Sigh!

The kids are all doing great!

I am so proud of 'Lexi, she's dealing with her braces much better than I could have hoped. She's not able to eat quite as much, but I am told that is normal and to expect some significant weight loss these first few weeks. To add into that, she's started martial arts which is fairly rigorous, so she could drop a lot of weight. We are going to watch and make sure she stays healthy, though. She's doing quite well in martial arts and the instructors think she has a lot of potential. I think she does too, she really is a natural from what I have seen.

Schoold starts back up next week, which I think will be good for everyone. 'Lexi can make new friends and get back into a steady routine. Grandma and Derek will have the house to themselves (with Mason). For me, the grocery bill should drop : )

I am trying to make time where I do something one on one with the girls. These lst few months have really been trying and now that I am back to work, it's even harder. I think I will try to find a poster to color so 'Lexi and I can work on that together once or twice a week. With Mercedes it's a bit harder, she wants to be active. Perhaps we will cook together. She likes that.

Mason finally put on some weight, though Iam not sure if it was just form one day or if it will stay. I am pretty happy though. Him not gaining weight for a month really (really) bothered me. He'sa happy baby though, at least most of the time. He's stopped losing hair too, and he's growing his own hair back. He's going to be suave and handsome again quite soon.

I am going TDY next week ifor a few days. I think we will all be alright. I worry about how things will be while I am gone but I have to hope that Derek handles it all. It's good practice for the upcoming deployment that I am expecting. Between Derek's natural inclinations and his disease progressing I am not sure what's going to happen.

Patch (the cat) is in the dog house with me again. She started peeing on my bathroom rugs again for some reason. She's about to go back into timeout. Another two weeks locked up to retrain her. It might be that the kitty litter box was not up to her standards though, so I cleaned it out good and we will give her another chance. If she's still being difficult next week, it's kitty jail for her. Boy will she be mad.