A Lifetime of Love

Th has strep. I took him to McDonald's for a milkshake while we waited for his prescription to be filled. He's miserable, and I can tell. I feel so badly for him! I hope the antibiotic kicks in quickly! Luckily for me, I picked up the boys' favorite movie: Mr. Rogers Goes to the Circus. He is resting quietly on the couch, watching this movie for the upteenth time!

My headaches have gotten better, especially since Monday. I think it was a combination of stress and lack of sleep. I had to teach a science lesson on Monday, and I was reviewed and critiqued by my peers and my instructor. I had an awesome lesson planned, including going outside, except it rained. But not only rained, we had a tornado! So, I had to quickly make some adjustments to the lesson and pray that it would have the same effect. I have not received my feedback forms from my instructor or my peers, nor have I received my grades. There are 2 grades, one for the lesson itself and one for the presentation of the lesson. I am nervous about both! I also have finals beginning tomorrow. I have one tomorrow, two on Friday, and one on Monday. I have attempted to study but also have sick kids, and Th has been home from school the past 2 days. He is going to the doctor later this morning because he is complaining his throat hurts. I hope it's not strep, but a friend of mine who was at ...

I have had a headache for about a day and a half. I am going to begin journaling them so the next time I see my doctor, I can hopefully provide some helpful information in diagnosing and treating them. It started about 1:30pm yesterday, and I had about 20 minutes before I had to start getting the kids ready for a birthday party, so I laid down in bed. I got up at 2pm with the boys, and by then my head was a full-fledged headache. I got the kids ready and we left for the party. By 4pm, I could hardly stand to keep my eyes open because my head hurt so badly. But, the party wasn't over for another hour so I didn't have much of a choice. I drank a can of Coke thinking the caffeine would help, and munched on some veggies to keep from getting nauseous. By the time we left at 5pm, my headache consumed all of my thoughts. I had to drive 35 minutes across town to meet TJ since neither he nor the kids ate (the kids were too busy having fun at the party to care about eating, and TJ was c...

Cancer stinks! I haven't posted in a few days because, well, I just haven't felt like posting. Through blogging, I have found some really amazing people that I want to share about. My heartstrings have been pulled all week because a 13 year old boy, Cody , passed away due to cancer. Most of the blogs I follow are actually CarePages (CP), which are created to allow friends and family follow updates on people who have medical illnesses. All except one of the CPs I follow are kids with cancer; the one that is not is actually a family who just delivered a baby girl, Molly, with CDH. Molly only lived on this earth 19 minutes. Some would say I am torturing myself by reading these stories and becoming so emotionally involved. BUT, it is an opportunity for me to pray for them, and also realize how truly blessed I am that my children are healthy. Plus, all of the families are an inspiration and wonderful example of strength and faith in the Lord, especially during times of trial. And t...

This is my favorite time of year! My town has a 10-day celebration of spring each year, and there are daily activities for people of all ages. The event begins with a parade through the streets of downtown, and we walked in the parade with the MOMS Club for the second year in a row last night. The kids had so much fun! There were some really funny moments involving issues with other moms/kids, but all-in-all everyone survived the approximately 1.5 mile walk down the parade route and made memories to last a lifetime. I look forward to enjoying some other events over the weekend and next week. The beginning of spring also means the semester is coming to an end. I had my last day of teaching my student with autism (Adam) yesterday. It was sort of bitter-sweet. I am glad to see the close of the school year, but I had so much fun working with Adam and learned so much about myself as a teacher. It makes me excited about this final year beginning in the fall; I will be putting into practice a...

One of those days. I lead a bible study with friends of mine from the MOMS Club. Now, I don’t believe in coincidence (I believe everything happens for a reason) but every time I have bible study, my kids seem to act worse on these particular days. I don’t really know why- maybe it’s because people are coming over and they think they can get away with more, or if it’s Satan trying to discourage me from holding it, or what. But, whatever the reason, today has been no exception. I woke up early so I could straighten up a bit. I had planned to do it last night before bed but I was too tired. Also, I had to mop my kitchen floor because I spilt a full cup of milk last night at supper (yes, it was me who spilt it!). We obviously cleaned up the liquid but the sticky mess needed to be mopped up. I figured I’d wait until morning after letting the dogs outside. So, I did my chores before showering and got myself ready. Then I dressed and fed T.G. and got everyone loaded up in the van. We had some...

Here are some pictures from our lives the past few months. Ta hitting the pinata at his birthday party Th singing in the church's Pee-Wee Club T.G. being cute Ta riding on his birthday digger Visiting our local nursing home Th, Kaylee, T.G. on Easter Ta and his preschool friends Ta painting at a children's art place T.G. at the art place

I registered for the fall semester today. I will be taking 6 classes and student-teaching 2 mornings per week. The following spring, I will student-teach full-time. I am still in shock that I am finally at this point in my school career. It seems as if I have been going to school forever, and I really have. Of course I was in school as a child, and even after I graduated high school and entered into the Air Force, I still continued to take classes whenever I had the opportunity. It took me 7 years to complete an Associates Degree, and when I graduate next May, it will have taken me an additional 5 years to complete my Bachelor's. Still, it will be worth the countless hours spent typing away at this computer, writing papers, preparing presentations, planning lessons, and soon, grading papers. I can't wait to put into practice next fall all that I have learned. I will actually be in a classroom with students with special needs, developing relationships with them, fully responsibl...

We secured childcare for Th and T.G. Sunday night. Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute! It was to the point we were either going to the hospital as a family or either TJ or myself was going to stay home. Thankfully we found someone willing to come over at 5:30AM to be with the others. Ta made it through surgery fine. He was very scared and cried a couple of times while waiting, but thankfully he fell asleep for a bit and when he woke, he was given Versed to calm his nerves so he wouldn't cry when the nurse took him from us. It definitely helped to lessen his fears and worked as it was supposed to. The procedure itself lasted about 20 minutes, allowing TJ and I an oppportunity to use the potty and get some coffee before going back to meet with the doctor. Ta had fluid in both ears (as suspected) and in his right ear, the fluid was really thick mucus (but not infected). In the left ear, it was thinner and clearer. The doctor believes his right ear was in the process of beco...

We are headed to the Wilds this afternoon. My kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. I am excited for them, similar to how I feel at Christmas. I just hope they aren't disappointed. Poor Ta is worried about his surgery on Monday. We talked a lot last night before bed about it. He is dreading it, and I hate that I can't calm his fears. I'm not really sure what he's afraid of, but I do know I am scared, too. I explained to him that he would have some medicine so he'd go to sleep, and while he was sleeping, the doctor would look in his ears and put in new tubes to help him hear better. When he woke up, we'd be there with him and the nurse would bring him juice and a snack. He liked the juice and snack part, but that was it. He asked if he could go to sleep on my lap, and I felt my heart crush a bit as I answered no. Of course then fear and doubt set in, and my mind wondered to all the horrible thoughts of what if he didn't wake up, what if this is our la...

studying. - I have a test tomorrow in one of my classes, and other than making flash cards to help me remember the material, I haven't studied. writing social studies lesson plans. -I am writing a unit lesson plan on candy. I have to develop and write up 8 lessons to include in the unit. I chose 5 th grade, so I have to meet U.S. history standards (my favorite subject!) and have spent countless hours scouring WWII exhibits at the Smithsonian's online exhibit, watching file footage of Pearl Harbor, listening to Presidential radio addresses, and researching WWII newspapers, advertisements, and other government documents. My problem? I find the material fascinating and want to include too much in the lesson. I am having difficulty deciding what to use and what to ditch (as I think it's all important). researching past candy advertisements. -one of my lessons is on advertisements. I want to compare ads of today to those 50 and 100 years ago. Then the kids will invent their own...