Another one bites the dust.

Ah, I am finished with yet another semester.
Hooray for me!

Nothing new going on... yeah, right.
More on that later.

I am loving the sunshine and the warm air.

Emma is doing the Academic Bowl for Kindergarten tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. She is excited. Eli should have done his today. He loves to compete, and it looks like his competitiveness's has rubbed off on Emma.

Oh, we got his ACT results back. You know, like the REAL ACT? The high school one?
Well, he made a 26.
That is pretty dadgum cool cause I made a 19. And Dave made a 19.
So, technically, Eli could go ahead and start college.
:)

Is It God Calling?

Have you ever felt as though something was supposed to happen or that you were supposed to be somewhere at a certain time?

Have you ever been "called" to do something?

We have an opportunity that I feel is a blessing. Not necessarily a blessing maybe, because the circumstances were not that great to begin with - maybe the right term is that we are in a position to make a difference.

Last week, I had a serious conversation with God. I think I am still talking to Him about this particular thing. Anyways, I went for a walk on a sunny day. I thought about life as I walked around in the blowing breeze, the warm air, the sun... and I told Him, "Here I am. Do with me what You will."

I think of a song we sing in church, "Here am I, send me." This is what I want. This is what I need. But I want to make sure that my needs and wants are His needs and wants.

I have to pray harder. And completely rely on God.

Last week of school... here I come!

It is with great anticipation that I finish the last week of this practicum. I have come to love my second graders! I was blessed to spend last week with fourth grade and I proctored the TCAP. Guess what! I love fourth graders, too.

On May 10th, I will move to middle school and spend two weeks with either fifth or sixth graders. Will I love them also? Or will they scare the goo outta me like I think?

It is hard to believe that next month at this time, I will be a senior. :)

In other news, it has been a difficult two weeks for both myself and Dave (and the rest of the family) emotionally. I have learned some hard lessons about government, people and trust. I have prayed for a specific family that has been brought to us. I have told God that I am here, use me how he wishes. I have repeated that God is in control of the situation - even when I did not feel it.

I pray for guidance for a sweet family. I pray for the social workers, I pray for my family who are all stepping in and working together.

We have so much and now I know that there are so many that have so little. Not financially. Emotionally. While my own little family is not perfect, Dave and I love, love, love the kids. We hug and kiss and play. Even when we are exhausted at the end of the day, we love.

So many children do not get that.

I always look to grow from certain situations. From this situation, I have learned to be extra careful with my words and actions. I am watching my own movements about the house. I want to make sure that my family knows how much I love them and appreciate them.

Eli is an awesome teenager with a wonderful future ahead of him. I love his wit and charm. I have saw a different side of him this week... I see how tender his heart really is. This child has the ability to love others deeply.

Emma is ready to share and be loved by others. She takes change in stride, opens her heart to those in need. She is a welcoming child full of love and loyalty.

Tripp is happy to be here :)

Anyways, please keep my friends in your prayers in the upcoming weeks. They need it.

M.I.A.

Sorry I am missing in action. Good Gravy, this is hard.
I am sorry I complained about all other semesters.
I am sorry I am complaining now.
I just signed my life away for the summer.

I have, quite possibly, had two of the most heart wrenching weeks of my life - reasons I cannot disclose here, but for those who know me IRL, well you know.

I found out last night that I was old. A girl in class told me of her desire to marry her boyfriend. And she is excited to see where her life is taking her. Then she ended with.... "but, I don't want to get old. And, I don't want to have kids. Once you have kids, it is over."

Um, chick, it is just the beginning.
I wanted to tell her what a blessing and a privilege it is to reproduce with someone you love so, so much. That the greatest gift that God gives us it the ability to be a mother. That while fat, stretch marks, crows feet, mouth wrinkles, tiredness, worry and stress are all worth those sweet smiles, the "I lub you, mommy" comments, the kisses.....

She will figure it out, one day, all on her own.

Then, I quoted one of my most favorite people and told her about "seasons." There are seasons in our lives that replace seasons. While some are not as enjoyable, they are necessary to move to the next level. When you are in a season that is not really agreeable to you, suck it up, make the best of it, and go on. It doesn't last forever.

Holy gravy, I just talked myself out of a pitty party.
Thanks, me.

Tough Day.

I chose to skip practicum today. It is the first day that I have missed teaching.
Emma's homework was not done, Tripper was refusing to dress OR brush his teeth. Kindergarten papers were due, High School admission papers were due, applications for honors classes were due and needed teacher approval signatures. I work Eli up around 6:10. At 7 a.m. he rolled outta bed.

I sat there, at 6:55 a.m., my normal "leave" time, and had chaos all around me.
I chose to call in sick, to help Emma with schoolwork, help Tripper brush his teeth, deliver signed applications and papers to the proper places.

I got it done.

Sometimes, the kids have to come first.

It went downhill from there.
You ever had those days where ya just want to go to bed, get back up and start all over?
Today is one of those days.

Times of Change.

It seems that nothing is constant.

Things are always changing.

I have several magnets on my fridge. Sometimes, I will put special artwork on there. Right now, there is an Easter bunny in a field of construction paper grass. There is a renewal for my drivers license that needs to be completed. There is a super funny menopause magnet that makes me laugh. I also have some of the most important pictures in my life on my fridge. My wedding day picture with my mother, a picture of me and my babies after Tripper was born, a goofy picture of Dave... I guess that my fridge is the descriptor of my life.

Right now, I have a paper on there that reminds me that my first baby will be going to high school soon. Tonight, we have a parent-information meeting at 6 p.m.

Following that, we have a "Save The Date" for 8th grade graduation on May 24th.

On the opposite side, I had an application for my youngest baby to start Kindergarten.

When that youngest baby was born, I would sit and rock and count their ages.... Eli was nine, Emma was twenty months, and Tripper was just born.

Then, I would think about how easy it would be when:

• Eli would be 10, Emma would be 3 and Tripper would be 1.
• Eli would be 11, Emma would be 4 and Tripper would be 2.
• Eli would be 13, Emma would be 6 and Tripper would be 4.

Now, Eli is 14, Emma will be 7 and Tripper will soon be turning 5.

Not too far in the future, Eli will be 20, Emma will be 13, and Tripper will be 11.

There is nothing "easy" about it.

One day, they will be gone. It will just be me and Dave. Alone. In the house. I will miss stepping on marbles, matchbox cars, and Barbie hairbrushes. I will miss the smell of teenage boy cologne, a young man begging to have a sleepover, silly stories, and all the look-what-I-can-do's that come with kids.

These days are passing by too quickly for me.

Mistakes.

I have had some pretty stupid screw-ups lately.

• It is almost time for mid-nine weeks reports for the kids - I just sent report cards back this week.
• I realized on the 29th of March that I did not pay the water/gas/sewer bill for the month. It not only cost me $30 in late fees, I had to go into City Hall and pay the bill. Do you know how embarrassing it is to pay a bill with a cut-off notice when a picture of your husband is hanging right beside the check out counter at City Hall, staring at you as you fix a screw up?
• Spring Pictures were a couple of weeks ago. Thinking that I was on the ball, I put Emma's check in the envelope and sealed it, and put it in her backpack ONE DAY EARLY! Woo-Hoo! Fast forward a week later, I got a strange phone call on my cell phone. It was from the picture taking people. Seems that I did, in fact, put the check in, but I did not fill it out or sign it. They graciously sent it back and let me finish it, so Emma will still get her Kindergarten class picture.
• I registered for Summer/Fall session. I filled out the financial aid papers like the day they were posted online. I never received a response. I thought, "Boy, they are cutting it down to the last minute." So, I walked across campus yesterday and just stopped by and checked it out. They were never received. First,the lady at the desk told me my hair was cute. That was an added bonus :) Second, she told me to go resubmit right then. So I did. She said it looks good, I should have plenty of money to fund my 17 summer hours and my 17 fall hours.

Now, I have to build up my courage to talk to my bosses at work and ask for three weeks off in May. Someone, give me an opinion.

IF YOU CAN KNOCK OUT AN ENTIRE SEMESTER IN THREE WEEKS, WOULD YOU QUIT YOUR JOB OVER IT?

Please reply.

Happy Tuesday!

Today is another busy day.

I did not have school, but I had to go to work. Emma had a dentist appointment at 1 p.m. and we did not finish till 2:15. Poor girl had a cavity pop up in the last couple of weeks... well, it ended up having to be filled. And it was deep. She was on gas for almost an hour. Now, she is sleeping in my floor at work.

Eli has a soccer game tonight at 5 p.m.

Tomorrow, I have school.

There is only 18 more working days in this semester.

Happy Easter.

Usually, I end up with some fairly decent pictures of my children.

This Easter, this was not the case.

The best ones I have ended up on Facebook. While I love my sweet, smiley faced children and their abilities to pose for great pictures, some days, well, sweet and smiley faced is not what my children are.

Today, this was the case.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are the pictures I tried to take before 9 a.m. and make it to church on time.

Not sure what is happening here. I ended up yelling.

Tripper lied and told his Daddy that I told him to get in the van. Eli did not want to squat down for a picture with Emma. I tried to tell him that he is wayyyy too tall to stand up straight beside anyone in our family.

Didn't listen. So he has no head.

We moved on to self portraits.

Eli and me.
Me and Dave on candy overload.

This is prolly the best picture of us.

Ever.

This is what makes us - us.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

I did.