Walking Trail

Today we went to the Shawnee Airport walking trail.  For anyone who doesn't know it is 4 miles long.  It is paved, which is nice.  And every wide so more than a one person can walk on it. And of course no cars!!  Which was nice to not have to worry about drivers running over us.  We walked it in about one hour, and that was while pushing a stroller and the winds were about 30 mph, which felt about like 60! 

But some things about the trail that needs improvement.  One is someone needs to mow!  Some of the grass was taller than me, and that is a little scary when you are walking through a trail and all you can see is grass.  Anything could be in the grass.  Another huge thing is that once you make it to MacArthur and Leo the trail circles around and doesn't continue down MacArthur, you have to cross MacArthur- which is a busy street!  And then there is a sidewalk (one of Shawnee's famous sidewalks to no where- but this one does lead down through the tunnel). At MacArthur and Airport Road, you have to cross the street again to get back on the walking trail.  Small children + lots of cars, they don't mix!  Who thought that would  be a good idea anyway??  That is just dumb, and dangerous.  Most all walkers or runners that we passed on the trail had earphones on.  It just seems dangerous to me, to make people vross MacArthur twice. 

Overall, it wasn't bad.  I wouldn't walk it alone, or at night at all.  Most of the walkers/ runners we saw were normal people, one guy looked to be up to no good though and that was around 4 in the afternoon on a Wednesday.  But I think I will keep walking in my neighborhood and dodging cars.

Proud Momma (like always!)

Usually my boys do not get their achievement tests scores till the next school year, but this year my second grader got them early.  I am not sure why his grade already got them but they did.  He just finished up second grade.  He scored average (2.8) on a few things, but most things he scored a little above average (3.0-4.0).  But in math he made a 99 out of 100!  That is a grade equivalent of 5.2!!!!!!!!  That's more than two grade levels above him!!!  I am really grade of him!  He loves math, just like I use to and it shows!  Way to go little guy!!!!  All of my boys always do every well in Math (like me) and usually spelling (not like me). 

I couldn't be prouder of all of my children.  They finished their school year yesterday.  My younger three had straight A's.  My oldest had A's and B's, and he usually doesn't do homework either and still had good grades.  I am glad another school year is in the books, and that they are all learning and growing so well! 

Today they live to go on vacation with their dad.  It will only be a few days of not seeing them, but it doesn't set well with me.  My body and mind can't stand being away from them.  This time they are getting a plane for the first time ever and I won't be with them.  Divorce sucks, regardless of how long it has been; time doesn't heal divorce.  So this will be a difficult few days, thankfully I will be seeing them on Tuesday night, and all day on Wednesday, and then they are home on Thursday.  Hurry up this week!!!! 

Oklahoma.

My heart breaks for Oklahoma.  Last night my town that I live in was hit by three tornadoes.  One was about 5 miles from my house, and two people did lose their lives in one of those tornadoes. We could actually see it. It was so scary and I don't have have a shelter.  But fortunately we were safe.  We seeked shelter and our house was fine.   Today, more tornadoes for Oklahoma.  Moore was hit so badly, that words cannot express the damage.  The tornado was over two miles wide. It was huge!! Watching it on TV was a nightmare. The tornado hit two elementary schools.  One school all the children were ok, what a miracle! The other school wasn't so lucky.  They are still missing 24 or so students, young children.  And they are thinking they are all dead.  My heart hurts.  My soul hurts.  As a mother, I send my children to school knowing they will be safe. That they are in good hands.  And those wonderful teachers did everything that they could to save those children, but it wasn't enough. Brick walls, hallways, closets are not enough to protect anyone from Mother Nature. Over 50 people have lost their lives today. Many are children. And many more are feared to be dead.  My mind is racing. I cant rest.  All I can do is think and stare at the tv.  I hope and pray that they find more children alive, hidden somewhere safe. But I fear that won't be the case.  Thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in all these storms.  

Sidewalk chalk

My kids love sidewalk chalk and I enjoy them using it.  But why do it have to be so messy!  Maybe that's part of the fun. :)

Stay At Home Mom

                Being a stay at home mother isn't as easy as everyone thinks.  Most other mothers, and even some men think that being a mother means you do nothing all day long.  When in reality that isn't true, do stay at home mothers really just stay at home? Mothers do a lot, rather you work outside of your home or not.  Being at home with your children, doesn't make a mother "lazy", that all she does is sit on the couch all day long. 

                For me personally, I have to do something to pay the bills, but also at the same time I have to take care of my children.  So I baby sit.  For me it is what is best for my family.  My children need someone to take them to school, to pick them up, to do homework, and to take care of them.  I don't have family that helps me out, and day care is too expensive.  Before I had my youngest son, I looked into getting a job.  I did my research on day cares and prices.  If I had been able to get a full time job that paid me $9.00 an hour, which was very unlikely since I have no work experience, then for full time day care for one child, and after school care for 4 would cost me all of my pay check plus $200 dollars out of my pocket.  That isn't including the company taking out insurance or taxes.  And now I have another child to factor in.  So with those costs, it is in the best interest of my children for me to baby sit and make money from  home.  That way  more money is coming into the house.  It may not be picture perfect, but my kids do not go without.  I make sacrifices every single day for them.  I do not buy myself things, when I do it is a rare opportunity; like for make up only.  My children are more important and for them to have a good life with the things that they need and want. Plus they can't walk to school or ride the bus, so someone has to be there for them; and that person is me.   Of course it would make things easier on me and even less stressful if there was more money, or someone else that helped out, but we are healthy and happy.  And honestly it is a huge accomplishment to not being living with someone else, or having someone rent part of my house just to make ends meet.  It is a big deal to me that I take care of my children and I know I am raising them the way I want them raised.  Most of the time, I work more hours in a week than people who work outside of their house.  When I was 30-36 weeks pregnant with my last child, I was babysitting 80-85 hours a week; that's like two full time jobs- that's probably why I had that baby at 36 weeks. Now I put in 30-50 hours a week and will all summer long, and have been since my youngest was 2 months old.

                Of course, I have plans and goals, and even dreams.  But those dreams are on hold till my children are a little older.  It would be a lot easier to have a job outside of the home when all of my kids are in school.  I could work while they are at school, so that is one plan I have. I have others too, but my main plan right now is take care of my responsibilities.    

                Maybe my way of life isn't for everyone, I understand that and respect that.  But to be fair others shouldn't judge each other.  Some people only have one kid, some have a houseful, some people have brown hair and some have blonde; but does any of that really matter or even any of your business?

English 101

Well, I have decided to start posting some of my English essays, that I have written for my classes.  They are pretty pointless, but oh well.  If you don't like them, feel free to not read them.

Saving a Best Friend

            Have you ever thought about all of the shelter animals?  There are hundreds of animals in shelters every day, millions  die every year. A movie that  made an impact on me was Pound Puppies; I first saw the cartoon movie when I was about eight years old. I knew at a young age there had to be something that could be done. The movie Pound Puppies made me realize the fate of unwanted animals, it helped motivate me to start a dog rescue, and has instilled in me wanting to help more.

            When first watching the movie it was just a cartoon about dogs, and nothing more, but as I got older the more I understood that it was about shelter dogs. Then, I started exploring what happens to shelter animals, about the millions that are put to sleep every year in shelters. Also, all the unwanted litters caused by people who will not fix their pets has made a problem. There are too many animals and not enough homes. The more I learned about the animals the more my heart would break. At a young age I wanted to help, to save all of the animals.

            After, growing up the feelings didn't change, I still wanted to help. So I decided to start a dog rescue for unwanted shelter dogs. I would take them in, get them healthy, alter them so there was less unwanted litters, and find them new homes. The rescue brought some great joys to me, and I felt like I was doing my part to help out, but it also brought heart ache too. Some dogs were just too sick to save, it was a feeling of helplessness. There were many times that I would see dogs that were starved to death or had diseases. In a couple of years, I had saved hundreds of dogs and found them good homes, and saved many unwanted litters also.

            Now that I have children and other responsibilities, rescuing starving dogs is not possible now. But what is possible is giving money to charities like the Humane Society and the ASPCA. It is also helpful to educate people and children on all the unwanted animals out there.  My children have not seen the movie Pound Puppies, but they understand about shelter animals, and because of that  we decided to adopt a dog. It was their decision to save a life rather than just buying one. There is also more that people can do rather it is donating money, supplies,  time, or even being the voice for the animals.

            So if you are looking for a new best friend, everyone should consider a shelter animal; rather it is through the local shelter or from an animal rescue.  A dog is always grateful for a second chance. If you have not watched the movie Pound Puppies, maybe you should, it might have an effect on you too. It will show you the fate of shelter animals,  it could help  you get motivated, even if you cannot start a rescue, there is still plenty to do.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Tonight, I made Baked Chicken Parmesan for the very first time ever.  Actually it was my first time eating it too.  And it was great!!  Everyone loved it!  It's a keeper, we will be having it again!  The chicken was moist and just the right amount of sauce and cheese.  Of course, I don't have a lot to compare it to but I loved it!

For anyone that may want to try it, here is the blog I used.

http://www.realhousemoms.com/baked-chicken-parmesan/

Phone App = Missing Posts

Well I posted on Mother's Day, and surprise surprise it isn't here!  That app and myself are not seeing eye to eye!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Mine was good.  I spent the day with my kids (not a big difference than my normal days), we watched some TV, I cleaned, they made me some cards and blew up a ton of balloons as a celebration.  I think the balloons were for their selves though, since they have had a blast playing with them.  LOL!  They did let me do a quick photo shoot with them and there was no complaining! We went out to eat for dinner, the kids picked, and had ice cream together. 

I hope everyone else had a blessed day!