School IN!!!

So this is the kids' first week of school, and boy have I enjoyed the quiet! Well, at least the quiet mornings...

Andy is now in 5th grade. So far he hasn't said much about it, he has a couple of buddies in his class, lots of "nerds" (according to him). He's also playing football this fall, TACKLE football- and let me tell you, it'll be all I can do not to run on the field and beat the poor kid that knocks my baby down! No, I'm not really going to be that bad, but I'm not making any promises yet!

Alec is now in 3rd grade. So far he's told me all about the girls in his class and not much else! Yes, my boy is a total ladies-man! He seems to really like school so far, he's not crazy about math, but he loves reading (yep, he's my boy!). He's playing soccer this fall and has his first game tomorrow!

Kate is in 4K 5 mornings a week at the school at our church. She likes it, but would like it better if I'd stay with her! She doesn't cry in the mornings, which I'm VERY glad about, but she doesn't want me to leave. Her teachers are great, though, they're always quick to get her involved with something so that I can sneak out. She comes home full of crazy stories (this week she's been acting like a pirate, complete with plastic eye patch and a hearty, "AARRGHHH, ladies" (instead of MATEYS) and is quick to tell me which of her friends has a "boyfriend". Not sure what that means to a 4-year-old, but it's funny to hear her to talk about!

School for me starts on 9/22 and I'm SO excited! It almost seems crazy that I'm finally starting clinicals, I've been waiting forever! My schedule for the first quarter is pretty easy, luckily I'm only taking one class- Mondays 8-8:50, Tuesdays 9-9:50, Wednesdays 10-10:50 and 1-2:50, off on Thursdays and Fridays 7-1:50.

This weekend is Andy's birthday party- a house full of boys playing football, should be fun! I'll post pictures in a couple of days...

FINALLY! (aka It's About Time OR The End Is In Sight!!!)

So I'm FINALLY starting the last phase of nursing school- clinicals!!! The wait list at every college I've heard of is extremely long, so I've been on a waiting list this whole time. I was #96 on the list for ADN clinicals and rumor has it they take 100 students every fall, so presumably I was in, right? Nope.

At the end of the spring semester I went ahead and put myself on the LPN waiting list as well, so that hopefully I'd be starting one of the two programs this fall. I got accepted to start the LPN program about a week after I added myself, so I knew I'd be starting at least that, but I really wanted to start the ADN program so that I'd be that much closer to being done.

They sent out acceptance letters in rounds, and I knew I was getting close but wasn't getting in. I made arrangements for Kate and registered for LPN classes and had pretty much give up on getting into ADN clinicals this fall, then TA DA!! I got in!!!

So now I'm taking classes Mondays and Tuesdays, a lab on Wednesdays, off on Thursdays, and working in a nursing home one city up on Fridays! I have a good friend in at least one of the classes with me, so that'll be even better!

So stay healthy, everyone, I'm almost ready to be your nurse!

I'll remind him of this conversation in a few years

Alec: Mom, do you know what a French Kiss is?
Me: Um, I think so, do you?
Alec: Yeah, it's where you put your tongue in the other person's mouth (said with a look of total disgust), why would you do that??
Me: Um......

Long time no post...

Ok, so it's been a little busy around here this summer! How about an update on each of us:

Jamie's big news is that he's been accepted to the Senior NCO academy! There are only 150 seats available to the whole Air Force, so it's a really big deal that he got accepted. We've heard that it's not unusual to apply more than once, and he got in on his first try, so that's even better! He leaves in March for 7 weeks, I'm not looking forward to that part, but it'll be great for his career! His other big news is that he's finished associates degree#3! He now holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management/Human Resources Management and Associate Degrees in Aviation Operations, Aviation Management and the newest-Information Systems Technology . He's also been playing softball for our church's team- they suck pretty bad, but he's had fun and made some friends.

Andy spent a week of his summer vacation at Camp Graham in Western Ohio! He had a blast and they did the most fun things! He went canoeing down the Little Miami River, searched for fossils in a creek, played Capture the Flag, swam, learned archery- all the typical camp things! He's already looking forward to next year. It was really hard to leave him- I knew he'd be fine, but it was the first time ever I didn't know what he was doing and who he was with- very hard for a momma! Midget-league football should be starting soon, so he's excited about that, and he'll be starting 5th grade in September.

Alec spent his summer home with me, he's not old enough to go to Camp Graham till next year. He had fun with the Library's summer reading program and has been working on perfecting his artwork! He started soccer last week and is having a lot of fun with that. He'll be in 3rd grade this year.

Kate is her usual wild-child self! She's been pestering her brothers, kissing up to her daddy and has been attached to my side all summer! We haven't done much away from home this year, most of our summer has been spent outside in the yard. She's had a blast catching lightning bugs and roly polys, there are a whole lot of bugs she's afraid of! She's finally sleeping in her OWN ROOM!!!! Well, unless it's storming, then all bets are off! She starts preschool 5 mornings a week this fall- same room where she has Sunday School, but I know she'll throw a fit every morning, I'm NOT looking forward to that!

I haven't done much this summer, other than keep the kids from killing each other! I took a required STNA class (State Trained Nurse Aid) for 2 weeks and a 2-night CPR class, both in preparation for starting nursing clinicals this fall. It's been an expensive summer for us because of my school- the STNA class was $550, the state boards are $100, the CPR class was $50, my school uniform is $200+, I know it'll be worth it in the end, but it's been crazy what all we've had to pay for. There's still a chance I'll make it into RN clinicals, they have about 8 seats open still and I'm about 5th on the list, so I'm crossing my fingers for that. If I don't make RN, I'm scheduled to start LPN clinicals, so it wont be too big of a deal, I'd really like to get it over with now, though.

Maybe next time I'll just get it at Kroger!

So I've been nursing a batch of sourdough starter for 2 weeks, finally drug out the bread machine and attempted my first loaf! Got all the ingredients added, started the machine, everything looks great! Then when it was done, it beeped like it's supposed to, I peep inside the little window and it's completely sunken in! I thought maybe it needed baked a little longer than I'd set the machine for, so I left it in for a few more minutes. After 15 minutes of beeping, I gave up and tried pushing the button marked "Start/Stop" to turn the whole oven off. Apparently the button doesn't turn it off, but if you hold it down like I did, it'll start mixing again! So I mixed the middle of the bread completely out, hollowed the whole loaf out! It smelled great and tasted ok, a little bland... I'll try again, I worked too hard on the starter to give up!