Now That's What I Call Sleep!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post - Zack was up very early yesterday. 


I originally thought it was 6:15 because that is the time I heard the squeak from his door being opened up.  However, later at night he confided that he had actually been awake since 5:00 and only got out of bed at 6:15 when he deemed more sleep was not happening.


Last night he barely made it up to 10:00 - - - then slept until 10:45 this morning!


Now that's what I call sleep!

Last Day of School

Yep, today was the last day of school at OCS.

In years past, this day has brought me to the brink of tears.

Today... nope.nothing.nada.

This year, I had no class in which to bond with.

This year I had no kids to fall in love with.

This year I had no feeling of not wanting the school year to end.

This year I was not unhappy today

NOPE

In fact... today I felt just the opposite.

I was glad...

Now I can stop thinking about what I would have been teaching had I been teaching - make sense?

Now I can pretend I am on summer vacation like all the other teachers.

And keep praying for God to make clear His plans for me for next year!!!

Anyway....Zack was up at 6:15 this morning b/c he was so excited to "graduate" from 5th to 6th grade.  And, yes, we did go to the ceremony at school this morning so he could feel connected to his classmates.  However, I did not have my camera since my BF's daughter has borrowed it for her trip to Florida. 

As is tradition for his school, his teacher assigned him a character trait - something that describes his character.  In fact, his teacher assigned each of her kids two.  So his traits were:

1). Attentiveness: Now, this surprises me some b/c sometimes Zack still seems oblivious to things around him.  I largely blame myself for this b/c as a child I would let him bring toys everywhere with him.  Whether to EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, church, the boys' karate practice.... he would bring toys (usually a couple Thomas the Tank Engine toys) along and I loved it b/c they would keep him so occupied and entertained...  but I soon realized that this also created for him his in his own little world... a world where he could ignore everything and everyone around him -which turned out to be a bad thing.  It has taken quite some time to work through this....and we  still are working through this... but apparently, he has made some leaps b/c his teacher credited him for being attentive to others feelings and actions!!

2). Courtesy:  I am particularly proud of this one b/c he has gotten this trait in 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade. (hmmm...not 4th?... forgot who his 4th grade teacher was... oh yeah... me). Anyway, all his teachers have described him as being respectful. Because he has ADHD I know he has trouble with self-control.  He means well but can do or say things spontaneously that may get him in trouble.  And when that inevitably happens... I want to know that he is courteous and respectful to the authority that is helping him and guiding him to make better choices.  

So, after the short ceremony and after free root beer floats in the parking lot - he went to a classmates house for a big 4th/5th grade party for the afternoon where they ran around and ate and played tag and jumped on the trampoline (and would have gone swimming had it been any warmer than 60* today- ugh).  Now we'll see what time he crashes tonight!

This is a long entry and I wanted to write something about my beautiful son who is graduating next week... and my other beautiful son who is flying home in just one short week... and the Tampa Bay Lightning who are one game away from the Stanley Cup finals.... but I'll have to save all that for the next entry.Soon.

Decisions

Yeah... so according to the "wonderful" state of Wisconsin.... even though I am currently unemployed.... and my husband works overtime just to so that we can eat and pay our bills... and by the grace of God we are surviving month to month...

my children only qualify for $5.000 in financial aid next year (each)...

and our estimated family contribution is $8000.00 (each)

sheesh... I wonder which one of our backyard trees I should pluck the $16,000.00 off of????

decisions.....decisions!

More Eye Popping Work

Jonathan

Zachary

C.J. and Zachary

C.J.

Zachary

Jonathan

The Eyes Have It

Experimenting with Lightroom:  How to make the eyes pop!  

Our Nightly Walk

As you know (or maybe you don't) we live out in the boonies.... the country... little house on the prairie.  We live on a County Road so we have no sidewalks.


But one thing we do have is a huge backyard.  Here is only about half of it:

That  is the back of our house and our seemingly never ending supply of firewood that hubby cuts and splits himself.


Anyway... where am I going with this?  Oh yeah.... walks.... I don't particularly like walking on a County Road but liking the exercise that you can get from walking, I decided one night, to walk the entirity (is that a word) of our backyard  (I now do it three or four times depending on the weather).  I  took the dog along to run, sniff, explore, whatever it is that  dogs do.


And now....it has become a nightly ritual.  


He knows that after dinner is over and things are cleaned up that IT IS TIME!  He stares out the window (observe pictures below) and whines and whines, and....um...oh yeah... whines.

(That is Easter grass on his snout)

Once I have my shoes on... we are on our way,


Let the exploring begin.

Stream of Thoughts

Here we are in May already... although you could never tell it's May by the weather we've been having lately.  It seems we are stuck in the 40's and temps in the 50's have been reason to rejoice. We all know how I feel about this... soooo....... moving on.


Son number two (Jon) came home from school today touting his graduation cap and gown.  Even though I knew this was coming, it hit me like a slap in the face....I am losing another son....soon....like in a month!   It brought me to the brink of tears many times this evening.  And because I like to inflict punishment on myself, I popped open youtube and loaded that song that goes "let my love give you roots and help you find your wings."  That song truly wants to make me cry... and little did I know that Jon was listening too and admitted to almost crying himself!


In other news, God has still not revealed his plan for me next year.  The only certainty will be that I will begin class(es) in the fall.  How many I take will depend on whether God has a job for me to do next year.  I have applied at different places and am now just praying that God will open doors that he wants opened and closes doors that he wants closed. 


 Hubby and I are fairly certain (95%) that Zack will be back at Oshkosh Christian next year thus ending our year of homeschooling.   Homeschooling was great and I will always look back and cherish this year - but - some subjects are too difficult to teach from home...for me anyway.  Also, he is in desperate need of more social interaction than his music and gym classes are providing.


My teeth continue to be an issue.  Lets just say that I maxed out my insurance for the year already by the end of January and could use a ton more work!  I hate tooth pain..... I hate my teeth... and I hate Vicodin!!!   I just want them all yanked....  but I cannot get my doctor to agree.  In case you are wondering....YES.....I am in pain right now.  A bit less pain right now than I was 4 hours ago when I couldn't even eat dinner thanks to some Vicodin I have left from two months ago when I experienced my previous tooth pain!!!!!! UGH!!!


My mom and dad come in two weeks and C.J. in a month.  Gosh, I miss everyone so much.  Once C.J. gets here...  he'll be here for a whole month!!!! WooHoo!  


That is about it in the Schneider/Koeck household lately.