Missionary Update & Airport Farewell

Sorry I haven't written for a while but things have been really crazy here. The two months from the time Jason received his mission call and when he left flew and were full of preparations, school activities and work. It seems there were a thousand things that needed to be done to get Jason ready.

Along with Jason's mission preparations there are always a lot of school activities and test preparation this time of the year. Jennifer and Jack are both taking band this year (as did their sister and brother before them) and the Christmas Concert is always a high light of the year. This was Jack's first year in band and he was really excited about his first concert.

Jason's flight date was right at the beginning of semester test time at school. Even with all the conflicts, and there were many, the preparations go forward slowly. On Sunday evening, Dianna and President Burton, our branch president, accompany Jason to Jacksonville to be set apart as a full time missionary. The experience is a beautiful memory that I shall cherish for the rest of my life. As President Burkheimer pronounces a blessing on Jason the Spirit fills the room and the feeling of a dream come true engulf me. It is a wonderful feeling to have a son who is willing and worthy to serve the Lord in such a way.

Unfortunately, Jason got ill on Sunday night and was not feeling well throughout the day on Monday. Since he had put off packing until the last minute, Dianna spend most of the evening on Monday trying to fit everything into one suitcase and a carry on bag. At about 8:30 she finally gave up and ended up using two suitcases, a carry on and his backpack. And that was a real challenge. But she got everything packed.

On Tuesday, the weather worked against us. We got up to icy roads and offices closed that we need to get final information from. Challenges all the way to the end. We got him to the airport with extra time and were able to say our final good-byes. It was exciting to send him on his way as a full time missionary for the Lord. He arrived safely in Salt Lake City about an hour behind schedule because of weather. The whole experience was wonderful.

Note: Sorry for the way the pictures are arranged. With Jennifer's help I was able to put the pictures in the posting but I have not figured out how to get them where I want them to be in the posting. At least you can see his send off.

Mission Call Arrives

The wait is finally over. After months of paperwork getting lost and blanks not completed we finally got everything together at the same time to submit the paperwork for Jason to go on his mission for the Church. He found out last weekend that the information from church headquarters was mailed last Friday and he has been on pins and needles all week anticipating its arrival. (I must admit that I too have been a little excited waiting for it.) The early part of the week was just a little nerve wracking but by Friday it was unbearable to wait for the mail. When it didn't come Friday he was really stressed. I told him that it was because we wanted to all be together when he opened the letter and that everyone was going to be in a different place on Friday night. Earl was in Little Rock for a doctor's appointment (just a check up) and then doing the family shopping. Jenny had to play in the band at the ballgame and I was scheduled to work in the concession stand. Jason was planning to go with me and Jack had decided to just stay at home. Like I said, everyone scattered.

Then, when Jason got home from work this afternoon and the mail had not arrived yet he was like a little child on Christmas morning waiting for everyone to wake up. He paced from the front of the house to the back and then to the front again waiting for the mail to arrive. Then, suddenly, I hear this blood curdling scream from the front, "It's here." He was just a little excited. We all gathered in the kitchen, Jason called his Aunt Lori on his cell phone and put her on speaker phone. Earl called his mom on the house phone and put her on speaker. I tried to get Dorothy and Uncle Roddy but neither were in a position to answer their phones. Before opening the envelope everyone made a guess as to where he might be going. We were all over the map. Then he opens the letter and starts to read. His eyes scan down the page and he bursts out with a loud laugh and announces that someone is going to be very excited. He has been called to the Nevada, Los Vegas Spanish speaking mission. This is ironic because his paternal grandmother lives in Phurmph which is about an hour from Vegas. We are all stunned and excited at the same time.

We have a lot of preparations to take care of in very little time. He goes into the Mission Training Center on 17 December 2008 and that only gives us two months to get everything pulled together and ready. Christmas will come a little early to the Bowen family this year. But we wouldn't change any of it because we know this is what the Lord wants him to do and we are thrilled that he is able to go. It has been a dream of his parents since his birth and a dream of his for a very long time. We look forward to sharing all the exciting times ahead with each of you.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As usual, life in the Bowen house is very busy. School activities and functions have everybody hopping except for Jason. Jenny stays busy with band practice and football games on top of her class work, which seems to be much heavier now that she is in high school. She can't decide if she likes high school or not. She loves the idea of being in high school but it also has its drawbacks. She likes playing in the band and loves concert season but marching season is another topic. Being out in the heat and the cramps in her legs are not the most fun that she has had. The homework is harder and takes up more of her time and she is not sure that she likes that either.

Jack is excited about being in middle school. And we have another musician in the house - if Mom and Dad can take the noise - Jack is becoming a percussionist, he is learning to play the drums. The house will never be the same, and we are not sure that the walls can take it. (We know our ears can't.) Actually, we are excited that he has decided to follow in the footsteps of his older siblings and is interested in music. His birthday is on Friday and he takes every opportunity to remind us that it is coming. He is really excited.

Jason is still trying to get all the paperwork together for his mission. It seems that every time we think it is all finished and everything is ready to submit them, something gets misplaced or there is a line that was overlooked. Hopefully he is finishing the last interview tonight and all will be together and can be finalized. If so, we should know when and where he will be going in a couple of weeks. We will keep all posted and let you know as soon as we do.

Earl is taking some much needed time off before the busy holiday season starts and is looking forward to having time to do some things around the house. Dianna is envious and wished she could be at home with him to help, but this is a very busy time for her at school. Next week is Homecoming week and she will be going nonstop trying to get everything done along with teaching classes. Like I said: Busy, Busy, Busy.

Family - What's Up

I am looking forward to having a place to keep the distant (in miles only) family members up to date on what is happening with this branch of the Bowen Family. We are holding our own. Although, we do miss having Dorothy around. There are times when I wish I could make her a young girl again because I miss her so much, but I can't so I must let her be her own person. But that is very hard. Jason is anxiously waiting for his mission call to come. (Actually, I think Mom is more anxious about it than he is.) We all know that he is going to be a dynamite missionary. He has grown so much spiritually in the past three years. His knowledge and understanding of the scripture is awesome. Jennifer is getting into high school life but sometimes wishes she could go back to middle school. The workload is already beginning to overwhelm her but she will do just fine. Band is also taking up a large portion of her life these days. Jack is anxiously waiting for his birthday to arrive. He can hardly wait. Everyone at church is also watching the calendar because he will be 12 this year, able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood , a deacon. It has been a while since we had a deacon in the branch. Earl and I are still working hard and trying to keep things running smoothly.

Changes

You may have noticed that the focus of my blog has changed. It is not that I have abandoned learning. Learning is a continuous thing. I have just decided to change to a family oriented blog. My hope is that this will be a way of keeping family and friends updated on the events taking place in our family. The weather is getting bad due to the remnats of Hurricane Ike so I am going to end this and shut down my computer.

Learning from Presentations

The presentations in class yesterday were all wonderful and inspirational. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone's WebQuests, Websites, and Movies. As I was watching the presentations I would find myself thinking of ways I could adapt what they had done to my class setting. Some people think that if a project is planned for an elementary classroom it cannot be used in a secondary setting, but it can. Just as an example, one of the WebQuests (sorry I cannot remember the name of the classmember who presented it) on Shopping Spree Winner was designed for an elementary school math class but I can see how it could be used in my clothing or finance class with high school students. The idea of being able to spend money and on clothing would definately appeal to my teenage students in the 9-12 grades. There were also a couple of the movies that I wish I could use in my classes. Teachers must continue to be learners in order to keep their classes exciting and inspirational for their students. I am hopeful that utalizing some of the technology tools that I now have in my teaching file will help make my classes more interesting for my students.

What I Have Learned

This has been a very interesting experience. Doing a blog and setting up a facebook account. One thing that I have learned that I am not sure was an objective of the course is how my students feel when I make one of those assignments that seems to be just a way to keep them working. Don't get me wrong. I understand the reason for having us write messages on the wall and inbox for all the members of the class is the show that we understand how to use the technology and that we get comfortable with it. I also understand the reason for posting to the blogs. It is just that, when you are sitting at the computer trying to come up with something to write to someone you know little about, it gets very time comsuming and a little frustrating. Like I said, I understand how my students feel. But sometimes you have to do an assignment just for what you can get out of it, not because it makes any sense to you. Please don't take any of this personally, Dr. H, and I hope it doesn't hurt my grade. :) The assignment was to put our thoughts and feeling into our blog and that is what I have tried to do. Does anyone out there understand?

The Learning I Teach

Someone ask what I teach. I teach Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS). For the "older" generation in the audience, that is Home Economics in the modern age. My students are getting the FACS of life in my classroom. I start the beginning of the year telling my students that I am the only teacher who can, without reservation, tell them that everything I teach is something that they will use for the rest of their life. This is the reason many of us who teach FACS cannot understand why there are people in education and government who are trying to make our program extinct.

The way I explain it to my students is that everyone is going to have to intereact with other people (Interpersonal Relationships unit). We all love food and must eat (Foods and Nutrition), and we all wear clothing (Clothing Management). We are all going to live in some type of dwelling (Housing and Interior Design) and we will all use money in some way, either money we make or spending someone else's money (Personal and Family Finance). Most will have children of their own (Parenting) and even if they do not have children they will have to interact with them in some way (Child Development). These are truely "life skills" that everyone needs to be successful in every other aspect of their lives. Why would we not encourage students to take these classes rather than trying to throw the program away. Hopefully you can tell that I am passionate about what I teach.

Feeling Overwhelmed

I have spent most of the past three days working on assignments for my class. To say that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed is an understatement. Today I spent most of the morning looking for pictures to use for my movie and still have to put the movie together. I then spent all afternoon typing in the information for a WebQuest into the program to post the WebQuest. I thought I was never going to get into a website that would allow me to put it together and post it on the web. I hope I have done everything correctly and it works the way it is suppose to. I can see the value in learning how to do these things but they are very time consuming and mentally exhausting. The challenge now is finding the time to incorperate these types of activities into my classes when I teach.

Learning is Everywhere

We often think of learning as being in a formal educational setting. Those are the most obvious learning experiences and I am having a lot of those kinds of experiences these days, but learning happens all around us. As I watch my children grow and progress I learn through their eyes. It amazes me to know how much more quickly my children learn things than I did at their age. The technology they have to help them seems to speed up their learning processes. They love it when they teach their mom something and have really enjoyed teaching me how to use these new means of communication. Learning together has been a wornderful experience. It has given us a chance to spend more time together and I am learning more about them and the wonderful people they are becoming. Please don't misunderstand, we spent time together before but this is time on a different level and it has been wonderful.

Staying Young at Heart

The experiences I am having with the Integrating Technology class are showing me that you are as young as you feel and as you are willing to get involved in "young" things. Having a facebook account has really brought out the young ideas in me again. My children, ages 20 and 14, are so excited that I have a facebook account. They could not wait to add me as friends on their facebook accounts and that really makes me feel wonderful. To have children who want their mother to be a friend on their facebook account is an honor. I have also added one of the young teachers I have worked with as a friend and she was sooooo shocked when she saw it. She said she couldn't believe that I was on facebook. I find that I look forward to checking my page to see who has written a message to me. My son got me started with flair and I really love it and find the whole thing addicting. I can hardly wait until my students find out and start trying to become a "friend". I am sure that I will have to be very careful with it and selective about who I add as a friend. Any advise for an "older" teacher?

My expectations

I was ask what I exptected out of the Integrating Technology into Teaching Class. I was expecting the class to focus on things we could use in our high school classrooms that were more along the traditional lines. Things like PowerPoint presentations, use of the SmartBoard in the classroom, maybe using document scanners, and other things like that. Although that is not what we have focused on to this point, I am not disappointed. I am actually excited about the things we are doing. I would never have thought of myself setting up a blog. Really don't know what I am doing and hope that I am on the right track. My children, I have three at home and one out on her own, were shocked when I told them that I had set up a blog. They were even more suprised when they found out I had also set up a account on facebook. Those are just things that I had never thought about doing. I hear the young people at school talking about them but I never thought of doing one myself.
I am also looking forward to doing the other assignments. I have wanted to set up a web page for a long time. Started one for school last summer but never got it finished and attached to the school website. Now I have a reason to get it finished. I think I will be more comfortable with the aspects of the computer and the internet that I have not been exposed to before.

Beginning of Class

Today I started the class that will complete my Master's Degree. It is a class about using technology and that is the reason I am starting this blog. Blogging is new to me and I am a little apprehensive about what I am doing. The class is going to be very interesting but, I must admit, it is not exactally what I was expecting. My student will never believe that I am blogging and setting up a facebook account. Being of the "older" generation I have never thought of getting involved in these things but that proves that "Learning is a Lifelong Process". I look forward to doing things I have never done before.