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 DaddyFranklin at July 31st, 2008

Very cute compilation.  I remember torturing all three of my kids and seeing similar reactions:

Video:

Posted by DaddyFranklin at July 28th, 2008

I had to share:

http://serve.a-widget.com/kickapps/flash/premium_drop_v3.swf?b=1&widgetHost=serve.a-widget.com&mediaType=VIDEO&mediaId=213564&as=28310&v=build_3_0_102

Posted by DaddyFranklin at July 24th, 2008

I love my daughter.  I really do. But why does she have to be such a strong influence on my boys.  Why, oh, why?  Why is it that they so envy her and her friend for getting to dress up in all of Lori’s old ballet outfits?

Before half of you comment on how it didn’t scar me to be tortured as a child by my own sister, mother and grandmother, let me tell you that it is no consolation.  It is just painful to watch them both stroll in here dressed up as…  Even the words are hard to type.  They look like a miniature cabaret act. But even more painful is to watch the look on their faces when they are told not to do it or to take it off.  Even attempting to convince them to dress up as a fireman or a superhero solicits a response as though I had kicked them in the behind.

And no, you don’t get pictures.  I just had to pout a little.  You can all poke fun now.

Posted by DaddyFranklin at July 24th, 2008

We haven’t taken a vacation, per se, this summer.  So far we have just had a holiday and a couple of family visits.  We just got back from an extended stay with Lori’s parents in Granbury.  We almost did everything we had planned for the weekend.
 
  Last Friday we made the trip down just after the kids finished their swimming lessons.  By the way, everyone passed their lessons.  Technically, Zachary didn’t pass but that’s because he’s not old enough to promote to the next level.  He’s still just as competent of a "swimmer" as anyone else in his class.  That doesn’t mean he can swim but it does mean that he’s confident in the water and that he’s able to get around fairly well while wearing a flotation device.
 
  We left Lubbock around 2 and made it to Granbury around 7:30.  On Saturday, we headed to Keller to see Lori’s brother and, in particular, his 2 month old little girl.  She’s very cute.  Of course, the older brother is also a fun little guy and our kids had a good time playing with his toys, watching his videos and listening to him screech.  He’s a very gifted screecher, if there is such a thing.  Lori’s brother lives near a large Cabela store and we all went there just to look around and I was significantly impressed.  There were several "exhibits" of stuffed (as in taxidermy) animals.  They ranged from an African elephant to dozens of deer and elk.  A big swath of that store is more like a museum than a sporting goods store.  I also saw one of the biggest catfish I have ever seen in their aquarium.  By the way, the kids enjoyed it too.
 
  Next day, we went to church with Joel and Clare and got to hear their new pastor.  I enjoyed the sermon and with the lack of sleep I got the night before, any lessor preacher would have put me to sleep.  He preached on God’s immutability, that He is the same God in the Old and New Testament despite an apparent change in character.
 
  Monday, we had a hot dog cookout at "Sandy Beach" in Pecan Plantation.  The name is certainly a misnomer.  I think the beach there is at least a couple thousand years away from sandy.  Right now it should be called pebble beach, or even gravel beach.  I also now know the benefits of swim shoes over sandals.  Wearing sandals through a beach of gravel is painful to say the least.  Taking them off and wading through a section of the Brazos river where the river bottom is all rock and no sand, that proved to be even more painful.  It was nice to just sit down and float in the warm water of the Brazos, and even though the kids only played for a little while, I think they enjoyed it as well.  After the dip in the river, we ate our hot dogs and played on the playground.
 
  Tuesday was another swim day but this time it was more my speed.  We visited the Country Club at Pecan Plantation and swam in their pool.  It was a very nice pool because a good half of the large pool was no more than three feet deep.  This gave the kids a lot of play room.  Of course they had to spend plenty of time jumping off the diving board.  The boys wear their life jackets and have no problem at all.  Zachary developed the habit of counting before jumping but instead of "one, two, three, jump", he would go with "one, two, three, six, seven, eight, nine, uh, uh, one, two, uh, three…."  All the while, with the line backing up at the diving board, we’re yelling "JUMP JUMP JUMP".  Finally he would and then just float in the way for a little while longer.  So, Lori and I still had to take turns pushing or pulling him out of the way each time he jumped.  Timothy’s life jacket saved him a lot of pain.  He attempted to dive a few times, after watching Emily learn how at her swim lessons.  He’d stick those hands together and just fall off.  Belly flop!!  Fortunately, the life jacket kept him from feeling anything so he enjoyed it.  I like to watch Zachary attempt the dive too.  Emily’s got a great dive, putting hands together, diving forward, away from the wall or board instead of trying to go straight down.  Zachary starts the same way, almost.  Instead of putting his hands together, he just makes an "X" with them over his head.  I don’t know why.  Then he jumps feet first.
 
  Wednesday, we left to go home.  Joel is lending me their 5′x8′ flat bed trailer to help move some of the boxes in the next couple of weeks to our new house in Plainview.  It was an ordeal getting it hooked up to the Trailblazer, but after two different trips to Home Depot on Tuesday evening and one to AutoZone on Wednesday morning, we were all ready to go.
 
  Overall, the weekend was a great success and a lot of fun!! 

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 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.