Mommies Have Birthdays Too

When I became a parent almost four years ago I quickly learned that I was Mommy - not Jennifer. Parenthood requires a level selflessness and service I had never known before. Unfortunately, as a stay-at-home-mom with virtually no social life, I forgot about me. Most days the only adult I talked with was my husband when he got home from work. Blogs, email, and facebook kept me feeling some semblance of connectivity to the world outside my immediate family as did attending church. Like many adults, my birthdays in recent years have gone by with little fanfare and barely a blip on my own radar. This year was different.

Last month I decided to temporarily go back to work full time. I wanted to make money and blow the cobwebs out of my mommy brain. I wanted to feel professional again and have a reason to actually get dressed in pretty clothes, fix my hair, and do my make-up. I wanted daily interaction with other people and tangible accomplishments resulting in more than a clean house and laundry. A friend of mine and elementary principal at a nearby Christian school asked me to take over a third grade class for this second semester. I love teaching third grade and knew this was an opportunity for me to teach, for fourteen weeks, and earn money my family needed. I look forward to being a stay-at-home-mom again - at least until my girls are older. Maybe when they are all school-aged - if I don't homeschool them, perhaps I would go back to work. I'm just not sure I would figure out how to balance the demands I place on myself as a good teacher with the kind of wife and mother I want to be who provides nutricious meals, a clean home and quality family time.

My girls are being watched in the home of a fantastic former preschool teacher who now stays home with her own toddler daughter. Lauren is the wife of a nearby church's youth pastor. My girls absolutely love going to her home.

I've been putting in at least fifty hours a week and keep telling myself it is only for ____ more weeks. I'm down to only 7 more weeks! I love teaching, but had no idea having three small children and working full time would be so hard. My house is the most disheveled it has ever been and we pick up frozen pizzas or take-out a couple times a week now because Judd and I simply can't do it ALL. Judd has really stepped up too and become Mr. Mom. He drops the girls off on his way to work and picks them up on his way back home. For dinner he usually feeds them crockpot meals I've put together.

With the crazy whirlwind I have been in lately, I honestly didn't even know what day of the week my birthday was on this month. My friends and husband have just gone above and beyond in pampering me as they celebrated my birthday - which is today. Last week, Jackie - one of my best friends - took me out to dinner. Friday, at school, the other third grade teacher - the incredibly sweet Ms. Sharon Fine - organized a surprise birthday party for me with some of my homeroom moms and both of our third grade classes. Then, my former high-school classmate at dear friend - Kym - organized a little get-together for me at one of my favorite restaurants today. Kym lives in Texas and I live in Tulsa, OK. She planned this long distance. What an amazing person - and willing to fly up here just to celebrate my birthday then fly back home. One of my friends - Kelli - drove two hours in order to be here for my birthday luncheon. My two other friends, Jamie and Rebecka were willing to give up their valuable time with their families to celebrate my birthday with me.

When I got home from my outing with friends, my husband - Judd - had just finished baking me a homemade-from-scratch (no box) double layer chocolate cake with homemade frosting. It was so moist and scrumptious! I'm actually a little jealous that he baked a cake that was so much prettier and tastier than any chocolate cake I've ever made.

Hearing my sweet daughter, Sophie, singing happy birthday to me, made my heart smile.



Top all of these celebrations off with a zillion birthday wishes from facebook friends and I am ending my birthday with a (very) full tummy and a heart overflowing with love and gratitude for everyone who helped me feel special and loved. I celebrated Jennifer - not Mommy...at least for today.

Starfall Spells Sweet Success for Sophie

Sophie loves "reading" books. She uses plenty of expression in her voice as she recalls, almost word for word, the phrases on each page. Here are just a few of her favorite books:

Today, while perusing through my latest Disney Family Fun Magazine, I came across the Top Ten Fun Websites article. "We tested more than 50 sites to bring you the best: online hangouts that are fun, creative, mostly ad-free, no- or low-cost, and safe." Starfall was one of the few sites suggested for my three-year-old Sophie. According to their site, Starfall is, "...perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL)."

We gave this site a test run tonight, and it was quite the hit! Sophie really enjoyed playing various educational games with my constant help. Perhaps children with computer experience could navigate some of these games, but Sophie isn't there yet. She was very enthusiastic as we read letters and said their sounds, created word families and listened to stories. After forty-five minutes, Sophie wanted me to help her continue playing, but dinner wasn't making itself.

I am excited to find this website. It really is educational, and Sophie is having such a great time with it.

Public Speaking and Such

I do not like public speaking. But yesterday, I led an hour-long teacher training workshop and survived.

When my former elementary principal at the Christian school where I taught for five years asked me to lead a workshop for their teachers on Biblical Integration, I accepted. Blah! For three and a half months I obsessed over this workshop. Perhaps it's because I haven't spoken in front of a group of kids, let alone adults for three years now. Perhaps it was because the workshop was to be an hour long and I was leading it all by myself. I was very intimidated to say the least.



I did it though - through nerves and all. It was great to see many of my former coworkers and meet new teachers as well. I am passionate about integrating God's Word into all academic subject.



Time will tell, but I hope my workshop inspired and informed the teachers enough to see tangible results in their classrooms.



The principal already hinted at having me back in the fall for another session. This first session was nerve-wracking enough to last me a lifetime. Sometimes, when we're really passionate about something, we'll be willing to overcome all kinds of obstacles to see it through.