Welcoming Back a Social Life

Yes, I have been away the online and social life for a while, for a few good reasons. I been raising my children, working full time, and going to school. I have been beyond swamped! I like it that way though. I like to be busy, to be constantly doing things that I enjoy. I thrive on learning. I love every minute I spend with my family. I enjoy working in higher education.

Who has time for a social life with all that? Well, truthfully, I have on and off. I have always tried to make time for those who are important to me. This would mean visiting family when I have the time and money to do so, having a girls' night out with friends locally, and visiting with friends in Topeka after Logan's Saturday football games during the fall. My sister Betsy also got to visit us for a very inspiring weekend at a women's conference and for Shane's birthday dinner.

I believe I have learned to defy the limits of time. I have made time to enjoy life while doing everything that I need to for my children and completing my education, both of which are very important to me.

Now I am done with school. YAY! I completed a Master's of Science in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution from Creighton University School of Law in December 2011. You would think this would give me some "extra" time. Not really. Actually, not at all.

You see, after graduation came the holidays which meant parties and a short vacation to Texas to see my mom and Lester and my grandparents. My grandparents sold their home so we helped them decide what they would be taking with them to move... to our house! Yep! This past couple months we have been preparing for my grandparents to move in, helped them move in, and are trying to help them settle into our crazy lives. We are all enjoying each others' company. The boys and Shaun love having them there. I especially love having them there. I have not had family living in the same state as me, besides Shaun's parents who are our neighbors, in about 14 years. It was hard for me to have my family so far away. It still is but now I have my grandparents, who are absolutely wonderful. I still hold on to the idea that more of my family will move back to the state or at least within half a day's drive so we can visit each other more often.

Over the past couple months I have regained a bit of social life. I have had game parties at my house, had friends and family (Shaun's) over for dinner, had time to have lunch with friends, been able to read for fun, helped throw a last minute bridal shower, attended a baby shower, and had time to chat with friends over the phone or internet. There have also been a few baked goods appearing in my house; my sons reminded me how much I love to bake. I have stayed just as busy as before but in different ways.

A social life, to many people, includes online interaction, such as blogs, Facebook, Google+, and other similar sites. For me it has included Skyping with my sisters. I rarely get online to Facebook. This is the first blog entry I have done in a year. I figure if there is anything important happening in the lives my friends or family my husband, other family members, or friends will tell me directly. It is not that I am avoiding Facebook or Google+. I simply do not "need" them to help me live my life. I have enjoyed the freedom of not checking friends' statuses regularly. Yes, I like to know what people are up to, what excites them or upsets them, but I am not going to take time to browse Facebook for lengths of time like many people do. If I am on Facebook it is usually just long enough to respond to a message or check up on my son's activities online. While there I may "like" or "share" something someone has said or occasionally share something happening in my family's life.

I am now spending time enjoying life. I enjoy the quiet moments I have to play a card game with my grandparents, read a book, bake bread, shuttle my sons to their various activities, or simply clean a room in my house. While I am busy I am pacing myself so that I enjoy these moments more.

Social life? Sure, when I make the time to do something with a friend, or have dinner alone with my husband at a nice restaurant. To me having a meal with a friend means more than reading their status online. Having time to enjoy my grandparents, Shaun, and my sons at home means more than anything to me. I plan to spend this weekend at home. Most likely I will be found cleaning, organizing, baking, playing a game, or reading. (Oh, and hunting for a couple more baby items to send to my sister Golda!)

This is how I am welcoming back the life I have had to arrange around school for the past few years. Now I have time to relish in the time spent being me, not being a student, but being a mother, a wife, a granddaughter, a friend. This is what keeps me busy these days. I LOVE IT!

Take time to spend with those whom you love now. You may not have the time to do so later.

Kansas sites added to historic places list - KansasCity.com

Kansas sites added to historic places list - KansasCity.com

Rocky Ford School, which is a couple blocks from where I live, just off Tuttle Creek Blvd. on Barnes Road, has been added to the list of historic buildings.

Missing Melissa

Hello faithful readers who probably no longer bother to visit my blog! Yes, I apologize for being AWOL for so very long. If you would like to keep up with the lives of the Linenberger family your best bet would be to catch the sentence or two that I manage to post on Facebook each week. Yep, that's about it.

Oh, and you know those great photos of the boys I took for Christmas? The ones on the nice Christmas cards I had printed at my wonderful photo lab online? Well, they are still sitting on my desk. Labels, photos, and envelopes, all sitting there bundled together waiting to be put together and mailed. I do not think they will make it by Christmas. Sorry to burst your happy bubble! I kept thinking they would be out in time. I took the gorgeous photos of my young, handsome sons, placed them in a nice mpix card that was perfect, order the cards, the cards arrived, Christmas came and went. I'm really not sure where the past few months went. It's crazy! One minute it was summer. The next it is almost Spring. Well, at least that means we had a fast (although very snowy) winter. Maybe I will post those photos on Facebook now that I have announced that the cards will not be sent out... Hmmm... Maybe it can be time to update my family photos on Facebook so that you can see how wonderful our brown-eyed boys are doing. Yes, it is a plan.

I will post photos to Facebook sometime soon. But probably not tonight. Nope, not tonight. I just got home from Logan's parent/teacher conference (he is doing spectacular and they soooo adore him, who wouldn't!). Shaun dropped the boys off at scouts. I am just snuggling in bed for some reading...homework reading that is. I get to read three long articles and write one big message board post tonight. On the bright side I have finished all my other homework until this weekend. Also, Shaun and AJ are making a trip to Best Buy to shop for a new printer/scanner/fax for the downstairs office. I have the house to myself! Ahhh, the peace and quiet. I will enjoy the next hour of reading transformative mediation materials. All. by. myself!

If you are not my friend on Facebook yet... well, maybe you are not my friend then. Just kidding! Please be my friend. I love you all! Hopefully I will write on my blog again before another few months passes me by. I have so much to say and so little time.

Just Popping In

I just wanted to say a quick "HI!" It's been a while...I know. Life has taken off and we're crazy busy, as is usual for this time of the year. Here are a few reasons why:

Logan is playing football- two practices and one or two games, each week.
Logan's scouts and church activities
Shane's scouts and church activities
My church activities
My book club
Shaun's Primerica stuff (or rather the lack of business the past few weeks as he struggles to keep going)
My work
Shaun's work
My master's degree program online (VERY DEMANDING of my time)
AJ- enough said- We love the little guy and he goes everywhere and does everything with us. I'm surprised that he doesn't demand even more of our time. We've been blessed with such a carefree baby.

There's more...I'm just too tired to remember it all. Oh, and one sick kid a week for the past three weeks does not help. Mainly they have been sick for a couple days on weekends, but it does spill over a bit and causes us to get behind on, OH, HOUSEWORK. Yep, I'm not sure what that word means at the moment. It's not getting done. It hasn't been a priority. The house is messy but not dirty and gets picked up whenever we have friends over for any reason (photo sessions, dinner, visiting, etc.). Well, at least the rooms to be seen by guests get picked up. The other rooms are invisable so they don't really matter.

Yep, that pretty much says it all. Busy! One day I will have time to blog about my daily joys and rants once again. Today I will leave you with this beautiful little tidbit:

AJ SINGS! He has for the past two months- since about 7 1/2 months old. He started to sing at church when the congregation sang. Then he would sing when he would hear the organ or piano start. Next he started singing in the car/truck with the radio. Now he'll sing just to sing, even without accompanyment. Oh, and whenever he is in a large and excited crowd (football games especially) he sings because he thinks that is what they are doing and he wants to join in. It is soooo cute! Everyone notices and smiles and laughs. The funniest thing is that he has recently decided he needs to be just as loud as the people around him, which can mean that he gets VERY loud. I LOVE it! It melts my heart every time I hear him. This brings so much joy to my heart! I just listen and give him lots of hugs and kisses. At times he gets so into it that I have to hush him quickly when everyone becomes quiet at the end of a song. :)

AJ's Development Over the Past Month

He's on a roll! He was already rolling around well. About three-four weeks ago AJ got his first tooth. I noticed it on a Sunday. That Tuesday he crawled. That Friday I noticed another tooth coming in. The next week he was crawling even better (of course). A week later he was growing in a third tooth. I can see more on their way. Now, over the past few days, he's sitting up from the crawling position, on his own. And he's pulling up on shorter items and anything he can get a good hold on. Which means NOTHING is safe. He's really on the go now and developing quite rapidly.

At this rate he'll be walking by nine months. Noooo! I'm excited for him, but not for us. The race is on with crawling. I'm not ready for walking and running. Nope. I want him to wait. And the thing is weren't not even encouraging it. He's just doing it all on his own. He's even tried several times to cruise furniture but luckily once he takes a step he falls. He's never too happy about that but he does try again, and again, and again. If we stand him at the coffee table he lets go with one hand and reaches for anything close by. He's tried to go from the coffee table to the couch but only gets half way- one hand on each- before loosing this balance. The little rascal is getting to coordinated and too smart!

I do love his smile though. He's always so happy. He rarely gets upset. He's become pretty attached to me recently and does not like when I leave the room, even if his dad or brothers are near. Also, when he's crawling around and getting into something new he makes a laughing "k-k" sound. It's so cute! Of course this means that if we can't see him we have to look right away. He finds all kinds of stuff, anywhere. OH, and shortly after he started to crawl we had to rearrange the living room. Yes, I rearrange each season but this was a totally new layout. We now have the sectional put together in a way that puts its corner in the walkway near the stairway, thereby blocking the walkway, stairs, and stair railing. I'm creative.

The short part of the stairway is blocked by the ottoman with pillows on it creating a sitting area in the corner, with the little electric fireplace and lamp in the corner. Logan has dubbed this area the "kids area" but I have to remind him that we can hear his music a foot away on the couch, too. Very funny. He uses the area to listen to music, draw, and read. It's just big enough for him to lay on the floor. Aj likes that spot, too, because it's the only place that the outlets are being used where he can see and reach them. Sigh.

We also added a gate between the kitchen and living room to ensure AJ can not get to the stairway through the kitchen. I'm not sure what we'll do when he starts to climb on the couch. At that point we'll have to move the couch away from the stairway and railing again so that he does not launch himself over the couch and down the stairs.

Here's a recent photo taken before we headed to the rodeo. He loves animals so the horses captivated him there.

I'M IN! EXTREME HAPPINESS

I have been on pins and needles over the past couple weeks (actually a couple months) waiting for news from my friend James at Creighton. He's my contact for my graduate school application. We've talked often over the past several months.

Today's conversation began with him stating "You're in!" but not until after an almost apologetic-sounding "Hello, how are you?" I was SOOO nervous! I read too much into it, obviously. I am now (quite literally) jumping up and down. This is what I have been working for, for years. I cannot explain the extreme joy that I'm feeling. Although, it is similar (but not in the same way) to the feeling of seeing your new born child the second they are born. Seriously! That happy. But it's a different kind of "child." Can you even imagine that feeling? I don't think anyone can, even after having a baby. It's the joy of the moment and it quickly disappears when reality sets in. I don't want reality to set in. This one comes with homework instead of diapers. Again, a different reality.

We went out for dinner to celebrate. I'd planned to cook. Plans change so easily.

Maybe one day I'll update my blog readers on the other goings-on in our lives. It's been a crazily (is that a word?) busy summer. Truly. This will make it even more so. First day of school for the kids- Mid August. My first day- August 30th. There goes the reality setting in. DANG IT! The moment has ALMOST passed. I will still enjoy the remnants.

Giggles

Last night Logan and I made some monster cookies and bars to give to a friend and for us to snack on. They have oatmeal, 3/4 bag chocolate chips, 1/2 or less bag peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter and everything that an oatmeal cookie normally has except for the raisins and half the amount of cinnamon. Logan does NOT like raisins. Although I added peanut butter I did not take out the real butter, which I think made them even better. Butter always= better. Here's what they looked like: After, well, there were a few cookies left...and a friend and his kids will enjoy some of the bars while his wife is out of town. Also last night, Logan was enjoying playing with Aj. When Aj is tired he is easy to get to giggle. I took this video with my cell phone (same with the photo above) so it's not the best, but you can still here Aj giggling if you turn your volume up-way up.

Mega Bus

A coworker was showing me this site this morning. Looks like a great way to get away- and if you book in advance (a month or more?) you can get bus tickets for as low as $2!!! I can go from KC to St. Louis for $5 for my birthday. Not that I will, but I love the thought of it. If they would add a trip from KC to Dallas or the Twin cities I'd be going one or the other once a month. Seriously! The trips are very limited but the buses sound nice. Double decker bus, reclining seats, two bathrooms, tvs for each person (?). Yep, I'm sold. I might just have to plan a quick trip for a couple days in the fall. I won't have vacation days to use but we could get away for a weekend. If I had more time I'd hop on a buses (via Chicago) to Minneapolis, Detroit, and as far as Boston (can't quite get to Maine where my sister is). It's too bad it doesn't go south. I'd like to travel cheap to Baton Rouge and Dallas, too.

Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the U.S. for two or three days? or longer?

Dark

Dark-
chocolate
hair
eyes
skin
stories (Hunger Games, Twilight)
movies (Robin Hood)
brown (one of my favorite colors)
skies
paint
rooms (photography and others)
thoughts
nights
books (recently a Hunger Games fan)


I'm sure I could think of a lot more. What are your favorite "darks?"

AJ Stats Update

Today was AJ's "almost" 6 months doctor appointment. I had scheduled it a week early because my boss will be out of the office for a couple weeks so I need to be here as much as possible during that time. I'll also be out of the office for two days while she is away.

Aj is now:

Height: 25.5 20% of peers
Weight: 15 lbs 14.5 oz 23% of peers
Head Circumference: 44 60% of peers

What can I say? We have big heads in our family. I think the other two boys did, too. The doctor says his family is the same, which he pointed out makes us smart.

Aj sat for more than five minutes at one time last night. Soon he'll be sitting up all the time and it won't seem like a big deal, but it was. He was so happy and playing and then finally toppled over. He wasn't happy about that so we sat him right back up. He's funny- never cries because he fell, just gets upset a bit because he wants to be sitting up. He sat and played on the floor in front of me while I folded laundry and then while I sorted and put stuff away that we'd taken out of the car.

Tonight's agenda- Shane's first baseball game of the season. Tomorrow's- Shane's second game and Logan's first of the season. Saturday- Logan's pack fishing trip, cleaning at the church, and IF I feel up to it- a hike on the Konza Prairie. Heck, I'll probably go just because I've recently enjoyed the hikes I've been on and need to do more. Maybe I'll get Shane to tag along (willingly or not!).

Love My Baby!

Having quiet children has its advantages, most of the time. Aj is often so quiet that we have little scares and have to make sure he's still alive and ok, and often he's just sleeping or playing quietly in the next room. At this point I think we'd be happy if he'd just talk more so we knew that he was there. Of couse usually we're in the same room anyway, but when he's in his crib or playing in the living room while we're in the kitchen it would be nice to hear him once in while, just to remind us that he's there. Should I even think of complaining that he's so quiet? Probably not, but it's sometimes concerning. He does "talk" and seems to be on track with all his motor skills but we've recently decided we'd like to hear from him a little more. So, we tickle him, play with him, and talk to him even more than we were already doing, just to get him to giggle and talk to us. It's a lot of fun and who wouldn't love to just sit and play with such a cute baby? Aj also LOVES to be read to.

Oh, and he's sitting up now! We've been practicing and he's getting better at it each day. Yesterday, when we had photos taken at Penny's he sat for a couple of them. He'll sit for anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes before toppling over. Ut-oh! Baby goes boink! He loves it. He smiles and makes sounds and movements that obviously mean that he wants to sit back up and so we start again. He's such a fun little boy. He's been sitting up more straight since last Friday or Saturday, instead of sitting forward with his little hands by his feet. He's now able to hold a toy while sitting, at least for a few seconds at a time. He's growing up so quickly. I wish I could spend every moment of every day with him and his brothers.

Since I now have "so much extra time" I have been editing some photos. Here's one I did tonight. It was taken in March, either by Anna Freeby or by my putting the camera on the tripod that same evening. I turned the entire background black and enhanced the lighting and such a little bit in raw format. I think it turned out very nice.



If my family or friends want to download this one go ahead. Click on the photo and then right click on the larger view to save it. I think it would be a good one to frame. I wish Shaun was in it with us.

Photos and Friends

This afternoon we went to Topeka and met our friends at the JCPenny portrait studio where they get photos taken of their son, Garrette. We had a photos taken of AJ, AJ and Garrette, our three boys, and others of Shane, Logan, and Shane's friend Austin. It was fun and FAST! Much better than our previous photo shoot at a Penny's in the Dallas area. Those photos never made it onto my blog but that was just because I didn't get around to putting them up here. They turned out ok but these were much better. Go HERE and enter my name but without the "b" for the customer name. Apparently the reservation name was wrong. So use melissa linenerger. You'll see that this photographer did a great job.



Today at the carosel and waiting for the train at Gage park in Topeka (yes, they knew I was going to put these online and wanted me to!):





Here are some other photos from our Trip in April to Tulsa:

AJ playing on the floor while Shaun and I listened to a Primerica conference speaker that Friday evening (he did great until it got too late for him)-


Some photos outside of the museum the boys and I visited in Tulsa that Saturday-


AJ doesn't like the wind...






The boys thought it was too sunny when we left the museum. As you can see Shane and Logan weren't too cooperative...


Logan took this photo of Shaun and I at Bass Pro Shop (we HAD to go there) while we tried out a very nice ATV-

Graduation and EXTRA Time

YAY!!!! WAHOO!!!! I've done it. I've finally completed my Bachelors of Science in Family Studies and Human Services (with an 'emphasis' in Coflict Resolution).

Now what do I do? Well, since I've been asked this question numerous times over the past couple days, and even weeks, I'm going to tell you. I plan to continue my education. I'm sure this is not new news. I've blogged about my dreams of continuing my education a few times in the past. I'm hoping to do so online via Creighton's Masters in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution program. See recent news about the application process here. I will find out more soon, and then find out if I have been accepted in August. I am very much a planner so waiting that long may be excruiating. I'll deal with it by staying busy, as usual.

Second question answered: Will this mean that I receive a raise or a promotion? NOPE. Not happening. My job doesn't work that way. This was just a stepping stone for me to get to the point that I could start my masters. Once I have a masters I plan to change jobs, hopefully. I love my job and my boss but I hope to work more directly with conflict resolution on campus. Right now I envision myself, someday, working in the School of Family Studies and Human Services as an instructor and somehow helping to assistant/associate direct/coordinate the conflict resolution program. However, there are a few different options for working in higher education conflict resolution so if other opportunities present themselves I may consider them.

Ok, so on to the next question I have been answsering non-stop. What will I do with all the extra time that I will have now that I have graduated? SERIOUSLY? What extra time? I never had time to take classes in the first place! I MADE the time to work my butt off after my children were asleep at night, on weekends, and any other time (lunches/slow evenings) that I had. I worked HARD to make time. It was never easy. So now, now that I have all this "free time," I plan to return to normal life. I plan to spend even more time with my husband and children, who really haven't missed out on time with me anyway because of my excellent time management skills, and spend a bit more time keeping the house clean. Yes, alas, I must do better at keeping my house cleaner. It annoys me that I haven't been making time to do that. Oh well, it's waited. Also, this summer we will have a LOT of time spent at baseball practices and games. Then, if all goes well, I will start the online masters program. See? NO EXTRA TIME!

Now to cook dinner (oh yeah, I'm cooking more again, too) and get Shane to his first baseball practice of the summer. I think I will take time to read while he practices and Logan plays with AJ nearby.

Fun Times

This past weekend we spent a lot of good quality family time together. We always have found time to have quality time with the kids but I really enjoyed everything we did over the weekend.

Friday we had to go to a funeral in Hays so Shaun and I both had to take off of work. I was glad that I went even though I knew I was needed at the office. This was one of those times that I wasn't really sure what to do but I did decide that my family (especially my father-in-law) needed us to be there. It was sad but also nice to be able to see some of my husband's extended family. We don't see them very often. We drove to Hays (about 2 1/2 hours each way) and back that day. The car ride was horrible as Shane and Logan bickered a LOT and wouldn't be quiet when the adults need to nap (mainly me and Shaun). At the funeral and lunch the boys were well behaved, as always. We received several compliments on their behavior. I just wish they'd behave that well in the car and at home!

Because Shaun had not worked on Friday, and they are having a very busy schedule right now, he had to work on Saturday morning. This meant that he could not bring the boys on the father-son campout through church Friday night. The boys still wanted to go so at first we thought we'd send them with another father/son pair but then decided against it. The temperature was to get to near freezing and we weren't sure how Logan would do. Shane would have been fine but we couldn't send him on this one without sending Logan. Instead we decided to spend the evening together doing something fun. We found out when "How to Train Your Dragon- 3D" was playing and then went to dinner at a nice italian restaurant we hadn't been to yet and spent the time between dinner and the movie at Time Out Corner. For those of you who don't know- Time Out Corner is an arcade, pizza/party, indoor mini-golf place that the kids love. Older children (ours are old enough when sent together) can be dropped off for a while or you can do things as a family. We prefer the family option. It also makes a great date-night activity for those of us who are young at heart.

I caught myself laughing, a lot. I was probably having more fun than the boys combined. We hurried through some arcade time and a fast round of mini golf before heading to the theatre. The movie was great! I can see why it has been given such high reviews. In my opinion this was probably the best 3D movie I have seen. It was done very nicely. I didn't even notice the 3D glasses this time because I was so into the movie! Normally they bother me because they have to sit on my nose just below my normal glasses. We all really liked the movie and AJ even slept through most of it. When he was awake he just watched for a few minutes. Perfect! He's soooo easy to take places. Oh, and we ended the evening with Cold Stone ice cream creations. YUM!

Saturday morning I brought the boys downtown. We parked near the mall and then walked around to do errands: breakfast (not exactly an errand but I was too tired to cook and the boys aren't cereal fans) at The Chef, library visit to check out books, bank to deposit a check, farmer's market. Again, a perfect time with the boys, this time while Shaun worked. The boys and I really enjoyed walking between each place while the weather was sunny in the low 60's.

Since then: I've worked on my final paper LOTS and have LOTS to finish on it tonight. We had dinner with my friends Toni and Matt and their kiddos last night.

Tonight: Get my back cracked (wahoo!) and then finish and submit my final paper. Study for tomorrow evening's final.

NEED.TO.VENT

or not... I'm still unsure if I will be accepted into the master's program that I have been dreaming of for a couples years now. At this point I'm just frustrated, with myself. I won't know for a while if I will be accepted and now my file is "shakey" and I may need to take the GRE. Ick. If I have to take it I will but I am really hoping that I will not need to. I didn't score as high (by two points) as I needed on the first entrance exam I took. They are longer accepting that exam for future terms so they may require me to take the GRE, especially because my score was lower (by two points: 398/400) than accepted for the current term.

This weekend is the deadline for applications to the May term. I am wanting to be accepted for the August term. This means I probably won't know anything concrete until August, just before the term begins. I hope to hear back from the admissions rep in a week or two about whether or not they can accept the exam I've already taken, even if it is a little short on points. If I had applied for the May term I would probably be ok.

I hope this all irons itself out. If nothing else at least I'm not taking classes this summer and can study for the GRE if absolutely needed. I'm concerned that even if I do study my butt off I may not get a high enough score on that one. Please pray for me!


Ah...writing and thinking things out really helps me. Thanks for "listening!"