Mathematician Extraordinaire!

Now before I go getting all smarty pants on you, I have to confess...I had NO idea how to get back onto this blog of mine! Seriously! THEN, I realized I had a different password I entered, and lo and behold, I'm back. Whew! Small moment of panic there!

But, I must return to my title, the whole mathematician thing. I know friends of mine who'd beg to differ on me being an expert in math (and normally, I wouldn't argue!), but with 4 kids, 3 of which are in elementary school, my math skills have had to be refined.

Take, for instance, the homework assignment for Steph in her old school. She needed to come up with a math story problem with different functions in it(yes, the dreaded story problem still haunts me). So I helped her out the only way I know how...with a reality check. Keep in mind I was on the slight verge of insanity, with Chris only being home on the weekends, and me holding down the fort, managing the house, the kids and all the homework associated with those kids. So bear with me as I share my creative steps to creating a story problem for my 3rd grader:

 I told her, "Imagine a mom, slightly crazed with lack of sleep and stress, who has to do the laundry. On this particular day, she chooses ONLY to wash the jeans from the 4 kids in her house. Child A has 4 pairs of dirty jeans (because she spilled toothpaste on one pair that never even made it out the front door). Child B has 6 pairs of dirty jeans, because, let's face it, her food always ends up on her in some way or another. Child C has 3 pairs of dirty jeans,  (sweet mercy, thank you!). And Child D, or the "pigpen" child, as we like to call him, has 9 pairs of dirty jeans (I'm interrupted by my inquisitive youngster at this point...."Yes, you are right, Steph, there ARE only 7 days in week. Don't ask me what your brother does to get his clothes so messy".)
SOOOOOOO......how many dirty jeans does mommy have to wash in one week?  Addition step:  Correct! The answer is 22.  Now, let's use your multiplication skills:  How many jeans, in one month, would mommy have to wash at this rate. AWESOME! You are right again!  88 pairs of jeans. Wow. Pretty sure mommy is going to go hide in the bathroom and cry for a bit." 

Don't know if the teacher appreciated my humor as much as I did at the moment, but it seemed pretty relative to getting my child to understand everyday math. And it supported my case for crying when Chris would call and ask how I was "holding up". 

And recently, with the start of a new school, we've had an influx of information, on top of the normal stuff (and by "normal" I must tell you that Melanie will bring home at least 7 or 8 pictures of rainbows and butterflies on any given day). So, even with a low number of only 10 papers a day from school, with 3 kids, I'm looking at 30 papers to sort, sift, recycle and of course hang on the refrigerator. Then, with 5 days in a week, and 4 weeks a month, 9 months out of the year, I've now tallied my "papers incoming" to be 5,400 papers. I'm fairly certain that trumps the health care bill. Perhaps I'm now qualified for politics?  Oh, and don't forget, we still have one more kiddo at home.  Why, oh why, do I choose to think these things out?!?!?

Enough of math!! Let me share something super amazing with you all....

Let me show you a glimpse of a when God winked in my world. (By the way, if you want to know more about God winks, check out any of SQuire Rushnell's books on his website www.whengodwinks.com ).  

A dear friend from "home" (my Morgantown home) had suggested I look up a friend of hers who lives in Butler (my new home). I friended this gal on facebook, and as we chatted, she realized that not only am I in her same zip code, but we are literally one street away from each other! My Morgantown friend was a little angel acting on God's prompting, and this new neighbor has now reached out to me and our family. We're actually invited to her house tomorrow! I'm so thrilled to be able to connect with other women, and I'm so thankful that God is so involved in all the details (I'm sure God handles those important things for me when He realizes how tied up I am with dirty jeans and mountains of school paperwork!!)


 I'm always overwhelmed by that...by the details of my life that God is wrapped up in! So, just as I was about to throw in the towel and succumb to the massive amount of "Stuff" to do surrounding the everyday bits of being a mom and wife. living in a new house, in a new school system, in steps God and reassures me that He's got it. WHEW! Good thing! Cuz I sure have a LOT to hand over to Him:)  

Till the next overwhelming moment hits and I feel the need to share my rambling thoughts,
Peace to you all!