Bein’ Franklin

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 12th, 2008

Note:  I’ve discovered that I have begun several posts, but as life has gotten in the way of blogging, the posts never got posted.  The next few will be “catch up” posts from things that have happened in the last few months.  I want to be sure to document these events for posterity.  The following post was originally began on May 28th. 

I’ve mentioned before that Emily has aspirations to be an author.  Actually, she wants to be an author, illustrator, and publisher.  She has several notebooks full of stories and pictures that she has created.

The last week of March, Emily heard about the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest.  She decided to enter.  The deadline to enter was April 1, so she scrambled to get one of her existing stories to fit the format required for the contest.  This is the story that she wrote:

A few weeks later, we were delighted to learn that she had won 2nd Place for 2nd Grade!

The awards banquet was last night.  It was held in the back room of the Science Spectrum.  We had a great time celebrating.  Each winner received a backpack with tickets to the science spectrum, a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble, books, a certificate, a DVD of “If You Give A Mouse a Cookie,” and lots of other great prizes!

As an added bonus, the winners had their picture in the paper

and they even got to appear in a commercial on PBS!  Cool.

Way to go Emily!

Posted by mommyfranklin at August 15th, 2008

It’s that time of year that I think parents and children alike are ready for school to start. There have been several times in the last few days that Emily has announced that she is bored. I think this has come on because we are no longer in the throws of moving. Things have slowed down quite a bit around here. I believe it is the calm before the storm of activity begins in the coming weeks. Timothy starts school on the 20th and Emily starts the 25th. We’re delighted to report that she will be attending the same school she attended in 1st Grade. We had to transfer in as we are living in a different zone this time. We were not looking forward to her having to transition into her 4th new school in 4 years. One of my jobs will likely begin the 25th and the other starts the 2nd. The new schedule will definitely take some getting used to.

I had just settled down on the couch for a rest this afternoon when Emily came in to the living room and told me she was bored. I was up way to late last night watching the Olympics, so I was needed a rest. She asked if we could play a bored board game. I have been feeling a bit guilty about the lack of individual attention the kids’ have been getting lately so I (relunctantly) agreed to play with her and she ran off to the game closet (have I mentioned the amount of storage in this house?) to pick out a game. She picked Monopoly. I suggested we play the kid’s version, but she begged.

As Scott walked in from work, she and I were sitting on the living room floor setting up the game. We hadn’t started yet, so we asked if he would like to join us. To our delight, he said yes! He would be the top hat, I the terrier, and Emily the boat. I was the banker. Zachary was napping and Timothy was playing in the playroom, so Emily had one of those rare moments of undivided attention.

The game was soon underway. Emily was doing well, especially for the first time to play. She quickly owned Boardwalk, Park Place, and several other pieces of property. She soon started adding houses where she could, making the last stretch of the lap around the board quite treacherous. Scott and I each owned a few monopolies of our own and started adding houses as well.

It wasn’t long before things started going sour for Emily. Unfortunately, monopoly is not really game you can discretely let somebody win. Scott and I both felt so bad when she would land on one of our spaces and would have to come up with an obscene amount of money. At one point, she had $10 and had to come up with $600. She hung on as long as she could by selling houses and mortgaging properties, but the inevitable happened. She was the first to go bankrupt. She was a good sport about it and cheered us on as we completed the game.

As just so you know, the banker does not always win. It seems that the saying should go that the Daddy always wins. At least that’s the way we remembered it.

Posted by mommyfranklin at August 13th, 2008

We’ve officially lived here for 11 days now.

The first three days were filled with unpacking and making sure we had the essentials needed to sleep, eat, bathe, and change clothes. Through two calls to maintenance, we learned there were roots clogging our sewer line. Nice.

Then we escaped to San Antonio for four days so we’d get our money’s worth for the season tickets to Sea World that we bought in March. The trip had a shaky start with a flat tire on the loop and getting rained out of Sea World the first time we went, but it ended well and we had a wonderful time. The day after we got home, we went to Amarillo to retrieve the dogs and to visit Gran and Granddad.

The process of unpacking continued for three more days. By the end of day 8, most of the boxes had been emptied, cut and folded for storage, and both cars were in the garage. We had even managed to hang some curtains by then too.

The next day, Scott walked to work and I spent the day organizing the boys’ bedroom, the bathrooms, and the master bedroom. The only room that’s not quite done is Emily’s. That one is her responsibility. She’s getting there. Really she is.

Day 10 was a big day. Remember the job opportunities I had mentioned about a month ago? Well, I had meetings about both of them and I was offered both jobs. And, as crazy as this sounds, I think I am going to try to do both jobs. The full time position can be done outside of “normal” work hours and much can be done from home. I’ll be working around Scott’s class and office hour schedule for that one, so Scott can stay with Zachary while I am in the office. The other job is 8 hours a week, and Zachary will be going with me to that one. We have worked out what we think will be a good schedule, and I am really looking forward to getting it all started. I start the part time job on August 25th and the full time job on September 2nd.

Day 11 has been fairly calm. Emily spent the night with a friend last night and had another friend over to play all day.

We’re still in the midst of deciding what church we’ll go to now that we’re back in town, but it really is starting to feel like we have come home. Timothy starts Kindergarten on the 20th and Emily starts 3rd grade the 25th. I guess we better go shopping so they will be ready!

Posted by mommyfranklin at July 15th, 2008

No matter how you say it, it’s goodbye. Tonight a bunch of the ladies and I from the preschool got together for a night out. They said it was farewell (NOT GOODBYE!) for me and welcome baby for another of the ladies who worked there, but honestly it was just a chance to get together. I hadn’t seen many of these ladies since school got out, so it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up on what everyone had been up to. I am quite proud of the fact that I made it through the evening without crying, despite all the wonderful cards and gifts.

Timothy’s teacher wasn’t able to make it. She’s a very enthusiastic person, so she came up in the conversation several times. The stories about her brought to mind when Scott had asked me if we would ever get the “Robertson” out of Timothy, as we’ve seen many of her mannerisms come across in some of his expessions over the last few weeks. I told the other ladies about Scott saying that, and they remarked that Mrs. Robertson has a lasting effect on her kiddos so it would be a while before it wore off. This year has had an effect on me as well, and I don’t plan on letting it wear off anytime soon.

In preparation for the evening, I got to do something that I never do. I went shopping for a new outfit. And I even got to paint my nails. As I was painting my toenails, Zachary came to see me. Little visits like this are the main reason I usually don’t paint my nails. He came in and, in true three year old fashion, asked me if I was painting my fingernails. I told him I was painting my toenails, and would do my fingernails in a minute. He proceded to try to touch the nails, at which point I reminded him that they were wet. So, he asked if I was going to dry them. Once he understood that I was going to let them dry, he asked me why Emily had painted her nails. As I was explaining to him that sometimes girls like to paint their nails so they can look pretty, he lost interest and told me he was hungry. Yep, he’s a boy alright. Playing with his sister’s Barbies hasn’t messed him up too much.

Posted by mommyfranklin at July 14th, 2008

It was a long day.

We woke up to rain. The kids are in swimming lessons, and the registration form stated that lessons would continue even in bad weather. So, we all piled into the car and headed over there. The weather wouldn’t allow the kids to get it, so they had safety day. The boys got to learn some pool safety rules (swim with a buddy, use lifejacket if you can’t swim, don’t swim when there’s lightning) and Emily learned how to throw a life preserver. Important stuff.

After the lesson, we scooted on over to Plainview. We got Timothy signed up for Kindergarten at PCA. The administrator and I showed him his classroom, the cafeteria, and the library. He is very excited to be going where Emily went for Kindergarten. He has it all planned out. He wants to go to PCA for Kindergarten, LaMesa Elementary (Plainview public school) for 1st grade, Crestview (Frenship school) for 2nd grade, and then back to Plainview for 3rd grade. In other words, he wants to follow in Emily’s path. We’ve encouraged him to take his own path. Hopefully he’ll forget about these plans by 2nd grade.

After registering Timothy, we went to get the keys to the house we will be renting from Wayland. We had brought a load of things from the garage with us. We headed to the house and unloaded our things before we headed for a quick lunch. Then I changed in my “interview” clothes and headed across the street for my interview.

My interview went well. The virtual campus team and I discussed where they see the virtual campus going and how I could fit in with that vision. I left feeling pretty good about it. I feel like I could fit in fine with the group and that the schedule would be flexible enough that I would not have to sacrifice family / mommy time.

In the meantime, I still need to get Emily registered for school. We have made arrangements for all the utilities to be switched over, but need to make some decisions regarding our phone and internet. Those decisions can probably wait until the move. After the day, I am actually starting to look forward to being back in Plainview. I’ve moved enough times to know that any real friendships that I’ve made this year will survive me being 45 minutes away. Everything’s going to be fine.

Posted by mommyfranklin at July 13th, 2008

Now that I’ve gotten used to the idea that we are moving, I have started trying to find my place in Plainview. I know it seems that we weren’t gone long enough for me to have lost my place, but the truth is that I have changed a lot in the last year and don’t really want to be in the same place I was in when we left Plainview last year. While I was sad about leaving some people behind, I was also very excited about being able to make a break from some things. Our time here has been a wonderful time of rest from the various activities and jobs I had committed myself to. I’ve learned a lot about how I want to spend my time and the kind of people I want to spend my time with. I want to make better decisions this time around.

#1
In my search, I came across a posting from the Virtual Campus at Wayland. The job is for an Instructional Design Specialist . To be honest, it is the job that I was born to do. My background in computers and education would fit nicely in this job. I would absolutely love to be able to do this job. It would look great on a resume if I decide to head back to teaching in a couple years. There is one flaw though. It’s full-time. I still have Zachary home for a couple more years, so I really don’t want anything full-time yet. At least not full-time away from home. So, I’ve visited with the Assistant Director of the Virtual Campus (she took an Access class from me a few years ago at the Community Classroom) and learned that the director is open to the idea of the job being done at least part-time away from the office. That was enough to get me to apply. I have an interview tomorrow afternoon at 2:00. Hopefully I will leave there tomorrow knowing how this will work for our family. If I am hired for this job, it wouldn’t be long at all before we would be able to buy a home. Plus, I think it would be fun to work at the same place as Scott. Wayland means a lot to both of us.

#2
If the aforementioned job doesn’t work out, there are some other options to explore. I spoke with a friend and former employer of mine this week. She told me of a possibility of a 10 hour / week job working with her. While it wouldn’t be my dream job, it has many plusses. It’s a ministry-type position, the schedule is fairly flexible, Zachary would be able to come with me most of the time, I would get to work with my friend again, and I would get to do some creative design work with a computer. It probably wouldn’t get us into buying a house as quickly as #1, but every little bit helps.

#3
There is always the possibility that I could go back to tutoring. This would allow me to stretch my teaching muscles a little more. I really enjoyed tutoring when we lived in Plainview before, except for the fact that the only place that I could tutor was at our kitchen table or in the living room. This meant that Scott and the kids had to be confined to the back of the house for an hour as I worked with these students. Well, the house we are going to be renting from Wayland actually has a bonus room that could be a fourth bedroom / office / playroom. The boys love having a bunkbed and still like sharing a room, so we had planned to use the room as a playroom. It’s located away from the living room and bedrooms, so it would also make a really nice office for tutoring. When one of my previous students heard that Scott had returned to Wayland, she asked if I was returning as well. She was looking for a tutor. I am sure there are others who need tutoring as well. Combining this with option #2 would work pretty well too.

So, that’s three possibilities that have popped up in the last couple weeks. Part of me wants to just wait until we get settled so I can see what comes my way, as I’ve gotten in trouble before for planning my life too far ahead. But another part of me thinks that this is God’s way of getting me through the move, and that I need to grasp the opportunities before they slip away. I’m not handling the idea of leaving very well, so maybe this is something to get me looking forward instead of focusing on what I’m leaving behind.

I would appreciate your prayers tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know what I want you to pray for. Just for direction and an understanding of what God wants for me in Plainview this time.

Posted by mommyfranklin at July 7th, 2008

Betcha thought this was going to be a post about our impending move. Nope…

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Posted by mommyfranklin at June 28th, 2008

Zachary is at a rough age. It’s that age when he still needs an afternoon nap but he really doesn’t want one. Our summer schedule is pretty loose, so we don’t enforce bedtime and naptime as much as we should. The result is a pretty cranky little boy.

He had a hard day today. Some friends came to visit, so he chose to play instead of crashing on the sofa like he generally does in the late afternoon. So, in an effort to cheer him up before bedtime, he, Timothy, and I were playing This Little Piggy with his toes. After a few minutes, he decided to play it with my toes. He didn’t quite get the words right though.

Here’s his version:
I don’t know what this piggy doos
I don’t know what this piggy doos
I don’t know what this piggy doos
I know what this piggy doos!
This piggy goes wee-weee-wee all the way home.

Close…

Posted by mommyfranklin at June 27th, 2008

Sometimes I feel like a ping pong ball.

(Serve)
13 years ago, I headed to Plainview to attend Wayland. I was 18 years old and had my whole life ahead of me. I had no idea where God would take me in the years that followed. Not long after arriving on campus, I met a boy that I liked. He was in my Calculus class and was a big wig in the BSM, and boy could he make me laugh. Turned out that he kind of liked me too. First graduation, then marriage.

(Ping)
We still had our whole lives ahead of us. We lived in Lubbock while he went to graduate school. He also worked as a children’s minister. I kept myself busy working at a bank for a year and then completing an Internship to be a high school math teacher. A year a half after getting married, we learned that we were having a baby. We knew it was time to find our place to raise our family.

(Pong)
Just two years after leaving Plainview, we returned and soon had a beautiful baby girl. Scott worked full time as a mathematics instructor and completed his degree. I worked part time at several different jobs, had two more babies, and got an extra degree of my own.

(Ping)
After those seven years in Plainview, we again found ourselves in Lubbock. Not as a young couple with our whole lives ahead of us, but as a family. Scott had a new job as post-Doc researcher at Texas Tech. We found a great rent house and a great school for the kids. I even had a job I liked with a wonderful group of new friends. We found a good church and quickly got involved. We were able to get a handle on some debt that had been following us around. Things were good, even with a brief medical issue that had to be resolved. The only thing that wasn’t great was Scott’s job. He found his calling. He could finally say definitively that he knew what career he was called to do. And, it wasn’t full time research. Six months after we had left Plainview, he started driving back to teach at Wayland. We found ourselves wondering what we should do next.

(Pong)
In five weeks, we are moving back to Plainview. We are ready to be home owners again. Rising gas prices have made it impossible to save for a downpayment while Scott continues to commute, so we are going to be renting a faculty house from Wayland until we are able to get into OUR house. There are things that I am very sad to be leaving, but know this is the right step for our family. God has guided us here through many steps and even led us to the largest faculty house that Wayland had which just happened to be the only one available now. It will serve us nicely as we transition back into Plainview.

What’s next?

Posted by mommyfranklin at June 21st, 2008

This morning was Timothy’s awards ceremony for t-ball.  It was scheduled to begin at 9:30.  We arrived at the ballpark at 9:00.  It was sprinkling.  At 9:10, everyone gathered on the covered patio as it rained .  We were a little worried we’d be rained out.  We’d been rained out of a few practices, but no games.  It would be such a shame to be rained out of the awards! 

About 10 minutes later, it seemed to let up enough to venture onto the field.  Luckily, it stayed clear enough to get through the ceremony.   All the teams lined up on the field and the announcer called the players one at a time to get their trophy.  Then, they all gathered for a group photo.  It was fun!

Timothy had a great time playing t-ball this year.  He said he wants to keep playing so he can get more trophies.  We told him that this is his last time to play t-ball.  Depending on where we live next year, he’ll most likely be in a Coach Pitch league.  And, they’ll start taking score and keeping track of who wins.  Yikes!

I couldn’t leave out the proud supporters.  Zachary can’t wait for his turn on the field next year.  Emily is happy to cheer from the sidelines.