The Weekly Chase #14

So much to talk about today that I might have to break it up over a couple of posts! I love days like this!  First and foremost I have my goals to talk about and then you will hear about my “Married To The Army Alaska” recap – so many words for that show – especially since this is based from JBER – where I am right now.  I also have words about Christmas and buying local and making gifts this year.  So many good things going on! I am finally starting to get in a bit of the holiday spirit so I don’t want to waste it! I want to share it!!

 

Last Week Recap:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals:

Read to Abby her Bible every night for school – Check!

Practice memory verses with kids every night – nada…

Read 1 storybook/chapters from a book each night to the girls – Check!

Write Nick a love note – nope – but will this week for sure!

Take kids to play once a week  *This one is already scheduled for Saturday and Sunday as we are going to a birthday party on both days!  We also went bowling in addition to this!

Personal Goals:

Start reading the books I picked out – started and stopped – I didn’t pick a good book sadly.

Schedule exercise for 3 days – nope.

Drink More Water – not exactly – I ende dup drinking iced tea that was watered down about 50% so I could have something that I liked to drink too 🙂

Homemaking Goals:

Make 1 new recipe this week – no – but this week proves promising!

1 Load of laundry everyday – yes except for this weekend 🙂

This Week:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals:

Read to Abby her Bible every night for school

Read 1 storybook/chapters from a book each night to the girls

Write Nick a love note ***Our 8 year anniversary is tomorrow!***

Take kids to play once a week 

Personal Goals:

Find a new book or two to read

Schedule exercise for 3 days

Drink More Water

Homemaking Goals:

Make 1 new recipe this week **I got two planned for Thanksgiving!**

1 Load of laundry everyday

Get house cleaned BEFORE Thursday

This week’s details – this week should be a fun one. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house and have invited friends, and those who have nowhere to go – mostly single soldiers in that respect. No one should spend the holidays alone as I see it. Each year on the holidays we try to have  people over, our own little band of misfits you could say. It is just too dang expensive to get anywhere from Alaska so we will all do what we can.  I love the fact that each year it is new and interesting and I am hoping to capture more pictures and fun than ever before. We will do it all over again at Christmas so I am going hunting for present deals so they all can have something under our tree. The military is family and I intend to keep it that way.

Tomorrow  Abby has a field trip to base to the play place that is so well-loved by kids. It is our beloved Arctic Oasis. I know that the girls and I loved it when we first moved here as I knew how to get there and it got us out of the house and was free. We found it to be a nice break from our house.

Married To The Army Alaska – No words for this show really. I think it is showing us in a bad light (not all of us but people will assume it is us all). I could care less if you met your husband at Hooters. It isn’t what is in your past – lets face it.  Divorcing an enlisted to marry an officer – yeah, people won’t like her, but it is mainly because of her attitude – not the rank she is wearing but says she is not.  The Brigade Commander’s wife seems like she has her head on her shoulders as she should – I am interested to see how they portray her when she has to deal with the loss of the first soldier. I think Rynn is going to be my favorite and Sara getting upper enlisted house is a joke. I had a friend who was on that same wait list but had 40 people in front of her. It is a wonder what cameras can do for you.  The pregnant one basically left the show after they got mad at her for having to take care of her newborn instead of doing some taping – good for her for having priorities. Shame on Oprah’s network for getting mad.  Tonight will probably be the last night I watch it because my husband might be able to be seen – he had to pull medical coverage for GI Jane Day and was so angry when he came home that day. So much re-taping and so on.  Also I might add that the only other reason I am watching it is because we got the channel for free for a month because it was filmed in Alaska.  Gee thanks.

So much for that. My Monday started with a bang – how about yours???

Mission Possible – Success For All

I was given the opportunity to read a copy of the book Mission Possible: How The Secrets of The Success Academies Can Work In Any School by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia and man can I say I have been blessed by this opportunity.

As a parent who has a child going to kindergarten this year the thoughts of quality education came out of nowhere and in full force. How will I know what is good? What can I do to make sure she is pushed? I know I can do some, but will the teachers do the rest? These types of questions times 1,000. Education scares me and it makes me fear for my kids. I know it seems to slip every year and the thought of schools teaching just so state test scores are high – make me sick. I believe everyone deserves a fighting chance at a quality education and it should not matter who they are, where they come from, financial status, social status – NONE of it should matter. We should just want the best for our future contributors to society.

Off my soap box.

This book talks about basically the same thing, Kids need quality education no matter what. Period. Blank. Underline. I also love the fact that they talk about pushing kids. It is kind of like a field of dreams sort of thing – “If you build it, they will come” but in this case it goes something like “If you push them, they will pull through.”

Kids want to learn and will learn if you keep the standards high and support them. Longer hours (which I also think helps keeps kid focused and not distracted by the temptations of life), stronger bonds with educators, parental involvement, and availability are some of the biggest things I fell in love with.

Teachers who get educated more than most and work together through many different platforms (video recordings, round table discussions, and more) to get better so that they can push their kids just as they push themselves. I love the fact that there are still people who actually care so much it hurts to do their job well. It is hard to come by and I hope that this will inspire our next generation.

This book also provides a DVD of video clips to give us an inside look to Success Academies and let me tell you – I wish that my kids get so lucky in their educational endeavors and I will fight for it.

SO I was also asked to respond to the following question:

Stagnation, being unable to accomplish one’s job at a high level, is one of the greatest sources of low teacher morale.  Why do you think this country treats teaching so differently than it does other professions? 

It is a catch 22 – teachers are held responsible for educating and teaching our youth – yet we pick apart everything they do (right or wrong) and hold them accountable for even things we should be doing. I find that teachers and teaching gets treated differently because they are the easy target for failures since they are head of the classroom. We need to support them and empower them as they cannot do this alone. They need our help and our support and should not be afraid to do anything because of us. We need to give the power back to them and support them – not hinder them.  I also think that we treat teaching so differently as that is where it all begins (minus the home and even now, that is not held high anymore) and the professionals are a product of that. I would not want to be a teacher – therefore I support them with everything I can.

• Check out the Mission Possible website HERE  – I sincerely encourage you to do so – especially if you have a love of education or a love of your kids!

I can’t say much more without gushing the whole book – so you should put this on your must read book list! Oh wait – why not just win one?? You can do that! How you say? By doing this:

• Tweet about this Opportunity and provide the link to your tweet below
• Comment on what your concerns are for schools today

For an extra two entries – please visit Eva Moskowitz’s links below – and interact with her – she loves her supporters!!

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Moskowitz.Eva 
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/MoskowitzEva

Winner will be announced August 9th, 2012 right here!

A lot today I know – but this is something I know will touch anyone who has kids in the education system today!

I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions expressed are my own.

Thankful Thursday #6

I am most recently thankful for my libraries.  Yes – plural. I use both the library on JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson) and the library in the Municipality of Anchorage. Each library has some things the other can’t get so that is why I utilize both.  I kinda laughed at myself while chatting with my friend Martha today. I have gotten so lazy that I place a hold on all things I want from the library so I can jut run in and come out without killing hours at a time.  Doesn’t mean I still don’t do that occasionally – but not near as much as I used to.  Wait so is that being lazy or smart?

I am also thankful that I can check out DVD’s and CD’s from the library. Since I am trying to find ways to save more money than normal so I can eat better (Cassandra don’t say anything about the donuts I had this morning – oh wait) this really helps me.  I like to listen to one CD for like a week at a time and then I am good with just catching it on the radio.  This sure beats paying for it and then casting it to the side for the rest of eternity!

Fun Fact – Did you know that there are more libraries in the US than McDonald’s?

I am hoping to wrap up my 20 book challenge as a success – I have not updated my book list or my Goodreads.com account.  That i honestly suck at. Forgive me if you follow me!

I am also thankful that the library has story time every Saturday at 1:30 pm – they  have cool chairs that make the kids want to sit and listen. It also gives me a little bit of a break to sit and listen as well! Barnes and Noble also has a story time on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm where the kiddos can wear their pajamas while they listen. They actually call it “Pajamarama” which I find totally cool 🙂  These story times also give me a chance to get the kids out of the house so Nick can have quiet time to study.