to go with me. She will be having pretty much the same procedure done in December, so, she would like to go with me. I'll probably be the one that goes with her as well.

The dogs are great! They're both sleeping on the couch right now with their feet straight up in the air. It's actually really cute. Lilly's hair has finally grown all the way back in. She is a fluffy white dog again! Doc is finally in the swing of things around here. He will sit on command now! That was a pretty big thing for us, considering that most people believe that Greyhounds can't sit. Both of the dogs are very quick learners and are doing really great!

Other than that, I think that's really all that's going on lately. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this a little better here in the future. We will see!

H.R. 3501, the HAPPY Act

Well, those of us that have animals might be able to legally claim them on their taxes!

According to this bill, pet owners would be able to get a tax deduction of up to $3,500! It would help owners with things like vet care, heartworm and flea medication, and even food!

This makes me very happy, as I'm sure that it will make other responsible pet owners happy as well! We love our dogs and, for us, they are a part of the family. I'm glad that they are finally thinking of pets as part of the family!

Greetings!

Well, life has been puttering along here in the Charwood home. We have settled into a routine that lets us do the things that we need to do and have some family time at the end of the day! That makes me quite happy!

This past weekend we went to Myrtle Beach for a greyhound convention called BeachBound Hounds. It was alot of fun! We got to spend some time learning about Greyhounds and got to meet alot of other people with Greyhounds! We had pizza on the beach at sundown and then drove home!

We have plans to go to another aquarium next weekend. If all goes well we will get to see some more fish and dig around for sharks teeth! They also have an albino alligator at the one that we are planning on going to! My best friend is so scared of alligators, so I will have to take a picture for her!

Monkey and Bug are doing well in their new school. Bug has made alot of friends and Monkey is slowly making friends as well. Monkey is also in Cub Scouts this year! Sam volunteered to help out with this and is excited to start helping these young boys learn skills that will help them in life. Bug is awaiting Girl Scout Daisies to start. We're just waiting for her troop to start up. She is really excited. That means popcorn and cookies this year!

Sam bought me a new crockpot last night and I got to make a nice pot roast today. I put some onions, carrots, potatoes, the meat, some onion and mushroom soup mix and some tomato paste with some water in before the kids went off to school, let it cook all day, and viola! When we sat down to dinner the meat was so tender that it actually flaked off when you ran your fork down the side! I had a heck of a time trying to get it out of the crock to cut up and put on plates!

Monkey has developed a fear of the 'boogie man' being under his bed, so, today I went and got him some storage bins to go under his bed and a nice blue dust ruffle to hide everything under there. He went to bed with just a slight disagreement because he had to go to bed 15 minutes early for getting in trouble. We shall see tomorrow if this idea has worked or not!

Well, until next time my faithful readers! The husband is snoring, one dog is passed out on the couch, the other in the bed, and both the kids are snuggled safe in their beds, so, now it's time for me to slip in and get a couple hours of sleep so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow!

Newest Family Member

So, we officially have a new family member! His name is Doc's Whipper. He's a retired racing Greyhound that we rescued from Greyhound Crossroads. He's such a sweet boy that we have decided to call Doc. (Or Doc-er Do!) The kids absolutely love him, and he loves them too. Lilly isn't quite sure about this very tall dog that has invaded her house. She will give a warning bark when she thinks that he is getting too close, and will give a nip if he doesn't heed her warning. It doesn't seem to phase him much and he continues to stay close to either me or Sam. She does seem a little jealous, but, she will come to love him as part of the family, just like all the rest of us, in time.

We've run into our first "problem" already this morning! While it's not really a problem at all, it could become one very quickly if we don't figure out a solution. We got up to start our morning routine and Doc was doing very well. We let both Lilly and Doc sleep in our room and have not had more than a couple barks from Lilly to tell Doc "You are not allowed in my bed, go sleep on the floor!" He doesn't seem to mind sleeping on the big fluffy bed that we have for him on the floor. Well, Sam got up to let the dogs out to go potty. It is raining outside. Lilly just runs out the back door and does her business. Doc, on the other hand, stops at the back door and looks at Sam like he's lost his mind! We even tried putting him on a leash and taking him outside under an umbrella. No luck! He will need to go out to use the bathroom about 15-20 minutes after he eats, so, we haven't fed yet today. It's only 8:30am so, it's not like they're going to starve to death.

Other than that, things are pretty good! I will learn about my fate at work on Wednesday. I'm not so worried that I'm freaking out, but I am a little worried. If we could afford it, I would just stay home. Someday!

New direction.

Ever heard the expression Change is inevitable? Yeah, me too. I hate change.

Yesterday at work, we were all called into a meeting. This is never a good thing. It turns out that the client that I work for is downsizing our department. What was once a size of roughly 30, dwindled down to about 18, and as of September 14th, will only be 6. We got that news yesterday. Less than a 2 week notice that 2/3's of us will no longer have jobs in that department. I am one of those that will be leaving.

The company is trying to move us into different departments. I have taken the test to be moved, and I have seen a tentative schedule. This does not mean that I will be given a job. This does not mean that I will get a good schedule. This does mean that if I qualify for this job, and I don't take it for whatever reason, I am not eligible for unemployment, or anything other benefits.

This is a very big decision for the family. I would love to stay home and be a full time housewife. I think that Monkey needs that type of support to be able to be as successful as he can be. Bug, she still needs help as well, just not as much as Monkey. Unfortunately, this is not exactly feasible at this time. I can't leave Sam and the kids alone at night, so, working a night shift wouldn't really work well for the family. The weekends are about the only time that I get to spend with them, so I would rather not work the weekends either.

I'm sure that we will figure it out and decide what it right for our family and make it work. That's about the only way that things can go. We will make the best of the situation, no matter what happens.

New baby.

Well, Sam and I have decided that we don't want to have any more children, and if we do, it's going to be quite some time before we do. (Think 5 years or so.) So, we decided, along with the kids, that we were going to adopt a dog. It's been a dream of mine to have a retired Greyhound for a very long time. I think it's horribly sad that alot of these animals are put to death after their racing careers are over, simply because they don't have someone to take them and love them as part of their family.

Lilly, our American Eskimo dog, she is very high energy. We go outside and play with her and take her for walks, but you can almost tell that she wants another dog to play with. When the neighbors have their dog in the back yard they run up and down the fence line just wagging their tails and playing. It was a decision to bring her home a "brother" as well.

I had been watching two different Greyhound rescue sites for the last few weeks, and Sam and I had fallen in love with one. Before we had really made the decision to go forth with the adoption, he was placed on hold pending adoption. We were both kind of sad, but if he got a good home, then it was great for him!

We took the kids to the ER for the rash that they have, because it spread from Bug to Monkey and Monkey's had gotten worse. The doctor had told Sam it was something that we didn't think it was and we were going for another opinion. We spent pretty much all night in the ER with very little sleep. The next day we slept in and recovered. I also wanted to watch the rash a bit more. I ended up calling the adoption agency that he was at just to inquire about their adoption policy. It turns out that the people that had put him on hold for adoption didn't want him after all! I decided right then and there that we were going to get him.

I filled out the application, answered some questions, and Sunday afternoon we found out that we were approved to adopt! This upcoming weekend the entire family will go meet him to see if he is a good match for us. Everyone at the agency has told us that he is the sweetest guy and that we will fall in love with him the moment that we see him. I have no doubt in that considering we are already in love with him and all we have is pictures!

Hopefully, this guy will be in our home next weekend and part of the Charwood family! Here is a picture that we got from the agency, and the one that made us love him!

Wedge cuts and Faux hawks and layers, oh my!

Well, it was an awesome week with my mom and step-dad visiting! The kids got to spend some time with them, which they really enjoyed. We got to go to their open house for their brand new school. It was just built this year, and they will be the first students there! They're very excited!

Monkey has a male teacher for the first time, he's excited about that. We met him. He's a Star Wars geek, which is something that they will most likely get along very well about. Monkey has the Star Wars trilogy and is often very upset when he can't watch it on the living room TV because his sister throws a fit!

Bug has another female teacher. She seems really nice. This will be her first year of going all day to school. North Carolina is different than Ohio. Kindergarten goes all day, and pre-school is half a day. You have to graduate pre-school before you can go to Kindergarten. I was actually very excited that she had a sign language alphabet on the white board. Bug was learning sign last year in Kindergarten. She has forgotten alot of it, but, knows more than I do!


We decided yesterday that it was time to get some haircuts for the kiddos!
Bug is growing her hair out from a wegde cut that she had last year and Monkey wanted an Mohawk but settled for a Fauxhawk! Sam was too worried that he would get a reputation as a trouble maker if we sent him to school with his hair in the fauxhawk, so during school it will just be jelled in some spiky hair fashion, but on the weekend he will be all Johnny Ramone! Well, maybe not Johnny Ramone, lets hope for someone more tame, like David Beckham!

Today is Sunday Funday! They don't know it yet, but, we're actually going to a soccer game! Monkey will be super excited, but Bug won't be. It's actually one of the women that I work with, her son is playing, who is Monkeys' age and she also has a daughter that is Bugs age! I figured that it would be good for them to have a couple of friends that share their passions (Monkey is soccer and Bug is anything fashion related!) Now it's off to finish house work, so we can enjoy a day of soccer!