First Term Almost Done

My first "term" at Kaplan is almost over.  My last day of this term is October 5.  My next "term" starts October 13.  This term started out as a bit of a challenge, but it got better.  When it started, the kids hadn't started back to school yet, so I had 3 weeks of trying to take care of them while attending my online seminars, studying, and doing my work.  I was able to get through it by doing school work before they woke up, and then again after they went to bed.  Once they started back to school, it was much easier since I then had the 2 hours every day that B is at school to do.  I have also had the trouble of knowing at times when to just walk away from school work at times.  But I have learned that I can not spend all of my free of the kids time studying, I also need some of that as "me" time.  With only a little over a week to go of this term, I am still keeping my "A" average in both classes.

One of my final projects is to interview an attorney, then write up a summary on that interview along with my thoughts on it, etc.  I had one attorney agree weeks ago to the interview.  But after he agreed, I never could get through to him to set up an appointment to do the interview.  So I had to call around to several other attorney offices to find one that would agree.  Out of the 20 or so that I called and/or left messages for, only 1 called me back.  Now I need to actually write up the summary.

Like I said before, my next "term" starts October 13.  My next two classes will be College Composition I and Introduction to Legal Technology.   I am so not looking forward to the Comp class considering I hate to write essays.  The Legal Tech class may be okay though.

Kids' School & Mine

All 3 kids are in school now.  R is now in the 4th grade.  School is school to him.  He doesn't want to go, but he knows he has to.  C is in Kindergarten.  She doesn't want to wake up in the mornings, and throws a fit every single morning about not wanting to go.  The only thing she says she likes about school is her cousin, J, is in her class.  B is in Early Childhood.  He doesn't want to go in the mornings either, but once his ride gets here he is ready to go.  And comes home everyday saying he had fun.  So far all 3 kids are doing good in school.

I have just a few weeks left in this term for my classes.  I survived midterm week with a B on both my midterms.  Even with the B on my midterms, I am still carrying an A average in both classes.  Of course, that is always subject to change in the next few weeks with finals, but all I can do is my best.

Week 2

I survived another week of my online classes towards my degree.  One of my assignments for week 2 was a 500 word paper.  Not a long one, but I still stressed over it just the same.  That's just the way I am.  When I got my grade back on it, my jaw dropped.  Out of a possible 75 points, I got 75 points!  I had gotten a 100% on my paper, I couldn't believe it.  I ended week 2 carrying an A average in both my classes.  I know that can always change though, and all I can do is my best when it comes to my assigments.  I like the look of my A's though, so I will do my best to try to keep my grades that way!  Of course, it doesn't hurt that these are also introductory courses.  I know the further I get into my program, the harder the classes will be.  But I am up for that challenge!

The kids start school next week.  R & C start Tuesday...R in 4th grade and C in Kindergarten.  B starts Wednesday in Pre-K.  I can't believe my baby is starting school already!  B will only be in school for 2 hours and 15 minutes a day, but I am looking forward to that time alone so I can use it for my own studying

Week 1 of Classes

As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to go back to school.  My first round of classes started the 28th and will last for 10 weeks.  I will then have 8 days off before my next round of classes starts.

This "term" I am taking Eight Effective Skills of the Legal Studies Student and The Paralegal Professional.  So far I like both classes.  They are taking some getting used to though.  The online classroom is so different from a traditional classroom, just as one would expect them to be.  Even if I was taking traditional classes though, it would still take some getting used to considering the only time I have been in a classroom in the last 12 years is for parent/teacher conferences for my children.

The first week of class hasn't offically ended yet, but I have gotten all of my assignments finished.  This first week saw the first essay of this back to school experience.  I was stressing over the essay big time.  The essay was only 300-400 words, which is really short.  And the topic was my ideal career.  Should have been easy, right.  But I stressed over it so bad.  I don't have a lot of confidence in my writing skills.  I think they suck big time.  But with the help of a friend physically asking me questions to get me brainstorming, I was able to write the essay.  Even though I thought it sucked majorly, I submitted it to my instructor.  My instructor apparently didn't think it was as horrible as I thought it was because out of 85 possible points, I got 73 (no, that is not percentage, that is points)!  Like I said, I think my essay skills suck horribly, so I was thrilled with that grade.

Since I am done with the assignments for the first week, I have reviewed the material again, and have now started some of the reading assignments for the second week for both courses.

Back To School

R & C are ready to go back to school, and B is ready to start school.  In fact, C was upset the other night because school won't start right now.  All 3 of them will have to wait though, since they don't go back until August 17.  R will be going into 4th grade, C into full day Kindergarten, and B into Pre-K for a whole 2 hours and 15 minutes a day.

I, on the other hand, am a different story.  I have been talking for a few years about going back to school, but I have finally buckled down and took that plunge.  My classes start in 7 days!  I will be going for my Associates in Paralegal Studies (but do plan on getting a bachelors sometime after that), through Kaplan University.  I will be taking 2 classes online every 10 weeks, with 8 days off in between. 

I know it will be a challenge, but I am up for it.  I plan on doing my work and studying while B is in school for his 2 hours and 15 minutes a day, then do some more after all 3 kids are in bed for the night.  And since the kids are now spending weekends with their dad, that gives me all weekend to myself to study.  So I should be able to get in quite a bit of study time...at least once the kids start school next month.  Until they go back to school the plan is to get up a little earlier in the mornings to get some studying done before they wake up, then do some after they go to bed, and on weekends.  Since C & B love to sleep in, it should be no problem having some study time in the mornings.

So I will be blogging about the joys, challanges, etc that come from being a F/T mom and student 

Pearl Paradise Giveaway & Review

You've heard it said that diamonds are a girl's best friend.  But not this girl.  This girl loves pearls.  I think perals are a classic peice of jewelry that never go out of style.  I also love how they go great for casual wear or dressy.  And a girl can never have too many pearls.  That is why I am trying to win some. 

You can enter to win too!  Just head on over to Two Classy Chics to read their great review on a company called Pearl Paradise and learn how you too can enter the giveaway!

Bath & Body Review + Giveaway

Do you love bath & body products? What about products that help make your home smell great? Now you have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to order your choice of bath, body, or home fragrance items!

Two Classy Chics have written a product review on some of our bath products. They are also hosting a giveaway, sponsored by me, on their site. You can read the product review and enter the giveaway at http://twoclassychics.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-and-giveaway-crystals-comforts.html Several ways to earn entries! You can even earn daily entries!





This giveaway ends July 24 at midnight EST time.


To learn more about the great bath & body products, visit my other blog

Getting To Know Family

I am sad to say that up until recently, my children didn't know their cousins.  Which is a shame considering that the town we live in is right next to the town they live in.  It was just that my sister and I live seperate lives, and we don't even see each other that often. 

But my kids are now getting to know their cousins.  With summer vacation going on, my nephews were getting bored at home.  So I have went and picked them up a few times so far.  They come out here and go swimming with my kids, and they all jump on the trampoline together.  On Monday, they all even went blackberry picking together in the back field. 

I am so glad that the kids are getting a chance to get to know each other.  And I am glad they are getting along together.  It is so nice to see them all doing something together. 

Changes

Sometimes life likes to throw things your way and they are hard to deal with.  I had something thrown at me me earlier in the month that has changed my life in a big way.  I don't really want to talk about it right now, because I am still not exactly sure what I am going to do.  But things are a little difficult in my life right now.  My children are having a hard time with things that are going on and happening.  They think the things that are happening are their fault.  I keep explaining to them that they had nothing to do with any of it, that none of it is their fault, that they have done nothing wrong.  The kids are also acting up during this time.  I am trying to be patient with them.  I know they are just kids and don't really understand what all is going on.  And being kids, the way they handle some hard situations is to act out.  It does get annoying, but they are doing okay 

WTH

R is 10 now.  He spends every Saturday with the Young Marines.  Some of these days are long (8 hours), some are shorter (2 to 4 hrs).  It just depends on what they are doing.  A couple weeks ago, the Young Marines did a campout from Friday night til Sunday morning.  There are always adults present at the Young Marine things, whether they are Young Marine staff or parent volunteers.  The kids aren't left unsupervised at all. 

Other than the Young Marine activities, R is home most of the time.  He is either with me, my husband, or one of my parents.  Last night he did spend the night with a friend, then called today to ask if he could spend the night again.  The friend's mother told me it was okay with her, so I said it was okay with me.  I have met this friend's parents (both mother & father).  I know where they live, I know where they work.  My family knows this family...heck, our families have known each other for YEARS!  So it's not like I'm leaving my child for a couple days with people I don't know.

But I had someone tell me today I am a bad parent for sending R "away" all of the time!  That I should be with him ALL of the time.  That I apparently don't want to spend any time with him.  WTH!  He goes somewhere without me once, maybe twice, a week!  And he is 10 years old for crying out loud.  He needs some independence.  He needs to go out and do things without me, with kids his age.  And it's not like I am dropping him off somewhere alone, like the mall or park or whatever.  When he is at the Young Marines (an organization designed for kids to keep them off the streets and off drugs), there are adults present.  He is at a friend's house right now, with adults present.  He doesn't want, or need, me up his butt 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  He can't learn to be independent if he doesn't get some independence.  And I spend plenty of time with him the other 5-6 days a week that he is home...we go fishing together, play games together, play in the pool together, read together, etc. 

So if I am a bad parent because I let my son go somewhere without me once or twice a week, then I proudly wear that title. 

Not Too Young

When my son or I tell anyone he is now in the Young Marines, I always get, "Isn't he too young for that?"  The answer is no.  The Young Marines is for children ages 8 - 18.  I have also gotten, "Why are you trying to turn him into a soldier so young?"  The Young Marine program doesn't try to turn children into soldiers.  One thing the Young Marines DO do is promote physical and mental developments of it's members, along with morals and a drug-free lifestyle.  They also teach the ideals of honesty, fairness, courage, respect, loyalty, love of God, and fidelity to our country.  And let's face it, kids now days need this because too many parents out there aren't teaching these things.  The Young Marines also try to get the kids interested in and have a respect for their own academic achievement, along with the history and traditions of the U.S.A.  They learn teamwork and leadersip.  They learn about community service, and see how good it feels to do things for others. 

So why wouldn't I get my child involved in something like this.  Yes, I can teach and do all this stuff with him at home, but he is getting older.  He wants to go out and do things with kids around his own age without his mom (thought that wouldn't come around to at least the teenage years, lol). 

As a side note, R DOES want to be in the military when he grows up.  It has nothing to do with the Young Marines.  It is something he decided when he was 4 years old, and he hasn't changed his mind since.  He has a love for this country, and yes, I do encourage it.  And yes, I am proud that he wants to join the military when he is old enough, and will be even prouder when he does.   

Going Shopping

I have my list all ready, and later today I will be going to buy foods from my okay to eat list for the "Blood Type Diet."  I will start this diet tomorrow.  I won't be cutting all my avoid foods out all at once, but will instead start to slowly eliminate them. 

Blood Type Diet

I have been reading "Eat Right 4 Your Type" by Peter J. D'Adamo.  It is basically a diet with a list of foods that are right and wrong for your blood type.  It is more of a diet to optimize your health, but weight loss is one of the affects of it.  Since I have been eating not so healthy lately, and have packed on some weight, I am going to give them Blood Type Diet a try.

I know this will be hard for me.  On the list of things to avoid for my blood type are red meats, pork, and most dairy (I can still eat poultry though).  Since these are some of my favorite things, I know this will be hard.  But if it helps with my health, then it will be worth it.  Even if I don't lose any weight, eating better will still be beneficial to my health.  Since I am going to have to give up some of the things I love to eat, I am going to start this in baby-steps.  Since I already have poultry once or twice a week, I am going to start cutting red meat/pork out once a week until it is completely out.  I am also going to start to phase dairy out (and slowly go from regular milk to soy milk).  I will try to keep an update on my progress and how I am feeling as I start this process

My Oldest

In one week from Saturday, my baby boy (who isn't really a baby anymore) will be graduating from Recruit Training for the Young Marines. I am so proud of him for doing this. After the first day he told me, "You would have thought they would have went easy on us since it was the first day." Even after saying that, he said he was ready for the next weekend to come to go back. And every Saturday he has woke me up at the crack of dawn telling me to get up so we won't be late, lol. I can't wait to see him in his camoflauge uniform for the first time.

To learn more about the Young Marines and see if it is something your child might like to be involved in, you can go to http://www.youngmarines.com/.

Birds

Last Tuesday, my male Parakeet, Forrest, died. C cried all day long about him passing away. She had never paid a bit of attention to either Forrest or Skye (the female), so I have no idea why it hit her so hard. Of course the next day she was all over me, telling me I had to go get another bird that looked just like Forrest so we could name him Forrest the Second.

So just forward to Friday. Skye was a little lonely, so I did go buy her a new friend to keep her company. I got a male that is blue and almost looks like her. B is the only one of the kids that knew I was getting it, and that's only because he went with me while the other two were at school. Neither C nor R noticed the new bird in the cage at all. R did finally noticed, but only after my dad walked in the door and went over to say hi to Skye and says "Good, you got her a new friend so she won't be lonely." Then R jumps up and runs over there. C never noticed on her own. Finally at bedtime I told her to go look in the bird cage. She was excited for all of 5 minutes, then got mad because I didn't get a green bird. Anyway, the new bird's name is Cobalt.

Young Marines

Ray had been wanting to join the Young Marines, so I finally got him signed up. He started is recruit training for it this past Saturday, and will have his graduation from recruit training on May 1. When I picked up him, he told me, "They could have went easy on us since it was our first day." I told him that once he goes back next Saturday, he will see that they probably did go easy on him, lol. And even though he thinks they were hard on him and the other new recruits, he is ready to go back. He is looking forward to what the Young Marines have to offer, and all the cool things he is going to get to learn and do (like the camp outs and rappelling down things).

He does have to know the Young Marine Creed by Saturday, so we have been going over it several times a day. I'm afraid he won't have it memorized though. It takes a while for him to memorize things like that...just like his daddy. But all I can do is my best to help him remember it

Spring Break - Day 2

Nothing got broken today, thankfully. I took the kids fishing for a few minutes today. Brian got bored after about 5 minutes though.

Spring Break - Day 1

Today was the first day of Spring Break for my kids. It started with Brian rubbing sunscreen all over the kitchen floor and some pictures. Then either Ray or Chey decided casting Brian's fishing pole in the house was a good idea...I know it wasn't Brian since he doesn't know how to cast yet. He has a Spongebob fishing pole that has one of those things that tie on the end to give it some weight to help learn casting. So one of them casted the thing and got Plankton stuck in a plant hanging from the ceiling. Then instead of coming to get me, they just pulled on it to get him unstuck. They got him unstuck alright...along with half of the plant! Of course, Ray said it was Chey, and Chey said it was Ray. The both got a talking to since the plant was right in front of the window!

Who knows what the rest of the week will hold. But I am sure by the time school starts back, I will be ready for a padded room. And even saying that, I wouldn't trade my kids for anything in the world.

Too Many Books

I like to cook, and I love to try out new recipes. I mostly look for new recipes online, print it off, then put it in a binder I have for recipes. I personally don't have many cookbooks. The ones I have, the recipes I like from them are copied for my binder. The cookbook is then put away or given away.

But I was cleaning the bookshelves of a relative recently. There were something like 100 cookbooks on one of them! There were fat ones and skinny ones. Big ones and little ones. Ones bought at stores and ones made for fundraisers (schools, churches, etc). There were ones dedicated to main dishes, side dishes, desserts, etc. Just about any kind of cookbook you can imagine was there. But how many cookbooks does a person really need? How many cookbooks does a person that does not even cook need?! What about if that person only cooks rarely and then from a box?

Seriously people, a person does not need that many cookbooks. If you have a ton of cookbooks that never get opened at all, then those cookbooks are doing NOTHING for you except creating clutter!

Same with any kind of books. If you have books that you have read, that you have no intention of ever reading again, why let them cause clutter. Pass them onto someone else to read by giving them to a friend, the library, the hospital, nursing homes (yes, the elderly do still like to read). I love books and yes I have a lot (plus I go to the library about once a week). But the books that are mine, once I read them leave the house. I take mine to my sister, who passes them on when she is done with them.

I wish....

I wish that the sick germs would just once pass by the kids and myself! Some stomach bug has hit the house. First it got C, and I was hoping no one else would get it. No such luck. R, B, and I all got it.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, and we can get more fresh air, hopefully we all won't catch as many germs