Schools out for winter!

Living here in Missouri most of my life I still find it mind boggling how one day we can have below freezing temperatures, snow falling and ice on the ground; but then days later, we have upper 60/lower 70 degree weather.

Today marks probably the fourth or fifth winter storm our neck of the woods has received since January. We had no snow for Christmas...but then closer to New Years we finally got some flakes. I really wanted the girls, especially Destin to play in the snow for the first time...since last year she was too young (at 9/10 months old).

With so many winter storms...that means no school for several school districts in the area. The roads are horrible, people are nervous/crazy/slow/fast (you name it - its out there on the road behind a wheel of a car!)...I am thankful that the students are not put in harms way, and that the supervisors of the schools are smart enough to close the schools when the weather gets so bad outside. But I do feel sorry for all those children  AND teachers who will be attending school way past the "official last day" and for some going into June. I have heard that some schools (instead of going to school til June something?) are attending school an extra 15-20 minutes everyday to make up all the lost days. I am not sure if that will work or not...but some schools are desperate and have other things going on come summer time (like construction, etc.).

Summer vacations will be cut short, and summer school will be sooner than expected. Last year, I remember the same thing occurred...in fact, my mother (who is a school nurse in Blue Springs) had 1 day off of school, then the following Monday is when Summer School started. Craziness?!?

On days like this I am glad that I am not teaching...I am happy to be home with my girls, not having to brave the roads, worry about rescheduling all of my lessons, and how to fit all the subject areas into two or three days a week.

Not to change the subject...but speaking of teaching/schools...I have heard several schools in order to survive the many government/state budget cuts are thinking about 4 day school days, or no more buses. But that's another post discussion...teaching in chaos - chaos not from the students, parents or even the demands of state standards - but from budget cuts.

Making money from home

I have been a stay at home mom for almost 2 years now...before then I was a teacher. I substitute taught grades K thru 6 in Blue Springs & Lee's Summit. I graduated from UCM in 2006 with my BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, but was never able to find a job with it. So I subbed...the money was decent, the timing was great, and I could work as much or as little as I wanted. I did this upon graduating all the way up until Destin was born in Feb 2009. I also taught for a short while in Belton - this is something I don't like to discuss; so I did manage to find a job, but not a great one. I also want to note that I have applied to work at all the local school districts as a teacher, and in the past four years I have had maybe four interviews. Pretty sad. I decided to go into education because I thought the need for teachers was very high. But now, due to the economy/government/education system, there are more teachers laid off than being hired.

Since staying at home, I have always been on the look out for working from home, or making money from home. There are lots of things out there - selling products like Makeup, tupperware, children's books, health products, etc. Doing parties - Pampered Chef, pleasure parties (for adults). Being a telemarketer from home. Delivering papers. And all sorts of other misc. things on monster, craigslist and career builder.

My dream is to find a job working from home teaching online. I have my Bachelors and Masters in Education - I could teach anything from early childhood, elementary, technology, math (my fav subject) or I could even tutor. I have looked just about everywhere I can think of to find a job online - colleges, the job sites, tutoring sites and believe me, I have applied for several jobs.

I love being a stay at home mom. I have never missed anything - I have seen Destin acheive every milestone (rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, running, talking and more!). And now I will get to see Arwen meet all those milestones as well. Being a mom is the best thing I have ever done and I don't want to miss anything. I love my daughters more than anything and I would do absolutely anything for them. Its crazy to think that I am a mommy of two under two!

I just hope that someday in the near future, I can find something to help support our family. I know that I provide support by taking care of our house - cooking, cleaning, paying the bills, running errands, and most importantly taking care of our children. But I would like to help Patrick, financially as well. I feel so guilty sometimes because he knows we depend on him for everything. If he did not work we would have nothing. I am so thankful for him and what he does for us each and everyday.

Learning about teaching online

Our trip to Wichita, KS went well...we got to see Destin's Great Great Grandma Mary (her only Great-Great) and took some good pics!


I spoke with Lori yesterday & she is supposed to share some of her background info about online teaching this week with me...I am very excited because I would like to learn all about pursuing a career online. I wonder what is required or what kind of background one must have...

My papers are going really good - I have them all outlined & now I am finding some great sources, papers, websites, etc to support them.