Stuart has been at his job over 5 years and will finally become a certified bridge inspector this spring, something we have been waiting 5 years for. He still loves his job, and can't wait to do more diving all over the country (he is still gone a lot). If they win the Alaska job again he can finally go do that job (they required 5 years of experience) and he is really hoping he gets that job. Last March he got cute by an oyster shell and was in the hospital for 4 days with a very serious infection. It was very scary and I don't ever what to forget it so I remember how important he is to this family. He thinks he wants to live in Alaska off the grid, I just laugh and shake my head.
I am currently in school at UCF working on a degree in health sciences. I'm still not 100% sure what I am going to do yet but I really want to finally finish and although it feels like it is never going to happen, every semester I do get a little closer. It's fun to be going back and learning new stuff, and working really hard, but it is hard with the kids and I feel torn all the time.
Grace is 7 in second grade and loves her school. Her teacher is her favorite and I sometimes think she would go live with her if she had a chance. But I never have to fight with her to get up in the morning, so that is a win. She just started piano lessons but isn't thrilled about practicing everyday. She loves singing, is a little obsessed with Frozen and wants to work at Sea World, Disney, the movie theater and be a teacher when she grows up. And she is already talking about when she has babies and she wants to live near me so I can hold them all the time (good girl).
Zach is 5 and is in kindergarten this year. He still is a little hard to understand sometimes, but only when he is excited and talks fast, so it is so much better then it was a year ago. He has a very nice teacher but he is not as thrilled about school. Mornings are very hard for him, he is like me. His favorite things right now are snakes and guns. He is my most snuggly kid, but also loves to play fight with Dad. His favorite colors are black and green. I'm trying to convince him to become a pilot so I can fly free, but he said planes go to fast, but I'm going to keep working on him.
Katy is 3 and fierce. We joke all the time she is mean, and people don't believe us but she is sassy. I don't feel like we have parented her differently, but she is definitely more independent that the other 2. She loves my little pony and frozen toys right now. We got her a kitchen for Christmas and she really likes that too (it was a joy putting together christmas eve). She just started sunbeams yesterday and wasn't upset about it, she was ready to move on. Her favorite colors are pink and purple and she would eat candy all day if we would let her. Her favorite person is Stuart for sure, so we are always so happy when he is home for a while.
We bought our house in Florida a little over 2 years ago, and we are almost done paining the entire interior and Stuart is still working on the outside yard. It may never ben done because we are constantly fighting with our grass to grow. The kids love the pool and would be in everyday if we had a heater. We have some really awesome neighbors, so we are very lucky.
We still have sweet, old Max, he is over 9. I always knew we would be lucky to see him to 10 but you can say that all you want to prepare yourself, its not going to help. My heart is already hurting seeing him slowing down. I'm not sure now we will get through his dying, and I know we will but it is going to be rough, we are all very attached.
I hope this year brings some changes, but not too many. Stuart said recently that we are in a good place and he is happy where we are, so lets hope we will feel the same way at the end of 2015.
