FIRST MONTH DOWN, 8 MORE TO GO!!

I know I haven't written much of anything on this blog lately...but even having a "2 day a week job" (yeah, right!), has had me busier than I ever dreamed! I only thought that I'd work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, & have the other 3 days to get stuff done in between our crazy hectic weekends.

HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm sorry, that's me laughing at the fact that I can't tell a weekday from a weekend anymore! Who knew it was going to be THIS crazy? (and if you did know, why didn't you tell me????)

Anyway...I digress...

We have survived the first month of school! YIPPEEE! Megan is doing very well in school and has latched onto reading so well that we've begun the "Junie B. Jones" books here at home. We read one chapter every night, and she is loving it! She has to read and log 20 books a month in order to earn a "free personal pan pizza" coupon from her teacher. When she brought that coupon home last week, it was if she'd won the lottery! She is so proud of herself. She has struggled a bit in math, but starting to grasp it a bit better...that reminds me, would you mind praying for her? She needs to be a strong math student, because I'm not going to be able to help her after it get's past "fractions" a few years from now! I, uh...I mean SHE can use all the prayers she can get!

Ryan is loving being in Mrs. Hunt's K3 class. He comes home sounding just like his teacher! We all know the rules about coloring with crayons now, because Ryan tells us all the time "Mrs. Hunt say 'NO SCRIBBLE-SCRABBLE' ", and then he precedes to tell us which of his class friends scribble scabbles and which of them "go back and forth" like Mrs. Hunt says. He also enunciates the "Pledge of Allegience" just like his teacher...it's so cute to hear him say "with liverty, and justice fo awwwlll."

And as for my class...well, my goal was to make those kids LOVE ME! Because if they love me, they'll trust me. If they trust me, they'll leave the tears at home. I started off the year with only 2 of the 8 students crying every morning. Then I moved up to 3 of the 8 when one of them realized the other two got alot more attention when they cried,and Mrs. Barrett was giving away lots and lots of hugs, and lap time! With all those tears come runny noses, and with all the runny noses comes illness....for me! By the end of the first week of school, I was sick with Mychoplasma (bacterial pneumonia), Megan had bronchitis, and Ryan had a terrible sinus infection moving into bronchitis by the time we went to the doctor. Praise the Lord for credit cards, because it's not every day you have $230 in cold cash lying around to pay for prescriptions!!!!!!! By the second week of school, I lost one student to another classroom because his mom thought that going 3 days until 12 might be a little easier on him, and now I'm down to 7 kids (so if you know a 2 year old who will be 3yrs by March, sign 'em up! I have an opening!). I really am enjoying my little angels though. It has taken the entire 4 weeks of school, but yesterday we completed the day with NO TEARS! I'm singing praises with the angels in heaven! My little criers TRUST ME! THEY LOVE ME! THEY LIKE SCHOOL NOW!

HA-LE-LU-JAH!

Now, maybe I can actually get to teaching them something! I feel as though I haven't been able to get through to them these last few weeks, because having one (or more) of your friends cry while you're trying to learn the days of the week song, sing about the ABC's, and learn your shapes and colors, is very distracting! So, I'm planning to do LOTS of review. I want them to learn, otherwise, what are their parents paying for???

But alas, just as we start getting used to school, we're going to have some down time. This next week, the entire school goes to the pumpkin patch.

It's a family field trip, where I will have no responsibilities to my students other than greeting them at the beginning of the day and then they go off with their parents to find a pumpkin in the patch. (I'll have my own little BIOLOGICAL rug rats to tend to!)

Then, next Friday, I am taking my first "going out of town for work" trip! Yep...I'm leaving the hubby and kids from Friday until Tuesday,and headed to Pensacola!!!! Every year the teachers go down for a weekend of relaxation on the beach, and attend clinics at the Pensacola Christian College where we will learn and observe the teachers at the school responsible for the ABeka curriculum so many private christian schools use. I hear it's a fun time, and all the teachers seem to look forward to it every year. The whole school closes down on Monday and Tuesday, and it's all about the teachers! Wow! I'm excited, but man is that "mommy guilt" starting to sink in. Much the same as it did when I went on my "Beach Babes BASH" last May. But hubby has been great...he's wants me to go. For a couple of reasons, one...so that I can get to know everyone at the school and be a "team player", two, so that by being a team player, I can possibly have a job there next year! hahaha! (It's all about the money...huh, dear? WHICH BY THE WAY...I GET A PAYCHECK! I was so shocked! I didn't expect to make ANYTHING after they took out my money for tuition, so AGAIN, I'M SINGING PRAISES TO GOD! Now, we might have a good Christmas around here and not have to stress out about paying the "Christmas Card" off in January! haha)

So, with all the crazyness of teaching Pre 3K's 2 days a week, working some on Wednesdays to prepare, organizing crafts/bulletin boards, etc, and re-learning how to be a working mom AND a stay at home mom, AND be on the newly developed drama team at church which meets every Tuesday, AND try to continue my current leadership roles at church (which I'm failing miserably at...help!), AND try to get started back in church on Wednesday nights so my kids can be apart of Mission Friends and GA's, AND make the grocery store runs, AND still have time for homemade dinners (haha, yeah, right), a clean house( BWAHAHAH, I'm sorry, I tried to make that sound like I have put forth an effort), AND attend every birthday party/girls nite out/date with husband/family fun day/etc that we have always done, NEEDLESS TO SAY, I'M QUITE OVERWHELMED.

One of the staff ministers at church called me this week to check on me, because he'd not seen me (or had me fill his email box full) in quite a few weeks/months. It was nice to know I was missed, and even more...he prayed for me while we were on the phone! I so needed that! I'm finding my way...the hardest part is keeping it all together sometimes. I really want to start reading my book "Passion On Purpose-Discovering and Pursuing a Life That Matters"...but I've had a hard time focusing late at night, and I usually end up falling asleep and not reading past the first paragraph.

If I can just get everything organized....

If I could just find more time...

If I could just be more energetic...

If I could just put for a little more effort...

IF I......

IF I ..........

IF I....................

But..HE CAN.

HE WILL.

HE WANTS TO.

I just gotta learn to get outta the way.

So, there's how life in the Barrett family has been...or at least my perspective. I'm sure eachof my kids, and dear hubby would have plenty to say...but they'd have to get their own blog!