Me and the Be-Be.

Oh Mom, I will be your be be even when you are dead.

Such a great thought :)

It has been a great first-week off. We have been to the pool, been to the pool and been to the pool. Housework has been avoided because the kids wanted to go to the pool. So we did :) And I got to spend time with a great friend yesterday.... even got sunburned because I talked about someone else.

Today, I got to make a last minute trip to Nashville by myself. It was nice - I sung alot. And because I went, I got a special privilege to go to Target. When I left the store I went to just for Dave, I scooted on by the Abortion Clinic. I don't know why. I felt the need to swing by and say a prayer. I have been several times before and it is absolutely nauseating. It is almost worse than going to Vanderbilt Hospital and seeing sick children. There is no control at "The Mill". There is nothing you can do, and the women and men inside are choosing to end precious lives that have no say. Anyways, so I got a little detoured and I prayed. There were only two cars in the parking lot. It was past 2 p.m.

Tomorrow night we are leaving for the beach. We are going with the awesome inlaws who have rented a fab house. We will be gone for over a week. I am so excited. I hope to have lots and lots of pictures.

I guess I need to get back to packing.

Randomness.

I sit down to write all the time... then I forget what I am going to say.

When I am working, or doing other things, I have the most awesome idea for a post. I, of course, don't jot it down. I think to myself, "I will remember ________! It is a great thing that I need to talk about. It is Then I forget it.

We are having a super busy summer. My "summer" job ended yesterday. Today, I have my first day of inservice. I am excited and nervous. Wait- I guess I didn't even write about getting a job.

I got a job! I got a position teaching at the school my littles go to. It will be so much easier to be close. I am thrilled. I had an interview last week, and it went well. I got the phone call and about cried! All the years of school... well, it paid off. Now, the real hard work begins.

Let's see... Eli is at camp again this week. This is camp #2. He is being a camp counselor for sixth grade students. He left on Monday and will be back on Thursday. I like for him to have these great experiences. And he loves this little camp gig.

Next week (next Friday!) we are off to the beach. I can't wait. We will be back the following Sunday. After that, my schedule is clear for about a month. No school (except to get my room ready). No work - no summer job! I guess I will have to clean house.

Conversations.

• Mom, when I put my head on my pillow, it is like something is going to grab me. - Tripp (My reply? If you don't get your butt in bed, I am fixin' to grab you). He ran.



• Mom, when are you going to die? - Tripp



• Momma, when I get big, can I still get in your bed and cuddle you? - Tripp
  


• Momma... even when I am 65 or when I am in college I will always be your be-be. Even when your under the ground. - Tripp



• Tripp, what am I going to do with you? His reply? I don't know, Mom. What ARE you going to do with me?

Exactly.

That boy. That boy holds my heart. He absolutely kills me with his mannerisms, his kisses and his wit and charm. He is a smart a**. There is no denying who fathered this kid.

One Back - Two to Go!

Last night, I picked Eli up. He had been gone to camp at Faulkner University in Alabama since last Friday. He got to experience dorm life. He was away. I figured that it will be what it is when he really goes off to college in three years. One week was hard. It was quiet. What will I do when he packs his stuff up?



Emma and Tripp will be back some time today. I can't wait to have all my babies in the house, safe and sound. Yesterday, I went to work with Dave. I know it could not be that way all the time. I couldn't imagjne.


We have a busy next few days planned. I will get to have a night out on Monday - Dave has some kind of reception/dinner for the city in Murfreesboro. That will be nice - a dinner out for free! I am hoping for some pool time this weekend. And maybe some yard sales...


Speaking of yard sales, I am stockpiling stuff for my future classroom. I have a couple of totes full now. Last weekend, I found a brand new globe for $3! I also hit up the Dollar Tree yesterday and found some neat classroom supplies. I am hoping to find more stuff - when I really get a classroom, I won't be empty handed.

It is Quiet in the House...

sweet people.

and a thirty six year old face with no makeup (mascara doesn't count).
the kids are gone!


Eli left for camp last Friday - he will be back late tonight.
Emma and Tripp left yesterday morning... they will be back Friday afternoon.


I am sitting here with my grad school application filled out. I need three letters of recommendation. That is all. I just need to drive it down to TTU.

My options are:

1. take a shower and wash my hair and fix it.

2. clean the house.

3. go turn my stuff in at TTU and get this (snow) ball rolling.

4. go to work with my husband.

Last night, we ended up doing nothing. Actually, we enjoyed four hours of Ice Road Truckers and it might have been mixed with Pawn Stars. I don't know. I dozed from boredom and a tad bit of unhappiness. :) Gotta love Alaskan Ice Road Truckers. Of course, the people driving are nuts and they may wreck. They are driving on ice, in the dark, for goodness sakes! Crazy. I hate that show. It annoys me. I think that they people that they are delivering things to should just move to civilization, where the temps are normal, and roads aren't made of ice, and it is daylight when it is supposed to be and dark when it is supposed to be.

Oh, my other subject is my van. My Van only has 60,000 miles. I spent $420 yesterday for brakes and a hose that was leaking fluid that smelled funny. (antifreeze). And guess what? None of it is covered int he bumper-to-bumper warrenty that I paid for. I spent the money I had been saving for my beach vacation in three weeks. So now I have less that $100 in vacation money. :( Short of prostitution, I don't know how to fix this. I already have a job - but no payday till July.

Six.

On Sunday, Tripp turned six. Here he is, posing with Emma.

She held up his fingers for him.

Here is his wonderful birthday cake made my Cousin-Aunt Mary B.

Since he loves S.B. he was so excited!

Here is Dave, in control of the party, lighting the candles.

I went swimming. And then, I was taking the pictures.

Here is the mad mob of kids. We had a great time and was thankful for a pool party after an afternoon rain storm an hour and a half before the get-together.


Here is Tripp and his birthday gift from his daddy. :)

I love you, Tripp!

A Little Extra Help.

I started my job last week. I am teaching an extended school year class for preschool special ed.
I even have the badge to prove it. And, I am loving it.

When I started out, I would have never thought that I would be interested in special ed. I took the classes that I had to, no more. And while I have had my application for graduate school since two days after graduation, I haven't turned it in. I thought I would do Library Science.

I was wrong. wrong. wrong.

There are sixteen students in my class, with me, another teacher and an aid. I would lightly call myself a teacher. I am really learning. The other teacher is a thirty-plus year special ed teacher. And I love her. She is wise and this job, this life, is not only what she does - it is how she lives.

So I am excited about grad school. I look at the children in the class as students who just need extra help.

Eli, Tripp and Emma have met a few of my students. For Eli, it was easy for him to understand the differences. But for Emma and Tripp? It is not so easy. Today, at the pool, one of my boys from school came up to see me. How do I explain all of this to Emma and Tripp?

So Emma says, "Mom, is that one of your kids from Special Ed?"
I didn't quite like the way it sounded. So, I told her, "He is one of my students. He just needs a little extra help." So Tripp asks, "What is wrong with him?" And I told him, "Sometimes, he has trouble understanding what we are teaching. Has Ms. Jennifer ever taught you something and you didn't "get" it, so she told you a few more times?" And Tripp says, "Yes - so he does the same thing?" And that was that. They got it.

I hope that what I am doing will teach Emma and Tripp and Eli to be compassionate to others. I hope that they see others who need "extra help" a little differently. I hope that they take the time to give extra help. Because in some way, we all need it.