A Lifetime of Love

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...

I know I don't live in Massachussets, but I think if you read the proclamation below you'll realize the prevalence of CDH is rather high, and this is an effective way to spread the word about CDH and honor those who have been affected by it. Through Carole I came to learn about CDH, and I am so glad I did. Carole, this is for you and Joseph. . . Commonwealth of Massachusetts A Proclamation His Excellency Governor Deval L Patrick Whereas Often a life-threatening birth defect, congenital diaphragmatic hernia is an opening in the diaphragm that allows the abdominal organs to push into the chest cavity, causing the limitation of lung growth; and Whereas According to Children's Hospital, a congenital diaphragmatic hernia occurs in every one in 2,500 births in the United States; and Whereas Proactive diagnosis and appropriate management of fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia minimizes the incidence of emergency situations, dramatically improving survival rates; and W...

First, let me begin with the news about Kiana . Her mass is pretty much gone with only a small, residual spot remaining. The doctor is confident it was an infection in her bone and contributed to the pain in her hind legs. She probably got some type of puncture wound (from a stick or something) that was too small for us to notice, causing it to become infected. The vet took her off her arthritis medication because her hips look better, too. We have to monitor her behavior over the next 2 weeks to determine if the pain was mainly caused by arthritis or the infection. If she begins to show signs of pain, we'll put her back on the medication. That was a huge answer to prayer and I thank God for teaching us the lessons we learned but also sparing her life (at this point). Second, Paul made it safely to Iraq on Wednesday. He called my sister and has emailed a couple of times. She seems to be doing okay, but is dreading returning home to an empty apartment. I don't blame her! Kaylee ...

Before I begin, let me just tell you that Th's favorite channel on television is Food Network. He especially loves to watch Ultimate Recipe Showdown, and every night before bed, he is allowed to watch it if he a) had a good day at home/school and b) took a nap. I was up late last night for moral support for TJ . He has some Microsoft tests he has to take, and he took one yesterday and has another one scheduled on Friday. Anyway, he was up late working on homework and needed some computer help. He asked me for assistance, and I offered to stay up with him in case he ran into some more difficulty (it was with Excel, not anything to do with hardware). He said, and I quote, "You're the Excel expert." And I am because of my military training. Crazy, huh. I joined the A.F. to work on airplanes yet I left being an expert on Excel. It's because I created spreadsheets to track different aircraft tools and equipment more efficiently, and you know the saying, you learn by do...