Keeping Up With The Jacksons

But first, let me back up and fill you on what we've been up to since August, person by person. 

TJ

Let's start with who seems like the busiest member of the Jackson clan: TJ.

First, TJ is in his last quater of SCAD! In fact, he's almost half way through that quarter. It's not his favorite quarter and he's finding that one of the classes he has this quarter is the hardest class he's ever had. But I know he's excited to be at the end.

Being in his final quarter at SCAD also means it's time to crack down on internships applications and building a portfolio. He's been working on his portfolio since he's been at SCAD, but now it's time to make it available for potential clients and job opportunities. He's been slowly networking on social media, and each day he gets more comfortable with and does more and more, but he's also asked me to build a website for him. He constantly wants to make changes but it's looking good. We even went out and took some new pictures for his About page.



In December, he flew out to Los Angeles. A to get a feel for the area and see what he could find for prospective jobs. What he found was that he absolutely loved the city, but he just wasn't sure how we could afford to start out there. We knew the cost of living was high, and we honestly weren't far off from those estimates, but we were off by how much he would make starting out and it's just not enough. Plus, LA is more interested in hiring people with experience, rather than rookies right out of college.

So, he has set his sights on New York. He has friends up there that have said New York has plenty of interships and is more SCAD-friendly. The cost of living is slightly (not much, but slightly) cheaper as well, which is a huge help. Once we talked about it and decided on New York, TJ started researching post-production houses in New York and started applying for interships and/or jobs. He hasn't heard a lot back yet, but that is to be expected. He just needs to keep trying.

Another blessing to come into our life was finding out that TJ still has almost a full year of the GI Bill left. Knowing that, he has decided to go back to school while doing an internship. He will get some extra higher education, and we'll still get a housing allowance, which will be a tremendous help since the Northeast has cost of living that is almost double what Savannah's is.

He's also working part time as security at a bar downtown, which keeps him up late 4 nights a week, but he seems to like the job. He is able to meet lots of interesting new people. Between working, going to school, applying for interships, studying and working on film projects, our lives right now pretty much revolve around his schedule.

Dylan

What a kid He's become so passionate about math and science this year, it's really interesting to see what learns. He still has excelling MAP score at school (that's a Math Assessment taken 3 times a year to monitor their progress. It's also used for promotion in certain grade levels). He's still struggling in reading but is definitely doing better. He's never passed the reading portion until the last test of the year, except for this year. He passed on the mid-year test, so we know he's getting better. And even though I'm not a fan of these tests, at least I can see progress with them.

But one of the most exciting and fun things to happen to Dylan was joing the Robotics team at school. At the beginning of the school, the 4th and 5th grade students were invited to audition to be on the school's first Robotics team. Dylan was so excited but also nervous and almst backed out because of the essay he had to write. I may, maynot have pushed him to write the essay, knowing that he shouldn't miss out on this opportunity. Boy, am I glad I did. He made the team and was ecstatic. 

The Robotics team was actually a First Lego League team. They worked with the Lego Midstorm sets to create and program a robot that would pass through as many obstacles as possible. They had practice every Monday and Wednesday and the competition was held in December. 

When we arrived, we quickly realized that Dylan's team was probably one of the youngest teams there. Most of the schools were charter and private middle school teams with only a few that had 5th graders. They were the only team with 4th graders. That being said, they did pretty well. They ended up in the middle of the pack, but they learned a lot and had a blast, and that's what's most important.

Beyond Robotics, he has become obsessed with Pokemon cards. Give that kid a pack of Pokemon cards and you'll be his best friend. I, personally, don't get it, but him and two of his friends in the neighborhood like to trade and play with them, so it works for me. 

Jordyn

My princess and Taylor Swift-obsessed little girl. It's all Taylor Swift, all princess, all the time. Everytime we get in the car, she asks for Taylor Swift (she hasn't quite figured out you can't pick what the radio plays and when). So right now, she settles for my old cd and "Shake It Off" on my phone. 

She loves to sing and dance. Lately she has been performing dances for us before going to bed. There is typically no music to go with it but she doesn't care. She just wants to dance. Can you blame her? Dancing can put you in a better mood. 

One of my favorite things to watch about Jordyn is her learn. They way she gets excited when she gets something she's been struggling with is priceless, or when she starts telling you a story, and you realize she used deductive reasoning to come up with why she says what she says. Sometimes it's way off and you can't help but laugh but sh's picked up on something and ran with it. Try asking her how she came up with it, and often times you can see how it all makes sense to her. 

She's still as funny as ever, and knows it. If she can find a way to make you laugh, she will in any way she can. That girl has a way with words that will get you laughing so hard you cry. 

Sabrina

And now it's time to update about what's going on with me. Let's start with our move. I am over the moon about going back up north. It's what I've always wanted (OK, there was a time when I wanted California but it wasn't until TJ mentioned the New York the first time that I realized just how much I wanted that more). Savannah is a nice place to visit and I will miss the people here, but none of it is really enough to make me want to live here forever. 

After TJ decided on New York for the second and final time, I got busy researching. I researched everything from the cost to move us, to the cost of rent, utilities, groceries. I estimated roughly what we need each month to get by. The Northeast is more expensive than the South and while it is going to be tough, I know we'll be fine. TJ was having a really hard time accepting the significantly higher cost of rent. He's finally coming around to it if it means living in safer area. 

We knew living in the city was out of the question. There was no way we could afford to have our family of 4 living in New York City unless we were wanting to live in an unsafe area. We began looking further out. Long Island was a nice option but it was way more than TJ wanted to spend on rent and I was apprehensive about spending quite that much, plus when you factored in the cost of the train, it was too much. We tried Connecticut but it was either ridiculously expensive or high crime (at least in the areas close enough to commute). 

And we looked in New Jersey and hit silver. I won't say gold because it's still more expensive but we definitely found some closer to the price range we (OK, I) was thinking. Most of the places are about 60 miles out with a 2 hour commute, but the area is safe and the houses are cheaper. TJ and I went back and forth and he finally realized inexpensive, safe and close couldn't happen. He could only have two of the three. Inexpensive and safe were the two most important so he let go of the fact that he would have a long commute. We won't be moving until the summer since TJ won't be starting school until September, but I am constantly looking at houses in the area getting an idea of what's out there, saving my favorites and hoping they are available when it's time for us to move. I know, it's wishful thinking. 

Recently however, those home searching sites (you know hotpads.com, trulia.com and zillow.com) are showing me houses just across the border in Pennsylvania with rent prices where TJ would like them. I haven't shown any to TJ because he was clear about a 60 mile limit but it might be nice to extend that limit to 75 miles to save a few hundred dollars a month. But in all honestly, I'm not the one making that commute that every day so of course the extra miles don't bother me, but they might to him. 

There is one change that has me nervous but excited at the same time. When California was the moving destination, I talked to TJ about homeschooling the kids. I talked about it in the post and it still rings true on my mind now. The schools are just as bad if not worse than here (sorry Chatham County, but having a child in the school system as well as working in it makes you see it) and the crime rate is awful. New Jersey typically has good schools and the crime rate in the area we are looking at is better but the more I looked into homeschooling, the more I wanted to do it no matter where we live.

I also want the kids to have a good understanding of the Bible and be a follower of Christ. I, myself, am still new in that journey but I believe He is the reason everything, good and bad, has happened in our lives. I believe He wants us living up North and it took TJ going to California in December to see that too. I'm not the best at bringing the family to church, or going myself for that matter, and I know that needs to change.

There are more reasons than the school system and a biblical education that are making me wanting to homeschool the kids but I'll talk about that in another post. TJ has his concerns, which are social and financial, which I'll go into as well too in that post (I know you're on pins and needles for that one right now, but seriously this post is long enough), but he just gave me the go-ahead pending the cost of the materials. He said as long as we can afford the curriculum, he'll give me a year and we'll re-evaluate. A year is all I asked for. I told him if it doesn't work out and homeschooling isn't the right fit for the kids, we can put them back in school, but I wanted to give it a chance. So, you can guess where my focus will be the next few months: yup, choosing curriculum and finding the best deal possible for the right materials.

Aside from planning for a move, working, and taking of the kids, there hasn't been a whole lot of new and exciting events going on with me, unless you count going to my first painting party over the weekend.

Check me out! I'm an artist! I had so much fun and will be doing these again for sure. OK, for now, I think that's all I got. I'm really going to try to be better about updating the blog more often. No promises of how often since I can't promise to commit, but I'm going to work on it. 

And if you have any advice for choosing curriculum for an upcoming 5th grader and a Pre-Ker, I'm all ears. I can use the help. 

But overt he past few days, I've been thinking about what I want to do with my blogs and where I want them to go. Figuring out where I want them to go was actually easy, but how I was going to do it is a bit harder. I know I want these blogs to grow, but because I feel like I don't have a ton of time, I know it will be slow. For right now, I've chosen to go with the flow. When I have time and a topic to write about it, I'll do it. If I don't, I won't. Once I've established a routine that doesn't feel forced, then I will begin scheduling posts farther in advance. I think jumping straight in with 3 posts a week was too much for me and I would get discouraged. So my goal is once a week but I won't stress if I can't make it happen. 

How's that for wishy washy commitment?

And how about we switch gears and talk about where we've been. The short version? Still in Savannah. But our time here is slowly winding down. TJ has just over 6 months until he graduates and we start figuring out where our next home will be. Chances are it will Los Angeles, but I'd like somewhere up north. I prefer Boston or my hometown, Greenfield, but those are highly unlikely so I'll settle for New York. lol.

Dylan and I, and TJ for that matter, enjoyed our summer off from school. While I went back to work in July, Dylan followed 2 weeks later and TJ is still on summer break for the next 2 weeks. Oh, the joys of being on the quarter system.

Our summer was pretty uneventful. Dylan and Jordyn went to visit their grandparents so TJ and I were kid-free for a little while. But when they were here, we squeezed in a mini photo session at the request of my mom. 

Now that was eventful. You may not be able to tell by the sweet smiles above but they were not happy about it one bit. 

Gotta love real life. One topic I have been exploring and researching a lot lately is homeschooling. It started with the idea of Jordyn and Pre-K. Because of when TJ graduates and us moving, the odds of Jordyn getting into any Pre-K program is slim-to-none. I was already thinking that I should do something with her at home that will prepare her for Kindergarten. And then there's our school system. I haven't been super happy with the way the schools are here and knowing that the schools in California can be just as bad if not worse, has me concerned. The schools aren't that great and they definitely aren't the safest. Since private school is not an option unless they both were to get scholarships, I started thinking about homeschooling. After all the research I have done, I have myself convinced this is what I want to do. Not only can I give them the instruction they need (or it can be done with a co-op, homeschool charter school and/or online classes), I can incorporate good Bible lessons in, something I've wanted to do for a while. I talked to TJ and he shared his concerns which led me to more research so he could see the pros and cons and he has agreed to give me a one year trial to see if it's right for our family.

There's just one problem. Finances. The curriculum can be expensive and working would be more difficult. It is possible for a parent to work and homeschool but it's harder. I'd love to find a job that will allow me to work from home (ideally part-time if we can afford that financially). And then I have to do lots of used curriculum research so I can cut those costs as well. Thankfully, I have time. We know we won't pull Dylan out of school now and then we'll start next year, so looking around now will help.

Jordyn is a bit of a different story. She is so into going to school and doing schoolwork like Dylan, I really want to seize that opportunity for her and figure out something for her. I found a Letter of the Week curriculum on a blog called Confessions of a Homeschooler and after reading her blog for a few weeks, I knew it was something I wanted to try with Jordyn. The past few weeks, I have been preparing the lessons to get Jordyn started and tomorrow we will begin. It's going to remain informal but she is so excited for "schoolwork."

I did find a free curriculum for Dylan on Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool and he's actually pretty pumped at the idea of homeschool so I suggested we try it out as some supplemental work. He's all for it and he wants to start tomorrow too. For him, his main focus is still his schoolwork from school but I told him if he wants to try it out, he can do as much as he wants. That kid is ready to go. I love how excited my kids get when it comes to learning. 

Well that's about it for now, but I'm hoping to update you more on how our informal homeschooling goes and on how and when I find some affordable curriculum. 

So what has TJ been up to, you ask? Well, school, school and more school. Seriously! That guy is either at school and in class, at school working on homework or student films, or at home in his man cave working on homework or student films. I'm amazed at how he's progressed and grown in what will be his career. It's hard to believe that in one year (plus a week), he will officially be done with school. It's so exciting and a little scary at the same time. 

He's reached the point in school, where he has to start researching different film companies to see what might be a good fit for him. He's looking up post production companies in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Boston. Boston is purely for me. Neither one of us think he'll find very many companies there but he agreed to appease me and try. Plus, he's been to Boston too and really does like it. You can begin praying now that Boston is where we need to be. 

Aside from all the school work and student films, TJ is pretty much relaxing around the house. And helping out when I need it of course…..well almost. ;)

Dylan is doing what every other 8 year old boy does. Going to school, riding bikes, playing video games, you know all the normal boy stuff. He's doing pretty well in school. Last 9 weeks, Dylan was named the Most Improved Student in 3rd Grade in Music. He was so surprised and the look on his face when he was announced was priceless.

He also made honor roll with all A's and 1 B, but this 9 weeks his grades aren't as high; however his teacher is confident that it's because they haven't had very many yet and that he'll bring it up in no time. Of course that was a few weeks ago. The end of the 9 weeks is Friday so when he comes back from Spring Break, we should get his report cards. And speaking of Spring Break, his starts next week and he'll go back Tuesday the 18th (they always have St. Patrick's Day off because of how big it is here). 

For Christmas, the kids got bikes for Christmas, and if you know Dylan, you know at 8 years old he still didn't know how to ride bike without training wheels. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure why, but I think he was scared. He got a bike a few years ago that was too big for him and it just made him nervous to ride it. Well, on Christmas, we took the kids out to ride their new bikes (aka push Jordyn on hers and try to get Dylan to stop freaking out) and it didn't take long for Dylan to get the hang of it and officially learn to ride his bike! It was a "Finally!" moment that was of course filled with pride.

And last, for Dylan, we signed him up for soccer (or at least TJ was supposed to. I need to check back with him on that. lol). I know he's excited to start and it'll be good for him to get and be active and in a sport.

Seriously, what can I say about this 3 year old ball of energy? She is constantly keeping us on our toes. She's a smart girl and surprises us everyday with everything she learns and picks up. She is currently obsessed with Doc McStuffins and Jake and the Pirates, and loves doing puzzles.

She also just learned how to ride her bike and asks everyday to go outside and ride it. Look at her go!

Jordyn loves helping around the house, unless it's cleaning her own room. She has no desire to clean up her own mess. And the girl is convinced she's old enough for school. At least once a week, if not more, she puts on her backpack (that we bought her for her birthday because she us she "needed" it) and tells she is ready and needs to go to school. She does not like when we tell her she's not old enough. 

But truthfully, she's a pretty typical 3 year old. She's smart, sassy and lots of fun. 

I guess you'd like to know about me now, huh? I guess I should go back to when I lost my job last year. There just wasn't enough work to be done at my old job, and so I was laid off. I spent almost a year looking and applying for jobs. In November, I received a phone call from River Street Sweets to come in for an interview. I got the job, which was working upstairs in the Mail Order department, but it was only seasonal. I figured it was better than nothing and hoped they would find a way to keep me on. Sadly, it didn't happen but I left on good terms with them and hope to come back and work there over the summer in store and back upstairs in Mail Order next Christmas season. 

And then in January, I had an interview at an elementary school for a Title I Parent Facilitator. The interview went well and I was offered the job. It took a few weeks before I could start (if you know anything about working in a school, it's a lot of paperwork, background checks, and trying to get your transcripts). It's a part-time job, which works great for TJ's school schedule but I am going to be looking for another small part-time job just to supplement our income. I started a few weeks ago and am loving it. As a Title I Parent Facilitator, I coordinate meetings for Parents, offer resources for parents to help their child and once it's all set up, will work in the Parent Center offering a place or parents to come help their child with homework, projects or anything else they may need. In short, my goal is to get as many parents as possible involved and engaged in their child's school and education. The one down side right now, is not knowing enough yet to fully take on the role without help. The assistant principal has been doing my job all year so she has a lot to teach me, on top of her normal duties, which often get in the way of what she's trying to teach me. So sometimes, I don't feel very productive. It's not her fault and I know in time, I will be able to handle most of this on my own but right now, I'm still learning. 

Outside of school, I've picked up running more consistently. I really needed to. I've set running goals for myself. The first being to run a race every month. You can read about January's race here and February's race here. March's race is The Kilt and Kolor Run and TJ is running it with me! I'm so excited and think it will be a blast. I've already registered for my April race as well, the Big Nasty Mud Run and am partnering with a friend in my running group!

But perhaps my biggest goal will come later this year, when I run my first half marathon! I told TJ about a year ago that I was setting a goal to run a half marathon before he graduates from SCAD and since that is just one year away, it's time I get cracking on that. And that will happen in November when I run the Rock N Roll Half Marathon here in Savannah. I am SO excited and a bit nervous but confident I can do this. Early registration ends at the end of March, so I will be registering for it soon!

Aside from running and working, I'm slowly trying to get our house organized and get rid of clutter as I go. We know that depending on when and where TJ finds a job, we will be moving sometime in 2015, so the more I can do to declutter and organize now, the less stressful a move will be later.  Besides, the house just needs it. 

And that about wraps up what's been going on with us. I'm really going to try to do better about keeping this blog updated. With all the changes ahead of us, it will be tough but it will definitely be needed.