Accomplished Much? (aka A Year in Review)

One of the themes of deployments seems to be staying busy.  Actually, when one talks to other military spouses to learns ways of coping with deployments, one of the frequent recommendations is to stay busy.  With that in mind, when I knew that Jason was going to be deploying for a year's time, we moved to a new house, I registered for grad school, and threw the kids into as many activities as was humanly possible to get them into.

Okay, not really.  We DID move, and I DID register for grad school...but the throwing kids into activities?  They did that all on their own.

So, since this deployment is winding down, I wanted to list (for myself, mostly) what we DID accomplish while Jason was gone...starting (somewhat) chronologically.

In August, we moved into our new home.

In September, I started Grad school, and the kids all started back to school...in new schools for 5 of them.

In October, Jason and I went out to celebrate our 18th anniversary the night before he left to go to South Carolina for training.  We also had our family pictures done by a dear friend (see the header above).  I went to visit Jason for the last weekend before he left the country.

 I got a call from the insurance company that our insurance would be cancelled if we didn't install railings on the front porch and back steps, so we got that done.

In November, Jason arrived in his deployment locale...

For Thanksgiving, we had a friend from grad school over for Thanksgiving dinner.

We celebrated Heather's 13th birthday by spending the evening of her party in the emergency room, getting her broken wrist x-rayed, and then getting a cast put on it almost a week later.

In December, we traveled to South Carolina for Christmas, visiting with Jason's family and my family, and friends.  Jason celebrated with friends from the Chapel on base.  We also celebrated the birthdays of Frances (17) and Katherine (7).





We also got to celebrate with Jason's mom and a whole lot of friends for her 60th birthday.


In January, I started my Practicum, hired a girl to help out during that time, worked, and went to school....and kept the kids busy in their schools and other activities. We celebrated Justin's 11th birthday.  I also applied for my Passport...

In February, I got my Passport in the mail(!), organized, studied, worked at my Practicum site, celebrated my birthday (ha! like I'd tell you which one!!) and prepared a schedule of weekly/daily events for my mother-in-law...and then got on an airplane....

...oh, and we added another ball of fur to the house.

I started March visiting with my husband in the "vacation locale" where he is currently deployed...then flew back, took over the kids again, fought jet lag, and went back to classes and finished the semester.  We also celebrated Leah's 9th birthday.

In April, we celebrated Jason's birthday via Skype (and watched him open his box!), and Jon's 15th birthday.

May saw school performances, winding down for the school year...

...and a freak storm that took out a substantial branches in both the back and front yards.

In June, we had a farewell for some dear friends from church who were moving away, and I painted, and painted, and painted....the rails took me entirely too long (I'm a perfectionist!)

Isn't he good looking?!?

Jason came home at the end of June for his R&R...

...and during the time he was home, we had visits from his parents, two other friends from out of town, and Jason and the two littlest girls were in a wedding.  Jason and I also were able to get away for a couple of days before he had to head back.

August meant Operation Purple Camp for 4 kids, and Band Camp for the other two...and I headed back to school.  It was Ramadan in the "Vacation Locale"...which meant that Jason didn't do an awful lot for that month.

September meant school again for everyone....a total (for the family) of 1 elementary school, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools, and 2 grad schools.

And LOTS of school supplies!!

October ended up being one long band competition.  Or not.  But it seemed like it.  Oh, and I went and visited Jason for our 19th anniversary.  And did school.  And taxied children. And organized the world...or not.  Things are starting to get blurry at this point, since it's all winding to a close and I am just...soooo...tired....

So, We don't have much time left - less than two weeks now.  And my thing I am most proud of from this year of accomplishments?  I grew.  I did all of this.  I am doing grad school, and doing it well.  We had tough times.  Things (and people) broke, but we didn't fall apart (I had a LOT of help in *that* particular department!!).  The biggest thing has been how much I have grown Spiritually.  God has done tremendous things in my life over this year, which made all of the hardships worth it, in the long-run.

Yes, we accomplished a lot this year...but there is no way we could have come out of this so well without the prayers of friends, and the loving hand of our Lord on our lives the whole way.

Christmas Letter, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

I am sad to admit that I have not been my best with keeping up this year. I apologize. I do not promise to do better, because frankly, I know I won't. I failed letter writing and thank-you notes 101...I do pretty well with phone calls, emails, and Facebook, but not so well with pen and paper.

So, in a moment of clarity (or is it insanity?!?), I will attempt to catch up with everything our family has done/accomplished/tried/failed/witnessed/avoided in the calendar year 2009. You ready? I know I'm not...

We started out the year, as we do every year, in the midst of birthday season. Our family birthday season starts in November and ends in April. As we began 2009, half of the children had just had their birthdays (Heather, Katherine and Frances), and the other half were still to come (Justin, Leah, and Jon). 2009 being an odd year, all of our children were odd numbers in age...this year saw us add another teen (Jon!)...with ages ranging from 5 to 15.

This year has seen travels to South Carolina for visits with family, and a trip to Alabama for vacation. Jason had a chance to go on a men's retreat in October, and Laura was able to go to Women of Faith in November. We have also has our share of challenges...with two car wrecks and repairs, buying a third car, weathering storms and floods, and dealing with various dramas, major and minor.

All of the children have had a good year in school.

Frances finished her freshman year in high school, and has moved on to her sophomore year. She again played flute and piccolo in the marching band, and is maintaining her good grades, studying at the Global Studies and World Languages Academy. A next step is to actually apply some of the classes, especially her Driver's Ed class, which she is taking right now.


Jon was happy to be finished with sixth grade, and so far seventh grade has proved to be much smoother for him. He is also playing in the band, taking on the challenges of playing the trumpet for the Pep Band and Jazz Band, as well as the tuba for the seventh grade band. He is excelling in some areas, and being stretched in others, but overall is doing well.

Heather finished out her elementary school years well, and is thrilled to be in middle school. She has followed in her sister's steps and is playing flute in the sixth grade band. She has also gotten involved in the Environmental Club at school, and in Girl Scouts. She continues to be her creative self, supplying the family with drawings, and illustrating many of her papers for school.


Justin has moved from third to fourth grade, and is continuing the excellent work. This year he is in the Chrome Club at school (a math and science club for 4th and 5th graders), and also played the part of Fred, Scrooge's nephew, in a play at school. He is having a great time learning about the tech side of the school's morning show, by being part of that team this year, too.

Leah is loving school, and has smoothly transitioned from first to second grade within this year. She enjoys reading and loves to come home and read to her sister, the cat, the dog, or whoever will sit and listen.

Katherine was THRILLED to start move into Kindergarten this year! She LOVES school, enjoys riding the bus, but particularly LOVES making new friends, and spending time with them. She is still at the stage where peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are GREAT, every day....but is quickly growing out of the baby stage...which makes this mommy just a little nostalgic.

Rudy joined our family in September, and has been an interesting addition. The kids love him, and he loves them unconditionally.... ....the way a dog loves.

Pheobe has suffered through another year of captivity...escaping from the house at every opportunity, returning only because of rain or extreme starvation (ok, so not really, but I would swear that is what is going on in her head some days...). She has endured torture at the hands of Leah and Katherine, and various neighborhood kids, and has thoroughly enjoyed putting Rudy in his place on occasion.

For Jason and I, the year has held much more of the same...our work has remained blessedly stable, and our outside involvements have stretched us.

Jason is still in school, working on his Master's in Theology through Liberty University. He has handled well the challenges of full time school and full time work in the Navy. He has also coached softball, played raquetball, run sound for the church, lead a men's group, and is now supervising a major part of our church's structure/organization...and through the whole of it maintained a very high GPA...I am constantly amazed at his ability to balance it all!


I have pretty much been along for the ride, being taxi driver on occasion, and tagging along for others. I am still working from home doing medical transcription, and trying to keep up with the house and children in my spare time. I have had the opportunity at the end of this year to take on a couple of new things, including being my husband's command ombudsman, and I will be leading a women's small Bible study group starting in January.

All in all, 2009 has been a relatively stable year, with minor bumps in the road, but progress and growth, and gratefulness to God for all He has done in our lives during this year.

Merry Christmas to all, and thank you for being our friends!!

Happy New Year from the Paxtons!

In lieu of a Christmas letter (which I have never been able to pull off), I am going to summarize our 2008.


Our 2008 began with Jason still in Montana, doing turn-over to the new supply person, and the children and I in Virginia, learning the area, and the children starting school, including Leah starting Kindergarten in the middle of the school year.



Over the course of the year, we saw...

*Jason driving back across country from Montana to Virginia.

*Laura starting a new job, as a private contractor doing medical transcription.

*Frances finishing 8th grade, and applying to and being accepted to the Global Studies and World Languages Academy.

*Jonathan finishing up 5th grade and moving on to 6th grade at Great Neck Middle School.

*Heather finishing 4th grade and beginning 5th grade.

*Justin finished 2nd grade and started 3rd grade.

*Leah finished Kindergarten and started 1st grade.

*Katherine turned 5, and has spent a lot of great one-on-one time with mom.



Jason has had a very successful year in 2008. He finished his turn-over in Montana in mid-January and drove across country to join us in Virginia, making a stop in Indiana with his Uncle Gary for the night. His new command put him in several challenging positions over the year, setting up a new area, being in charge of building maintenance, and then moving him back into his regular area of supply. He had two momentous occasions this year, being promoted to First Class Petty Officer in November, and graduating from Ashford University with a Master's Degree in Business Management. As we speak, he is preparing to begin another Master's Degree, in Theology, through Liberty. He is also very involved at our WONDERFUL church, Reality Church (http://www.realitychurch.com/), running sound, and with a Men's Brew Group. He has been able to take part in various activities through the year, including a Men's Retreat, and having the fun of playing with fire at various church cook-outs.


The children have all been busy this year, and seem to have adjusted well to their new schools and new friends in Virginia.


Frances finished out 8th grade at Great Neck Middle School, studying hard and playing the flute in the band. She made some very good friends, and kept her grades high. At the end of the school year, she applied for a program within the Virginia Beach school system called the Global Studies and World Languages Academy. She was accepted and started the new school year attending Tallwood High School, and playing the piccolo in the Marching Band. The Marching Band had a very successful season, and Frances is now playing in the Symphony Band. She is also doing very well accademically, and is learning a lot. She has also enjoyed getting to know some very good friends from our church, and was able to attend Winter Jam, King's Fest and Acquire The Fire with her youth group. Frances turned 15 in December, and is really looking forward to getting her learner's permit in June.


Jonathan (Jon) also had a busy year. The end of his 5th grade school year was a bit of a tough adjustment for him, but adjustments were made, and he finished well. He enjoyed the chance he had to act in a play at the end of the school year. He turned 12 in April, and was able to play baseball over the summer, and though his team didn't finish the season well, it was a learning and growing experience. Jon loves baseball, and is looking forward to playing again next season. He is now in 6th grade at Great Neck Middle School, and is learning to play the trumpet. His first performance was for the Christmas holiday concert. He also tried out for the football team, but did not make the team...maybe next year! He is also enjoying helping out at church with setting things up on Sunday mornings, and running the sound for the children's Adventure World, as well as learning in the youth class. He enjoyed attending Winter Jam with Frances, too.


Heather quickly adjusted to her new school, and finished out her 4th grade year very well. She made a lot of good friends, and was able to take part in several new activities. She also played baseball over the summer, and had the distinction of being one of two girls in their level of baseball. She has started off her new school year well, and is learning a lot. She is slowly outgrowing her tomboyish tendencies, finally being willing to wear girly clothes again, though still enjoys her baseball caps and ragged jeans. She loves art, and has the opportunity to apply for a special art class at the Old Dominion Center. Heather had her 11th birthday in November, and is growing by leaps and bounds.




Justin had a very good end of the school year, after having a bit of a bumpy year, with four different teachers over the course of the school year. He played baseball over the summer (fun trivial fact: all 3 baseball players were assigned to the Red Socks teams...a bit confusing for mom!), and his team had a winning season, not losing a single game. He is looking forward to playing again next season. He has made a couple of really good friends in the neighborhood, and enjoys playing PS2 games and having sleep-overs with them. Justin turned 8 in January, and is looking forward his 9th birthday in a couple of days.





Leah started off 2008 with the new experience of attending Kindergarten. She thoroughly enjoyed her class, and finished out that school year well, on par with the rest of her class, though she only attended school for half of the school year. She has learned to read and loves practicing for us. She has made several friends in the neighborhood, and some very good friends at church. Leah's 6th birthday was in March, and is looking forward to celebrating again in a couple of months. She is doing well in first grade, and loves riding the bus to and from school.






Katherine has had a very good 2008, spending her time at home with Mommy. She tells everyone that she is "doing school," and constantly draws pictures for the family, and asks how to spell words to make "invitations" for her friends. She is writing and is learning to read, as well, following in the steps of her brother, teaching herself. She turned 5 in December, and we celebrated for 2 weeks with her.








I have had a busy year, working and trying to keep up with the house, as well as the various other responsibilities that come with family life...taxi driver, secretary, chief cook, bottle washer, laundress, etc. In mid-January I started working as a medical transcriptionist, working from home, and have stayed busy with that all year long. I have had fun, meeting new friends at our new church, learning and growing through the Women's group. I enjoyed spending a weekend in Washington, DC, attending the Women of Faith conference in July, and taking part in the Ambassador Choir reunion in South Carolina in October. As a family, we also were able to visit with family in South Carolina in March and July, as well as spending Thanksgiving with my family in North Carolina, and with Jason's family in South Carolina.


I have taken up several new activities this year, in attempt to keep in touch with friends all over the country. In addition to this blog, you can find us on Facebook....search for both Jason and I on there. We LOVE keeping in touch with our family and friends, and look forward to hearing from all of you over the next year!