Life is happening whether I want it or not……

So, I’m still tired and the hand still hurts and I’m still trying to get it to move without re-injuring it, not that easy by the way. I’m getting grouchy from having to go to dr. visits and therapy every week, even though it is a necessary evil at the moment, it just eats up so much of my day right now, and will until I get range of motion and strength back. and I’m so not happy that both of my ears are hurting and today my throat started hurting as well, hoping that the pain goes away soon. Sleeping is rough when one is in pain.

I really need to get into a summer routine but it hasn’t happened yet and that is starting to get to me a bit I think. I haven’t been able to study as much, since I’m so busy or so tired, I can’t think….and I’m thinking about adding another class this fall. I have only one more required psych class and I’m taking it this fall, I have 22 upper level credits to take and since I already have 8 credits in sociology, I might take the remainder credits in soc. and have two degrees when I graduate, but the glitch is that I want to do a senior honors project and that means 6 extra psy credits, and there are two psy. classes I’m thinking of taking as well to help me get into grad. school. So if I decided to take this route, for  4 semesters of college I will be taking 4 classes and swamped but I like the thought of doubling up on my degrees. I have realized that I’m a social psychologist and combining the two is perfect for me. But oh the work and stress of it all……the only other reason I’m considering this? From 12-16 credits the tuition remains the same, so why not take the extra few classes and have a better chance of grad school? So, in case you haven’t realized this yet….I’m just plain crazy…….

Tomorrow starts swim team for the boys and swim lessons for all 4 of them. We have to be at the pool by 8:45 am and won’t leave until about 11:15 am. The little ones will play on the playground until it is time to get them ready for their lesson at 10:30, the boys will be done at 10:15, change and then they get to read while the littles are in swim lessons. Then when we get home, they can eat and do some schoolwork.

As for school, I’m thinking of just working on grammar, spelling, math, science, history, reading and latin for the summer. I know that sounds like a lot but as we finish a subject, they will be done with it until we start our new year on Aug. 24…..I know that I am giving them a break of 18 days total counting weekends from Aug. 6-Aug. 24, just so that they can have a bit of free time and so I can get a break myself since I start back for fall semester on Aug. 22.

Renee is going to visit Jasmine this week but only for 4 days, she said that if I chip in for gas money, she would take The Ark and Ace too. I’m going to let them go, since they were really disappointed about not going this summer. So they will spend weds. night at Renee’s and leave about 4 am, and then be home late Sunday night. I will pick them up early Monday morning for swim. I’m hoping even a short vacation will help them be a bit more relaxed. The Ark is having some growing pains being a new teenager lately and I think time away from the littles will be nice for him.

Both boys are going to camp in July for 5 1/2 days. I drop them off on Sunday afternoon and pick them up at 5pm. Giving them another short break from the littles and school. I’m trying to give the Ark a break since he has to babysit when I’m in school and it is alot of responsibility. He is also going to be going to more youth group activities this summer since he is going to the National Gathering next year with our church. That means he has to be very involved in the fund raising activities and there are a lot of them!!!! The other issue is that he will still be in confirmation with all of those requirements: weekly sunday school/church, sermon notes, weds night classes and the once a month activities for them…..yes, my son will be overwhelmed by life But it will be good for him. I am however a bit worried about how we are going to make it all work, hoping the Lord provides the strength, energy and perseverance on all of our parts.

Haven’t gotten anywhere yet with the patio, it was too hot or no time, and the doctor bills are rolling in, so I’m not sure if we will have the money for the stones now but at least the ground will be prepped for when we can afford them. We had to buy a few tomato plants since all the rain killed our plants that we had started indoors except for the bean plants, strawberries and the one jalapeno plant. So we added 4 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants, and a cilantro plant. We will see how they grow this year. we raised the bed about 5-6 inches so I”m hopeful that will help them.

We finished reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins to the littles and the Princess saw a commercial for the movie and cried when she heard Jim Carey, say he hates penguins. So my little sensitive artist doesn’t want to see the movie and said that the movie should be more like the book and that they shouldn’t do that to good books. She is such an Artist and so sensitive about those things.

The husband and i went through the kids clothes this week and worked on their rooms, got rid of two bags for giveaway, one bag to my daughter Renee, one bag to save for the Princess and the Peanut, I was so happy, until I realized that I have a ton of clothes to wash and go through yet…..it never seems to end for me some days.

Well I guess I should end this and do something constructive but it is 7:50 pm and I have been up since 5:30 this morning and my brain is not co-operating anymore…..I had nursery duty at church today, then the boys had a job of weeding for grandma, while I picked up a few things at Michael’s craft store. Then I had to take Kendra to the mall, then we went to Renee’s to celebrate the birthdays: Ivette and the Peanut, we didn’t get home until after 5pm. Just a busy crazy day for us…..what a nice way to start a busy crazy week…..oh well Latin is easy enough at the moment to do for a bit.

The Long Awaited Friday Post:

Where to start? It has been so busy here lately, we have been to church for the last 4-5 weeks consistently, that is a miracle for us you know. We will be there this week but I think since The Husband has to work next saturday night we will skip that sunday, allowing us to get a day to sleep in, which right now is so much needed. The Princess received her bible last sunday,

This was the 2nd graders doing a pretend baptism, it was so cute…..
Of course the week was filled with chaos, kids in, mom in and out, dad working. I’ve stepped up the kids schooling a bit, and so far they are handling it ok, if not great. The last two weeks the kids have gotten a ride to the church on thursday nights so that they could play basketball. The little ones hang out with the youth director or out in the hall. Until i get there after school and pick them up. They have been having so much fun, there I will have to find a way to get them there after Matt leaves to his new job. They are still playing city basketball, and I’m so sorry that i made The Ark play this year. The boys and the parents are horrible and I hate it. They do not have good sportsmanship and I’m so disappointed in them.

I took this because I love straw hats, it is actually a doll hat.

I was walking through campus last week and stopped to take pictures.

this picture hangs in my bedroom and it is my favorite!!!! My daughter Renee bought it for me, because she knows that I long to visit England, Scotland and Ireland, plus the women is wearing a dress and pink, what could be better? If she had dark hair she could pass for me when I was a bit younger.

this pictures hangs in my living room, the kids Godmother  bought it for me the year we moved into the house. It is very much me….

Today the boys learned about Pompeii and of course we had to make a volcano: only one slight problem, it is winter in Ohio and we have no dirt for the mountain, so we improvised like the true homeschoolers we are and used snow. which I might add looked very pretty compared to the red lava….

the Ark took this picture so it is a bit shaky….it was fun. Then the boys had to write for me, The Ark got the Pacific Ring of Fire and Ace got Pompeii, while The Princess got to watch Bill Nye’s volcanoes and then drew me a volcano off of Mark Kistler’s site.

The boys are still struggling through latin, they are great at vocab, not so great at grammar but since this is still elementary latin grammar, I’m not overly concerned yet, although I think I will print off the flashcards for them and start quizzing them and making them quiz each other.

The Ark and The Princess and The Peanut all did great in Math this week, The Ark will take his test for the lesson tomorrow, The Princess already took hers. Ace did not do as well this week and will be doing work on sunday…..little does he know it yet.

I had a pretty good week at UA, I have lots of studying to do for two exams and two homeworks over the next two weeks, but that is college life. What continually amazes me is how the Lord is still leading me into making decisions about what I am supposed to do. Thursday after class I met with my Psy. Test & Measures Prof., he requires you to meet with him so he can give suggestions about your future. * I really like him* , so we tossed around ideas of what i still need to work on in order to get into grad school, whether or not I will just do my master’s or go for my Ph.D, that is still up in the air but, I have finally decided to go for clinical psychology and specialize in cognitive/behavioral psychology, since that is a good field for working with women in correctional facilities and he agreed. So now, I just need to see if I can get an internship and some research experience before I graduate while getting A’s and studying for the GRE.  It was amazing because on my drive into UA that morning, I remember singing along with Matthew West newest album and one of the songs talks about wanting to be in the center of God’s will for our lives, and I remember thinking about it and then look what happens. I feel as if I’m gaining ground and am almost confident that I can do this.

Which means that this post is at an end since I really need to finish reading chapter 4 of Psy. Tests!!!

PS, I lost 3.2 # in the last two weeks probably because i carry a 20# backpack for two days a week around UA and eat very little on those days. Now to get my caffeine fix aka : coca-cola under control and I will have it made.

Well, gee that was a short break…..

I checked my school email account today only to see that my psychology of women prof. had already emailed us about reading a book before the semester starts, to get a headstart……So I sent the husband to get it from the library, I’ve already read the intro and it is going to be sad, even with the positive endings. It is Half The Sky:Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide. I’m kind of glad that I’m reading this now while I’m home so I can rant and cry and hopefully get it out of my system before I have to discuss this book in a classroom full of people.

It took all day to do latin, history, grammar, reading, spelling, math and one chapter of the God King!!!! Hoping that tomorrow goes better for us. The ark has a science test, and both boys have a latin test. It will be a long day. The Princess is watching videos at Michaels about crafting, the Peanut is complaining because I won’t let him play video games. I want to throw them in the trash at the moment~ the games not the peanut.

I also downloaded the first chapter of my text for psychological tests and measures, so I’ve started reading it, I wish that i could buy my books now but I can’t until my financial aid comes in January. So, my grade are not even posted and here I am studying for spring semester!!!!

Still need to get some work done around the house, but it is coming along. I only have the big picture window to put plastic on, hopefully tomorrow. I know we hope to get lights on the tree as well. We have been doing some more organizing and cleaning. For the first time in months one can walk through the upstairs hallway without tripping over a basket of toys or dirty clothes. I still have tons of clothes to hang up on my dresser but I need hangers in order to do that. I also need to clean out my closet to hang up said clothes. Although some of said clothes belong to the Princess and have to go into to room.

I”m reading Family Under the Bridge to the little ones, it is a cute Christmassy story, after that i hope to read them the Light at Tern Rock. The Ark is reading Usborne’s The World Wars for fun, however I wish he would just finish up the Phantom Tollbooth and write the report already. Adrien is reading Harold and the Purple Crayon~ don’t ask me why, but he really likes it and at least he is reading something. The Princess finally finished up book 1 of I Can Read It by Sonlight, so she has moved onto book two, let’s hope it doesn’t take her as long to read. I caught her drawing shirt designs the other night. She missed art lessons yesterday, she just didn’t feel well enough to go, next monday is her last for at least a month. Giving us a much needed break.

We have enough snow to shovel finally and we managed to get the kids out to play in it, even the Princess who doesn’t like to play outside at all. I hope I’m that lucky tomorrow.

We still have so much to do and I’m running short on desire and energy. I don’t think I realized how much I put into my classes this semester or the toll of the commute and homeschooling the children, while trying to be active in my church. I seriously need to stop doing something but what? It won’t be homeschooling, or college, so that leaves, church activities for a while.

Ok, well I want to go look for a lapbook for The Family Under the Bridge for the littles to work on.

Glory Be…..it’s an update!!!

Where to start? It has been another busy week here. I had two exams, a group presentation, a homework and a paper to write for the end of the semester stuff. I have an A in criminology and it is posted already, the email from my social psy prof. said I have a 96% there, so no final to take. I have 266 points out of 300 in Quantitative Methods but that doesn’t count my extra credit, once that is added in I have 284/300 which is an A, so no final to take there either. My Careers class doesn’t have a final but I had to write a self exploration paper and have to turn in the hard copy tomorrow. So I drive 50 minutes to drop it off and then come home. I don’t understand why she can’t just let us email it to her and then she can print it out. But I have an A in her class currently, so I’m not worried. I just can’t wait to see what my new GPA is and hoping it is at the magic number of 3.7 for graduate school. Now I need to spend some time studying for the GRE, so I can get really good grades on it. I heard I need at least 650′s on each portion of the test for clinical psychology. Not an easy task but so worth it.

I put plastic up on most of the old windows but still need to finish. Sadly, with this headache that is not happening today. I also have to plan the kids schoolwork for the week……so much to do. I wish I had some energy. Tomorrow, after i drop off the paper I’m hoping to stop by a doll store and see if they have any of the Life of Faith doll clothes left, they are not making Life of Faith dolls anymore and we had bought the Princess one 4 years ago and saved it for her. Well, since money is sparse this Christmas, we are giving her the doll but it would be nice if we could get her an outfit marked down for it as well. Auntie Katie, gave her the clothes she bought for her, and boy was she excited!!!! We had found a black shrug that was marked down on Black Friday, so she will be perfectly decked out for the holidays and I’m so excited. We were rearranging the living room yesterday, I will post pictures after we are done and the tree is up. I’m hoping that the husband will be able to pick up a tree today so we can decorate it tomorrow.

Well, I need to go do that planning…..I don’t really want to but that is life, I will be happy when we have a week that goes smoothly because I did the work.

I suppose……

I should write something but as usual at this time of the semester, I’m getting burnt out and seem to only be reading, testing and writing papers……leaving little motivation for writing here.

I could tell you that after talking to a classmate today that I’ve dropped ASL 2 for the spring semester, it was going to be next to impossible to get from the asl building that is off campus in time for my next class that is on campus in get this~ 15 minutes…..they are quite a distance apart walking through main streets. So I came home and checked the community college, they are supposed to be offering asl 2 in the summer so I’m going ot get permission to take it as a transient student and just take it then, saving me angst and frustration during the winter months and that gives me more time with the family, Cory also told me that Abnormal is a bit difficult and another friend said that Psychological tests and measures is a bit rough as well. So that means I will have a bit more time to study for those classes without over doing it. I’m hoping to find a research opportunity, as well. Some clinical psy grad programs don’t feel that UA gives there undergrads enough of research so in order to make myself more grad school material I have to find research time…..yet another thing I have to do. Oh yes, while I’m on the subject, I’m so frustrated, I got a letter from the univ. telling me that I still need 42 upper level credits in order to graduate, which is extending my time there another year…..I’m not a happy camper. I’ve decided that my little ones will go to a 4 year university right off the bat, and not try to transfer credits because it is a waste of time and money. I should have just applied to a 4 year when I decided to go back, I would probably be done. Although I do believe that the Lord had a reason for me doing it this way, but I’m just getting impatient now to get my undergrad and apply to grad school and be done with it.

The kids are doing pretty good in school this week, although they had incentive, I told them if they did their schoolwork this week and next that they could have the week of Thanksgiving off except for reading every day and helping to bake and clean for the holiday. So that has helped them stay motivated. They seem to finally be understanding their latin better and The Ark drew this week, a picture of our backyard and it is so much better than he has ever done. I’m so proud of him! He has always been frustrated with his drawing since he thought he couldn’t draw and almost all of the other kids can, but now he can hold his own and hopefully feels more comfortable with it. It is hard to be around people who can draw, when you think you can’t.

I have such a busy next four days, two papers to write, an exam to study for, homework in statistics to do, reading in stats, and criminology….plus this is my weekend for my youth group……I’m doing sunday school and then the youth group, and home to work on everything. I’m hoping that I can get quite a bit done before then. It is all a bit overwhelming to think that I only have 4 more weeks of school left. I might be going to panera or starbucks to write and study.

Ok, I’m getting tired, off to watch Burn Notice or something on dvd and try to sleep better tonight. I slept ok for about 3 nights and am back to waking up at 4am only to toss and turn until about 6:30 then have to try to drag out of bed by 8 and then run all day. Not a happy camper right now.

A brief respite from school life

I went out to lunch with my friend Robin, since we hadn’t had lunch for ages. It was great to take that brief break and I got to use her expertise in sociology to help me decide on the paper i have to write for criminology this week. As well as toss an idea at her about my future career choices.

I think the Lord is leading me to go into corrections after grad school. I was sitting in my careers class and the Prof. goes through all the different career fields available for psychology majors. She mentioned that with a grad, degree one could work in corrections and that field is growing and the median income is 6 figures. Well, the income is appealing as is the growth of job placement. But the thing that caught my attention is that I could have a broad career base and still work with women who really need me. I’m not the private practice type of counselor. I truly want to make a difference in many women’s lives and I just don’t have the patience to work with women who are superficial or who have the money to pay for private counseling. I am loving my criminology class and have just as much love for sociology as i do for psychology and this seems to be a way of combining the two nicely. So for the rest of my college career I will be taking as many classes that are women based and corrections based as possible. I’m also going to be looking for an internship in the corrections field for next year. I have also come to realize that I may not graduate next spring like I wanted to but have to move it back to December of 2012 due to the amount of upper level classes I still need to take with the classes that are required yet. This frustrates me but give me more time to do an internship and study for the GRE and get a competitive score on it.

We took the kids to Boo at the Zoo and had a great time last night. The kids came home tired but so happy at having time with both mom and dad and something fun and exciting to do together. I posted photos on my Facebook page for you to see.

Our school week was a bit out of control this week since I had two exams but hopefully we can get back on track this week. We are hoping to be done with MOH v. 1 before Christmas and the boys are doing fairly well on math, grammar, and reading. Latin is coming along slowly but better than before. We signed the boys up for basketball this winter. I hate it when they sit around and do nothing. The Ark is doing well in confirmation, although he still complains about it. I just ignore him. Ace wasn’t sure about playing b-ball but he didn’t get a choice. The Princess is still taking art lessons and getting better at art and loving every minute of it. The peanut is great at math and horrid at phonics, I hope he is not dyslexic like his dad and older brother.

Well, I really need to either do some research for a paper that is due Nov. 09, or study ANOVA’s and don’t ask me what they are yet, I haven’t a clue.

We all lived through the week * maybe*

Ok, it is friday, I’ve gotten a bit of sleep and am not quite as grouchy as I was before. The boys did finally decide to crack down on their schoolwork and finished most of what was planned for the week. They will still have to do history, math, latin and reading tomorrow but that is better than where we were on Wednesday. The Princess needs to practice her reading and do some math as well.

The Ark made it to confirmation class, and seemed to like it. They are doing a little bit better in latin with the added practice so I’m hopeful that they will eventually get somewhere. At least there isn’t any more complaining about learning it.

I fixed some of my sideboard on this blog and am happier with it. I needed something new and cheerful but less cluttered.

I registered for spring semester and got into most of the classes I wanted to, maybe not the order I wanted but am taking classes that were on my  ”need to take” list. So I will only be gone for two days!!!! Praise the Lord!!!! I’m so excited about that. It will be so nice to not have to drive so much for a brief time and be home more to get the kids working to where I want them to be as well.

I have a 96% in Social Psy, an A in both criminology and career issues in Psy for the moment. The only struggling class I have is Quantitative Methods and I have a B+ but I’m hoping to raise it to at least an -A by the end of the semester. Which means I had better get to studying…..this was just a very brief update.

Dots…….

• School with the kids is going ok, not quite how I want but good enough, although I am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The Ark actually is reading a book he loves…..The Bronze Bow and he is writing more and drawing….my son who hates all three of the aforementioned things.
• I found the table this afternoon….and did a bit of decorating for fall and halloween, the kids are so excited.
• Classes at UA are ok, I’m stressing about my Quant. Methods class, as I have a B currently and need to pull it up to an A if I can. so you might not see me much for awhile.
• There is much to do to get ready for winter but so little time and energy. The husband still needs to take the room AC out of the living room and put the storm window back in, need to close most of our storm windows to keep us a bit warmer, by Nov. I will be putting up plastic on the old windows, although it will be 5 less this year since we did replace some. Can’t wait until we can replace some more.
  
• Since it is October, we will have our rash of birthdays, two this week alone. I will post something about the birthday child on their birthdays if I can get a moment.
  

Ok, how about some photos?

The homecoming dress up…..

Kendra and her BFF, we had a great weekend and I got the pleasure of taking the girls shopping and then taking pictures of them and dropping them off at the dance. It was fun, but tiring. I feel sorry for her mom since she was home with a sick baby girl and couldnt’ have this opportunity.

Today I am Thankful For:

Being able to enjoy doing the Homecoming scene with the girls,

A husband who does the grocery shopping for me

A clean table so that tomorrow morning, school won’t be so difficult to get started

5 new windows, since it is getting cold here, they do seem to help keep us warm.

a slower paced week for me at the university.

my daughter Jasmine, who finally got her diploma and she got Ace a birthday present, she is a beautiful and caring young woman.

A very quick post

My life is crazy as my Church year gears up and I’m at the end of the second week of college classes. The kids have been doing a bit better this year, I give my getting up early and The Ark the credit for that. He has taken on much more responsibility for getting his work done, he is still struggling with Science since it is so hard but I’m sure we will get it together eventually. The Princess was able to read a harder book with some help today and she did two lessons of math on her own……I need to get the Peanut to do his schoolwork, so that when the boys come home from the dentist I can help them get done.

Today I paid two more bills so that they were out of the way, I need to get a menu plan for the next week and also shopping done but it is stepping in the right direction I think. I have a lot of classwork to do this weekend but hopefully I will get it done so that on Monday we can do something as a family, a hike in Summit County would be great or maybe our annual trip to Squires Castle…..

Our new Parish Administrator is printing and sending out the postcards for my youth group for me and I so appreciate it. I had done the postcard but needed to print them and get labels on them and still send them out. She is saving me so much time this weekend. God Bless her for all of her hard work.

I went back to listing my tasks on gmail, so that I can cross them off as I do them. That seems to be the best way to not drop the ball on something. It is still a bit hot here for me, but it should cool down a bit this weekend. at least until Tuesday when the temps go back up to the mid-80″s, which I’m not looking forward to at all.

I got a call from the lady running the undergrad internship yesterday, however I was at school….I returned her call but had to leave a message. Please continue to pray I get this internship, it will help me get into grad school and since that is where the Lord is leading me, I’m trying to do my part. I am meeting with my Quantitative Methods Prof. in a couple of weeks, she is willing to read my research paper and see if there is any research I should look at…..I’m hoping that she will mentor me. Now all I have to do is get A’s this semester……

Ok, I really need to go and finish school with the little ones and start studying for me until the boys get home. I hope that everyone has a blessed weekend.

So….

What does the non-traditional college student have in her bag? How does she keep track of her days and classes while homeschooling 4 young children and raising two teen girls?

Sorry, ladies I was out of chocolate so mentos is the next best thing.

If it is Tuesday or Thursday I’m at the main campus and taking Intro to Women’s studies.

If it is Monday or Wednesday,  it is statistic’s at the Medina campus. Starting Saturday, Feb. 27, I will be at the main campus for a special topic of Domestic Violence and women. Oh yes, I do have a TI 84 Silver Edition that is pink just haven’t taken a picture yet of it.

I drove anywhere from 52 to 72 miles a day M-Th. so I broke down and bought some new Christian CD’s to listen to……

Matthew West’s Something to Say

Tenth Avenue North Over and Underneath

Jeremy Camps Speaking Louder Than Before

I have lost my Newsboys  Go……somewhere and I really miss that cd. Music on my wish list is Jars of Clay, the new Newsboys, Toby Mac, Brandon Heath, and Jars of Clay’s Greatest Hits I really like Flood.

So there you have it…..a week in the life of a non-traditional student going to Univ. I really need to refill my chocolate stash.

The worst part of going to the Univ? Lack of parking for commuters. I have searched for over 10 minutes for a parking space and then squeezed my huge van into spots that I would hesitate to park a car. I can’t wait until I learn where things are on campus so that i have more choices for parking.