December 7

So I just realized I never posted this. OOPS!

On December 7th, 2014, Troy and I decided to take Jackson over to Fredericksburg, TX to see the National Museum of the Pacific War. You see, Jackson is OBSESSED with WWII Naval Battles. OBSESSED. As in he spends more time watching videos of the Pacific battles most days than he does playing Minecraft. (Those of you with Minecraft addicts will understand the enormity of this. LOL)

ANYWAY, what a FABULOUS museum. It took us all day to get through it. The price of admission is for two days, and next time we go back, we will plan on that second day. I learned more in the 8 hours we were there than I learned in high school AND college history classes. (Which mainly focus on the European side of the war.) It is well worth going to see it. They have the main museum, a small one dedicated to Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was born in Fredericksburg, and then, THIS was the cool part, the Pacific Combat Zone. They have a set up like an aircraft carrier hanger deck, then a real life PT boat, then another area where they simulate a Pacific landing several times a year. It is complete with tanks and everything else boys of all ages would love. (We very much plan on taking Jackson back for at least one of these reenactments.)

MY favorite part of the day was the Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony. It was beautiful. They invite Pearl Harbor survivors to come every year. Sadly, there was only one left for the year. We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Jim Hardwick. What a WONDERFUL man. It kills me that we didn't think to ask for his address, as Jackson said after the fact, that he'd sure like to send a thank you letter and a Christmas card to him. HOW SWEET IS MY SON?!?!?! They could have easily spent hours together. It was such a heart warming thing to see, Jackson actively listening to his story, and asking questions about that horrible day. It's been a while since I've seen him so engaged with someone. This, in my opinion, is one of the BEST ways to learn about history, and sadly the men who fought these battles will soon all be gone. Jack is VERY good about spotting people with different service caps on though, and is quick to run up to them and thank them for their service. (He does to anyone in uniform, I LOVE IT! We get PLENTY of opportunities to do so in the San Antonio area.) One of these days I would like to take him to the VFW hall and allow him to talk to the guys that hang out there. They ALWAYS have great stories, and I know Jack would learn plenty about the wars and how they were fought. (Although hopefully without too much gore, because he is still an 8 year old child.)

Anyway, if you're within a reasonable drive time to Fredericksburg someday, I HIGHLY suggest you go see one of the best kept secrets in Texas.

So We ALL know I am not good about keeping up with this blog...

However, It's only been a month, RIGHT? LOL. We're still on Christmas break from homeschool, so there's not a lot in that respect to talk about other than THIS:

Jackson heard me talking about Latin Mass and how I'd love to go someday, but I would have VERY LITTLE clue as to what was being said. He had a REALLY COOL suggestion. "Why don't we learn to speak Latin Mama?" This was right after I published my previous post. He was on me for a few weeks. Well, I posted on Facebook about it, hoping one of my talented linguistic friends would chime in. My very dear cousin Danny, who's a MASTER of languages and a devout Catholic indeed spoke up and was a great help to me. I ended up ordering a Latin curriculum through Seton, as he was not the only one who suggested we learn the ecclesiatical pronunciation of the language. YAY!!! So both Jackson and I will soon be learning Latin. Who knew? Too bad my old Russian courses won't help me a bit in it. HA!

Troy and I have also made the decision to finally start pursuing adoption through DFPS here in Texas. It's a bit of a scary step, but one we feel is right for our little family. Besides, Jackson is always asking when are we going to buy him a baby brother. He's at the point now where he'll even take a sister. (No, don't sweat, we don't want a BABY, just someone close in age to Jackson, but a little younger.) To make matters even more interesting, at least to us, is this saint name generator. I said a quick, meaningful prayer before choosing our family saint for the year. St. Clotilde is who popped up. Divine providence was at work here, as she is the patron saint of...drum roll please...adopted children and parenthood. We will be learning about her all throughout 2015. (Don't be surprised if I talk about her here, as we are striving to be better Catholics and getting our rear ends to mass more than 5 or 6 times a year.)

I would like to sincerely wish you all a Happy New Year and MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yes, it is STILL Christmas. The Christmas season does not end until the Epiphany, which is traditionally January 6th. (12 Days of Christmas.) Many parishes celebrate the Christmas season until the Presentation of the Lord, which is 40 days AFTER December 25th, which happens to be February 2nd. (Some end it a few days earlier than the Epiphany, which is January 4th, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.) Admit it, you're learning more about Catholicism than you wanted to today, didn't you? :) That's OK. It's FUN to learn new things! Trust me, I'm addicted to schooling, which is probably my favorite thing about being a homeschooling mother.


If you would like to use the Saint Generator yourself, head over to Jennifer Fulweiler's blog ConversionDiary.com and use it! She has a great site. (For some reason the link is not posting....)

Wow...

So check THIS out. I had completely forgotten I had a blog! How about that? Oops. Lots of changes in the almost 3 years since I last updated this thing. 

1. I am a nurse now! Yay! I survived nursing school!!! Someone thought I was qualified to medically treat people. Funny enough, I HATED being a hospital nurse. I am now an RN that oversees the healthcare needs of individuals with mental and intellectual disabilities. Yup, call me Nurse Ratched. (BEST.NURSE.EVER! I'm just glad I don't have to wear that hat. HA!) 

2. TEXAS! We've been trying to figure out to get back here for over a decade. YAY! We now live in a great little city, with great people, and LOTS to do. If you're bored here, it's your own danged fault. 

3. Homeschool. Yes. Really. I became one of THOSE parents. Don't worry, it's a recent thing, so we're not to weird, YET. I have to say I love it so far though. Jackson has been struggling with Math since schools here incorporated Common Core standards. I know what you're going to say, "Texas doesn't USE CCSS!" Technically, you are correct. However, it is used here, they just call it by a different name to fool us. HA! I sent my boy to a Catholic school hoping it would be better. It kind of was, except there's this Math thing AGAIN. It got a little better, but at the beginning of the year, my third grader was struggling HARD with trying to add how his teacher wanted him to do it. NO DEVIATIONS ALLOWED. I talked to her, many times. She talked to me, MANY times. No go. Plus, she didn't hide too well that she had NO appreciation for "Jake." (Come on, I get it, 23 kids in the class, but after 6 weeks you really don't know his name???) After a lot of prayer and discussion with the husband, I pulled Jack (aka Jake) out of school. I made a VERY clear point to let the principal, the school committee, and our parish priest know EXACTLY why I took him out. The people at the school, for the most part, are absolutely terrific. Wouldn't change them for the world. The cirriculum stinks. I'm thinking maybe I ought to contact the Archdiocese of San Antonio and tell them to stop it with the crummy lessons and go back to good old fashioned Catholic education. 

Here is an interesting tidbit about homeschooling Jack. I have my happy kid back. He is now excelling at Math. Hmmm...imagine that. We took some time and figured out what works with his little brain, found something (actually a few things), and RAN like hell with it. He will still gladly whine about having to do Math, but I also let him have FUN with it, so he doesn't whine too long. Before you ask, yeah no, I'm not totally doing it on my own. Anyone who really knows me will vouch for the fact that I am not with it enough to do that whole unschooling thing that is quite popular among the homeschool crowd. After some research, I decided on using Seton Catholic Homeschool. I still get to be his teacher, but everything is all laid out for me in a nice binder with lots of nice books to go with it. YAY! (If you're wanting a good Catholic education for your child(ren) THIS IS THE WAY TO GO!!! Everything is filled with lessons about the church. EVERYTHING. (Meaning if you want a secular education, don't bother. We obviously didn't want that.) 

So Jack is also involved with Cub Scouts, which by default means that *I* am involved with Cub Scouts. (Note to self: NEVER, EVER volunteer to do the popcorn fundraiser again. NEVER. DO YOUR HEAR ME? NEVER!!! Meaning I will probably do it again next year if our summer fundraiser doesn't do well enough.) It has been a TON of fun so far. He is currently a Bear, and they are doing so much fun stuff. This really makes me look forward to his Webelo years, and his Boy Scout years to follow when they REALLY get to go do a lot of cool outdoorsy type stuff. So that is it in a nutshell for now. 

Hopefully I'll be better at this blogging thing and figure out how to make it look more professional, and even update it on a regular basis. 

In the meantime, I will leave you with this. If your child is like mine, and LOOOOVES some Minecraft, and you happen to have the PC version (seriously, GET THE PC/MAC VERSION!) go check out http://whenyouriseup.com. It's geared toward homeschoolers, but it's a completely safe environment for your children to play with others on. Heavily moderated by other parents. Plus, there are classes you can purchase that they actually LEARN something while playing their favorite game! Check it out!!! (Totally unbiased opinion here, I get NOTHING for referring you to them.) FYI, they are having a free Advent lesson going on now, which is a great way to get your kid started with it. 

GOD BLESS!!!

PS- in case you're wondering, because I know you are, my 8 year old boy still loves and adores Nemo. Please pray for me when Finding Dory is released.