Give your heart a break

Wellllll, we made it through the first day of school.  If everyday went like today, I'd be a VERY happy homeschool mom.  Well, I didn't get much housework done.  :(  I'm feeling a little under the weather so not as on top of my game as I could have been.

Zander couldn't have been more excited for school.  :)  He smiled and laughed the whole day.  He loved it. And it made me happy to see him so happy.  Adisson, on the other hand, was less than thrilled about starting school.  Not sure why, he does well and his curriculum is great.  :-/  But we got through it.

Like I said, I didn't get much done around the house.  Dinner was a complete cop-out (I made fries, nuggets, and mac-n-cheese) but the boys thought it was the best dinner ever.  Went on and on about how great it was and the perfect meal for back to school.  So if they are happy then I'll take it!

In other news, my class started today.  I did my first assignment...super easy, just introduce myself on the forums and comment on two people's introductions.  Now if every assignment was that easy, I'd be set.  But it's not going to be and I'm nervous.  It's supposed to be an intro. class but already some of the terminology is way over my head. :-/  I think I should have taken the modern poetry class.  :)

This weekend is a long weekend thanks to Labor Day!  Adam still has a few more weeks at home before he takes his "solo vacation"...and if you can read between the lines, you'll know what that means.  He won't be gone for toooo long, but it will be the longest he's been away from us as a family of four, the longest he's been away from Jax, who gets antsy if he thinks Dad's been at work too long during the day.  Part of me is ready for him to go so we can get it over with (I always feel like this right before) but the biggest part of me is not ready to be without him and parent alone.  I'm a much nicer Mommy when Daddy is here to help out.  :(  I hate that he'll miss so much (birthdays, Halloween--the boys favorite holiday, Thanksgiving--my favorite holiday, and Christmas) but this is our job, this is what we keep signing up for so I'll take it in stride and deal with it.  And I can't complain because he won't be gone for as long as he's been gone in the past, as long as other wives have to say goodbye for, so I can't whine about it.  (I do sometimes, to Tiffany, because she loves me anyway)

We are going on a family retreat in a few weeks and staying in an oceanfront hotel with amazing views and amenities.  It will be really nice to have this time together.  And the awesome-ness of the ocean will only make it even more amazing.  More details on that later.

Anyway, off to bed....

I was never one to believe the hype

Yesterday, I took a day long Cub Scout training called BALOO (Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation). The Pack needs BALOO trained adults/leaders because at least one is required for camping overnighters.  Prior to yesterday, the Pack had 3 BALOO trained adults, now there are six.  :)  It was a VERY long day.  And it was a little more basic than most of us needed, but it is what it is and now I'm done.  I didn't get enough sleep the night before so when I got home I didn't feel well...and didn't feel well throughout the night and not so great today.  :(  Here's hoping that changes because school starts tomorrow!

For Adisson, I've been putting together a binder with all of his assignments and it's going pretty well!  I'm just not sure how to organize Zander's stuff.  He'll be doing T4L with Adisson (well, Adi will be doing 4th grade and Zander, Kindergarten) because he enjoys doing computer work so much, but I know we need to have some more hands-on stuff for him to do and I'm kind of at a loss on how to organize that.

Soccer starts this week.  It's just a team selection meeting/practice, but it's on Tuesday.  Cub Scouts starts this week.  Our Round-up for the beginning of the year kickoff is on Tuesday (yep, both at the same time.  Thank goodness Adam is still around, he'll be going to one while I'm at another).  Technically, my class starts tomorrow as well.

I probably didn't tell you about that... :)  A few weeks ago, I read an online article about Coursera.  Essentially, it's a site that offers online college classes from great universities for free.  You don't receive college credit for them (because they don't have a way to regulate that....yet).  But when I read it, I was excited about the idea of getting to take a real college class from a real professor and college. :)  I signed up for Introduction to Sustainability.  I'm not sure I'll stick with it, it seems a little advanced for me, but I thought I'd at least try it.  Plus, if it doesn't work out, there's another course I like that starts in a few weeks.

This may all be a moot point because I'm not altogether sure that I have the time to focus on a school course for myself.  When I signed up for the class, I didn't have after-school sports for the boys or a job.  Or a book club that I'm going to participate in that's every other week for two hours.  :)

Anyway, lots to do before school starts tomorrow.

Waking up is the hardest part

I'm tired.

And my brain hurts from thinking too much.

So tonight, I rest.  :)

Who is a working gal?? This mama!

I got a job!!  I haven't worked in almost ten years, but I have a real job!!  I'm a military marketing rep. for the curriculum we use, Time4Learning.  It's an at-home position and it's part-time (so perfect for me!!) and I get to hang out on social networks and talk about how great it is to homeschool with T4L as a military family...and I get paid for it.  Honestly, it could be my dream job! :)

So between work, school for the boys, a college class I'm taking (only for fun and now I'm not sure if that's going to work out), Cub Scouts and being a Cub Scout leader, two different soccer teams/practices, and spending time with Adam before he leaves for his solo vacation, I really want to get some stuff done around the house.  I've been decluttering and reorganizing.  I'd like to get a few more projects finished up before school starts.

I'm hoping to get the school room finished up soon because I really wanna snap a few pics of it.  That way I can stay motivated to keep it clean and organized!!

Anyway, there's more I wanna talk about but I'm really tired and we have a lunch date tomorrow with friends of ours.

I'm just really happy!! :)

The story of your life, you live it everyday

So, I'm just a happy mama.  I'm working hard on some things right now and it's nice to see hard work pay off.  :)

School starts for us the day after Labor Day.  We use Time4Learning for the boys.  Adisson is in fourth grade this year and Zander is starting KINDERGARTEN!!!  We used T4L when we moved to NC in February and loved it!  We took the summer off, but we're starting back up in two weeks!  I'm pretty excited about it, but then I always get excited at the beginning of the year!!  T4L is entirely online, so it's such a blessing for us.  I'll do a full review later this week.

Cub Scouts officially gets started up next week.  Adam and I are Den Leaders this year.  Adam will be busy traveling for a little while soon so I'm co-leading with him so I can take care of stuff while he's gone.  I'm pretty nervous about it because I feel like I have no idea how to teach a bunch of fourth grade boys anything about the outdoors.  I'm taking a day long training class this week so hopefully that will build my confidence up a little bit so I'm not so apprehensive when I have to take my three boys to a Cub Scout Camp-o-Ree and have activities planned for a den full of boys, too.  Sometimes I wonder what I'm thinking when I say yes to things.  :)  Just kidding, I knew what I was getting into, but I'm still nervous nonetheless.  

Soccer starts up next week, well, sorta.  It's team selection night but I don't think things are starting up until after Labor Day.  I'm nervous because we've never played with this league.  In Frederick, the soccer program through the Rec. Center was so great and we all loved it.  Things are a little different down here in Hillbilly Land so I hope it works out just as well.  I doubt it, but I'm trying to remain optimistic.  

I think I found a babysitter for us today.  I "interviewed" a lovely girl this afternoon.  I use the term interview loosely because it was awkward for me to pose so many questions like I was hiring her based on an application.  Regardless, she's lovely.  The boys seemed to really like her as well, so I'm hoping she likes us enough to be our sitter.  This means I could actually start going to the doctor every month like I'm supposed to...what a novel idea!! :)

I guess it's time to wrap it up and head to bed.  I don't have any Netflix DVD's to watch tonight, so I'm likely going to take some school work to bed and work on it for a little while before I fall asleep.  In the middle of the bed.  :)  You have to have perks when the husband travels so much for work.  

Most nights, I don't know anymore....

This weekend we went camping with Cub Scouts.  So much fun! :)  Truth be told, I don't LOVE camping.  Sometimes, I don't even like it.  I have an issue with bugs (my issue is they bite me, I swell & scratch, it gets infected, I have to get meds. ugh....) and I don't love being dirty, but I go.  I go camping and I smile and love it when we're there.  If you asked my little guys, they'd tell you I love camping.  :)  That's parenting for you.

This week, my hot guy is taking a computer class.  I think he knows quite a bit about computers already, but off he goes. So this week, I'm hoping to take the time to sort through our school stuff.  We have a lot of supplies, textbooks, workbooks, etc. that we aren't using so I would like to free up some space!  We're starting school in two weeks and I'd really like to have our area set up and ready to go.  Plus, I love to organize and it will help get all of us in the back-to-school mood.  

I've spent enough time complaining, whining, or otherwise being fussy.  We live here now...here in North Carolina.  I can't miss Maryland forever (though I'm pretty sure I will) and I can't be mopey about it forever. It's time to get up and get moving.  Figuratively speaking.  I've held out being too friendly, because I hate saying goodbye to friends.  I've been standoffish because it can be a lot of work finding a new best friend.  I don't need a new best friend, but I do need friends.  So, I'm done being whiny....I am going to learn to love it here.  

Starting with going to a big homeschool thing next week.  :)  If I'm gonna make some new friends, I'd LOVE for them to be some homeschooling friends.  

Vacation...and then some!

Well, life got away from me for a minute!  I wish I would have blogged during vacation about all the great stuff we did...that way I'd be less likely to forget stuff, but we had super spotty internet connection and it was hard enough to spend 2 seconds on facebook. :)

We went on vacation!!  Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is AMAZING!  It's so pretty there, so amazing.  And it couldn't be MORE military friendly!  We got discounts EVERYWHERE!!!  We had so much fun with family and with each other.  It was just nice.  Very nice.  Here's a day by day breakdown of our two weeks away from home:

Saturday: Get to Pigeon Forge!!
Sunday: Shopping in downtown, historic Pigeon Forge.
Monday: Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Gatlinburg and then Ripley's Old MacDonald's Mini-Golf in Pigeon Forge.
Tuesday: WHITEWATER RAFTING!!! And a supremely awesome High Ropes Course.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  :)  It was a big kids only trip so we took the boys mining for gemstones and fossils when we got back.
Wednesday: Go karts!!! WOO HOO!! (plus a terrifying experience of a spider crawling in my Mom's ear! Eek!!)
Thursday: Swimming in the pool and a visit to the Sky Bridge!  Scary, awesome time!
Friday: Go karts!  Again!!  WOO HOO!!  And then dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe as my Mom had NEVER been to one and really wanted to go.  She loved it!  Then she hung out with my monkey's while Adam and I shopped downtown Gatlinburg (one of my fave times!).
Saturday: Downtown Pigeon Forge shopping with my Grandma!!  and  then Old Fashioned Photos!!!  Turned out super awesome!
Sunday: Drove to Ohio!
Monday: A visit with Adam's Grandpa for a little while then bowling and dinner with my AMAZING BESTIE Tiff and her wonderful kids.
Tuesday: Waterpark!!!!!!!  First we went to a really rad playground, then to a "waterpark" (not amusement park size but it was really great!) with Tiff and the kids!  Then went back to in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday!
Wednesday: Dinner with Adam's Grandpa then a visit with his Granny!  Followed up with a trip to Troy to see my brother and one of my nephews!!
Thursday: Adam went to a pipe shop then we had dinner at my Grandma's with my mom, my aunt and uncle, and brother and a few nephews.
Friday: I went thrifting with Adam's lovely Granny and Adam took the boys to a park with his parents.  Then we went up to Troy to visit with my family for our last night in Southwest Ohio.
Saturday: Head to my Dad's for a his Homecoming Party!  Welcome HOME Dad!!  (he was deployed to Afghanistan)
Sunday: A day with Dad and his family!!!  Started the drive home, stayed in WV.
Monday: Finished the drive home!! Picked up Buddy from his vacation!!  Got home to a hot, hot, hot upstairs because the unit outside wasn't working.
Tuesday: Unpacking.  Cleaning.
Wednesday: Air guy comes, can't fix until tomorrow.  Dad and family arrive on their way to FLORIDA!!!!

Sigh! Busy, busy, busy!!!!

This weekend, Adam and Adisson are participating in a Father/Son Weekend camping trip.  Honestly, I'm just so excited for them to have a chance to connect with each other one on one.  The thought of it all just gets me all excited and happy and brings on the tears! :)  Meanwhile, I'm planning lots of fun stuff to do with Zander and Jax so no one feels left out.  So far I'm thinking, McGhee family (some of us!) movie night with the Lorax, a trip to the Aloha Zoo, and a visit to Fascinate U Children's Museum.  I'd like to find one more thing to do and I have an idea....we'll see what works out.  :)