Life Update: February 2015

Naptime for all.

It's a beautiful, cool Saturday afternoon.  Spartacus, Hubster, and Annabelle are all down for naps, so it seems like a fine time to write a non-school update, since I don't think I've written one since our Family Christmas Letter.  If you're only interested in teaching stuff, then hold tight - I'm working my way through my AP students' fabulous research papers and I will post on them soon.

Hubster is still waiting on confirmation from the army that he can get out in a few months and begin seminary full-time in June.  It's been a bumpy, bureaucratic adventure for him.  He wants to pursue his dream of going to seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, to become a pastor, and then potentially return to active duty as a chaplain.  It involved getting approval to change his MOS from armor branch to chaplain candidate, getting admitted to the seminary, and then getting "ecclesiastical endorsement" from our church body, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. His commission contract is technically up in May of 2016, but since he isn't going to the captain's career course, it made more sense to finish his contract as a reservist and begin seminary a year early.  However, the nightmare of paperwork has made this option seem less and less likely...Hubster filed his paperwork to get off active duty in September; it is still "processing," six months later. Hopefully he'll get approval soon, but it's been a stressful time in limbo, especially with so many other things riding on this: I would love to know if I need to start looking for a teaching job or if I'm going to stay where I am (my principal and department would love to know that too), and our landlords want to put their house on the market.  We've already had three homes in as many years of marriage; I'd rather move as infrequently as necessary.

Source: fanpop.com

In happier news, Hubster has decided that bow ties are the future of fashion.  He's going for the Professor Jones look.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel for this crazy school year; we have three Mondays until spring break, and then basically nine weeks until school is done.  With testing days built in there, I am reaching the point where suddenly I don't feel like I can cram in everything I need to teach.  Obviously no teacher ever can (according to the state history standards we should be on WWI; their test yesterday covered the Reformation), but I actually prefer the feeling that I am running out of time; it keeps my lesson plans jammed tight and I have fewer days I feel are "wasted" lessons.

Me with a  mantis shrimp stuffed animal that
seems to have become our classroom mascot.

Last week I brought my cello to school to play as part of a music slam that the library hosted.  I played an arrangement of "Ashokan Farewell," and while it wasn't perfect, it felt really good to perform.  I even got my picture in the local paper (I'm famous!).  There's no orchestra at our high school, so for some kids it was the first time they'd ever seen a cello.  We don't have any community orchestras within easy driving distance, so I look forward to joining one when we move home...whenever that is.

I've started the process of obtaining a teaching license in Indiana in preparation for moving there, and updating my resume and website for the job search.  I love my job where I am, but I'm also enjoying the experience of marketing my skills and reflecting on what I've accomplished career-wise in my first few years out of college.

Spartacus Update (I know that's why you're really here!):  He is almost eight months old. No crawling yet, which is fine with us, but he loves bouncing, stretching, standing in our laps, and doing 180-degree turns from where we put him in his crib the night before.  He has two teeth coming in on the bottom.  We started solid foods about a month ago, and today I spent several hours going crazy turning the kitchen into baby food central.  He now has various combinations of sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, spaghetti squash, zucchini, asparagus, and green beans, frozen in ice cube trays.  They actually taste pretty good; I am not always a big sweet potato fan, but sweet potatoes pureed with carrots and broccoli is delicious. I might make it for next Thanksgiving, though I assume my dinner guests would prefer I substitute something for the breast milk (then again...would they ever know? It could be my "secret ingredient").  Sparatacus has had some days where he isn't remotely interested in real food; he will refuse breakfast and dinner at home, but then snarf whatever veggie I send with him to daycare.  For some reason he'll eat his applesauce when Ms. Betty feeds him, but not Momma. We'll keep experimenting.

We are still nursing full time; I had to up my pumping frequency as we finally ran through all the milk I had frozen while I was on maternity leave, but I'm pretty proud to have done it this long.  I had a great support system, and the fact that it's free is also a huge bonus.  I'm not a crazy crunchy organic mommy by any means (though I enjoy reading blogs by people who are; I'm a huge fan of this pastor's wife's blog Crunchy Lutheran Mommy), but I am getting more pleasure than I expected from doing our own food.  Having to buy fruits and vegetables for him reminds me that Hubster and I need to eat well too.  While we eat most meals at home, we do tend to do more munching at the coffee table with the TV on because our kitchen table has turned into our drop zone for all papers, laptops, library books, mail...but now that Spartacus is eating more regularly, we try to have at least one or two dinners a week at the table with him.  In the midst of job stress, meetings, choir practice, and Lenten services, I love that Spartacus gives us a reminder to focus on family time when we need it most.

And yes, he is the happiest, roll-iest baby ever.  Five arm rolls.  He gets almost daily baths, and we still manage to find dog hair stuck in between them.  Gross.

Hugs,
Lizzy