When God closes a door...

I've always loved the saying "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." And it seems to be very true in my case. My last post consisted mostly about lamenting that I didn't have a job. Then, lo and behold! I got one!

A couple of months ago, out of desperation, I applied for an online teaching job. I never heard anything from them, and then the week after I found out I didn't get the prison job - I got an email from the director requesting my resume. I am now an online teacher for kids that are literally from all over the world. I teach English and Social Studies - and have 14 classes that I "teach". It's a great job. I can make a little money (not a fortune mind you) from home and no daycare or gas comes out of that! It's awesome!

I wish it made a little more money, but hey! I can't be picky, it's a start and I'm estatic about it. I'm really enjoying the work so far, but would like to be able to put more time into it. The kids seem great, and the main issues are plagiarism and that you can't see them. Just email, etc.

I'm excited about what this job means to me, to Mac, and to our family's life in general!

The No Job Blues

Throughout this summer I have been feverishly applying for jobs. Teaching jobs. And not just at schools dear reader, I applied for a prison job as well. Federal prison.

Hey...desperate times, desperate measures.

I had a few interviews, which felt good, but getting a job would have felt even better, let's just be honest.

I have figured a couple of things out by staying home this summer. I am one of those moms who is torn by the work world and by the stay at home world. I so envy the moms that can stay home with their kids, teaching them all kinds of invaluable lessons and playing with them. But I also envy the working moms, the ones that can seemingly do it all. Work, play, and have dinner on the table at a respectable hour. I know that I love teaching. I love being in front of a class of kids, teaching them new things, and sharing with them a love of history. I also love being there when Mac learns a new animal noise or a new skill. I have days when dropping Mac off at daycare breaks my heart and then I have days where I sigh in relief as I pass her off to the daycare provider.

Love the paycheck too. I am envious of women who can stay home and not worry about money. How do they do it? It is too tight for comfort at our house so I mostly just feel guilty and stressed out instead of appreciating my time at home. Why isn't there some kind of money paid out to housewives? I always love those articles about how much housewives would be paid if they earned a paycheck for what they do. It's usually pushing 6 figures. Well...pay up!

Bottom line: I want to work for that paycheck and have the reward of being a teacher, but I want to be home with my girl too.

Blargh!

Sincerely,

Not Satisfied!

Summer Fun In Pictures

Craft Beginnings

In an interest to do some creative projects this summer and hopefully have those results save us a little money, I started a couple of projects. The first one I attempted were hair bands for Mac.

I had seen similar hair things on other people's blogs, etsy shops, etc. and thought that I could try and make a couple of them. Low and behold I did it! I made two ponytail holders. Yay!!

First I had to figure out how to make a pinwheel from some existing fabric I already had.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with this stay tuned for pictures.

I tried making one and it didn't look so great:

Then I reviewed the tutorial again, an

d adjusted my stitches and came up with this:

Much better!!! So I kept making them in plans for the hair clips. Here are my four finished pinwheels and what they ended up looking like when all put together. Plus another pic to show them on my beautiful model!

I only put one in her hair because she wasn't feeling super patient that day. But suffice it to say - two looks even better than one.

The next project I have undertaken is a rag rug. Mac's new room in our house is a

big, bright, sunny room with gorgeous wood floors. But the room really needs a rug. Too much hard surface. So I began looking online and in stores for rugs. They are outrageously expensive. I found a couple I liked but there is no way that we could even wish to afford them. Sheesh!! So I had the idea of making one. I searched online and found a couple of tutorials, lots of pictures, and decided to make the commitment. I bought sheets in several of the colors I wanted at thrift stores or garage sales, washed them all, and then began cutting them into two inch strips. Here is a picture of all the strips cut and ready to be used. Apparently, they also double as a dog bed.

Hubby made me the "rag rug tool", which is really just an old tooth

brush that we cut the head off of and ground down the tip to a point. Then we drilled a hole through the handle. Very simple, but extremely useful. If you decide to start this type of project - the tool is a must. The plan is for the rug to fill up a pretty large area, most likely 5x7', so needless to say it will take me awhile. I've been working on it for about a week and have gotten much further than the picture below, but it is slow going. I work on it when Mac is in bed at night and we are watching a movie. I'll hopefully keep posting to let you see how it is progressing. Wish me luck on this rug and other future endeavors of crafting!!

Back at it!

School's out for summer!

And I say, thank God!! I was ready to be done. The kids were restless and not so friendly, and boy does that affect the remainder of the year. You forget about how those last few weeks of school go if you aren't in a classroom. Instead of being sad to see their little faces march out that door, you do a hallelujah dance and jump for joy. "Aren't you going to miss us Mrs. Scott?" My honest response - no, absolutely no!!

So now, I am at home with the Biter, getting our house to rights. We may have moved in 2 months ago, but I feel like we never really got settled. The last week has been spent cleaning, organizing, and blissfully playing with my sweet girl. Because I spent so much time away from her in the last 6 months, it's so much fun to see how much she has changed. When I started this job, my girl was crawling. Now she is running!! She talks a mile a minute - and some of what she is saying is actually English! Hubby says that it is good she speaks Mandarin because if we ever adopt a Chinese baby - Mac will be able to speak to her.

I bought some craft items last week and am looking forward to creating some things. But I have to get to the room first. You know that room. It's the room that collects all the crap from your move. The stuff that you have no idea where to put. Perhaps it was hidden in random cabinets and closets - but if you don't have room for it, it piles up in that extra room or "office" that you are planning to put together. The rest of the house is set up, so that is my goal now. There is going to be a block sale on Saturday in our neighborhood and I plan on having a good pile of stuff to greet people looking to make my junk into their treasures. Buy away happy people! Of course you need that toilet paper holder!! It would look great in your bathroom!!

Good luck to me!!!

The Biter

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead,
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid." - Longfellow

I could just leave it at that, but perhaps an explanation is necessary.

My small daughter is at a daycare that involves being around other children. Normal yes. But she apparently can not get a long with others. A couple of days ago her sitter informed me that she saw my small girl going at another child with her mouth open ready to bite. She stopped her but wanted to make sure I was aware of it. I went home, told my husband about it and was beside myself.

Yesterday, she upped the ante by actually leaving teeth marks (every tooth she had was imprinted on this child's arm - I saw it and you can't mistake a cleft teeth bite!) on another boy, and then left a tiny mark by biting my good friend T's son who is also at daycare with her! Unbelievable. Instant shame and panic washed over me. Then the sitter hit it out of the park with "well I won't kick her out since we only have a few weeks left til summer, but other places would!"

OH MY LORD!!!!

I was upset by this. My husband is upset by this. What can we do? I began analyzing our parenting. We play with our girl, and sometimes biting her thighs is part of the game because well...they're delicious! But it isn't in anger. So now we have to stop biting her delicious thighs I guess. She doesn't bite us in anger - and believe me, with her attitude lately, anger is just part of the deal. So where is this coming from? And she's sneaky too, the sitter never actually catches her doing it. So if she isn't doing it at home - how do we stop her? Did I maybe eat too much meat when I was pregnant with her and she's possibly just hungry?

What is there to do?

Sincerely,

Chewed on in Fresno

My Daughter the Nut

Really no words are necessary!

Country Mouse to City Mouse

We are hitching up the wagons and moving to the big city!! The family has decided that for economic reasons we need to leave our little piece of mountain and head to Fresno. We found an amazing house to rent in the Tower District. It was built in 1939 and has only had three people own it. Our landlords have really taken care of the house and the whole feel of the place is amazing. Pros: not as much gas, can be a stay at home mom, can walk to the Tower District, much much closer to hubby's work, and a gardener!!!!, no more rattlesnakes!!!

Cons: the quiet of living in the mountains, the views, the wildlife (except for rattlesnakes!!)

There are some other things too, mostly which are the affect of those remaining pregnancy/birth hormones. Its the first home that we brought Mac home to, and

its where she took her first steps. These feelings will pass, especially when she is running through our beautiful historical home and picking flowers in the backyard. We will be updating our furniture, slowly of course, and making our lives fit the house. I am going to be documenting

it so stay tuned. But for now, here is a picture of our home to be (in 3 weeks actually!)

Wish us luck with packing, moving, and getting another tenant in our current home!! Stay tuned for adventures in city life!

And The Mommy Of The Year Award Goes Too...

Warning: If you have delicate sensibilities, this story may not be for you dear reader!!
This is a cautionary tale to those of you who have just stepped into the realm of toddlers. I don't think I fully comprehended how quickly a 13 month old can move. I've been warned from other harried mothers and I've read about these incorrigable creatures; but nothing sends the message home like your own experience. Daddy was gone on Sunday with drill weekend, so the Macaroon and I were cleaning house (I say "we" very loosely, the baby was actually not as helpful as you might think). I was busy making our bed and putting away clothes and keeping one eye on the the little monster. One eye was not enough my friends. I turned to see my child with my nightstand drawer open (and yes, I'm married, we all have THOSE drawers!), and she was trying to chug from a bottle of LUBE! The lid was sealed thank goodness, but the picture of my beautiful daughter, head back trying her best to get some liquid into her was too much for me to bear. The bottle of Astroglide was snatched from her little pudgy hands and put away in a hopefully much safer place.
Thinking a disaster was averted, and busily rehearsing my story for when Daddy came home I failed to see my girl making her way out of our bedroom. I noticed she was gone finally and went looking for her. I could hear her squeals of joy and followed the noise. I found her, in the laundry room, splashing in the dogs' water. As I lifted her up, I saw that she had been splashing the water and then was wiping it up with a BREAST PAD!! Unbelieveable! And she protested quite shrilly when I pulled her away from the natural disaster in my home.
Needless to say, eyes are peeled for trouble from this adorable little creature. Hopefully, she doesn't feel the need to continue to empty the drawer of pleasure and take anything else out; because I'm pretty sure that the next time will occur at a socially crippling moment.
Ahhhhhhhh, motherhood!

New Book and New Recipe!

A couple of great things have happened to me lately. I finished a fabulous book and I made a fabulous dinner. Both my husband and I read Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett. It is an amazing book! It's the first in a trilogy and follows 5 families through the experiences of WWI. As a history nerd, this book was right up my alley. Excellen

t! The only problem? The next two books don't come out until 2012 and 2014. I don't know that I can wait that long!!! Please Mr. Follett - hurry up!

The delicious dinner I made was Quesadillas de Camarones. Or for the non-Spanish speaking people - Shrimp Quesadillas. I got this recipe from Pioneer Woman; an amazing blog to check out if you would like! These quesadillas were absolute heaven, and so super easy to make. Hubby has declared it his new favorite meal ever. He even wanted it for leftovers - a huge

no-no in his world usually. Vons had shrimp on sale in their

seafood counter and the rest of the ingredients were cheap! I made a simple salsa verde using tomatillos, garlic, white onion, and cilantro to go with the shrimp filled pieces of heaven. Amazing!!!!! If you want the recipe, click on the link for quesadillas above and follow the step by step instructions. At the end of the instructions is the printable recipe.

Thus concludes today's post. Enjoy!!!

The new job - ups and downs

My new job is that of teacher aide in a continuation school. This school is the last stop for young people who have done something bad enough to be kicked out of high school, but because we can't completely expell them, they come to us. Lucky them, lucky us. They can be here for a variety of reasons, theft, drugs (usually this is the case), truancy, or fighting.

What I've realized is that the kids that we have come from dysfunction, therefore they are merely continuing this cycle. Their parents may be drug users, alcoholics, or just incapable of parenting due to disinterest, inability, or pursuing their own demons. We have kids coming to school that are extremely unclean - clothes and bodies. They come to school hungry. The language that comes out of their mouth, and the things they say are clearly said at home. You have to learn it somewhere right? Amazingly though - they all have x-boxes, ps3s, hbo, etc. My hubby and I both work and we can't afford those things - or perhaps we choose to spend our money on more important things. Like food, soap, and laundry detergent. I know, we are crazy like that.

I look at Mac and I can't imagine ever allowing her to get to the point of these kids. What happens? They were babies too once. Didn't anybody wish the best for them? We kiss and snuggle Mac constantly. We know when her punk self needs a bath, or when its time to change the pants. I can't ever imagine not being close enough to her to not know when she needs to be bathed, or her clothes need to be washed. I know what she eats during the day. I know its quality food and I know how much of it she has. She is safe and warm every day. She may never have an iphone, or an x-box, but she will be loved, and guided through life.

It's so sad to think that these kids never had that. Being at this job has shown me how important parenting is. Of course I knew that before, but now I have the examples smelling up my space, or cursing at me everyday. Perhaps all parents of young children should come and spend some time in this land of last chances.

Holidays are over.

It's been awhile! A long while!

The holidays were busy, but magical. Having Mac's first Christmas was so amazing. We really felt the spirit of the season. Mac got spoiled by everyone, and of course was more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes. Oh well, we should enjoy that. In no time at all there will be lists for Santa and a pack of socks will not have the attraction they did on that first Christmas.

Our big gift to Mac (not really big, but she doesn't know) was a kid's tent with a tunnel attached. I don't know who was more excited daddy or baby.

I got a job as well. Started on the first Monday back from break. I am now the teacher's aide at a community day school. These are the kids who have been expelled but need to still go to school. Needless to say it is quite the cast of characters. Yeesh. Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be many stories that will need to be posted. This also means Mac is going to daycare everyday. The facility is awesome and my girl doesn't even cry when I drop her off anymore. She's too excited about playing with her new friends!

I also gave MOPS a try again. I went to the night MOPS meeting which works nicely due to my working everyday now. It was spa night, which was wonderful! But besides that luxurious treat, the seating was one big table, and it was a lively cheerful group. I had an awesome time and can't wait to go next month!

Hopefully I can keep everything updated on a more regular basis. I hope to add some recipes, pictures, etc. Stay tuned!!