Wow! I really suck at this!

I started this blog sometime earlier this year... with the intention of writing something every couple of days, if not at last once a week.

That certainly has not happened, even in the slightest.

A million things have been going on since this blog was started. Since it would take a million years to even begin to completely document the comings and goings of my family, it would be better to do a recap instead.

1. In March, my husband was accepted to the nursing school at the University of New Mexico. We were living outside of Albuquerque (where the University is located) in Rio Rancho at the time and decided it would be best to relocate closer to UNM. In May, we moved to the University Student Family Housing, which is about 1.5 miles from UNM. Monty III can easily bike to school and to the UNM Hospital where he does his nursing clinicals.

2. The summer was relatively uneventful. After moving and settling in to our new temporary home (without our dog Fred, who is currently residing with my mother-in-law as pets are not allowed here) the kids and I fell into a routine of summer activities. Going to the zoo or aquarium, visiting the public library on Thursdays to view the summer performances there.

3. We decided to home school Monty IV. He has something called A1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which causes him to get pneumonia constantly (he is 7-years-old and has had pneumonia at least 12 times already). Last school year, he missed over 32 days of school. He seems to be enjoying the work, and the curriculum we chose for him is amazing, with lots of history and science and lots of reading great stories. We are still struggling with his handwriting (he absolutely loathes handwriting).

4. Late August, Monty IV was playing Star Wars with toy light sabres in the courtyard of our apartment when he was hit by a younger boy. Monty IV got very upset and began to hit the boy repeatedly. We took Monty IV upstairs, took away the light sabre, and punished him by grounding him from video games and computer games. About 30 minutes after this happened, the boy's parents knocked on our door and told us that Monty IV has been bullying their child for sometime. The father said that on numerous occasions Monty IV had done this and that to their son (this was news to me as I watch him very closely when playing and had never seen any of what he was describing). He also told us that he was documenting everything that had happened (including photographing all of the alleged bruises and scrapes Monty IV had inflicted on their son) and if Monty IV so much as looked at their son again, he would call the police. Monty III and I had no idea what to do or say. For sometime, I had been feeling like a single parent since Monty III had been very wrapped up in his school. A little while later, the resident manager of the Student Family Housing came and knocked on our door. She told us that we would receive a letter about the incident (which we still have not received) and a copy would be placed in our housing file. She said that we should let it cool for a while, and then try to get back together with the other parents and the boys would probably be great friends. About 20 minutes later, the police knocked on our door. It was at this point that I felt as if the bottom of my world was falling out from under me. The boy's parents obviously wanted no reconciliation between our families. The police told us that what Monty IV did was a misdemeanor and that the parents of the other boy had up to six months to decide whether or not they wanted to press charges. That night Monty III and I had a pretty big fight. It seemed that my only option was to take the kids and leave, something that I finally decided against. Ultimately, a lot of feelings came out into the open... stuff that had been mouldering and festering within both of us for a while. Monty IV has been seeing a therapist since that time, to help him with his anger management issues. Unfortunately, the boy that Monty IV fought with shares a courtyard with us and his father is president of the Student Family Housing Association. We feel like we are kind of stuck between a Rock and a Hard Place with this situation. Monty IV is afraid to play outside... although he does have one friend that he plays video games with regularly.