Actions speak louder then words

I'm running like crazy around here...studying (I am half way through the class from H*LL and I have an A!!!); baking 4 dozen cupcakes for Fall Festival; teaching 3 year olds about cowboys, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs; raising a 10 year old boy who wants to shower all the time, an 8 year old boy who likes to tell me my breath stinks when I kiss him good night, and a soon to be 3 year old "princess" who threw my first ever experienced Wal-Mart Holy Terror Tantrum (as in..."I want a BARBEEEEE" all the way through Wally World out to the van and continuing to our house 15 minutes later where I finally let out my breath and beat...I mean taught sister girl that Momma Don't Put Up With That Kind Of Mess!) I am smiling now don't worry about me...

But amongst all of this we in the Callender household have learned a very real lesson in life and love and compassion---



My husband shaved his wonderful head of hair because of this sweet little ten year old boy, Preston. Preston is on Nate's soccer team and he is fighting Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He is currently going through chemo but yet still wants to play soccer each Saturday. And when his hair started to fall out and his mother told Nate about Preston's anxiety over being around the other boys on the team well you know what my husband said.

It was the night before the game when Preston would show up with his shaved head (because in deed his hair was starting to fall out) and Nate went out into the back yard and started buzzing it off. I joined him with a mirror and some extra batteries and we had fun making Mohawks and taking pictures before it all came off.

The boys were a little shocked to say the least but Sister Girl thought it was hilarious. Preston walked up to Nate the next morning and said, "You look funny!" And then the next week he had made (yes, sewn himself) Nate a soccer hat. (He's sewing them for other cancer patients that are in the hospital!)

This has taught our family a lot about compassion - it's not always enough to use words but at times actions speak a lot louder. Preston's dad died last year of cancer...Nate's actions have spoken pretty loud and clear. We are all praying for this sweet little boy with a heart of gold and the will power of a super hero!

I almost forgot I had a blog...

Wow, I almost forgot I had a blog...

Life is a little busy these days to say the least but it's Fall Break and I have a house full of boys running around at 7:30 in the morning (oh and Elizabeth chasing all of them)so I better take advantage of the few minutes I'm sitting here.

My crazy big news that I long ago posted was...I had an "AWE HAH" moment (yes, I almost failed spelling class not to mention phonics 101)this summer while sitting at a Sounds baseball game next to a new friend who could be my mother and has been a nurse her whole life - she now teaches in the nursing program at MTSU. During that evening I decided that is exactly what I was supposed to pursue - a degree in nursing - it just made sense - I could work part time while the kids were little, make a lot of money, and feel like I was doing something to help others. The best part is I keep thinking about all the times I screwed up with Elizabeth during her crazy emergencies over the years where I literally freaked and didn't know what to do with her...if I was a nurse I wouldn't do that!!!!

And I get all excited picturing myself traveling when I'm older to do mission work as a nurse and helping others with my new found talent/skill! It's just so exciting I want to run buy a nurses hat at the Halloween store and walk around checking every one's temperature and blood pressure! Someone please...give me a needle! =)

But it is a huge elephant to chew up so you know what I'm going to say...I will be taking one bight at a time - starting with Statistics!

Before I could talk myself out of it I went and signed up for Elementary Statistics on line - yes, I'm teaching myself something I don't know anything about! Well, actually if that was the case I would have already failed but Nate (who is the Stat's king!)is teaching me each night around 9:00pm! To say I hate this class would be an understatement but it is what it is and yes, I'm striving for an A! =)

I have just a few classes to take that I didn't with my sweet and kind Communication's degree oh, 13 years ago so I'll be focusing on that the next two years. I plan on applying to MTSU's nursing program when Elizabeth is 5. It is a 5 semester full time program and I will graduate with a BS in Nursing. Wow! I'm so excited!!! I'm already thinking about what cute outfits I will need to buy so I can jaywalk across TN. Blvd. with the other cool students and make all the mini-van soccer moms crazy with rage as they slam on their brakes so as not to hit me! =)
(I have issues with rage over 20 year old, boot/jegging wearing jaywalkers in front of my kids' school - FYI)

Other than spending all my "free" time finding Z-scores and making Binomial Probability Distributions I am teaching a class of 3 year olds at Preschool. Don't worry though - no diaper changing and I am actually teaching them! They are all precious and I truly love planning out my lessons for them..."No Dad, I do not think I should be a school teacher!" =)

On M/W/F I am still a stay at home momma to sister girl who is a lot easier these days although she has a loud voice when she screams, "NO!" and has a tendency to shake her booty as she stomps her little foot down to show she really doesn't like what I'm asking - BUT...other than all that with a toddler we are getting along just fine, thank you!

I have actually kept my commitment of exercising at least 2 days of the week now for almost a year...results showing in my "guns" that I will now be hiding during the winter season - but watch out I can totally take you down (as I do often with sister girl) =)

And lastly I am still acting out my role as VP at the boys' school's Parent/Teacher Club - insanely dramatic as most things with large groups of women are but "I will surviiiivvvveeeee!" =)

So, no I'm not pregnant (Amy & Dawn O. - I know you were hoping for more exciting news but thankfully that was not it! =)

I will try to keep up my posting in the months to come...in between putting out fires at the PTC, planning alphabet learning games for my little class, and finding the mean, variance and standard deviations. =)