Summer of Math

Preparing to be a math teacher has made me remember how much I struggled with math and why. I hope when placed in a classroom I'll be able to recognize students struggling and be able to help them. If anything like me they just need to refocus on the subject. I just memorized the coordinates of the unit circle which I thought I would never see again!

With 3 senior level math courses crammed into 5 weeks I've dubbed this summer the summer of math. I hope this is the last summer I have to dedicate to anything but vacation. That being said I'm giving the next 5 weeks everything I have by completely submerging myself in homework. I hope this prepares me for my certification test which I hope to take in February.

With less than a year til graduation I feel myself becoming more teacher-like if that can be an adjective. As I transform into my new role I realize how much I truly enjoy it. As my pastor said last Sunday, it's not the exit but the experience that needs to be focused on. I'll admit I've wanted nothing more than to be finished for a long time but now that I can finally see myself stepping into the role of an educator I'm able to enjoy this last leg of my journey.

Devine Acres Farm Visit

So today was our first pumpkin patch visit of the year. (we have several planned) Ethan had a blast although I wish Andrew could have gone because he definitely wore my patience thin. Yay for 2. I'm glad we  went though. I think his favorite part was rearranging pumpkins and then playing in the big sand hill with all the sand toys and trucks. We did come home with a pumpkin that was mostly painted by mommy, but none the less, a great start to the holiday season.

We checked out Devine Acres Farm which also sells Christmas trees:
Check out their website here!

Ethan finding a pumpkin:

So tomorrow I go back to work and then get to cram for my math test on Monday. yay for the real world.



Soap Box entry

                                                     Angry Music
So some people think that certain music can influence children to make bad decisions and behave badly. My secret confession: I love Eminem. The beat and the anger in his songs (although I don't always agree with the lyrics of course) seems to dissolve all the anger and frustration I have in me which usually is a lot.
I seriously can say that his music hasn't caused me to make bad decisions, in fact I'm a pretty successful person. What does this tell you? People want an excuse. They are so busy not being role models and expecting other people to raise even their own children instead of working as a community. I've always heard that it takes a community to raise a child. Now I suppose it takes Medicaid, food stamps, and free childcare.

Life in the Always Out of Time Lane

So our house venture didn't quite come through. On the plus side, we landed in a super cute apartmant located near everything we could possibly need except distant relatives. I love it and it's sure a lot heck easier to clean than a house, although it still is never clean.

One possible reason that it is never clean because I find myself stretched way too thin in my various roles of life. The role of student has completely taken over a great percentage of my time as I spent 10 hours in the last 24 hours preparing for 1 test. I struggled for a long time as role of housekeeper and mother and student and employee. What I found is that I have to work to keep my husband happy, I have to do well in school or it's all pointless, and I have to spend "fun" time with my son other than putting him to bed at night or I will regret it the rest of my life. That leaves little to no time to cook or clean. Or anything else really that enjoy like reading, writing, or crafting. Part of the problem is that I'm chronically tired no matter how much sleep I get. I can sleep 8 to 9 hours a night for weeks and still be falling asleep driving. Hopefully will be seeing the doctor again soon to check out my last blood tests which will either solve the problem or give me a new prescription for hopefully this time adderall since ritalin did not seem to work. We shall see.

I'd like to say my husband has been a good sport in all of this. He definitely understands I can't do everything, but then again, he lets things not be done. I try to remember what is was like when he was going to school and working, how much I did around the house. The only difference was we were going to church as a family making our unit closer. I definitely think church might be the missing peice to this baffling puzzle of time management for my husband and I. Unfortunately we usually both work Sundays. I guess it's another thing on my list of things to work on.

I'd like to share a moment now in the past few months:

This is Ethan with Boko the mascot for Texas State University. I took him to his first game this September and he *loved* it. I'm so excited that I found something that he likes to go and do. We'll definitely be going again, and next time even my husband said he'd want to go!

With only 2 hours to go until I have to go to work for the rest of the day (literally until 9pm) and with my husband still sleeping and my son wide awake I guess it's time to get things done with the house. I get to play role of housewife for the next 2 hours. Joy.

Buying a House

So we're still hoping, praying, crossing fingers, that we're able to buy this house and move in fairly soon. (hopefully before schools start) Other than that....I've been sleeping and not drinking anything but water and cutting out all sweets. It's been difficult, but I've been sugar/soda free for 1 week now!

I've realized I'm pretty awesome at the game of Spades. It is a card came in which my mother and I rock at because we send brain waves to each other. We're awesome. :)

Driving to Rockport tomorrow so Ethan can spend a week or two with Oma and Opa. I will miss him, but I know he'll have fun.

And that's pretty much all for now.
~Monica

The homeschool preschool

That's right. I found the most awesome curriculum for Ethan and it's free!

http://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/

Definitely check it out!

This week we're doing creation Days 1 and 2. We don't really have the money to buy flannelgraphs or even flannel/felt/velcro from the store so I made our own version of a storyboard. I'm pretty excited about it and thought I would share. :)

The First Day: Genesis 1:1-5


 In the beginning God made heaven and earth. At first it was empy and dark.

 But God gathered up the light and called it day.  Then he gathered up the darkness and called it night. God was watching over everything.

The Second Day: Genesis 1:6-8

  On day two God divided the air from the water. He put some water above the air and some below it. He named the air sky.

Wish us luck with our homeschooling endeavors! :)

Until next time,
Monica

I was Gonna....

So I totally had intentions to write the 4th chapter of Competing Blood tonight (even though it's not a day off), but for some reason I have to wait for Microsoft Office to install/download. Boo! On the plus side I did get a lot accomplished today. First off I worked :P then I went to Texas State and turned in my last transcript, but now I have to wait 3 weeks to find out if I'm going to get accepted. :( Boo! Came home and spent some time with Ethan. Who totally has the concept of hitting the ball to keep it bouncing (can we say basketball star?) Love him! Called HEB credit union who suck (why I am I not surprised?). Ran my credit to find it's really not that bad at all. It definitely gives me hopes for the future. Hopefully we can take advantage of this great house for sale for 75,000. We just need to get approved. Let's think, go som re-organizing done. AKA I started my lists. Read Ethan his Library book and went through his shoes to get rid of the ones that don't fit anymore. And now? Going to start defensive driving. :( Might write later if I don't get too tired...