Bryce Aiden's Lastest & Greatest

I love that I have more than one child. Each child brings so many neat things to our family. None of my children are even close to either of the other children's personalities. So, at times, our house feels close to what it must feel like participating in a 3-ring circus. My oldest child, Blake and my youngest child, Brad may look alike - but gee-willy-winkers - they are nothing alike. My middle child, Bryce Aiden, looks NOTHING like the other two children, and has the most fun, different and quirky little personality. He's 7 1/2 years old now. He's the one that I get most of my facebook stories from. He's a deep thinker, and he is always thinking outside the box. Most of the time I stare at him with a huge smile while he is educating me with his imagination - because usually I have no idea how to reply to him because he's so much smarter than me!

With that being said - this brings me to my parent/teacher conference last week. I keep replaying the conference over and over in my head because it totally caught me off guard. The anxiety that a parent feels while driving to the school anticipating the meeting with their child's teacher is mind-boggling. Now, reflect back a couple of weeks to my facebook status wherein I had Bryce write an apology note to his teacher for making noises. Here's the picture for review.

I had so many phrases premeditated in my mind to say for this conference. I could already envision how this was going to go. I was going to say "I know....I know.....I told you he wasn't like Blake! (this particular teacher had Blake last year for fourth grade, and this year she was moved to 2nd grade with Bryce) I know he makes noises and squirms - whoop his tail! I know he drifts into la la land and you have to bring him back to earth." I had this under control. I predicted the conference before I even got there. I had this in the bag!

So, I'm standing in the hallway - and my name gets called. I rock "the walk of shame" walk as I enter the classroom. I start with that nervous smile and that high pitched "Heyyyyyyyy, how are you?" I love this teacher (Hilary Plunk), and I already knew her from last year with Blake. She loved Blake. But Bryce wasn't Blake and I was nervous about the whole "compare factor" She had all of Bryce's papers laid out. She said "I'm going to start by saying this: (and she chuckled) He likes to makes noises, he squirms, he whistles, he drops things on the floor just so he can bend down to pick it up (I was thinking - oh this was so predictable, I am so prepared for this conference) I was just about to pull out all my rehearsed lines that were in my head.....BUT......THENNNNN........ she said - I think he does those things because he is bored out of his mind! He's on a 3rd grade level in his subjects, and he is acing every test.  "Has he ever been recommended for ENRICHMENT because I'm going to recommend him. When I give him an extra sheet of work, he flies through it with perfect scores.

WHOA! New sensations running all through my body. That was a foreign word in the land of Streetman-ville. ENRICHMENT?!?! Brandon and Bethany Streetman worked for every A, B & C they ever received in their school days. Nothing came natural and easy for us! Nobody on the White and Streetman side was ever in ENRICHMENT. Where did that gene come from!?!?! I was speechless. I was stunned.  I was in denial. This was the child that doesn't look ANYTHING like me like his other two brothers. I cannot find one tiny little detail of ANYTHING of me in this child. And now, I find out he's SMARTER than me too! Oh geez, this is going to be interesting life.

However, as the conference concluded, she said "I have to say this about him, too. That boy SURE CAN EAT! He likes to eat what he has in his lunchbox AND likes to go through the cafeteria line as well. Ohhhhh myyyy goodnesssss! Finally!  This teacher has said something that I can relate to! After all these years - I CAN claim this precious child! I was not on the same wave length with her when she was talking about enrichment - BUT I CAN TOTALLY TAKE CREDIT FOR HIM when she talks about his food consumption. This is definitely a "Like Mother Like Son" moment! Phew that was a close call!

I love my quirky Bryce Aiden! I love that I will have a naturally born tutor in the house for my other two. He's such a highlight in our house. Looks like all those years of him watching Barney really paid off! His imagination is incredible.

You know that nervous feeling we get before we open our children's school pictures (that we PRE-PAY for) This continues to crack me up every time I look at it on my wall.......

 

God knows I love my boys! They each bless our family with their own uniqueness! I'm so thankful for my position as a Mom of Boys!

If you're happy and you know it - write a blog!

I have a really great life. I love my family. I love my husband. I love my children. I have the greatest friends in the world.  I have a great job that makes me happy. I am truly in love with life itself. I try to make the best of each day. I try not to dwell on the negative. I try to not get too hung up on wrenches that are thrown my way throughout the week. I try to remain light-hearted and non-dramatic on facebook. I do not try to be anyone but myself. I am real. I  have real problems in this life. I just choose not to hate life because of them.



My schedule is tight. I know it's not any tighter than any other person with a full-time job, full-time family, busy kids, church, my children's schooling, my schooling,  ballgames, etc. But, folks - there is not much time to clean house. I really hope I'm not the only one that can't keep it altogether everyday.  Do you know what I mean? Please tell me you do!

This is what I'm talking about. I went home during my lunch hour for a 'quick clean-up' session. (this seems to be the only time I can clean house without madness around me) I found an icepack in the bathroom floor (REALLY???). I found a trail of camo clothing down the hall. There was a glue stick and 2 markers under my kitchen table. There were enough crumbs in the kitchen floor to keep a whole family of mice plump and healthy throughout the upcoming winter months. There was enough dirty underwear under the boys' beds to make even my garbage can smell good. I have a family of 5. We use a lot of towels! When we run low on towels, I know to tell my boys to clean their closets - and lo and behold, that laundry basket fills right back up with an insurmountable number of towels. However, we are clean people. We have clean clothes. We eat on clean dishes. You will not die or catch a disease by coming over to my house. You may have to scoot A LOAD of clothes or SEVEN loads of clothes (depending on the day of the week you come) over so you can sit on my couch and visit - but you will not have to bathe in pinesol when you leave. Our house is lived in. Period. If you cannot relate to any of the above - I am probably not considered a person you would desire hang out with. That's ok, too! We can still wave and be friendly.

I love to cook. I enjoy taking menu options at the beginning of the week. My husband and children are appreciative and complimentary of my cooking, therefore I really do try hard in the kitchen. However, there are days when I do not want to. Sometimes, we have 'take it or leave it' types of meals. My mom recently asked me what we had for supper the night before. I said "the kids had pickles, powdered donuts and Fruit Loops." Although, she was appalled by my answer, and looked at me like they probably only have a few more hours to live - my kids were thrilled with their gourmet meal that night - and I am happy to report that they are still alive and well!

I have one child that can barely right his name......one child that makes straight A's, one child that makes all C's and it feels like straight A's to him. Although it's hard to not compare your children, it's really important not to. I have to pep talk myself on this topic on more than one occasion per day. All 3 of my kids are so different. I love them all the same amount, but in totally different ways. They all manage to drive me crazy at their own desirable levels - and they make sure to tell me when I drive them crazy as well. It all works out in the end. If they get spankings, they still know we love them. When they want to spank us, they still give us hugs and kisses at the end of the day.

All of these things: messy houses, bad grades, lousy meals and good meals, crazy kids, etc. are just a few of the things that make my household amazingly chaotic and wonderful. At the end of the day, it only matters who sits around your table enjoying your meals, who goes to bed happy and knows that they are loved, and who has your back no matter what life throws at you.

Jesus loves my family and my family loves Jesus. Thank you, God for blessing me far beyond what I could have ever dreamed. Please help me remember that we weren't promised an easy life - just your help to live it.

Court Reporting: High Heels & Short Fingernails

It's been a long time since I've blogged. This is because my life got crazier than normal. I went back to school, folks! Am I nuts? Yes! But I'll soon be a smarter nut!

COURT REPORTING! I know, I know. You aren't interested in this career. Most people aren't. I've wanted to be a court reporter since I was a little girl. I used to watch my Mamaw type so fast on a typewriter! I would gaze at her in awe. I knew I wanted to type fast too! I used to take her typewriter into a bedroom, and type A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z as fast as I could over and over and over. Once I got that down pat, I started typing my name as fast as I could. It became an obsession of mine.

As the years went on, I enjoyed every typing class throughout school. We used to have to master 20 words per minute in elementary school computer class before we were allowed to move on to playing games. I remember swapping seats with fellow classmates in order to pass their 'words per minute' for them so they could play games. Our computer teacher was mean, so we had to be sneaky little devils - but we never got caught! I made extra friends in the process! ;-)

I landed a job at an attorney's office when I was 15. This was just another chance for me to get to type a lot! This job opportunity gave me the chance to visit the courtroom a WHOLE bunch. Well, guess who I always got to see in the court room? Yep, that's right! THE COURT REPORTER! She would just stare across the room at absolutely nothing, hardly make a movement with her hands and keep up with everything that was being said in the court room. I was absolutely amazed. I WANTED TO BE HER!

I started researching! It didn't take me long to realize that her little machine was NOT A KEYBOARD! It was totally different. Very blank. Very boring. Very intriguing! Looked impossible to learn! But I sure wanted to!

I knew what I had to do! I had to go to court reporting school! This course was taught at Ole Miss! How lucky was I that I could take this in my home state! I graduated High School. Took my preliminary classes at Northeast Mississippi Community College........BUT THEN..........I got bit by the engagement bug, marriage bug, having kids bug, busy life bug - and suddenly things spun out of control and there was no longer a good time to finish college!

Soooo, I did all I knew to do. I made it my mission to be a good wife, a good mother, a good employee for 10 years. I couldn't shake the thought in the back of my mind throughout those years that I was still going to find a way to finish. But when? How? There was never a good time, it seemed!

Well 2013 was our year! Tax refund came through for us! We bit the bullet and signed me up! Unfortunately, Ole Miss did away with the court reporting courses at their school. My preliminary classes I took 9 years ago at Northeast wouldn't transfer! Where was I going to go now? More researching! Well, Prince Institute is in Alabama! They are owned by Stenograph! That sounded close enough! I contacted them, and all of a sudden, I am in their system! Next thing I knew I was receiving textbooks and that mystery typing machine! I felt sick to my stomach. What did I do?  How can I make it go away? I had to fix dinner every night for my family. I had to make sure 2 out of 3 children had completed their homework, got bathed, load backpacks, pack lunches. I had to deal with a 3 year old in the midst of all that chaos as well. I had a husband who still needed me, and now, I had to squeeze in a minimal of 2 extra hours practicing on this steno machine, along with the extra classes that coincide with court reporting. I don't have 2 extra hours + per day! MAJOR ANXIETY! It was too late. I had to figure this out!

But, guess what? It all is working out! My husband never wanted me to  know this, but he was quite capable of being Mr. Mom all these years! He has been a tremendous help in this transition. He has gotten to spend way more quality time with our boys ~ and it has just been a neat change of life for us!

Is court reporting easy? Nope! Do I understand why you are not interested in this career? Yep! But I think it's awesome! Yes, it's kicking my tail right now, but every week we learn something new and it starts to feel less and less foreign to me.

However, if I ever get scheduled to take your deposition, or if I am the court reporter for your court case, please help me out by staying away from speaking contractions and 3-syllable words! ha! ha! Speak very simple! If you could talk very first-gradish, such as "the cat in the hat" that would be fantastic!

Everyone has been so wonderful keeping up with me during this time! It's really a fun career choice! But as my title says - gotta keep those fingernails short! It can make the difference between typing:

                              "You have a great day" versus "You have ate hay!"