Just ask me...

Go ahead.

Just ask me.

Am I just as organized at the launch of this school year as I was last?

Am I?

Huh?

Let's all shout out the answer with a resounding...



...NO!!!! Nuh uh! No way, Man! Not even close. Not even a little.

It's 11:48 and I am just crawling into bed after completing 2 1/2 lunches (I'll finish mine tomorrow; I don't want day old tuna) and 1 snack. I scoured our "office supply" box to see what I did have to send Jellybean for supplies and came up with 2 blue pens and 3 pencils to go along with her new binder and 2 new folders.

The Boy Scouts will surely take away my badges and all. You now, if had badges...or was ever a boy scout...

Next week will be better. I just know it!

May I Present to You

the pictures I promised.

Three of my beautiful children (CRPS awards - Bug, Rush, Jellybean)

Jellybean and the yellow poppy.

The Junior's school performance (Jellybean & Kolby)


Jellybean's awards...

BigB getting his certificate for completion of first year.

It's Been A Couple Days

What can I say? I have been busy with lots of little things and some pretty important things like Friday night's CRPS awards, visiting with my mom on Saturday, teaching Children's Church on Sunday morning and attending CRTC's grad on Sunday night.

The kids at CRPS have all done so well this year and it was great to see them get recognition for their hardwork. (I'll only tell of my three since none of the people who read here know any of the other kids.) Rush & Bug got certificates with a character trait on them and a trophy; Jellybean got this as well. She also received trophies for highest Junior average in Social Studies and in Science, as well as getting a medal for memorizing all of her memory verses. We then had a fun time of food, fellowship and cake to celebrate the kids hardwork.

Saturday morning my mom came for a visit; she joined me at music practice to take a listen to us and the two of us headed for some mom/daughter time and hit a local restaurant for some nachos and laughing. She shared supper with the whole family, watched Fireproof with us and then headed back home.

I had a bit of work to do on my Children's Church lesson for Sunday morning before going to bed. Children's Church was great! I taught on "Quality time with 'Dad'" given that it was Father's Day and some of the kids had a pretty firey time of prayer at the end of class. It was great to watch these young kids crying out for God to touch them in powerful ways and to give them the discipline to spend that quality time with Him.

We took BigB out for lunch/supper between service and the CRTC grad ceremony. Proud moments that night too. A lot of people overcame having not been in school for almost longer than I have been around or learning disorders and other situations as well. I got my marks from the first semester that I had taken classes (I put the schooling on hold to be with the kids more right now) and I ended up with a 92.7%; I was pretty pleased with that and I look forward to when I do go back.

Today, we are counting down hours as LilB is on his way to our house from KC as we speak and should be here sometime tonight. It is going to be very nice to see him in person as he has been going through some difficulties and it will just be reassuring for this mom to see her son in person and see that he is ok.

Tonight Rush & I are going to a barbeque for the music team and BigB and I are in the midst of planning tomorrow's youth night: water ballons and watermelon to go along with BigB speaking ("Being Drenched in the Spirit - can't wait to hear that one).

So, that's it in a nutshell. It's been fun and I will put pictures up of the past events and the soon-to-be events. I just am running a bit short on time right now.

And...that's a no go, Captain

A no-go, that is, on the truck. Why? Because it is HER truck and SHE wants to keep it but that is her perogative and all it means is that there is something better for us out there...somewhere.

You just have to wonder about people's selfishness sometimes; especially those that claim to be Christians. I am not judging merely based on the fact that she won't sell a vehicle that doesn't ever get used; I have known this family for going on 10 years and I can honestly tell you this is based on years of fruit production - or lack there of...so I am not entirely sure why this surprises me.

I am trying to not feel let down or disappointed or frustrated as I do know that something will come our way. I am feeling this way because, I think because there is so much unknowing and even though it is in God's trustworthy hands and He is taking care of it, I hate having to be reliant on other people to get my family to school & work, get groceries to feed my family, get them to church...and I know that is pride and I am trying to rise above it and I know I will (I also know if my High School English teacher read this blog, she would kill me for that last sentence).

I think I am just dealing with the fresh sting of this knowledge and with trying to figure out how some people can be so selfish...

The only boy who could ever reach me...

was the son of a preacher man. That's right; I have a mini preacher man and it was fantastic listening to him this morning as he read looked at the devotional book. I had to grab my pen & paper and start writing down some of what he read preached.

Obey God & your parents and that means you listen to God. Speak the Word (part of our daily devotion from Gloria & Kenneth Copeland): The Lord says DO NOT FEAR!

Zaccheus was a little man who climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. We need to do everything we can to see Jesus.

From the mouths of babes (5 year old babes)...
(I am so grateful for my children's school, for our leaders and for our church. It is so wonderful!)

Thus ends this latest bout of Teenagitis...

Sometimes I forget (like when she has a day or two of that dreaded, non-treatable disease Teenagitis-now don't get me wrong compared to most other teenagers Rush's Teenagitis is an extremely mild case but when you are used to your child one way any change can seem monumental) but my daughter is great! Fantastic even! I know, I know! It's probably not in the Mom Rule Handbook but I have to toot that horn for my kid, Rush! Toot! Toot! Toot!!!

Let me tell you why (not like you will neccessarily listen but as long as you're all ready here you may as well stay, right?) She is 15 years old, has a job, 2 jobs actually (she is a cashier at a grocery store and every second week babysits 4 other children as well as her brother & sister so the 4 parents can go to their classes), is paying for her own Christian schooling which is $143/month, is getting super fantastic marks in her schoolwork, does the Media Shout at the church and comes out to music practice when she isn't working. She makes supper for us so we can eat at a normal meal time during the week (and boy was last night's seasoned, garlicy asperagus fantasticly delicious! My taste buds are still screaming for more of that delicious veggie!), makes lunches for her, the kids & myself (at least on the weeks we are in classes) and last night we came home from our class (with our brains feeling like mush from the overwhelmingness of our Covenant exam) to find a sparkling kitchen. You guys, it was sparkling like a Mr. Clean commercial only it didn't have the bald headed dude with the earring in it. (Pity because that would have been cool!) Not only that, but, she had completely changed the kitty litter (ok, I will only give credit where credit is due. That has been a daily request for the last week but she FINALLY did it! YAY!!!) and she had (with the help of Jellybean doing her duties-again with the credit where it is due) gotten the mat for the entrance down...unfortunately that was also a battle to get done.

Rush has recently gone into remission from her Teenagitis; it is so great to look into her eyes and see a smile in there just begging to come out, to see a peaceful countenance on her, to hear her laughing with her brother & sister and to not hear sharp comments, rude retorts or see major eye-rolling an it is such a relief to not worry about the proximity of sharp objects (:D)! One thing I can say about Rush is her bouts of Teenagitis don't last very long and that is such a relief because one of the side effects to Teenagitis is that parents develop Parent-rage (similar to road rage) and there are times where it is pretty touch-and-go as to whether someone will get their tires shot out or not (:D).

This last bout wasn't very long but it was long enough that we missed our Rush with such an intensity. We thought perhaps she was lost forever in the clutches of Teenagitis; we were about ready to get her picture on a milk carton, brick of cheese, yogurt tube;any and all dairy products we could get our hands on was about to have her missing picture on it.

One of the most recent coversations we have had with Rush went something like this:

BigB: It's good to have you back, Baby.

Rush (soft and sweetly): It's good to BE back.

Brings tears to a proud mama's eyes just thinking about it.

Now her eyes are shining, her voice is its soft, sweet self, she is huggily and snuggily and thanks to her friend, Laura, she smells like "Amazmint" lipgloss and I get a craving for candy canes whenever she is around...Gee I love that girl!!!

To the Teachers at WJB!!!

Dear WJB Staff:

We just wanted to let you know how thrilled we are at the experience our family has had at WJB. There is a great bunch of teachers there & we love & appreciate you all dearly! Thanks you to the teachers who had a direct influence on our children by being in their classes & thank you to the rest of the staff (not just the teachers)! You have all truly touched the hearts of our children and, therefore, our hearts.

We are excited for our new adventure but don't think it is without a sadness. We truly will miss you all!

At this time I would especially like to thank any teacher who has spent time teaching Jellybean (H-J). She had a rough start to her schooling with her verbal apraxia and was prognosed to not even make it through Kindergarten the first time around. That never happened! Nor did it the next year nor the next! You, her teachers, encouraged her, motivated her & never gave up on her! You brought out & pulled out so many positive attributes in her & never gave up on her therefore, she never gave up on herself!

Thank you WJB staff! We take this time to stand up & applaud you! You have really impacted our family! We love you very much and will miss you all!

With much love from all of us!


This is the letter I wrote to the school today on our children's last day at WJB. Monday they start at the christian school. They are very excited for this journey to begin but, we are all, as I said in my letter, sad at the great teachers we are leaving behind. We leave the school not because we feel the teachers are doing a bad job but because we want our children's education to be based on the word of God.

Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he must go and when he is old he shall not depart from it.". This doesn't just speak to parents but to teachers & pastors and that is why we believe a christian education is an important gift to give our children, that their teachers can train them in the way they must go according to God's word. We want to protect our children's innocence and purity and unfortunately the education system does not always strive for that. Teaching my children safe sex instead of God's word regarding sex gives them a double message when they hear the opposite at home & church as they do at school.

That being said, we were very fortunate to have a school that did not disallow our children from praying for their friends or for their teachers at school, that did not disallow our daughter from talking about God in all her journal entries and school assignments; they did, in fact, encourage her and for that, we are truly and eternally thankful.

We will never forget the love that the staff at WJB have for our children nor will we forget how much they put into our children! I tip my hat to you all. You are loved. You are appreciated. You will be missed.

Sunday was great!

My old self keeps going to say "I can't believe what happened at church on Sunday" because I have never seen it before but I can believe because I know that God is capable and willing to do it. We are in the middle of a building project, as some of you know. We have taken our old sanctuary, built a second level put the ACE classes on the bottom floor and the WRTC classes on the top floor. We are getting our new sanctuary building today! For the last few weeks we have been having our church services in a tent...not too bad but, given the choice, I would rather not be in there for too many more evening services. It does get a bit chilly toward the end of the service.

Now, here is where things got really cool on Sunday. We, as a church, had a financial need in order to get the cement poured so we can get our building up and ready before too long. The money we needed was $30, 000.00. Pastor Kevin informed us of the need and asked who could help with that. Within 10 minutes we had raised $30, 000.00!!!

What is so astounding about that? I mean really $30, 000.00 is nothing when we are speaking about God's capabilities, right? The part that has really gotten me is that most of the people there that day were single moms and their kids. We had 120 people there that day and through them and their willingness to give and their faith in God 120 people gave $30, 000.00!!!

Most of our Junior Highs/Seniors have jobs (most of them paper routes) and between 10 kids they came up with $640.00 to give to this need!!! We definitely don't need one of those little thermometer guages when we need to raise money for something! The money is there before one could even find the paper to make it!

There is such a desperation in our congregration for the presence of God and each service it is getting thicker and thicker. Other than going to WRC in Kansas City, Mo I have never been in a place like this; I have never felt this anywhere else! You really do need to come and check it out for yourselves!! (Services are Friday at 7 or Sunday at 10:30) Even talk to the Dean or Principal and see if you can audit one or some of the Training Center classes to see if that's the place for you! Some of my friends here may be interested to know that we will be learning some Hebrew and the Jewish culture in these classes in the weeks coming up. I can't wait!!!

Can You Believe It?

It took two days of being open for our church's ACE school to be full to capacity and we haven't even completed it yet. so, we are facing another building project before completing one of the three parts we are in right now. It was Day Two and there was all ready a waiting list to get into our school. I think it is pretty cool.

Rush has been having some of the best times of her life in this school! She loves her "teachers" and she is excited to see what Coach has in store for them this year. They will be learning Cree too so that will come in handy for their career prospects.

Rush has a new friend, a girl who just moved here with her family; she is deaf but that hasn's stopped the girls from getting to know her. In fact, they are sort of breaking the rules but getting away with it on a technicality. There is the no talking/no passing notes rule and if you get caught you get a demerit; they have never once broken that rule yet still communicate during class. I think there needs to be an added clause to that rule...No sign language during class time.

So week one of school: the paces aren't here yet as they were waiting for more kids to finish their diagnostics but my daughter has learned how to say a few words in sign language and has learned how to efficiently communicate with her new friend through "spell" signing...and we have all ready outgrown our space...I'd say that that is a pretty good week.

I am in a state of shock and it's kinda fun here

My sense of time from this afternoon is a bit off but sometime around 3 pm I was prodded from my snoozing (I had to lay down with the kids to get them to have their "get over sickness" naps) by the chiming of my cell. Odd. BigB knew I was at home...Wait! I shot out of bed! I had left a message this morning with Anita the Adult Education Co-ordinator this morning and left my cell number! I sprang out of bed (just like in The Night Before Christmas poem) and grab the phone with a sense of dread and excitement.

Sure enough it was Anita and she told me she had my mark. I can honestly tell you I heard a drum roll in my head as she said, "You got a 76%.". Her voice was even with calmness as she revealed this mark to me; she didn't remember what I needed or didn't need. I heard my voice catch in my throat as I replied, "You're kidding, right?".

I refreshed her memory that I needed a 75% on my mark to get into Nursing and she said something to the effect of that's right, you do. We rejoiced on the phone momentarily; it doesn't mean as much to her as it does to me and I found out that I need to apply for my nursing by the middle of January.

I called BigB at work, my dad, my mom, my sister and talked to R on MSN. I tried to call my brother but he wasn't home so I will have to tell him later. I am in such an emotional state right now that I feel like I am going to puke or cry or both but it's all due to happy emotions.

I HAVE NEVER, EVER, EVER BEEN SO HAPPY I COULD PUKE!!!!!!!

HUH?!

Laena, Cam and I took the day to study and help each other and I think the end result is pretty close to this...







blah, blah, blah. jfgsd kdll ofoiaur kjadflkjflajsl;dfar stoichiometry kjadklfjakjf andfkj aoeepep molar mass jkdsj kjdlkjj jlksjadsru endothermic kdsjlksjdflkj kjdkj oweo kckd. The end!

I am so ready for this final (insert sarcasm here).

Tragedy strikes our children

And all we can do about this is teach our children how to hopefully avoid these situations and these people and pray...pray our butts off!


Extra grief counsellors have been taken to the school near by to help the kids out with this situation they find themselves currently in. Things have sure changed a lot since I was in high school.

I haven't cried...but I can feel them there

I only worked until lunch today, went to my dad's and Jude's and picked up the Bug. He & I then drove to the school where I proceeded to snap pictures of every possible part of his first day of pre-k...the only thing I didn't get was a picture of him with his 2 teachers...

He had so much fun and it was great! I loved watching how he immediately felt comfortable enough to let my hand go and socialize with his new classmates but, inside, I felt a bit of loss. My baby has grown up so much and he is the baby. There will be no more. This is the last first "first" day of school. He even let go of my hand at one point on our school tour to take the hand of his new teacher and as beautiful as it was to watch him...my heart bowed down in sorrow...

I will post pictures but right now I am almost late for my class...

Chemistry nightmares

Well, it has officially begun; my stomach is one huge ball of twisting, turning, churning knots. Jellybean always tells us she has butterflies. Well baby, these butterflies have sharp claws and a vicious sense of humor and may even be sadistic...

I know once I get to my first class I will be fine but for the next 12 hours I will be a wreck so, health records girls, I apologize for my airheaded behavior, my possible quick temper and my sudden crying spells (just kidding). Seriously though, yikes!

It started off bad

and the cloud is just sort of hanging over my head. I woke up this morning with the aid of a terrible dream where we were searching and searching for our friend's boy, Simon, who had disappeared in a HUGE mall and was gone for 3 hours before they finally closed shops up and declared a code ADAM. He did get found; I found him but I never did get to see myself take him to his terrified mom and dad and I woke up shaking. It was so real, so vivid and so absolutely terrifying. Bug disappeared on me, in real life and was gone for about 10 mintues before we found him sitting calmly at the race car game at the arcade just outside of Zellers. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life and I relived that panic through that dream.

I got groceries today...Dollar Days here and flyer specials there and then went to Superstore to get the bulk of the groceries. They had no stew meat, no rice and no purchase worthy produce so I left feeling unsuccessful in my mission. I did however manage to get Bug 2 new pair of pants for $9 each and a $21 pair of Toronto Maple Leaf pj's for only $6. That was cool.

If I could get rid of this headache that is clinging to me, not wanting to ease at all. It would be a good day. I just feel like I am walking in a haze or outside of myself or something...bad dreams seem to effect me like that...

Plus, I think I am freaking out about starting school on Tuesday and I may be internalizing that fear, stress, tension, etc and I don't think that is helping get rid of this headache at all...

The first step to the end of the road

I mean, Bug is going to Pre-Kindergarten and is he ever excited and we are excited for him.

That being said, I remember taking Rush to her first day of Preschool/Daycare and it certainly doesn't feel like it has been this many years. It feels as though it was weeks ago and she is now in Grade 9!

His teachers came to our house today to meet him and get a bit of information about him. It was nice and is it ever reassuring to have a friend as one of his teachers but...

I still wanted to cry when they were gone which, I know, means...

I am really going to cry when I take him to his first afternoon, Sept 13, 2007. The day my baby takes his first step on that road that leads him to not being my baby anymore! The day he is that much closer to growing up and leaving us...(which, technically, is what this whole parenting this is about...but why must we grow so attached to the little buggers?)

First

Everyone survived the first day of school. Rush made it through highschool without incident and without getting lost, something that was one of her fears. She also rekindled friendships from when we first moved here and she was going to a different school and she is pumped about that. Right now her only fear is that she and her two best friends will drift apart since they don't have classes together at all and she heard that all last year, how best friends didn't even talk to each other after a while at high school.

Jellybean's first day was just as good. She was looking fabulous, darling, with her new hairdo and just waiting for Hunter to see her. There are 2 grade 2 classes and she lucked out; she and Hunter are still in the same class, much to their relief.

Bug got to spend today with Pa and how much cooler could that be? Other than him obviously getting to go to school but that happens around the middle of September with Pre-K going full swing Sept 24. A friend of ours is the teacher's helper so he is happy as are we to know that she will be there.

I survived Rush's first day of high school with minimal damage. I didn't cry at all this year but I won't say that it won't happen as Bug still has his first day and I am pretty sure the waterworks will fall that day. No, I did think of Rush often though, wondering if she was finding her way around and all the things that worried her to a frenzy.

Pictures of the big day...

Where did I leave my freaking walker?

That's right! I am starting to feel like I must be old, even though I don't FEEL old. This summer we married off daughter #2, granted she is not biologically mine but something makes you feel a smidge old knowing that two of your children are married. Daughter #3, my first biological child, is downstairs preparing, physically and emotionally, for her first day of high school. (Should you still be classified as old when you can still remember YOUR first day of high school?) The baby, yes, the baby, is going to start school this year. Bug is anxiously awaiting his first day of Pre-K and we have a home visit interview with his new teacher on Sept 5.

Now, it's not just the kid thing that has made me feel like I should be feeling old. The other day my husband, now I need you help to tell me if I hug him or slap him, told me that he is proud of me for going back to school for no other reason than because I want to, not becuase I have no choice...AND AT MY AGE!

I guess I need to add Bengayand Depends to my grocery list now (according to him). The only other question this leaves me with is this, if I am so old, how old does that make the husband?

Finally, the nightmares will cease

Since I wrote my Biology final I have been having nightmares about getting 50% on the exam...every single night. Since the last week of June... It has been a terrible ordeal and I finally gave up on knowing my mark in the near future.

BigB happened across my username and password at his office as I had had him check for me once while I was at work and he decided that before he threw it out he was just going to check one last time. This morning he came into the office at work with a huge grin on his face and asked me if I was still wanting to know what my Biology mark was.

DUH!!!!!!

I got 94% on my Biology!!! I am so pumped about that! Put that with my 98% in Math and I am really getting my average up there. I am really excited.

The Fall brings night classes of Chemistry30 so we will see how that goes. I am hoping for an 80%. I think that is the lowest I can get to maintain a decent average. I'm definitely shooting to add some gravy to that mark just like I did with these last 2. I said at the beginning that I would be happy with a 75% and anything above that was gravy...that's a lot of stinking gravy!!!!

Shock and awe

I am still waiting for my Biology teacher to email me with my final mark and the agony is unbearable. I think I have checked my email about 40 times since 7:30 this morning and still, nothing!!!

I do know my Math mark and even though I was getting good marks all the way through the class, my final mark still shocked me and brought me to tears. I ended up with a 98% on my final exam and an overall average of 98%!!!!!!

This coming from the girl whose math mark from high school was a 17%!!!

I am so incredibly happy; I don't think I can even begin to describe how I feel right now. I thought math had beaten me. I didn't get it in high school and I thought I was destined to be a math failure. I tried the correspondence thing and just couldn't get through it and this was my final attempt at mathematical redemption and I DID IT!!!!!!!!

It feels so good to have overcome something that was holding me back. It didn't seem to be holding me back career-wise (sort of now that I know what I want to be) but it was holding me back emotionally; I felt like a failure and I felt...
...I think it is too hard to explain how I felt. But I beat it!!! It did not beat me!!! I beat it and not only did I beat it, I royally kicked its...