I took my last test today, and I am finished with the semester! I was worried about the test being hard, but it wasn’t that bad. I think I only missed one question. I successfully completed my first semester of college. College wasn’t even on my mind at this time last year. I’m so glad that I decided to do it.

So, now, I have about a month off. Chris still has a couple of weeks of school left to complete. We were hoping to be able to take a vacation after that and before he leaves for Chaplain school, but it looks like that is not going to happen. He is going to have this Wednesday and Thursday off, and then he will be working seven days a week. Stupid overtime! The money is good, but that’s the only good thing about it. He leaves June 2 for Chaplain school. I try not to think about it too much. I’m going to miss him so much.

I’ve been looking at Army stuff this evening. I started off looking at Chaplain blogs, and then I stared looking at the Fort Jackson website. It got me thinking about how different my life will be in a few years. I can’t really imagine what military life will be like. Part of me is really looking forward to it, but another part is kind of scared. It will be so different. I wouldn’t have any worries if it weren’t for the knowledge that Chris will be deployed. I hate thinking about being left alone with the kids. With Chris, I can do anything new and it be great, but, without him, I feel kind of lost. So, I just try not to think about the dreaded “D word”…deployments. Ugh.

Well, that’s enough depressing thoughts for now. I’ll try to just bask in the end of a successful school semester. (Say that five times fast!)

Owen with his great-aunt, Angie. He was trying to take his hat off.

Kyra rode the flying elephants with Angie. They were having a ball!

This is the look Elijah gave Chris when he tried to take a picture of Elijah and Mamaw Velvet on the elephants.

He got a little more excited about playing in the water!

Silly Kyra! She liked playing in the water, too!

Owen didn’t get to ride much more than the stroller. He did get to ride the carousel, but I was holding him on the horse and didn’t get to take a picture.

Elijah drove Mamaw Velvet off into the sunset. (Don’t worry. He brought her back in one piece.)

Kyra took Angie for a spin!

And, finally, we have the obligatory “hold the camera out to take your own picture” shot to prove that Chris and I were actually there. He wasn’t cooperating and I had no make up on. I had also been wet at one point. So, it’s not a great picture. But I was there! I have the picture to prove it.

I made an A in my Algebra class. I took the final today, and I made a 92 on it. I missed two. I am so, so, so relieved. Chris kept telling me I didn’t need to try so hard because I don’t get credit for the class. I just have to pass it. But…I wanted an A. I like A’s. Don’t you? They’re just so nice. If you happen to see me in the next little bit, be sure to ask me what I made in the class, because I really want to tell you I got an A.

Two classes finished, two more to go!

This post brought to you by my friend, Claire, who sat on the couch with me Saturday, with a four year old, a three year old, a two year old, and two nine month olds squealing, crying, crawling on us, asking for food and drink, and being extremely noisy, and helped me understand graphing.

Hey, guys. I just wanted to pass this link along to you all. I learned about this from a blog I frequent. A lady named Heather…wife and mother of three young kids, one of which has autism…has a brain tumor. She is going to the May clinic to see if they can help her. She desperately wants to live to see her children grow up. They are not rich people, and their finances were already taxed by the needs of their youngest daughter who has autism. A friend of hers started a drive to raise money for her to help with her trip expenses and her medical expenses.

Click HERE to read about the drive.

Click HERE to read Heather’s blog.

If you are able to donate even a dollar to help, you can do it through PayPal with the links they provide. Her story really touched my heart. I can’t imagine being where she is. So, go, follow the links, and see what it’s all about. Thanks, guys!

It’s the start of another week. Time passes so quickly these days. I’ve not got too much on the agenda. I have Speech class tonight, and a conference with my English professor on Thursday night. I’m hoping that someone will be available to watch the kids for me tomorrow so that I can go and take my Algebra final. Other than that, my week is wide open. Not much schoolwork left to do.

What I do need to do this week is clean. I hate cleaning. I despise it. Cleaning is the opposite of fun. It must be done, though. You know it’s bad when I told Chris that when I went to church the other day, the kids had to go back in the house to get jackets, and I forgot and left the front door standing wide open while I was gone. I told him I was afraid to come in the house at first, but then I realized if someone had of went in, they would have looked at the mess and thought some other criminal had already beat them to the ransacking of the house and went home. Yeah, it’s that bad. I gotta get on top of it before my husband divorces me.

This Monday suddenly seems not so happy. Did I mention I hate cleaning?

I got this in an email my sister-in-law, Natasha, sent me. I thought it was pretty funny.

The “Middle Wife” by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I’ve been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids
myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own
second-grade classroom a few years back. When I was a kid, I loved
show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It
helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame.
Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they
catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any
boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school
and talk about it, they’re welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very
outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class
with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an
infant. “This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about
his birthday.”
“First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then
Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for
nine months through an umbrella cord.” She’s standing there with her
hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my
camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
“Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going,
‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. “She
walked around the
house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ Now this kid is doing a
hysterical duck walk and groaning. “My Dad called the middle wife. She
delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the
Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.” Then Erica
lies down with her back against the wall.
“And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in
case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed,
like psshhheew!” This kid has her legs spread with her little hands
miming
water flowing away. It was too much!
“Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe,
breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all
of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that
they all
said it was from Mom’s play-center, so there must be a lot of toys
inside there.”
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to
her seat. I’m sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it’s
show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another “Middle
Wife” comes along.

I re-took that last Math test, and I raised my grade from 88 to 96. Yay! I feel much better about a 96. I only missed one. We get to take each test twice, if we wish, and keep the best score. The test is not the same, but it has the same kind of problems. My neighbor, Claire, came over this evening and helped me with my Algebra, and I feel much more confident about it. I am going to try to take my final on Tuesday.

Earlier this afternoon, Kyra went to her friend Emily’s birthday party. She had so much fun. Check out the pictures.

Kyra went to Emily’s birthday party today. They had so much fun. There were ladies from church there who did their hair, make-up, and nails, and they all wore princess dresses. Kyra had a ball.

The Spring semester, that is. I took my last Music test yesterday, so that course is over. I got an A in the class. Yay, me! I have written my last paper for my comp class. I have to email a first draft to my professor, and then possibly change things per his directions. I’ll turn it in next week. That’s the last thing for that class. I have to take a Final in algebra, and that’s the last thing in that class. I have to do an impromptu speech next Monday in Speech, and the following Monday will take a Final in that class. That’s it. When I do that, my semester is over. I’ll have almost a month before Summer classes start.

I’m looking forward to summer. I plan on doing lots of fun stuff with the kids. I plan on reading lots and lots of books. I have about ten to read, already, and I have a list of new books I want to order from Amazon. I also plan on getting in shape. I’ve finally started losing weight. I’m almost back to the 120’s. That is going to be a happy day for me. I plan on walking and getting back to doing yoga and pilates. All that good stuff. I plan on trying to get together with friends. I plan on going to Dollywood often. I plan on missing my husband very much while he’s at Fort Jackson, and I plan on visiting him there.

I’ve got lots of plans. The two classes I’m taking over the summer are both online, so I don’t think they’ll take copious amounts of time. While I know I’ll miss Chris so much, I know from when he went to Vegas that I’ll probably try to cram my days full of activities to make the days go by faster. So if any of you were dying to hang out with me, this summer is going to be the time to do it!

I added some new pictures to my photo blog last night. Check them out!