Thanksgiving was FAST!!

Hello friends and family!!! I hope this finds that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!! I can't believe December is almost here. This holiday was super blessed because our friends from church, The Chadwicks, invited us over for the feast! YUMMY!! They have 6 children so our kids (with all their quirkiness and craziness) fit right in at their house! Thank goodness for good friends who also love your children!

Isaac and I enjoyed doing some Black Friday shopping. We made stops at Toys R Us, Best Buy, & Dick's Sporting Goods. So much fun!! Then after we rested we took the kids to see Tangled....what a great movie! I laughed and cried!
The kids and I spent some time making some really cute Christmas ornaments on Friday night. I got the idea from a favorite blog of mine....Mod Podge Rocks! I posted some pics on Facebook of them making their ornaments! I'm not sure what we will do with the ornaments as I haven't decided where or if to put up a tree since we are headed to AR for Christmas!!!

Saturday we simply took the girls bowling and then came home to watch football! Isaac and I snuck in a date night and went to an Italian restaurant and then to see Harry Potter 3. I'm not sure how i felt about the movie but I'm sure the next, the last one, will be the BEST!

I'm still hoping for a job! Keep your fingers crossed!! : ) Happy Monday!

Tutoring

So....my "job" was a bit of a disappointment. I interviewed with Baltimore County Home and Hospital and got the job and was thrilled. Then I found out that it is more like a substitute position. They call on you when they need you.
HOWEVER, it seems to be a pretty important job, I guess. I was called on for a Senior who was listed as "chronic". This means that she is very sick but can go to school sometimes. If she misses 2 consecutive days, then she qualifies for a little bit of tutoring. I do not have to do any lesson plans for her but simply help her with her work. She has 2 tutors (me - for LA/Social Studies, and tutor #2 - for Statistics and Science). So far we have done assignments (refreshing my memory) on Beowolf and The Mayor of Casterbridge.
Then I was called to see if I would tutor an 8th grade boy who is suspended for all of 2nd quarter. His mom has to miss work for his tutoring so I only see him once per week. Through his suspension he ONLY QUALIFIES FOR 4 HOURS OF TUTORING PER WEEK. In that 4 hours we are to cover (with lesson plans that i make) LA, math, science (chemistry), and Social studies. WHEW!!! We met this past week and he is the sweetest thing. He was so super organized and so smart. It seems like an honest story of "I can't believe I messed up ONE TIME, and now I can't go back to school till the end of January"!!
Anyway, I also have an interview on Monday with the same BCHHC dept for a .5 position for some sort of a telecomm class. I will find out more on Monday, but was pleased that I was called to interview for the spot!!
I have been to two job fairs at area colleges recently as well. Some of them have adjunct faculty positions in their College of Education available. Even if nothing comes of it, I believe they were both a good experience for me. AND I was a little shocked at how little they get paid, but it would be a "foot in the door" if i do get anything with them.

Oh Little Spice....AKA Mikayla

Mikayla is notorious for cracking us up!! The other day she woke up, came downstairs and said, "Mommy, my nose can't breathe!"!!

She told Isaac the other day that she wished her legs would stop growing since nothing else is growing. Isaac asked her if her legs had been hurting (cramping) at night again, and she said "yes and it hurts, Daddy, it really hurts. But nothing else hurts"! So she has concluded that since other parts of her body aren't cramping but her legs are, then her legs must be the only part that is growing! Isn't that precious?!

On a daily basis she enjoys telling me what everyone ELSE in her class did wrong, while, of course, she is innocent of any wrong doings!

She is so sweet and her eyes will melt your heart.....BUT SHE IS SSSSOOOOO ROTTEN!!! And Isaac is still swearing that since he was deployed for half of her little life thus far, that I completely ruined her all by myself!!! : )

Sewing again!

She's sewing again!!!
Yes, i finally pulled the machine and thread out again. I haven't sewn since....well, i can't remember, but it was in TX!! I made 5 wonder wallets, an oven mitt, and a purse this weekend!!!
I like the purse that i made for myself, but it's a little smaller than i prefer!
Unfortunately, sewing allows the cleanliness of the house to go downhill!! So, today I am catching up on laundry.

My mom sent a box on Saturday that arrived today! That's amazingly fast!! It had enough gloves and tights for the girls to have one pair for each day of 2 weeks!! LOL!! Of course the girls got cute scarves also. JAcob landed himself some hats, gloves, and a neck thing!
Undershirts for each of the kids, some silver precious boots for the girls!!! Oh and some "smartphone" gloves for me! Supposedly you can wear them and still use your fingers on the screen of your smart phone. Pretty cool. SHe didn't forget about Isaac, he just has a lot of this stuff from the cool Army stuff he has left over...top of the line stuff too!!
Can you tell that we have never lived somewhere that gets this cold???

Well, try to stay warm, wherever you are!!! Happy week!!!

This Week!!

So this week has flown by! I can't believe it's Thursday already! I had a great time in Chicago over the weekend!! It was great to get home and get caught up on life! Many of you know that we have spent quite a few months trying to get our insurance straightened out since Isaac got out of the Army....now that we are in the Guard, we still have Tricare, just Tricare Standard, not Tricare Prime. We are blessed to pay only $180 per month to cover our whole family of 5. It's just been pure hell trying to find the proper people in the proper office to be able to fix our problems of getting enrolled. So, TODAY it is all fixed! Today marks the day where we do not have to worry about our healthcare coverage!! Whew, it feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and i know my sweet hubby feels the same way!
We fed the missionaries last night. I always love having them but last night they were on splits, which means that we had one missionary from our ward (congregation), and one from a different local congregation. One of the Elders brought his guitar and just so happened to play "O Lord, My Redeemer". Isaac mentioned that i had done that song before at church and so he asked me to sing a verse with him and he harmonized with me! It was so so cool.
The first time i heard that song was when Brooklyn said "come over here and sing this"! She started playing and made me sight read it...which i'm not very good at! Then later I got to hear her sister, Monica, sing it for some meeting. It was beautiful. i don't know if Brooklyn knows or not, but i think i've probably sang that song at almost every ward i've been since then! The strangest part is that I wasn't even a member of the church when she made me sing it the first time!
Anyway, we had Jacob's physical on Tuesday this week and we have Erica's physical tomorrow!! Mikayla's is sometime next week! Jacob's doctor have him the opportunity to ask me to step out after helping with the background stuff. Jacob assured me that he was glad i wasn't in there for the part where the doc checked his boys....yes....i about died!!!
so that's it for me for the week....i am praying for nothing "out of the ordinary" to happen at Erica's physical....but I guess that's one thing i've learned while being a mom....NOTHING IS ORDINARY!!!

Maureen's 40

So today I am headed to Chicago for my best friend's birthday!! This is a surprise to her!! Her family has actually had this planned since May or so! So, here is to a quick, memorable weekend!!!!

Crazy....I can't think of anything

Today, i feel like i should update something but really can't think of anything!! we went to Sam's club twice last week to stock up on stuff and not have to go for a while!
I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the first week of Oprah's last season of the The Oprah Winfrey Show. I really really really enjoyed it. I enjoyed my weekend in May with her so much and appreciate all that she does to better people and their thinking.
Will you watch "Waiting for Superman"? I'm intrigued now that Oprah has done this show today! The movie is a documentary on Schools/Education!!
I guess I see the desperation now that I live in a neighborhood where we are one of the only ones that are NOT on Section 8 living. These poor children don't have educated parents, don't really know how to speak, and don't know how to aspire for more. I hope they have a teacher somewhere that loves them and helps them strive for more in life!

Dermatologist

So...today I took Jacob and Erica into see the Pediatric Dermatologiist!! They both have the childhood virus that causes warts. Erica has 3 on her hands and one large one on her knee and Jacob had 3 on his hands. So...they were very brave at first then decided that they wouldn't have all the warts frozen off! I mean I know it hurts, but i was shocked that the doctor didn't just take care of it for me! I was certain to reassure them that with me starting a new job and them already missing school today, that I wouldn't be making another appointment for warts!! So Erica had the one on her knee done and jacob only had 2 done! The warts should fall off by this weekend!
Also, while there they gave us some stuff for Jacob's complexion! He now has a Benzoil Peroxide wash and some Retin A. He has never been so eager to wash his face as tonight. I made sure to reassure him that it wouldn't work over nite...LOL!

Movie Theater Alone

So, right now I am without a job and now am without children during the day....since they are all in school now! So, I have visited the movie theater by myself twice now. It's quite nice actually. I don't have to worry about seeing "chick flicks" and wondering if Isaac is suffering too much!!
What's really neat is that I still laugh out loud at the funny parts...so my laugh is not "just for show"! I love to laugh! Enjoy a movie alone and don't worry about chomping on the popcorn....cuz you're by yourself!!! Try it, you might like it!!

NFL Bowling League

Isaac and I begin our NFL bowling league tonight!! We are excited, however, the first NFL official game is tonight and it's the Saints vs. Vikings!! My husband grew up in New Orleans and we are huge Saints fans. So for him to join this league with me and miss a little football is a really big deal and a true testament of his love for me! I really appreciate it.
I grew up on bowling leagues and even went to college on a several bowling scholarships!
I'm super blessed to have a mom who sent us $$ for bowling shoes so we don't have to rent them each week. AND at the end of this 12 week league we get to choose the NFL bowling ball of our choice! Of course Isaac will choose the Saints and I will probably choose the Cowboys (I'm a childhood fan)!!
So here's to our definite 12 weeks of having a weekly date night!! So exciting!!

Middle School Band

Who knew Jacob joining band would be a thorn in my side and 2 weeks of school hasn't even passed yet?! So i have ordered all the supplies, but being new to the area, i ordered online to get the "Best Deals", and now the band instructor told the kids that they couldn't be in band if they didn't have everything by Friday!! Well, that is not a guarantee for us due to the mailing system!! And after spending over $110, I am upset. I have lost sleep. Tonight, or this morning at 3:45 I sent the band director and principal of the school an email asking that i be reimbursed if my son is kicked out of band!! I don't want Jacob to "be the exception" but honestly we had to wait for my Unemployment $$ to come in so that I could order all the crap he needed!!!! Gggrrrrrr.....
The first time my son is interested in anything musical and this band director may ruin it for him!! I'm just a little upset!!
Otherwise, I love the school he attends...LOL!!
I really should be sleeping!!! I think Isaac's alarm will go off in an hour or so!! Oops!

Live Your Best Life!

Well, this past weekend I was able to attend Oprah's Live your best Life Weekend!! It was so amazing. On Friday the welcoming was just "so Oprah"! On Saturday there were several "life shops" and I was able to attend Suze Orman, Donna Brazile, and Peter Walsh and loved all 3! I loved that Oprah provided us all with a journal and pen so we could take notes.
What a wonderful experience to get to listen to Oprah talk about her entire life on Saturday evening at Radio City Music Hall. There were many tears shed and even more laughs! I can't wait to see what she will do with that recorded 2 hour session!
I wonder what her and her friends did during the day while the rest of us were blessed to attend the life shops?! hhhmmmm....
This was truly a dream come true.

While I was there, Isaac and the kids were busy unpacking. The recent move from TX to MD has truly been a huge change for all of us. WOW....the army "family" is what i miss, I guess. Of course I really miss my class and teaching too. And I truly miss my job and my friends. With all of this change, it was great to be able to have dreams come true and be able to enjoy a "deployment weekend"....and be all alone to self reflect!
Love to all!!

Home from Cruise!!!

We are just home from our cruise!! We traveled to Progresso, Mexico and Cozumel! It was amazing to say the least! Please check out Facebook to see the pics I posted. We are currently watching the Saints play. If they win they will be in the Superbowl!! How awesome would that be??! I go back to work tomorrow after being gone all week.....a little scared to see what I come into!!
Well, enough rambling!! Later fellow bloggers!!