My Musings

The Blog is Back!!

2011-12-31T23:16:00.000-05:00

The blog returns from the moth balls it's been stored in for the last six and a half months. What can I say? It's been a busy time. Baby Girl arrived here on July 27th, and she has kept us hopping. (In a good way). Plus, I finished my masters degree, went back to work, and kept everyone fed and clothed. (which is more of a miracle than you might imagine.) I debated for awhile about just deleting the blog, because most everyone I know who lives far away is Facebook friends with me, so they can keep up with all of our escapades. But, I've decided to take the blog in a new direction.

So, where are we going? Well, I've been on the beginnings of a journey to try and eat healthier. I stumbled across this blog a few months ago, and it's been something that's made me think. I know that we were eating far too much processed food (even the stuff that's supposed to be "good" for us), so I'm going to try and cut as much of it out as I can. While I'm not going as far as she does, I hope that by the end of the year 90 - 95% of our food will not be whole foods. My hope is that we'll feel better, I'll lose weight, and Nathan's ADHD symptoms will decrease. Plus, I truly believe that we will save money!

Over the next few weeks and months, I hope to share recipes I've found (or created!), plus some techniques that I've discovered to help us eat healthier and get more organized.

Oh, and don't worry. There will definitely still be cute baby and kid pictures. Plus, since it's an election year, you may hear the occasional political rant. Hey, I did say I was opinionated, didn't I?

We've Been Released!

2011-06-15T19:49:00.000-04:00

Today was Andrew's visit with the neurosurgeon. It was a routine follow-up from his surgery three years ago. While I was hoping we'd get the all-clear, all of the reading I had done said that they don't usually release patients until they are at least five. So, I figured we'd have at least one more visit before we were done. I was also slightly concerned because the back of Andrew's head was, for lack of a better term, lumpy. If you look at the back of his head from the side, you can see where it indents. I thought that might require some follow-up surgery of some sort which I was NOT looking forward to.

So, we were supposed to get to his appointment a half hour early at 10:40. Unfortunately, we didn't quite make it. First, I misjudged just how long it would take to get all the way to Scottish Rite. We are a LOT further out than we used to be, and it's a longer trip to just get to 85. Then, once we got into the parking garage, I found a space quickly, but walking out, I had what can only be described as a pregnancy brain cramp. I was standing in front of the elevators trying to figure out if I need to go up or down, but then I saw a sign that said to follow the arrow to Meridian Mark Plaza. I had never done that before, but I thought maybe I had gotten turned around in the garage. (You have to remember it's been two years since I was there last.) So, Andrew and I walked across the garage, across a walkway, and into a building I didn't recognize. Probably should have been a clue. But, I went in anyway. After searching the info board for his doctor's name and not finding it, I came to the very logical conclusion that I was in the wrong place. Back across the walkway, across the parking garage, and to the elevators again. Once again, I stared. Thankfully, a very nice man walked up and asked me if I was going up or down. I had to be truthful and tell him I had absolutely no idea. He helped me out, and we were actually able to make it to the right office building! I still walked in 10 minutes before the appointment.

Now, the neurosurgeon's practice only has one doctor in the office at a time. Wednesday is Andrew's doctor's day. What that tells you is that if there are five people in the waiting room, you're automatically number six. I always hated walking in when the place was full. We came prepared. I had juice, snacks, and a bag full of cars. Andrew did great. He played with his cars and made friends with a rotating cast of patients. Because we waited, and we waited, and we waited. I stayed pretty patient until one family that had come in after us and said their appointment time was 1:00 pm was called back BEFORE us. By this time (12:20 pm), I was starving, and I had to go to the bathroom. I hadn't wanted to leave the waiting room to go because I figured that that would be the moment we were called back. But, after that family got called back, I finally went up to the receptionist to ask when we were going to be called. She told me next (isn't that what they always say?), and I told her we had to step out, but we'd be right back.

We finally made it back, and the PA came to see us first. I told her I was a little concerned about the back of his head, and she said she'd mention it to the doctor. She left, and we waited another half hour or so (by now it was after 1:00) for the doctor to come. When he finally came in, he apologized for getting so far behind. He said that they had a patient who came in from Louisana who they had to fit in and the exam took a long time. I'm not sure how one patient could get them two hours behind, but whatever. Anyway, he said that Andrew's head was healing exactly as expected, and it was probably never going to be completely smooth. He was happy with his development, and so we are officially free! We can always call if there are issues (which I doubt), but he doesn't think we need to come back. Unless, it's for baby girl. Apparently, there's a higher risk of craniosynostosis occurring with subsequent children. Well, at least I'll know what to expect. Let's see, this time I could spend Thanksgiving week at Scottish Rite. :-)

Updating

2011-06-12T22:27:00.000-04:00

This week, we slowed down a bit. The older two boys had an evening sports camp at a local church. (Well, Nathan signed up for Weird Science and Large Group Games. That's about as sporty as he gets.) It was set up like a VBS, but with a sports focus. They seemed to have a great time, and Andrew loved being by himself in the evenings.

This week, he'll love it even more, because Nathan is off to Cub Scout Day Camp all week, and Matthew will be going to another VBS with a friend from school. (Sending my boys off to every free VBS in the county. That's how I roll!) So, Andrew will have the house to himself every morning! Of course, he may not get too much of a chance to enjoy it. Monday, we're going to go to storytime at the library, and Wednesday is his big doctor's visit. We haven't been to see the neurosurgeon for two years, and this was our summer for a follow-up. I'm assuming that we'll either be cleared completely, or he'll want us back again in two years before we're released. One visit makes for a long day. It's about a 45 minute drive, and then we'll wait for a good hour for a 30 minute or so visit. But, I am thankful that we live so close to Children's Healthcare. If we were still in Indiana, the trip would be a whole day, since the only pediatric neurosurgeons work out of Riley in Indianapolis.

Speaking of hospitals, I'll be checking in to one on July 27th to meet this little one! At my visit on Monday, the doctor and I were able to come to an agreement on a date. I was hoping for July 25th, but they won't schedule c-sections until you are 39 weeks exactly, and that puts us at the 27th. I was OK with that, because it's still in that week. I didn't want to go into the next week, because that puts us right up against school, and I really need to be home for those final preparations (both for the boys and for my classroom).

Our last bit of news is that Jeremy may have full time job! We got word today that it looks like everything is a go, but I don't want to say too much and jinx it. (We've had way too many ups and downs for me to risk anything!) Hopefully, we'll get final confirmation this week. That will definitely be an answer to prayer as we get ready to add one more person to our household!

Signs of Summer

2011-06-02T21:15:00.000-04:00

So, apparently down here in the deep South, we've finished with spring and have gone right into summer. The last few days have been in the mid-90's, and it looks like it will continue for another week or two at least. UGH. Needless to say, we haven't been spending a lot of time outside. However, we did spend yesterday afternoon at the pool!! It was a great 2 1/2 hours. First of all, all three boys burned off a ton of built up energy since they haven't wanted to be out in the heat. Secondly, the water felt wonderful. And, finally, there's something so relaxing about sitting in water when you are pregnant. We all came home a little pink. (And yes, annoying man at the pool, I did put sunscreen on the three year old. It's not my first time at the rodeo.) Plus, everyone fell asleep very quickly last night.

Another sign is the fact that Matthew's off to camp again this week. He went last year with our church and loved every minute of it. While we could have sent Nathan this year, we decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, he's not even eight yet, so he would be one of the youngest. Plus, we still struggle on occasion with sleeping, and I didn't want to subject someone who didn't know him very well to that. Next year, if Jeremy can go as a chaperone, then we'll send him. Matthew is going to be in the same cabin as one of his best friends from school. He was up this morning early and ready to walk out the door before Jeremy was even dressed to take him! He'll be home on Sunday afternoon, tired, hot, stinky, and hungry.

We're still in a holding pattern about setting a date for baby girl's arrival. I was hoping that I could do it at my last doctor's visit on Tuesday, but he told me that they wait until 32 weeks to schedule. I have another appointment on Monday, so hopefully (fingers crossed) we'll be able to nail down a date then. I have one in my mind, it's just a matter of getting the doctor to agree to it.

The End is Near!!

2011-05-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not predicting the End of the World (I'll leave that for the 89 year old crazy dudes). But, for us, the end of the school year is close! The last day for students is May 27th. It's so close, Nathan can smell it. He lives for this day every year. I have to go back on the 31st to finish cleaning up my room. Most of it will be done before then, because I have 20 little eager helpers next week who will need to be kept busy. (Don't worry, I have academic things planned too!) Plus, the beginning of summer means that this pregnancy is winding down. It's hard to believe that in about 2 months there will be another baby in this house. We'll have to spend some time getting ready. Right now, I just have "stuff" shoved into the closet. Once I'm home, and we've got some time to figure out where everyone's going to go, we'll be able to start organizing.

The boys will be busy the month of June. Matthew leaves for camp on June 2nd. He'll get back on the 5th, and then he (and maybe Nathan) will go to an evening sports camp at a church near us. Nathan goes to day camp the week of the 13th, and they both have Backyard Bible the week of the 20th. By then, it will be the end of June, and their summer will almost half over. Plus, I'm getting our pool passes soon, so there will be lots of afternoons at the pool! (I can't wait!)

And, the fun all starts in just one week!!

Sorry for starting every post with. . .

2011-04-21T19:30:00.002-04:00

. . .It's been so long since I posted. Really, it's not that I don't mean to neglect it, life just has a bad habit of getting in the way. With baseball for Matthew, Cub Scouts for Nathan, potty training for Andrew, plus KidzLIfe at church, grad school coming down to the wire, and the school year winding down, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Oh, and did I mention we're having a baby? So, I have only about a quarter of the energy that I need. (By the way, if you haven't heard, we have a new species arriving at our house. Baby #4 will be a GIRL. Not quite sure what we're going to do with one of those.)

I do keep telling myself that once the next 5 weeks are over, I'll have a lot more time. And I will. At least I won't be getting up everyday at 6 am and getting home at 4 pm (or 4:30). Plus, there won't be another 2 or 3 hours of work ahead of me every evening. (Like the two papers that are calling my name right now as I blog.) And, I'll have more time to READ!! Not books about Action Research, but books I actually want to read. I'm trying to squeeze that in now, but it's hard. I did take some time last night to read Diane Ravitch's new book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. I haven't gotten too far, but I'm enjoying it. For those of you who have never heard of her, here's an interview that she gave Jon Stewart.

(OK, I tried for five minuted to embed the video, and I just couldn't get it to work, so here's the link instead. Enjoy! http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-3-2011/diane-ravitch)

Once I finish the book, I'll definitely post my thoughts. I agree with her in a lot of things, but there are a couple of questions I have about some of her ideas.

Anyway, I better go and cut hair. Easter is coming up soon, and we all need to look nice!

No, We Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth!

2011-03-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

We've just been incredibly busy! Our first big news, if you haven't heard yet, is that our family is expanding by one! Yes, we will be having a new baby in late July or early August. (Late July if I have my way, early August if the doctor has his.) And, yes, we are hoping for a girl. At least, I know, Matthew is. He told me the other day that he and Nathan have been praying for a girl. I think they've had their fill of brothers! Of course, once they live with a temperamental, emotional girl, they may change their mind! We'll find out on March 29th, so stay tuned!

School has also kept me hopping. I'm in my last term of grad school (YIPPEEE!), but it's been hard keeping up with that and my teaching. Plus, we had a week off in January because of snow, so we've had NO breaks since Martin Luther King day. It's been a long haul. I'm so looking forward to Spring Break.

The boys are keeping us busy. Matthew played basketball this winter, and now he's got baseball starting. I don't mind baseball so much, since we can be at the park, and Nathan and Andrew can play. Basketball was hard because it's a little difficult to convince a three year old that he can't run out onto the court and play with the basketball. Nathan's in Cub Scouts. Right now, he's working on his Pinewood Derby car. It's green with yellow dots (don't ask). It may not be the best looking car in the Derby, but he likes it! Andrew still loves going to school and seeing all of his "briends". So between the three of them and work, you can see why I haven't posted much. I will be better! I ~~promise~~ hope!

I Succeeded. . .

2010-11-13T15:38:00.000-05:00

in living off of the food in my pantry for a week! Yes, I know it doesn't sound like a huge accomplishment, but it is for me. I'm the kind of person who can't just look in my pantry and freezer and be able to figure out a meal. I need a plan. Usually, I plan out my meals (or e-mealz does it for me), and then I know what I'm having every day. Unfortunately, last Friday I left all of my coupons, my e-mealz plan, and my grocery list from Publix on the printer at school. I went out and bought a few things for the weekend, thinking that I would go out either Monday or Tuesday night. But this week was conference week, and Monday, Nathan had Cub Scouts and Matthew had basketball, so no time to shop. So here's what we ended up with for the week:

Monday - Cheese Jambalaya with Chicken
Tuesday - Smothered steak with roasted potatoes (Yukon Gold potatoes are the BEST!)
Wednesday - KidzLife
Thursday - Spaghetti - My CSA share had the tiniest carrots you've ever seen in it, so I chopped a couple of them up and threw them in the spaghetti sauce.
Friday - Smoked Sausage and Mac and Cheese
Tonight - Pizza (I did have to go get some mozarella cheese.)

Not bad if I do say so myself! But, I did make sure that I brought all of my stuff home this weekend, so I can shop. I doubt we could go another week!

Holy Cow It's Been A While

2010-11-07T17:35:00.000-05:00

(with apologies to Harry Carey)

So, nothing like having THREE months between posts. Anyway, here's a quick update on all of us.

Matthew is in third grade now, and enjoying it. (Sometimes too much, if you get my drift.) He is definitely my social butterfly and can often be gone for a whole afternoon playing with the other kids in the neighborhood. He has had some problems remembering to come home at meal times or when it gets dark, but usually a couple of days stuck inside the house helps remind him. He took a martial arts class offered by the school at the beginning of the year, and now he's about to start basketball.
Nathan's in second grade and has the most wonderful teacher. She has been incredibly patient and understanding with him and his various issues (fire drills, wind, rainstorms, thunder, and the computer program that he has to do every week that he hates). He also took martial arts, and he joined Cub Scouts! That's right, we now have a Wolf Scout in our house. I was a little nervous, but it has proven to be wonderful so far. His den is fairly small, and he's learning some valuable social skills.
Andrew's in school too! He goes to preschool two days a week at a church near our house, and he loves it. He even goes to chapel once a week. His speech is now up to the level it should be at which thankfully means he won't have yet another specialist. (YAY!) He doesn't see the neurosurgeon until next summer, and I'm fairly confident that we'll be released from the doctor's care then. (Double YAY!)
We are enjoying the new house (except for the septic issues we had earlier this week), and the boys are loving their new school. Everyday, I am more and more thankful that we made the move both to the house and the school.
I'm halfway done with grad school!!!! I just have this term and next, and I want to be done by the end of June. Hopefully, I'll be able to survive my capstone project. :-)
Jeremy's hours were cut at the radio station in the middle of August. Right now, he's only working weekends. While it's been nice because he gets to stay home with Andrew, he's hoping to find something that gives him more hours (and more pay). He's got a couple of leads, so we're hoping something pans out.

Here's hoping it won't be another three months until my next update! :-)

My Homemade Life

2010-08-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

As I was making chocolate chip cookies today with my crock-pot of milk on the counter beside me and the pizza crust mixing in the bread machine, I realized just how much homemade stuff I make. I talked about the granola bars earlier (which I'm still making almost every week), but I make so much more. I've started making my own yogurt in the crockpot. (Here's the recipe I've found.) It makes the best yogurt, and you can add anything you want. The boys scarfed it down with maple syrup and vanilla the other day. I've put honey and diced peaches in mine. YUM. It's unbelievable cheap, plus there is not a single additive in it. (And I can vary the amount of sugar.)

Not only do I make homemade varities of yogurt, cookies, and granola bar, but I'm also making all of my own cleaners. I make my own all-purpose cleaner, floor cleaner, window cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, and fabric softener. Plus, I just started making my own shampoo and conditioner! When I go to the store, the only cleaners I'm buying are baking soda, vinegar, washing soda, and borax. I've also bought a couple of varities of castile soap (BEST STUFF EVER!!) and essential oils. It takes almost no time to make any of these things. The floor cleaner, window cleaner, and fabric softener is just plain vinegar. I add tea tree oil to the vinegar when I mop the floor because tea tree oil an anti-bacterial. I also add either orange oil or lavendar oil to the fabric softener. The toilet bowl cleaner is simply borax that I sprinkle in, swish around, let sit for 30 minutes or so, and then flush.

Here's the recipes for the rest:
All Purpose Cleaner
1 tsp washing soda
1 tsp castile soap
32 oz hot water
(I also add a few drops of tea tree oil)

Laundry Detergent
1 bar castile soap (grated)
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
Use one tablespoon - it will not suds up alot, but it cleans really well!

Dishwashing Detergent
Mix equal parts borax and washing soda. Use one tablespoon per load. I also use vinegar as my rinse aid.

I just started making my own shampoo, and I LOVE it. It will take a few days for your hair to adjust. I started using this over the summer, and just wore my hair in a ponytail for a week until my hair started looking decent.

Shampoo
6 oz. strong herbal tea (I used fresh rosemary and mint and let it steep for 30 minutes)
2 oz. castile soap
I put it in a spray bottle because it will be very thin.

Conditioner
Equal parts herbal tea and apple cider vinegar. (Do not use white vinegar. I've heard that really bad things happen!)
Once your hair dries, it won't smell like vinegar. I promise!

Why did I start making all of this stuff? Well, one reason was to save money. I hate spending $3.00 on the stuff I spray on the pee around the toilet. Plus, as long as I stay stocked up on borax and washing soda, I can pretty much clean everything, so there's none of the "We're out of laundry detergent!" attacks in our house. But I also started reading about all of the chemicals that are in all of these cleaners, detergents, and shampoos, and I decided that if I could make some replacements for as cheap (or cheaper) that worked as well, then I wanted to do that. And, they're safer. All of my cleaning products (except for the borax) are non-toxic. Andrew could ingest them, and while he wouldn't feel great, I wouldn't have to call poison control either. Definitely a good plan in our house. :-)

The least of these

2010-06-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

I've been a little fired up lately, so fair warning. :-)

It's election season here in Georgia. There's campaign signs on every corner. And I'm paying more attention this year than I ever had, because the people who are elected will directly affect some of the dearest people to me. My kids.

No, I'm not talking about the ones I've given birth to (though they will be affected somewhat). I'm talking about the group that will be coming to me in August. I'm talking about the 20+ children whose lives will intersect with mine for the next 10 months. And I'm talking about the kids who will come to school hoping to escape the chaos that they live with everyday.

But, you see, lots of people at the State Capitol don't seem to understand that. They seem to think that we can perform miracles. I don't know how many times I've heard one of the legislators say "Our schools need to do more with less." Really? See, the problem is the fact that these guys are middle class. They've come from middle class homes, and they send their kids either to middle class schools or to private schools. They don't seem to understand that too many times, the schools are the only refuge many of these kids have. I don't worry about the "brain drain" my students will suffer. I worry that some of them won't eat very much during summer. Let me tell you a story to illustrate this. The teacher next to me last year had a student who I'll call A. One day, A comes to school about 2 hours late, and when she walked in, she looked awful. Her teacher asked her what happened, and A tells her that she walked to school because she missed the bus. (She lives about 5 miles from school.) Why didn't her mom take her? Well, her mom wasn't home. The day before had been her mom's birthday, so she hadn't come home. A was left with her older sister who sent her off to school with a "nice lady walking by." What would have happened if the person walking by A's house hadn't been so "nice"? I wonder about A during the summer. Is she getting fed? Is she spending more nights alone? Is someone making sure her clothes are washed and her room is clean? Does anyone tell her that they love her, that she is a valuable person, that she can be anything she wants to be?

Where am I going with this? Well, my conservative friends may not like this too much, but I'm going to be honest. The Religious Right is the cause of so much of this. They've listened to too many radio shows telling them that people can lift themselves up by their bootstraps, that helping the poor is enabling them, and that small government is more important than making sure that kids are fed. They don't care about the kids like A. Oh sure, they say they do, but whenever it's time to make the hard decisions about making a state budget, they want to cut taxes, cut services, and cut public education. Who's reaching out to the least of these among us? Who cares about the kids like A who have no where else to go? Sure, we can talk about the failure of society, about too many parents having kids out of wedlock, and about parents not taking responsibility for their children, but it seems that all that does is point fingers. It seems like all conservatives want to do is assign blame, while the kids like A, and others like who walk into our schools everyday need someone to care, they need someone to reach out and love them. Teachers try. We give everything we can, but next year, I could have 25-some kids in my room. While I know that I can teach them all, I worry that I'm going to miss the lost ones. Am I going to have to time to see when a child is hurting and reach out to them? Am I going to see the ones that need that extra hug, that extra minute, that extra encouragement? Is it really worth the extra $20 a year you may save in property taxes?

Summer's here and the living is easy!

2010-06-15T14:22:00.000-04:00

Or hot, as the case may be. Since the temp has hovered in the 90's for the last couple of days, we decided to head to the pool yesterday! It was so nice to be back. Andrew even had a good time (once he decided that he liked the water). Nathan got into the water more than he ever had. He even went down the smaller slide, which is something he hadn't really ever done before.

Our park system has about 100 rules for the pool. Their rules include how close you have to be to your child (under 6 must be within arm's reach), how many kids you can have with you (no more than 3 per adult, though I'm not sure how they would enforce that if you had 4+ kids), and what type of clothes you must wear (bathing suits, no cut offs). They even check babies who have to wear swim diapers AND plastic pants AND a bathing suit. But, I think they are missing some of the most important rules.

If you are (how shall we say it?) umm, well-endowed, especially if you've had at least one child, then please stop shopping for your bikini tops in the junior section. They just don't give you the support you need. Seriously, it's embarrassing for you (even if you don't notice).
If you have to shop at Lane Bryant (which is OK, I love their clothes!), then please remember that string bikinis are NOT your friend. Nobody wants to see that much cellulite.

I also have a 2a to pregnant women. When you come to the pool, wear a suit that covers your stomach. Yes, pregnancy is a beautiful thing, but stretch marks are not.

If I could post these rules, and have everyone follow them, I would be one happy swimmer!

No Scare Tactics, Please!

2010-06-10T14:49:00.002-04:00

Tuesday night, I went to a "Mom's Night Out Goes Green" at a farm near me. (Yes, we do have farms in metro Atlanta! You just have to drive to get to them. I'm actually closer to "the country" now that we've moved.) Anyway, one of the presenters was one of the moms on www.gwinnettareamommies.com . She owns her own company selling cloth diapers and other "green" products to moms. (Here's her site.) She was great. She told people easy and fairly inexpensive things that they can do to use less paper products in their homes. She's even (almost) convinced me to buy some cloth training pants for Andrew! I learned some great ideas that I can use at home right now.

I wasn't as crazy about the 2nd presenter. She owns a company that sells bulk grains, baking products, etc. (It's a place my Aunt Sandy would have LOVED.) But, instead of teaching us how to use more natural products in our cooking, she resorted to scare tactics. You've heard it before: Even the "healthy" products at the grocery store are bad for you; the way food is prepared means that there's no nutritional value in it anymore; you must make everything from scratch (I'm a working mom, so it's not going to happen!). It may just be me, but I'm completely turned off by that. Believe me, I know that there are lots of things that aren't good for me, but when someone tries to tell me that nothing you buy at the store is good for you, I have a tendency to go "Seriously?" It was just a real turn-off. While they may have had some good products, I just wasn't even interested in buying them. Not the best way to promote your product.

But do go to Emily's site! She's got lots of great things there!

A New Milestone

2010-06-06T20:09:00.002-04:00

We've reached a new milestone here in our family. Matthew went off to camp yesterday. He's been gone about 36 hours, and it's been very, very quiet. (That could be, in part, because Nathan has no one to fight with. I'm just saying.) He's up in South Carolina right now, so it's very weird knowing that my eight year old is in a whole other state without a single family member. He is with a group of rising 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from our church. To be honest, while I miss him, I haven't worried about him. First, Matthew is very social. Just ask his teachers. :-) The chance of him being homesick is very, very low, because he'll be having too much fun hanging out with all of the other kids. Second, he is with a group of adults that I trust implicitly. I know most of the chaperones that are on the trip, and I know they will take care of him as well (or better!) than I would. And finally, he's old enough to be on a trip by himself without Mom or Dad around. At some point in time, you have to let your kids grow up. While I love having them around me (most of the time), I also know that my job is to help them learn to live without me hovering over them. So, I sent him off with $8 to buy junk food (plus snacks in his suitcase) and a reminder to listen to the leaders. He'll come back tired, dirty, with a pile of laundry, and hopefully with lots of wonderful memories. Isn't that what parenting is all about?

Yum!!

2010-06-05T20:13:00.004-04:00

So yesterday I said I was going to try and make my own granola bars. After searching up and down the aisles at Publix to find honey (I hate shopping at new stores!), I finally found it and tried this recipe.

Homemade Granola Bars
Recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net
2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/4 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spread the oats and almonds onto a baking sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.
Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the brown sugar mixture, next add the coconut and chocolate chips then stir to combine. Spread mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Cut into squares or bars, wrap individually in saran wrap then store in an airtight container for up to a week.

I made them without the coconut (I'm not a fan) and accidentally used 1/2 cup of brown sugar. (That's what happens when the recipe is on the computer across the kitchen from the cook.) I also added some wheat germ (about 1/4 cup or so). Anyway, despite those changes, they turned out great! Nathan even gave them two thumbs up. I'd add a picture, but I haven't a clue where my camera is right now. They made 16 granola bars which will last us a week, and the only thing I'll need to get to make another batch is more oats (I'm almost out). Definitely a once a week recipe! Next time, I may make them with raisins (or peanut butter!).

Busy, busy, busy!

2010-06-04T21:44:00.002-04:00

The last two weeks have been unbelievably busy around here! In the space of a week, I moved my entire classroom (just across the hall) and all of our stuff to a new house! That's right, we are officially in new digs. Our new house is in a neighborhood with a ton of kids. We haven't been out much to meet anyone since we're either unpacking boxes or it's raining (or too darn hot to go outside). Today, the next door neighbor stopped by this evening to say hi and tell us about the kids in the neighborhood. It looks like there are at least a couple that are Matthew's age.

I also picked up my first CSA share yesterday. A CSA is community supported agriculture. Basically, every week I will get a bag of produce from a local farm. I love it because I get fresh vegetables without having to grow (and kill) a garden. This week, I got red potatoes, vidalia onions, salad greens, spring onions, swiss chard, and . . .collard greens. (I need to find someone to take the collards off my hands. We don't eat greens.) I made fried red potatoes tonight for supper. I steamed the potatoes, chopped up a couple of the spring onion bulbs, and fried them all together with some mushrooms I had in the fridge. A little salt and pepper (and granulated garlic since my fresh garlic is still at the old house) and the onion tops at the very end. Yummy. The boys saw the onions and refused to touch them. That's OK, more for me!!

Besides the produce, the farm also sells eggs (from the chickens that are scratching around the farm) and lightly pasteurized milk from a farm near here. I got a dozen eggs, but I don't know if I'll get any milk. It's $5 for a half gallon, and we drink at least a gallon a week around here. They sell chocolate milk, so I may buy that as a treat for the boys. They also sell Greek yogurt, and a homemade veggie cream cheese which I can't wait to try. I'm so excited about the next 25 weeks!

Of course, having this fresh food is making me want to serve less processed food to the boys. So I went searching for a granola bar recipe. I think I found a really good one! I'm going to try it tomorrow (when I get my baking dishes from the house). I'm also going to make frozen banana pops too! It's going to be a delicious summer!

That is if I ever get the boxes unpacked.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:59:00.002-04:00

This is a total stream of consciousness that came to me during church this morning, so if it doesn't make sense, that's the reason why. :-)

Today was Mother's Day, and for some reason, I was missing my grandmothers more today than I have in a while. I think it started a couple of weeks ago when I heard an advertisement for flowers, and the announcer suggested that you could send the flowers to your grandmother. I don't have anymore grandmas, and it's a hole that won't ever go away. Today, our pastor preached about teaching your children their faith story and making sure that they know where they come from. For me, it's easy. I had a wonderful, godly great-grandmother who prayed for me (and all of her offspring) every chance she got. I got to keep my great-grandma until I was already married. And I'm selfish. I wanted the same things for my kids. Both of my grandmas were fantastic women. They each had their own way of living out their faith, and they would have been wonderful examples for my kids. They both got to meet and love Matthew and Nathan. (I will be forever thankful that we were able to visit my grandma in New York when Nathan was just a few months old. It was a rough trip with two babies, but those pictures are precious to me.) Andrew won't have any of those memories. I don't know if it will be something that bothers him, but it makes me sad for him. But it makes me realize that I have to work harder to teach my kids their history. My heritage was living right in front of me, so I couldn't miss it. I'll have to intentionally teach my boys their heritage. Sometimes I get so tied up in the here and now that I forget the foundation. I have three precious souls that I've been given.

On that happy (?) note, I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Happy Birthday Matthew!

2010-03-22T19:26:00.002-04:00

Today at about 1:30 (or so) am, Matthew turned 8. He was sleeping at the time (and so was I, for that matter), but I like to remember that he is my one who arrived in the middle of the night. Doesn't every mom need one?

His birthday celebration started slightly off on the wrong foot. He didn't feel very well yesterday, so I let him stay home from church. By evening, he was back to his insane self. Of course, this morning, he was back to complaining that his throat hurt, and his head hurt, and his stomach hurt, and he just didn't think he was going to make it to school. Well, I didn't bake a huge batch of cupcakes for nothing! I was mean and made him tough it out. Strangely enough, he was healthy enough at 8:00 to ask me if he could go and get breakfast from the cafeteria. Hmmm.

He was supposed to have a baseball game today, so I made cupcakes for him to take to his team. Unfortunately, winter is hanging on by its fingernails here in Georgia, so no game. We ordered pizza instead. He did get a chance to play with the new Lego Star Wars set he got. (Suddenly, Star Wars is hugely popular in our house. There are worse things I guess.) This weekend, my parents are coming up, along with my brother's family, so we'll have a celebration then. It's even supposed to be warm!!

Poor, Neglected Blog

2010-03-17T21:06:00.002-04:00

To my blog:

I am sorry I've neglected you lately. It's been a very busy couple of months. I've started new classes for grad school, and I'm doing a lot of reading about behavior management and intervention. Plus, I had conferences a month ago and report cards come out this Friday. Matthew's starting baseball, so there have been practices and his first game (which he won, by the way). On top of all that, I've been spending a lot of time writing my state senators as they try to pass a bill basing my salary on how well a seven year old does on a three day test in April. As you can imagine, that's gotten me pretty upset. Thankfully, some of our state legislators have decided that rushing into this is a bad idea, so it's being put off until next year. Hopefully, I will have more time to devote to you (and the three people who read you.)

Sincerely,
Me

What is there to share?

2010-01-25T21:16:00.002-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks? Honestly? Not much. Our lives have stayed pretty boring. (Which is a good thing!) We started back to KidzLife three weeks ago, so that's brought our Wednesdays back up to full speed, but that's been about it. We do have colds going through the house. I kept Andrew home from church yesterday because he still had green goop oozing out of his nose and eyes. (He and Nathan both have the same quirk. When they get a cold, their eyes get all crusty and gross. Looks like pinkeye, but it's not.) Thankfully, it solved a major dilemma I had. I take the boys to church at 5:15 on Sundays so I can go to "Big Church", but the Colts played at 3:00 yesterday. They would be starting the second half just about the time we needed to leave, and the game would be over by the time we got home. I didn't know what to do! But with Andrew's cold, I could stay home yesterday evening without feeling any guilt. Plus, it was a monsoon all day yesterday too, so I didn't have to try and go out in it. I heard our pastor's sermon was fantastic, though, so I downloaded it to my iPod. I'm going to try and find time to listen to it sometime this week.

So that's our update! I know, you didn't know how you were going to live without it, did you?

If Only. . .

2009-12-31T14:20:00.002-05:00

I'm a big Harry Potter fan (not like up at midnight to see the first showing of the latest movie fan, but a fan), and recently I've converted Matthew to my ways. Well, I didn't so much convert him as he converted himself. One day, Matthew was flipping through the channels on the TV, and he came across The Sorcerer's Stone. (Great movie, by the way) He loved it, and quickly discovered that I have the DVD of that movie. So now, he watches it at least once a week. I was watching it with him the other day, and I decided that I need some magical powers. At the end of the movie, Dumbledore claps his hands, raises his arms, and the Great Hall's decorations are instantly transformed. I would love to have that power. I clap, raise my hands, and the laundry's folded. Or the family room is cleaned up. Or my bed is made. I wouldn't use it for world domination or anything of the sort. Just to get stuff done around my house. Wouldn't that be great??

Or maybe I'll just be happy for a magical power that will help my kids get along.

Woo Hoo! Post 150!

2009-12-26T18:54:00.003-05:00

According to blogger, this is my 150th post. Wish I could make it more exciting, but this is what you get. We had a pretty good Christmas. The boys got what they had been wanting.

We didn't get them too much else. I thought that the one big gift would probably be enough. I think we could have gotten away with just getting them the Wii and nothing else. :-) They've played it ALOT since they got it. Actually, they're playing it again as I type this. It is getting them up and moving. I played Wii Boxing today and ended up winded! It's hard work!

My parents and sister were here for Christmas too. It was fun to have family here for Christmas. This is actually the first time we've had family here on Christmas day. Last year we were up in Indiana, and the two years before that we were here by ourselves. I got a Honey-Baked ham for Christmas Dinner, (Manna from heaven is all I can say) and my mom made her Cheesy potatoes. Yum. We spent the day relaxing and watching the boys play Wii games (or playing them ourselves). Matthew is good. I mean, REALLY good. He beat all of us at pretty much everything. He has a lot of hand-eye coordination, and he picks up the games very easily. Even Nathan started getting the hang of the games. He has a tendency to get frustrated if he doesn't get something right away, but he was very patient and worked his way through it when he was stuck. I was very proud of him!

Hope that you and yours had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Cookie Time!

2009-12-12T21:33:00.006-05:00

Today is December 12th. In exactly four weeks, I will be taking my Praxis exam on the Foundations of Special Education. I also have a Literature Review that needs to be done in a month. Plus, my school bag weighs close to 1000 pounds from all of the papers I have to grade before Friday. But did I do any of that today? No, of course not! I made these:

and these:

and even whipped up these for supper:

It's Christmas baking time at our house! Matthew helped me with the Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches while Nathan was at choir practice for the Christmas Eve service (http://www.christmasevegwinnett.com/ if you're interested in coming! You won't be disappointed!).

And both boys helped with the cut out cookies. (For a while at least)

Yes, that would be Andrew's hand you see at the bottom trying to sneak a scrap of cookie dough. He's very much like his mom! He was our little helper.

I finished by making potato latkes. Two other teachers and I served them yesterday to our classes to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, and they were fantastic! I picked up some potatoes when I was out grocery shopping today so I could make them tonight. They were almost completely traditional, right down until the point when I served them with bacon. Not very kosher of me. :-)

Finally got everything cleaned up. Just in time to make my cinnamon swirl bread I always make for Sunday morning. Tomorrow, I'm going to make caramel macchiato thumbprints and biscotti. I've never made biscotti before, so wish me luck!

Come Back Tomorrow. . .

2009-12-11T23:24:00.003-05:00

and see the pictures that I'm planning on taking as Matthew and I attempt to make cut out Christmas cookies together. It should be something to behold.

It's Up!

2009-12-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

Amazingly enough, it's only December 5th, and I have my Christmas tree up. If you know me, you know that it's something I put off every year. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. A lot. What I don't love is getting out all of the decorations, putting them out, and finding a place for all of the things that are displaced because of the Christmas decorations. If I could go to bed one night and have little elves come and decorate my house, I'd be thrilled. But Matthew and Nathan have been bugging me to do it, so we got the three out, and got the lights and garland on it. We're going to put the ornaments on tomorrow. I even got lights on one set of bushes out in front of the house. I don't think they'll win any decorating prizes, but at least we don't look like the Scrooge family anymore.

Satisfaction

2009-11-28T18:48:00.002-05:00

We reached that point today. You know the one where grandma and grandpa have headed back home, and the boys have decided that they have been together for four days, and the house is beginning to fall apart at the seams? Yeah, that point. Plus, with all three home for the last four days, the toys had started to migrate to every part of the house (plus I think they're multiplying while we sleep), so I needed to do a major cleaning. Sounds easy, right? You don't live with Nathan. It's impossible to clean with him around. He refuses to let me throw away a single toy. Even the ones that are broken or just downright weird. But because I am a problem solver, we figured it out. Jeremy took Nathan to the park (Matthew said he was TOO tired), and I attacked their room. My children have more junk than any human should have. Most of it being McDonald's Happy Meal toys. I'm sure that says something about my parenting, but let's not linger on that too much, OK? I tossed all of the toys that were broken, and the ones that were still in good shape? I'm taking them to school for my treasure box. They can be some other parent's problem.

I'm sweet that way, aren't I?

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T14:58:00.002-05:00

I did it! Or, I should say more accurately, we did it! The first Thanksgiving that I've ever hosted is over, and the food was all edible (except for the rolls, but we can't all be perfect, can we?) Thanks to my mom's guidance, the turkey came out wonderfully. I was pretty confident that I could handle everything else, but turkeys frighten me. I guess I've just heard too many horror stories about how the turkey ended up dry, or undercooked, or burnt to a crisp, and I didn't want any of that to happen. I had thought about brining it, but that just proved to be a much bigger deal than I wanted to take on, so we just put it in a cooking bag, stuffed it with onions, celery, and sage, and rubbed olive oil, paprika, and pepper all over the skin and shoved it in. Four and a half hours later, it was perfection. I stayed pretty basic with the sides. I figured rather than have 15 small sides and stress myself out, I'd make 3 or 4 things and make them really good. We had the old standbys of mashed potatoes and stuffing, and I added roasted vegetables (butternut squash, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, parsnips, and carrots), steamed green beans, and a cranberry salad. I was so worried about having enough food (for the 8! of us), that I made WAY too much. We have a ton of leftovers. I'm going to be eating turkey 15 different ways before I get through it all.

I think this Thanksgiving, while fun, was also hard for me. I remember the Thanksgivings when I was a kid where there would be 20 or so of us at the table at my grandmother's. I think having just my parents and my sister come down seem to really emphasize the fact that those days are gone. Plus, we just passed the anniversary of my grandma's death two years ago, and today would have been my grandpa's birthday. I think having all of those events come together this year has just really cemented it to me that those days are gone. While I'm happy for the memories, and I love making new memories for my own kids, there's a part of me that wishes for those days back. Life just seemed so much simpler then. But now I'm the one making the memories for my own kids. They won't be the same memories I had, but I'm excited to see what memories we'll make over the Thanksgivings to come.

Thanksgiving Week

2009-11-21T22:12:00.002-05:00

We have quite the week ahead of us. Monday is Andrew's 2nd birthday. We don't have a whole lot planned for that day except a trip to McDonald's (more for Andrew's older brothers rather than Andrew). My parents are getting here on Tuesday, so I think we'll have a celebration for Andrew and his 60 year old grandfather on Wednesday evening. I don't think Andrew will mind sharing his cake with his grandpa.

Thursday, my sister is flying in, and I get to cook my first Thanksgiving meal! We're going pretty traditional, and I'm hoping I have enough room in my oven. I thought about buying a turkey roaster to free up room in the oven, but I'm also lacking counter space. So, I'm sticking with the oven and hoping the timing works out.

Friday, we may do some shopping at Target. I know I'm not heading to the mall. I'm not crazy enough to venture out to a mall in metro Atlanta on Black Friday. Some people may find that exciting; all it gives me is a headache. Who knows? Maybe we'll even get the tree up this weekend! It would be the first time I've had a tree up before December in. . . ever?

My First Success

2009-11-13T23:11:00.003-05:00

Last night, I took my first assessment for grad school. (That's one of the great things about this school. For some of the classes, you can schedule your final assessment whenever you want.) This one was for my Foundations of Instructional Design class. Yes, that class is almost as exciting as it sounds. It's really a prerequisite course to the rest of the Instructional Design classes that I will have to take later that will culminate in me designing an original unit of instruction. I have to admit that I was very nervous about this exam. I had taken a pre-assessment a couple of times and scored pretty well, but there were still parts of the class that I was having a hard time grasping. Monday, the course mentor conducted a conference call for students who were getting ready to take the assessment, and the areas she said were an emphasis on the exam were the exact areas that I was having a lot of trouble on! I tried to cram in between my conferences on Wednesday and Thursday. (Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I decided to schedule this exam during conference week? Cause I don't already have enough stress.) I still wasn't feeling very confident, and there were definitely some questions that I had to just guess on. I thought I was going to get my score as soon as the exam was over, so imagine my surprise when it told me "Score Not Disclosed". I got back home and logged on to the student portal, hoping it would show up there, but there was nothing. Finally, I found out that it could take up to two business days for my score to be posted! When I talked to my mentor last night, she told me that it usually only takes a day or so. This morning at school, I kept refreshing my WGU e-mail hoping to get an e-mail telling me how I did. It came at about 9:00. I passed with an 87%! Go me!

While I'd love to relax, I've still got a Praxis exam for my Intro to Special Ed class coming up at the beginning of January, and a Literature Review I need to finish by the middle of January. Right now, I'm doing alot of searching for articles that I can use for my lit review before I start my annotated bibliography (which will probably average about 15 pages or so). Once I pass that, I can write the actualy Lit review which will probably be about 10 pages. I'm so excited. (note the sarcasm) I haven't written anything of a postsecondary level for a loooong time.

Conferences went well, both for me as a teacher, and for the boys. Matthew continues to sail through. His teacher thinks he's quite the character. We're still working on his talking. He seems to think everyone is as interested in his thoughts as he is. Otherwise, he's great! Academically, Nathan is excelling. His teacher is amazed by how bright he is. She and I are still worried about his social development. While he seems to be doing OK relating to the other kids in the classroom, he doesn't really play with anyone at recess. He spends a lot of his time just walking back and forth across the playground (probably talking to himself if I know Nathan). We're discussing having him retested for Aspergers. While he probably wouldn't qualify for any services, it might help his teachers understand some of his issues as he gets older. So far, he's had very understanding teachers, but I worry about him as he moves into the upper grades. Having a specific diagnosis will ensure that his teachers will have the information they need to help his adjust.

Only seven more school days until Thanksgiving! I can't wait!

(PS Here's the two second Andrew update. He's starting to talk even more! Now, he says ball, baby, juice, bye-bye, shoe, and choo-choo! I gave him a haircut yesterday, and cut his hair just a little too short. You can definitely see his scar now!)

Halloween

2009-11-08T13:15:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of our Halloween celebrations! The Wednesday before Halloween was our Fall Festival at church. Then, on Saturday afternoon, I took the older two to an assisted living center for trick or treating. They had sent an e-mail to our church saying the residents wanted to have some kids come over. I don't know if the boys enjoyed it, but the residents got a kick out of all of the kids. Saturday night, we went over to the mall to trick or treat. We've done that the last couple of years, and it's gone really well. This year, it was REALLY crowded since it was raining outside. We only lasted about 45 minutes before Matthew said he was done with trick or treating and asked for ice cream. It sounded like a good idea to me, so that's what we did! They didn't get a huge amount of candy, but everyday when they come to my room, they get a piece of candy, so they don't really need any for Halloween.

Digging out pumpkin guts. I was impressed that Nathan was willing to stick his hand in!

My little pumpkins!

Trick or treating at the assisted living center

Ready to head off to the mall!

Catching Up

2009-10-17T18:38:00.004-04:00

It's been a crazy few weeks here at our house! We seem to have dried out, sort of. It rains every few days, so it feels like almost forever since we've actually seen the sun for more than a couple of hours. On top of that, it's gotten really cold! They're talking about freeze warnings for tomorrow morning, and we actually had to turn the heat on today. We kept trying to hold out until it warmed back up, but it was getting really cold in Andrew's room, and we wanted him to stay somewhat warm during his nap. Right now, it's 48 degrees, cloudy and windy, and I'm beginning to think I moved back to Indiana without realizing it. Thankfully, it supposed to be back to 70 by Wednesday! Plus, the five day forcast shows sun everyday with no chance of rain. Let's celebrate! There is one good thing from all of this rain. Lake Lanier, which got down to historic lows during the drought in 2007, is back to full pool. Experts thought that it would take three years or more to get back to full pool. Guess they didn't factor in over two feet of rain in just over a month.

My parents and sister were here last weekend. I had a four day weekend thanks to the governor. October 9th was the last of my furlough days. Unfortunately, I'll be feeling the hurt until December since they spread out the pay loss over five months. We had a really great time, though! It was actually kind of sunny on Saturday, so they got to watch Matthew play soccer. (Good thing, too, since today's game was cancelled because of rain, AGAIN.) We also got a chance to go to the Farmer's Market. I hadn't been there in ages. On Monday, my aunt took Mom and I to a thrift store where I got 8 shirts for Matthew and two pairs of jeans and a shirt for Andrew all for less than $15. Plus, they don't look like thrift store. I'm really picky about what I buy. Now, Matthew's pretty much set for the winter. I pulled out my tub of 24 month clothes for Andrew, and he's all set now. I just need to go through the clothes I put away last year for Nathan and get them in his drawer, and we'll be all set for the winter.

Here's some pictures of our weekend!

Mom and Matthew playing Sorry

Julie and Andrew at the soccer field

Hanging out after baths

I've been busy with school. I picked up one more class this term, an intro to Instructional Design. That one doesn't look like it'll be too difficult. I have to pass an objective exam at the end. I can schedule the exam as soon as I think I'm ready, so I hope to be able to take it by the beginning of December. I'm not taking my Intro to Special Ed exam until January, and things are going pretty well there. The only class that may take me some time is my Lit Review class. I had a conference call about it on Wednesday, and it is going to be ALOT of work. I worked today on the first part of it which is simply my problem statement and instructional setting. The next part will take a while. I have to find 10 sources and go through their credibility, reliability, and authority. Then, I have to make an annotated bibliography of all 10 sources. The course mentor (think professor) said it usually runs about 14 pages or so. That's all before I write the actual lit review which will probably be about 10 pages or so. Right now, I'm in the middle of looking for journal articles to review. It's tons of fun, let me tell you!

The boys are staying busy. Matthew is occasionally playing soccer, :-) and they are both busy with KidzLife on Wednesday. Plus, we've actually got Andrew saying some words that we can almost recognize! When I ask him if he's going to play with his trains, he say "Choo choo!" I guess we can call that his first word! The other day, I gave him some juice, and he said something that was very close to thank you. Sounded good enough to me! Hopefully, more words will come soon!

The Wet Week that Was

2009-09-26T15:16:00.003-04:00

There aren't really words to describe what this last week has been like. If you've been watching the news, you know that we got epic amounts of rain for about seven days. The worst of it was Sunday night into Monday. Last Sunday, we had a tremendous thunderstorm come through in the middle of the night. It woke all of us up (even Andrew, who usually sleeps through anything), and it stormed and POURED for close to two hours. I just lay in bed worrying about the fact that it was a Sunday night which meant that the next day was Monday, and I was going to have to make it through the day on very little sleep. I never imagined what was going on outside.

Here's what was happening while we slept.

(Pictures courtesy of the ajc)

Those buses are parked about a half mile from my house at Parkview High School. There's a creek that runs right next to where the buses are parked, and the water rose to about 7 or 8 feet overnight. And we didn't even get the worst of the flooding. Over on the west side of Atlanta, entire neighborhoods were under water. In some places, you could only see the roofs of the two story houses. Six Flags had many of their roller coasters under water. The pictures on the news were just surreal. You see stories like that in other places, but to realize it's happening to people right where you live is very disconcerting. An elementary school in Cobb County, Clarkdale Elementary, was completely submerged. Those students had to evacuate on Monday as water starting pouring in. Our school was cancelled on both Monday and Tuesday because it wasn't safe to drive on the roads. People were getting swept off of the roads as they tried to drive through the water. It was like nothing I had ever experienced.

Thankfully, our house stayed dry. Our house is set up on a rise, and the water flowed down the lawn and into the neighbor's. During the worst of the rain on Monday afternoon, it was pooling quite a bit just past our neighbor's house, but it didn't get up very high. We don't have basements on our road, and I've never been happier about that. I spent Wednesday back at school just looking around my classroom and realizing how thankful I was that it was still there. I can't imagine as a teacher, or a student, losing absolutely everything in your classroom. Many of those students also lost everything in their homes as well. The thought of it is overwhelming.

Our only problems have been with our phone and internet service. The phone was out Monday, (I'm beginning to think something got hit by lightning) and the internet went out completely on Tuesday. I was finally able to get a hold of someone on Thursday, and everything should be up and running no later than Tuesday. A lot of the roads around us are closed as a creek that meanders around our area washed out or weakened many of the bridges that cross it. It's made getting around a little interesting. Matthew's soccer field (which sits across the street from where those buses were parked) suffered some severe damage, but they are hoping to get everything back up and running by next week. They lost a few of their soccer goals and most of the fence, and in some places the ground washed away, but I drove by there today, and there were people out getting it cleaned up. Unfortunately, it's pouring right now, as we are expecting another 1 to 2 inches of rain today. Hopefully, the ground has dried enough to handle it.

Soccer Pics

2009-09-18T23:01:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures from Matthew's soccer game last week. It's an instructional league, so they don't keep score, but he still had a great time!

I'm actually very impressed that I got this shot. :)

While I'd love to post pictures tomorrow from his game, we are beginning to build arks down here in Atlanta, so there aren't going to be any games tomorrow. I'm just hoping the rain stops someday. My children (both my own and the ones I spend my days with) really need to go outside to play.

It's Official!

2009-09-10T20:08:00.002-04:00

I just finished talking to my mentor at Western Governors University, and I'm officially enrolled in my first two masters classes. The orientation course is a kind of get to know you course. If you don't finish it, you don't have to pay for it. Now, I'm on the hook for tuition. Or Sallie Mae is since they're borrowing me the money to go back to school. I'm enrolled in Introduction to Special Education, Law & Legal Issues Policies and Procedures; and Literature Reviews for Educational Research. They sound fun, don't they? Both of them are introductory courses which involve a lot of reading and learning of terms and procedures. The Literature Review course will also get me started on my capstone project (think masters thesis). During that one, I'll get assigned a capstone chair who will help guide me through the entire process. During my last term, I'll write the project and then have to present an oral defense of it. That's the one thing that has me worried. I've never done any sort of big research project, so this will all be new to me. But before I get to all that, I have to get through the next three terms and lots of classes. Guess I better go start studying now.

Matthew's New Sport

2009-09-03T22:22:00.003-04:00

Before I start, I blame all of this on my Aunt Judy. You'll see why in a minute. :-)

Matthew is starting soccer this week! He's mentioned it off and on for a while because one of our routes to church on Wednesday takes us right past the soccer complex, and he would see the kids play. But it was never a big thing. That changed this summer. My cousin Penny was down here visiting her mom, and her oldest son, Jon, introduced Matthew to soccer. They played one Sunday evening when we went over for dinner. Matthew had a blast. Plus, he was pretty good! (To my untrained eye.) I figured it wouldn't be too long before he was asking about playing. He waited until we were home. Being the wonderful mom that I am, I decided to sign him up. (Actually, I had already decided to put him in something this fall, so it worked out fabulously.) I picked up a soccer ball and backpack a couple of months ago when the Wal-Mart near me did a big clearance before they remodeled, and Matthew and I went out tonight to get him cleats, shin guards, and socks. His first practice is tomorrow, and he's getting pretty excited. They'll only play on Saturdays, and the games only last an hour or so, so it won't stress the schedule too much. With this and KidzLife on Wednesdays, he's going to stay pretty busy. No time to bother Nathan then. Wow, this really is a great plan! :-)

First Day of School

2009-09-01T22:16:00.003-04:00

Not only am I a teacher, but starting today, I'm also a student! Yep, I FINALLY got around to starting my master's degree. I wanted to try and start last December at Georgia State, but things just didn't work out for me. So this summer, I decided that I was going to find a school and a program that would work with my schedule. I did LOTS of searching online and found lots of diploma mills, but finally I stumbled on a great university. It's called Western Governor's University, and it's located in Utah. Like its name implies, it was the brainchild of the governors of the nineteen western states. It's a completely online campus. Plus, instead of credit hours, its classes are based on competency units. Once you show competency and pass the assessment for the class, you are finished! It's really designed for working adults who have lots of experience, but need a college degree for career advancement. It's also really easy to apply to, and it's the only completely online school that participate in federal financial aid. It took me about two weeks to go from application to acceptance to start date. Instead of paying for credit hours, you pay a flat per term fee no matter how many classes you take and pass, so it's very affordable. I'm hoping to be able to get my whole degree done for less than $10,000. (Which is ALOT cheaper than some schools I looked at.) I decided to get my master's in special education. My ultimate goal is to teach in a primary self-contained special education classroom. Hopefully, I'll be able to get done in 18 months. We'll have to wait and see. I started my first class today. It's an orientation course that needs to be done in the first two weeks. It's not too difficult, so hopefully I can get it done sooner and get into the meat of my classes. While it will take a lot of organization and planning (and mountains of help from Jeremy), I'm so excited that I've finally taken this step!

Hey, it's me!

2009-08-26T21:40:00.002-04:00

Sorry to all three readers who read this blog, because I never posted anything about Andrew's surgery on Friday. It went fabulously. He didn't go back until about 90 minutes after the scheduled time, but he was really good waiting in a little tiny room for a very long time without having eaten anything all day. They only time he would get really upset is when someone would come in. When they did finally come to take him back, they wanted him to ride in the guerney. That really set him off, so he went through the OR doors wailing. While it was upsetting, I know it didn't last for long, because the nurse had assured me that they put the babies under almost as soon as they are in for just that reason. After he left, I ran down to the cafeteria since I hadn't eaten in ages to grab lunch. In the time it took me to get my lunch, get back to the room, and eat one chicken strip, the tubes were in. The doctor came back to the room within 15 minutes to tell us it was done. They brought Andrew back about a half hour later, and 45 minutes after that we were able to head home! By the time we got home, he was already back to his normal, happy self. He ate a full supper that night and headed to bed with no problem. All in all, it went perfectly!

Now, if I could only get him to start talking. . .

What a Day!

2009-08-19T20:52:00.002-04:00

Well, it has been quite the day today. The boys and I headed to school this morning, and I taught until 9:30. Then, I left to take Andrew to his pre-op appointment at Children's Healthcare at Egleston. This hospital is closer to us than Scottish Rite where he had his surgery last year. It's actually on the Emory campus and right across the street from Emory hospital where my Uncle Ron got his new heart almost two years ago. His appointment was at 10:30, and I arrived at the parking garage before 10:15. After driving through all four levels of the garage, I finally found a family that was getting ready to pull out of their spot. Thankfully, it was right beside the elevators, so it didn't take me too long to get Andrew out of the car, into his stroller, and up to the right floor. I signed in at 10:29. :) Then, the wait started.

First, we waited to get called to registration. Then, we waited to get called back. Then, we waited for the tech to get his vitals and take a history. Then, we waited for the pre-op clinic nurse to come and ask me the exact same questions that the tech asked. Then, we waited for someone from anesthesia to come and ask me the exact same questions. Finally, we waited for the doctor to come to look in his ears and ask me some of the exact same questions. (Are you sensing a pattern?) We didn't leave until after 12:30. I zipped through the drive-thru at Chik-fil-A and got us both some lunch, raced home (without speeding on 78!), and dropped Andrew off so I could get back to school at 1:30. I was actually only about 3 minutes late.

Then, tonight, I went to our church's training for KidzLife. This past spring, our church decided to drop our Awana program and begin their own. I will admit that I was a little disappointed at first. Matthew and Nathan really enjoyed Awana, and Matthew only had one more year left of Sparks. I liked that it really gave him a goal to finish his book twice each year so he could get his review patch and go to the skating party the church sponsored for book finishers. But after seeing what our church has put together, I'm really excited. We're going to spend the year studying the Sermon on the Mount. And the lessons will encourage the kids to really think about what they are studying and how they can apply it to their lives. Plus, the journals that the K-2nd grade kids will use are incredibly cute! I'm going to be working with a group of Kindergarten kids, and I can't wait until next week. We have over 1000 kids registered to start next week! It will be awesome!

Musings about our First Week

2009-08-16T20:49:00.003-04:00

One thing I will say for the first week of school: It seemed to zip by. It feels like it was just Monday morning, and suddenly I'm already getting ready for another week of school.

Nathan's love/hate relationship with school has not diminished over the summer. On the way to school on Monday, he was complaining about how he didn't want to go. I told him he could be miserable for the next 179 days, but on the first day of school he had to pretend to be happy!

Matthew still hasn't learned that there are times when he needs to zip it so his teacher can talk.

Even though I hoped that starting school would cut down somewhat on the fighting, that hasn't proved to be the case.

I think I'm going to really enjoy my group this year. I had a fabulous first week. While I was exhausted at the end of it, I had a great time. I'm diving headfirst into both Writer's Workshop and organizing my reading time around something called "The Daily 5". Both went really well, and I'm very excited about the rest of the year!

On another note. Andrew's surgery is this Friday. I still don't know what time it will be. I'm not sure if I will take my laptop or not with me to the hospital. Either way, I will be sure to post something by Friday evening.

Working for Free

2009-08-02T23:11:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, instead of heading into school to start the year, I'll be at home. Thanks to the economy, I'm furloughed for the first two days of August and one day in October. On principle, most teachers I know aren't going in to show the governor that we won't work for free. Of course, what were lots of us doing last week?

Going in to get our rooms ready.

Working for free.

Ironic, isn't it?

Not the Sunday I Wanted!

2009-07-26T20:14:00.002-04:00

After we had cleaned up everything from dinner today (Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup, yum!), I decided to go to Staples to get the last few things on the boys' supply list. Matthew needed eraser caps and both of them need dry erase markers, and both were on sale this week at Staples. Plus, they had a spend $30/save $5 coupon, so I thought I'd get the rest of what I needed. I headed over there, and got everything I wanted (except for the crayons which were NOT a quarter a piece like I thought), and headed out. I decided to stop at Kroger on my way home and get some pudding mix since I had a graham cracker pie crust I needed to use. I headed in there, grabbed the couple of things I needed and headed out to go home. I jumped in the van, turned the key, and got. . .

NOTHING.

That's right. The car was dead. I called Jeremy, but there wasn't a lot he could do since he had all three boys, including a napping Andrew at home. I stood around for a while, hoping that someone would notice my distress. Finally, I decided to put the hood of the car up. Well, nothing attracts men like a woman staring blankly into the engine of her vehicle. I had a guy come right over and ask if I needed help. He pulled his car over, and then pushed the van into a better position so the jumper cables could reach. We kept the cables on for a while, and while they were attached, I could get the electronics on the car to work, but it still refused to turn over. We kept trying, but it just wasn't working. So, I used my Emergency Roadside Assistance I have through Progressive :-) and called them for help. The first question the lady asked me was if I was in a safe place. I guess the parking lot at Kroger's is pretty safe, though I was getting a little warm. (J/K, I know what she was really asking) She also asked where I wanted the car towed to. Not really the best question for me. I'm standing there in a hot parking lot, under the beating sun, and I can't come up with anything. Finally, I told her Pep Boys. Thankfully, that was within the 15 miles they will pay to tow. I called Jeremy to have him bring the boys, so I could go home and he could go with the car. Repair shops are a man's job in my book, plus, I was really hot and wanted to go home. As I'm waiting for the tow truck, I put the hood down and close the doors, having conveniently forgotten that the keys are in the car, and the locks engaged the last time I tried to start it. Now, I'm standing in a hot parking lot, next to a locked car with nothing but my cell phone. (And Cool Whip probably turning into a hydrogenated mess in the car!) Before disaster struck, though, Jeremy came with the boys, and the tow truck showed up at the same time. I headed home, leaving them to tow the car. I went home, laid on the bed in the air conditioning, and had a glass of water. Nice.

Of course, Pep Boys is going to charge us $95 just to figure out what's wrong, and who knows how much more to fix it, but my Service Engine light had been on anyway, and emissions tests are just around the corner, so it was an expense I was going to have to pay anyway. But finding out this week I'm losing $750 in salary between now and December and now the car expense is a little stressing. Guess we'll see what happens.

Too Many Books!

2009-07-18T21:46:00.003-04:00

Ask anyone who knows me (and especially people who knew me when I was a kid), and they will tell you my absolute favorite thing to do is read. I literally do not remember a time when I wasn't reading. I know that by the time I was in first grade, I was reading Little House in the Big Woods. I have more books in my house than I have bookshelves for, and we could have gone on three or four vacations with the money I've spent on books since we've been married.

Well, God knew what he was doing when he brought us here to Gwinnett County. The library system here was named best in the country a few years ago. What I love about is that it's a county-wide system. As long as I live anywhere in the county, I can go to any branch in the county. Plus, the entire catalog is online, so if I find a book I like, I can place a hold on it online. It's fantastic.

The only problem? Actually, there are a couple. One, I always forget to return the books, so I'm pretty much keeping the entire library system afloat with my fines. Two, I get too many books! Right now, I have three that I'm in the middle of reading. I started A New Kind of Conservative earlier this week. Then, I got World Without End by Ken Follett from my hold list. Finally, today, the library sent me a notice that three other books I had put on hold were ready. So now I'm reading The Other Boleyn Girl. My problem is that I worse than a little kid about books. As soon as I get a book from the library, I want to read it right away! So, I have three books floating through the house, laying on the arm of the couch, or the firplace mantle, or on the floor beside my bed. No wonder I can never find them when they're due.

What is a Red Letter Christian?

2009-07-16T20:58:00.003-04:00

Okay, before I start, this is a REALLY long post, and I didn't even say everything I wanted to. But most of it can be condensed into three words: READ THIS BOOK!

I just finished the book Red Letter Christians by Tony Campolo. To say that it challenges you would be too trite. What it does is look at the politics and culture of America through the red letters of Jesus. To be honest, after every chapter, I had to stop and think about what I believed and ask myself whether it lined up with the teachings of Jesus. I'll admit, I am a product of my upbringing when it comes to social issues. That's not to say that my parents didn't teach me to care for others. They did. But, I grew up in a middle class household, in a middle class town where I went to a middle class school and hung out with my middle class youth group. While I heard about people in need, I never really came "face to face" with them, so to speak. However, here in Atlanta, I see, almost everyday, people who break the heart of Jesus. Atlanta is the center of child sex trafficking. In 2004 almost 12% of people lived in poverty. I'm sure that number is dramatically higher now since the unemployment rate here in Georgia has reached 10.1%. In addition, I teach in a school where over 50% of our students are on free or reduced lunch. According to the federal government, my school is considered high-poverty. It has caused me to change many of my own beliefs of what a Christian should be.

What does a Red Letter Christian look like? Well it is someone

who espouses an evangelical theology, but who rejects being classified as part
of the Religious Right. We don't want to make Jesus into a Republican. On the other hand, we want to say it loud and clear that we don't want to make Jesus into a Democrat either. (pg 17)

I'll be honest. The beliefs in this book will make people angry. They are not what we hear from religious radio, and they're certainly not what "mainstream" religious leaders are saying on Fox News. Campolo admits that.

The message in those red letter is radical, to say the least. If you don't believe me, just read Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7. In the red letters of this sermon, Jesus calls us to an "upside-down Kingdom," far away from the dominant values of the modern American consciousness. For instance, Jesus tells us that we cannot be sucked into a system that seeks life meaning and satisfaction in materialism and self-gratification while still claiming to serve God. Furthermore, he
challenges many of the social policies that too many Evangelicals fail to question. Consider the fact that he calls us to be merciful (see Matt. 5:7), which has strong implications for how we should think about capital punishment-and since Jesus tell us to love our enemies, we probably shouldn't consider it an option (see Matt. 5:44). These words should cause us to examine our attitudes about war, as well. Most important, when we reflect on all Jesus had to say about caring for the poor and oppresses, committing ourselves to His red-letter message just might drive us to see what we can do politically to help those He called "the least of these" (see Matt. 25:31-46). (pg 22)

This book touches on the global issues of the environment, the War, Palestine, and AIDS. In every chapter, it challenges the mainstream Evangelical beliefs. Are Christians supposed to be the caretakers of the creation God has given us? Is the War in Iraq a just war, and how has it affected the Iraqi Christians who are now terrorized by al-Qaeda? Is support for Israel a Biblical belief, and how do Christians reach out to the 15% of Arabs that are Christian? Do we lump them into the "all Palestinians are terrorists" group? How should the Church respond to those who are suffering from AIDS, especially those in third world countries who cannot afford the medicine they need to survive?

It also hits on the hot button issues of today. He discusses gay rights and gay marriage. He believes that government should get entirely out of the business of marriage and only offer civil unions. Marriage should strictly be a religious institution. I don't know how I feel about that. I am firmly opposed to gay marriage, but some of the issues he brings up have caused me to do some serious thinking. He also discusses gun control and education (a topic near and dear to my heart). In both of those issues, what we need to look at is how to help those who cannot help themselves. Every day, 8 children are killed with a gun. How can we, as Christians, stand opposed to control these deadly weapons? In the same way, why is ensuring that our children learn in the safest of environments not important to us? I do disagree with his assessment of NCLB. I feel that it has harmed our schools in numerous ways. He also talks about abortion and reaching out to those who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy. He also covers immigration and crime, including capital punishment.

Finally, he talks politics. What should we expect from those who lead us? Where do special interests come in? How should we, as a nation, view the Federal Budget? Is the fact that we have record deficits be a concern for Christians? (In his view, absolutely) The book is almost prophetic as it talks about how our borrow and spend approach to life will someday come back to haunt us. (This book was written in 2007 when unemployment was at approximately 4.5%)

One point he talks about in-depth is health care, a topic that is something that we are definitely hearing alot about today.

Today (2007), nearly 47 million American, 8.3 million of them children, are without medical insurance. These uninsured people are hardworking Americans who face financial ruin if they, or any member of their families, are hit with a catastrophic medical emergency. That we as Christians [do] not support. . .a plan that would provide health coverage for every man, woman and child in this country should be viewed as far more than an embarrassing failure of the Church.

Those who declare that they are pro-life are hypocritical if they do not recognize how providing universal health coverage for the working poor is a pro-life issue. It would be one thing if the rest of the Christian community were like the Amish and chipped in to pay the hospital bills for those who lack health insurance. But we don't! Instead, we stand by the sidelines, shake our heads and say 'Isn't that a shame?' (pg 190)
(bolding mine)

Where did this book leave me? Realizing that I need to view the world through the eyes of Jesus. I see so many people saying "I'm a Christian, but I don't want my money to pay for other people's problems." According to Jesus, other people's problems are ours to take care of! In Matthew 25, Jesus commands us to take care of the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger needing clothes, and the one in prison. So what am I going to start doing? Dumping the self-righteous attitude that says "God helps those who helps themselves" and looking at those who are suffering with eyes of mercy. I'm lucky. In just three weeks, I'm going to be standing in front of 20 kids who all need to see Jesus' love. Many of them will come from homes I couldn't even begin to imagine. My prayer is that instead of being frustrated by the fact that they don't have their supplies, and their homework's not done, and they're always late, I will instead ask how I can be Jesus to them. How can I be a Red Letter Christian?

Andrew

2009-07-14T13:25:00.002-04:00

We've always joked that Andrew's been our "high-maintenance" baby. He was early, he spent time in the NICU, there's his whole skull surgery deal, he was a late walker, and he's still not talking. That's what sent us to the doctor today. We had a hearing and speech evaluation done about three months ago, and the hearing evaluation showed some hearing lost in both ears. His pediatrician recommended we go to an ENT to see what was going on, so I made an appointment with a pediatric ENT. His name is Dr. Todd, and he was wonderful today. He looked into Andrew's ears, and even though Andrew's only been diagnosed with one ear infection, the doctor thinks that he's had mild ones on and off for a while. I guess there was some scarring on his ear drum. We also did another hearing evaluation. This time, his hearing tested in the normal range, but the tympanogram they did showed a negative pressure in his inner ear. The way the doctor explained it to me, negative pressure means that there's isn't enough air entering the inner ear through the Eustachian Tube. He said that most children outgrow this problem, and it is common for children who had oddly shaped heads to have this problem. It's also hereditary, but that not the case here. He told me that what's happening is every time Andrew swallows the pressure in his ear changes, so his hearing goes in and out. He said that makes it more difficult for language development that an across the board hearing loss, because the sounds are always going in and out. To solve this problem, Andrew will get tubes put in fairly soon. They'll stay in for about 8 months and probably fall out on their own. I would assume that we'll see if his speech improves before making any determinations about speech therapy. (The doctor did tell me that most speech evaluations, especially in young children like Andrew, are not very accurate since it's more subjective than anything else.)

I'll post when we get a date for surgery. It's outpatient surgery that will be done at Children's Healthcare at Egleston near Emory. I know it won't be the weeks of August 3rd or August 10th since that's pre-planning and the first week of school for me. I would also like it to be on a Friday since I'm pretty sure that it will take a day or two for Andrew to get back to himself. Hopefully, this surgery will get him hearing and talking soon!

By the way, the picture had absolutely nothing to do with the post, but I thought it was so cute, I had to put it up! I took this on the 4th of July.

Summer Fun!

2009-07-03T21:40:00.004-04:00

Here's some pictures of the fun we've been having this summer.

On Nathan's birthday, we went to the pool. It was TOO HOT to go to the one close to us, so we decided to go to a pool that is completely indoors. Ahh, the joy of having a pool pass. I can go to any pool in the county. Nathan actually went down the little slide too! Matthew, of course, has no such problems. There's nothing he fears at the pool. He's like a fish. Nathan is a little more cautious.

Here are some of Nathan's cake and opening presents. He really liked everything he got, plus he's rolling in some dough. My Aunt Cheryl sent him $10 (Your thank you card's coming!), and Jeremy's parents sent him a gift card, so he (or I) will get to do some shopping. I'm trying to decide if I should be practical with it, since he could use another pair of jeans or two for school.

Last Saturday, our church had their carnival to celebrate the end of Backyard Bible Club. Instead of having one HUGE Bible School at our church, we go out into the neighborhoods and have Bible Clubs. We had over 20 this year all over the county. There were three just near us. Then, the church has a big carnival to bring everyone together. There are jump houses, games, and free food. (That's why we go. :-D ) It was unbelieveably hot, but thankfully there was just enough of a breeze to make it bearable.

Today, we got out the slip and slide that Matthew got for his birthday. It took a little while for us to figure out how to get it to work, but we were finally able to. Our yard is not very smooth or open, so they had to be careful how they slid, but they had a good time. I only let the water run for about 20 minutes since we are still under some watering restrictions, but I decided that since we don't water the lawn, this was OK. Hopefully, no one will turn me in since this is an odd day, and my address is an even number.

It's hard to believe our summer is over half done! I go back to school four weeks from Monday, and school starts five weeks from Monday. It's going by so fast.

Blog to Read

2009-07-02T15:21:00.002-04:00

I try to read Stuff Christians Like every couple of days. First, it's hilarious. Second, it is such an accurate reflection of my own church experience that I wonder if he wasn't following me around in high school and college. And, third, there are days when his posts hit me right between the eyes and cause me to really think about my preconceived notions of the world. This is one such post. I'd editorialize about it, but I can't say it any better than he does.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

2009-06-26T08:00:00.005-04:00

Today is Nathan's 6th birthday. We're not having a big celebration. Nathan's not very social, so he didn't want a party. He's going to Backyard Bible Club tomorrow, and then we'll go out for supper tomorrow night. Of all the restaurants we have here in the metro Atlanta area, which one did he pick? Burger King. He told me it was because they have Transformers toys. I can't stand BK. Oh well, I guess it's cheaper than O'Charley's. Then, I made him a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. I convinced him to have that instead of his original choice. Vanilla (yellow) cake with white frosting. That just did not sound very appetizing.

He was also very hard to buy for. He loves to read, as you can tell from the picture, so I got him some books from Barnes and Noble. I bought a book about the skeleton, plus two Seymour Simon books about space. I wasn't really sure what else to get. So, I went to Target and wandered for awhile. I finally bought him two Lego sets, a Bakugan (don't ask), and the game Operation. Then, just as I was about ready to leave, I saw a box of Uno cards. I had to get them. I know that if my grandpa was here, he'd love to teach Uno to both Matthew and Nathan. Maybe tonight, I'll sit down with the two of them and teach them Uno over a 2 liter of Mountain Dew.

Vacation!

2009-06-25T22:16:00.004-04:00

My favorite picture from vacation.

The first week of June we went to the Smoky Mountains for vacation. I live in North Georgia, which is really pretty in the fall, but there's nothing that compares to the Great Smokies. The whole area is beautiful. My parents found an RV resort in Seiverville that also had cabins that people could rent. They brought their camper, we stayed in one cabin, and my brother and his family stayed in another. Our cabin faced the river, and it was really quiet. While we were a little crowded in our one room cabin, (I would have never made it as a pioneer) we had a great time. My sister-in-law, Heidi, taught Matthew to fish. He never caught anything, but he had a great time. There was also a pool, and the boys went swimming almost every day. We didn't really do a lot of touristy stuff. If you've ever been to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, you understand what I'm saying. We did go into Gatlinburg one day and walked around. We found an old style arcade where you could play different games and earn tickets. (Think Chuck E Cheese) My dad changed $20 into quarters, and we split it among the four kids. They had a blast. Of course, after they got done playing, they had to spend their tickets. Matthew and Nathan got two paper fans, (I have no idea why) a spiderman that stretched, and a couple of huge plastic flies. They were happy, though, so I can't complain. Plus, $20 to keep everyone busy for a couple of hours really can't be beat. We also went into the national park one day and drove to Cade's Cove. There's a number of cabins and other buildings there that you can go through. We even got to see a bear while we were driving. We didn't stop to get a picture, though. Here are some of the pictures we did get.

Sitting alongside the river fishing.

Trying to take a picture with all five grandchildren

Matthew and Elli swimming in the pool.

It was a great time. I can't wait to go back next year.

What In the World Have I Been Doing?

2009-06-22T17:40:00.002-04:00

I know all two of you who read this blog (Hi Mom!) are probably wondering why I can't seem to keep it updated. I mean, it's summer vacation, and I'm at home all day. So, why can't I keep up?

Well, first of all, I'm lazy. That's right. The school year is so busy that during the summer, I don't get very much done. I start the summer with projects I want to accomplish, and not very many of them get done. I'm bad, I know.

Second, I have been working on a REALLY big project. My goal for this summer was to get a grip on my writing and reading lesson plans, and I am making progress on it. So far, I've finished all of my writing lesson plans for the first four months of school. My goal is to have all of the writing plans done by the end of June so I can begin to work on my reading plans. I've also been spending an insane amount of money on Amazon for books. There's actually one more I want to buy, but Jeremy's threatened to hide the computer modem if I order it. (That's OK, I can wait until August when I can have it delivered to school. :-) )

So, I promise that I will get vacation pictures up soon. (Hopefully, before next year's vacation.)

Summer has started!

2009-06-17T20:46:00.003-04:00

If I didn't already know, the 90 degree temperatures all week have made me sure. Good grief, I don't think I can take another three months of this. But that's not the reason our summer finally started. This is the reason. . .

We went to the pool today! I've been out of school for four weeks now, and we finally got to the pool. Of course, last week we were on vacation. (Pictures of that to come!) Of course, I only got to take Matthew since Nathan is fighting a weird stomach virus. He was sick on Monday, but felt fine by the afternoon. Tuesday he was fine the whole day, but today he was sick again this afternoon after feeling fine all morning. I'm not sure what's going on. It was a little weird going to the pool with just one child. Last year, I had to hold Andrew the whole time while making sure I always knew where Matthew and Nathan were. The rule at our pool is kids 6 and under have to be within arm's length at all times. They stretch the rule to pretty much being within sight all the time. Of course, now that Matthew's seven, I don't have to be within arm's length. So, I could sit on the towel and read while he went all over. I was so excited, until I got to the pool and realized it was too stinking hot to sit and read! So, I went back and forth from the pool back to the side where I could read for awhile until the heat got to be too much. Matthew had a good time, though, and we'll be heading back on Friday! (When it'll be 95 degrees. Lord, have mercy on me.)

Worry

2009-06-04T18:32:00.002-04:00

I took Andrew to the pediatrician today for his 18 month check up. While she was very happy he's walking now, she's still worried about his lack of speech. He's not saying any recognizable words yet. Since he had been on an antibiotic to get rid of the fluid in his ear, she used a tympanometer to test whether his eardrum was vibrating. If he still had fluid, we were going to have another round of antibiotics with a re-check in two weeks. She also suggested waiting until he was 22 months old to see if his speech improves before we went to an ENT. That was the plan until she saw the results of the tympanogram. It showed that there isn't fluid behind the ear drum, but his hearing is still very poor. So instead of waiting, we are headed off to the ENT in two weeks.

I Get Excited over the Craziest Things

2009-05-28T21:57:00.002-04:00

As this past school year wound down, I was already putting together plans in my head for next fall. I've been doing quite a bit of reading and just recently re-read The Daily Five which describes how to set up your literacy time. It was a fantastic book. I found out on proteacher.net that the authors just came out with a brand new book called The CAFE Book, so I ordered it from amazon on Sunday. Because of the holiday on Monday, it took until today for me to get it. I got it this afternoon, and I just finished it. What can I say? It wasn't very long, and I loved it! Suddenly, how to teach reading makes so much more sense. I went to college when everyone was doing whole language, and I never really kept up on new research when I first started teaching. Now, though, I can't read enough! I've already got three or four more books on my summer reading list. Unfortunately, the public library doesn't really carry the latest in teaching techniques, so amazon is really going to love me.

Why We Need a Schedule

2009-05-28T20:23:00.002-04:00

So yesterday I was enjoying the beauty of a schedule and how it was working for us. Well, today proved that we really do need a schedule.

It was my birthday today, so I was lazy. :-) I got up around 8:30 am. I wanted to get up earlier, but I closed my eyes thinking I'd doze for five more minutes and ended up sleeping soundly for over an hour. I am trying to make up for five months of sleep deprivation, so I guess I deserve a few mornings of sleeping in. Unfortunately, it set our whole schedule off, and I didn't really stick with it. So what happened?

Nathan had a HUGE meltdown just before supper. They started fighting over the computer (because I didn't end their computer time when I was supposed to), so I told them it was time to turn the computer off. Nathan was not happy with that decision, so he flipped out. I sent him to his room, and that set off his meltdown. It's really hard to cook supper when you're listening to someone yell, scream, and kick the door. He finally settled down enough to eat supper and then went outside after supper for a little down time by himself.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to be much better about sticking with our schedule. We are going out to lunch with some mom friends, and then I want to take them to the Crocs store (I can get Crocs for $5!), but once we get home, we're sticking to our schedule like glue for the next couple of days. We really need the structure around here.

It's Summer Time!

2009-05-27T21:40:00.003-04:00

Summer officially began for all of us today. Yesterday was my last day of work. I only stayed until about noon or so since my room was clean and packed up. We had an extra day of post planning this year since we had to use our workday in March as a snow make up day. Three days of working after school gets out is too long. One teacher said it was like sitting around watching paint dry. Someone needs to tell the county that was not the best use of their money.

The last day of school for the boys was last Wednesday. The school always has an end of the year picnic, and I was actually able to get some pictures of both Matthew and Nathan with their teacher.

Here's Matthew with Ms. Acton. He really enjoyed having her. Jeremy came to the picnic, but Matthew wanted to stay at school for the rest of the day because he wanted to stay with Ms. Acton. He also wrote her a really sweet note a couple of weeks before school let out which surprised both her and I since that is so NOT him. He likes to play things very cool, but I think that she really clicked with him. First grade was a great year for him.

Nathan's teacher was Mrs. McPheeters, and she was wonderful with him! She was so patient and understanding of all of his little quirks. He loved kindergarten even though he would have been much happier just staying home. I joke that Nathan would be perfectly happy if all five of us spent all of our time sitting together on the couch. :-) He is very much a homebody.

I started something a little different today. I set up a schedule of playtime, TV time, outside time, and computer time for the boys. If you've read any of the Babywise books, you'll know where I've gotten it from. I've never done a schedule before with the older two, but this summer I knew we really needed one. Otherwise, they would have spent the whole summer either watching TV, playing on the computer, or fighting with each other. I also set up daily chores for them to do as well. It was so funny because after we had been working for about 40 minutes or so picking up and cleaning Matthew looks at me and says, "Daily chores are hard work!" I laughed and told him it's hard work keeping a house up. We didn't stick to the schedule 100% today, but it gave us a good place to start. Plus, Nathan was checking it every five minutes, so I could tell it was giving him the structure he really needs. And there was no fighting over the computer! For that alone, I'm happy I took the time to put one together.

He's Walking!!!

2009-05-25T22:55:00.003-04:00

Andrew finally decided to take off today. He was standing at the side of our bed, and just walked away from it. Just like I thought, he is already almost running. He has been everywhere! He walked all the way across the living room and into the kitchen. It's amazing that just yesterday he wasn't walking at all without support, and today he's walking like he's been doing it for months! Good thing, since we have two doctor's visits next week. Of course, that also means I have to go out and buy some shoes for the child now too. :-)

Here's some pictures of my little walker!

I'll update more about the start of summer tomorrow (when my summer actually starts), but here's a picture from Matthew's team party last night. This is the coach he's had for the last two years.

End of Baseball

2009-05-16T23:09:00.002-04:00

Well, in less than a week, we went from the excitement of Matthew's extra inning game to the end of the season. Nathan lost on Monday night even though his team was up by two runs in the final inning. The other team had two outs and only a runner on first, and we really believed they were going to win. Unfortunately, they ended up giving up three runs to lose the game. It was a little disappointing since they hadn't won a game all season. They kept getting better and had a few games where it looked like they might be able to pull it out, but they just couldn't.

Matthew played on Wednesday, and his team lost 7 - 0. They really weren't even in the game. They looked like they were sleepwalking through a lot of it. I can't really explain why. It was just one of those games. They had to play Thursday, and while they played much better, they still lost 6 - 4. They were up 4 - 2 after the kid pitch, which is unusual, but they didn't field well or bat well during the coach pitch, which is also unusual. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Matthew was disappointed, but, as is his personality, he bounced back quickly. He's very laid back and doesn't get too up or too down. Our park offers a baseball league in the fall, and I think we'll sign him up for it. I probably won't sign Nathan up though. He just doesn't like baseball enough for me to justify the expense for him twice a year. He'll be much happier riding his scooter through the park while Matthew plays.

It's Tourney Time!

2009-05-09T21:12:00.004-04:00

For baseball, that is.

Matthew and Nathan started their baseball tourneys today. Nathan's was short and sweet. Matthew's, on the other hand? Well that's a whole other story. Let's start with the easy one, shall we?

Nathan's team, while they are all sweet, little boys, is not very good. Which is good, in a very weird way, because that's means that Nathan's not the worst player on the team. Don't get me wrong, he likes baseball, but not more than digging in our infernal red Georgia clay. (Do you have any idea how hard that is to get out of baseball pants?) But since the team is so bad, Nathan's coach doesn't have a coronary every time a ball gets past him because he's trying to dig for China. :-) The team, while they've played hard and had fun, hasn't won a game all season. They were the 16th seeded team in the tournament which means they played the number 1 team in the tournament who hasn't lost a game all season. Thankfully, in T-ball, each team can only score four runs an inning. Nathan's team started out by scoring two runs in the top of the first, but it was all down hill from there. The game was called at the end of the fourth inning. Nathan's team lost 16 - 6. The tournament is double-elimination, so they will play again on Monday. I think by Monday evening Nathan's season will be over, so here are some pictures.

Matthew's game was dramatically different. His team, the Yankees, was seeded fifth, and they were playing the ninth place team, the Dodgers. His coach is much more intense than Nathan's coach. If Matthew was digging in the dirt, his coach could very well have a coronary. He's never mean to the kids, but you can tell he gets frustrated when they aren't playing hard. Matthew's league starts with the kids pitching with called balls and strikes for the first three innings, and then finishes with the coaches pitching for the rest of the games with only swinging strikes. The funny thing about Matthew's team is that they get better both offensively AND defensively once the coaches start to pitch. This game was no different. By the end of the third inning, they were down 7 - 0. They weren't hitting anything; they were barely getting the bats off of their shoulders. They weren't fielding anything either. Balls they should field were going right under their gloves. The coach's son had even given up an over the fence grand slam. It was looking really bad. Then, they started with coach pitch. For the next three innings, they did not give up another run. (They were also helped out by the other team batting out of order in one inning resulting in two outs. That was caught by yours truly since I was keeping the official score book.) They scored two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth. In the sixth, they scored one run to tie it up, and had the winning run on third when Matthew came up (and I started pacing). This is where I write that he had the hit that scored the winning run, right? Wrong. He hit a little nubber between home plate and the pitcher's mound and froze for a second at the plate. He was thrown out by a step at first. Bummer. I think if he had started running right away, he would have made it safely. The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the seventh, but Matthew's team came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game! The tension? Awful. The relief when they won? Awesome! They were so excited! The kids were too. ;-) They'll play again on Wednesday in the next round, and I'm hoping the game is not near as exciting. Matthew did end up with his own souvenir from the game. He got hit by a pitch his first time up. It hit him right in the upper arm. I think he's going to end up with a really nice bruise, but he told me after the game it didn't really hurt.

I didn't get any pictures of the actual game, but here are some of him warming up.

Baseball for kids isn't supposed to be this exciting, is it?

First Haircut

2009-05-08T22:40:00.004-04:00

I took Andrew this afternoon to get his first haircut at Snip-Its. (BTW, very cute, very expensive place.) With his baby dedication coming up on Sunday, and the fact that he'll be plastered all over our huge hi-def screens, I figured it was time to get some work done to his hair. Unfortunately, it didn't start out so well.

He got a little nervous when we put him in the chair, he started fussing when she put the smock on, but as soon as she sprayed his hair, he lost it.

Thankfully, the manager came to save the day! With bubbles!

He still wasn't completely happy after the haircut, so I wasn't able to get a picture at the salon, but I got one in the car on the way home. The style is pretty similar to what he had, but it's shorter and more styled. She suggested not cutting it too short since it's still pretty thin underneath and very fine. Plus, I didn't want his scar to show too much. (Or his still lumpy head for that matter!)

I Have a Movie Review!

2009-05-02T22:18:00.002-04:00

Cause I actually went to a movie!

This afternoon I went out with some moms from my moms group to go see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It's got Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner in it, and it was really good. It's a take-off of A Christmas Carol. Matthew McConaughey plays a player who dates girls for all of about 35 seconds before dumping them and thinks true love is for losers. During the weekend of his brother's wedding, the ghost of his uncle (who's played by Michael Douglas) tells him he'll be visited by three ghosts. I'm sure you can imagine how the story ends up, but even though you knew how the story was going to end, it was still entertaining to see it get there. Matthew McConaughey is really funny. I guess I never really imagined that he could do comedy, but there were some laugh out loud parts of this movie. I would definitely recommend it, but it's most definitely a chick flick since there's no explosions or action. (There is one car chase scene that had us in hysterics!)

The best part of the whole movie? The previews for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Only two months until it comes out! I've already pulled the book out to re-read it in anticipation of the movie.

Evaluations

2009-05-01T19:02:00.002-04:00

Andrew had his hearing and speech evaluations this week. He showed some hearing loss in both ears during the hearing evaluation. The audiologist suspected it might be from fluid in the ears, since the tympanometer test showed his eardrums were not vibrating like they should. She suggested I call the pediatrician to see what we can do to get the fluid out. His speech evaluation went much better. The therapist said he's making all of the sounds he should when he babbles, so she doesn't think he needs any therapy now. She said that when we get the fluid out of his ears, he should really make a lot of progress. When I called the pediatrician, she wanted to put him on a course of antibiotics and then see how his ears are. She wants me to go back to Children's Healthcare for a retest, but I may see if we can just go to the pediatrician's office for another tympanometer test. If he fails that again, then I'm sure we'll have to make some more decisions.

Only twelve days left of school! The boys' summer vacation starts on May 21st. I have to work until May 26th. (Don't ask me my opinion about having to come back for one more post-planning day after Memorial Day.)

My Little Walker

2009-04-26T21:48:00.004-04:00

Before you get all excited. . .Andrew is NOT walking yet. We're getting closer. He's started to stand on his own when he doesn't know he's doing it. He is walking all over using his little walker. He can even stop, lift it up, and turn it to go a new direction.

He is kinda cute, isn't he?

His hearing screening is tomorrow, and then the speech evaluation is Tuesday morning. Hopefully, everything will go well, and we can get the boy talking! (So I can complain in six months that I'm tired of hearing the word NO. :-) )

Andrew Update!

2009-04-18T15:18:00.002-04:00

Don't you love these? With him, it usually means something is going on, and this time is no different.

I took Andrew to the pediatrician this week for his 15 month appointment just a week before he turns 17 months, so we're actually getting a lot closer to being on schedule again! When I took him in February for his 12 month visit (at 15 months), she was slightly concerned by the fact that he wasn't walking or talking yet. While he's made some progress toward walking (he'll hold on to just your fingers, and he did stand alone for a minute earlier this week), the fact that he's still not saying any recognizable words has her a little worried. He's still in the window of "normal" for walking, but he's really at the tail end of the normal window for talking. She suggested I call the neurosurgeon to see if this is something that can be traced back to his surgery or not. She was also a little worried that he's not hearing sounds correctly since he really won't mimic anything. His speech is actually quite fascinating. He understands the patterns of speech and how conversations work. He knows how to wait for a response, and then answer back. I also know when he's asking a question, because he'll inflect at the end of his sentence just like we do when we ask a question. The only problem is that he speaks a language that only he understands! When I talked to the surgeon's assistant, she told me that this isn't something that would be caused by his surgery, so she was going to fax an order for speech therapy to Children's Healthcare. (Yet another reason why I'm ecstatic to live where I do.) We have a hearing evaluation set up for Monday the 27th and the speech evaluation the next morning. Thankfully, I don't have to travel into Atlanta for either as they do all of their speech therapy at their clincs. We have one about 15 minutes from us, so that's where we'll go. We are also going into the neurosurgeon at the beginning of June instead of the end of July so he can take a look at Andrew to make sure everything else is OK. Hopefully, he'll be walking by then.

One Year Ago Today

2009-04-08T22:32:00.003-04:00

I can't believe that it was a year ago that Andrew had his surgery to correct his sagittalsynostosis. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were even finding out that there was a problem, and before I knew it, we had surgery scheduled. I've had people ask me if it was difficult, and, while it was in some ways, in other ways it wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. I think he was so little that he didn't know enough to be afraid. I didn't really have to deal with his fear, and, honestly, the months after his diagnosis were such a whirlwind that I didn't really have time to worry. But we made it through, and we've made it from here:

This is the day after surgery when his face was starting to swell up from the fluid.

To this:

This is after Matthew's birthday. We tied a couple of the balloons Matthew got to the table so Andrew could beat them around!

I Have Visited Nirvana.

2009-04-05T19:46:00.003-04:00

I went to IKEA last night.
It was a beautiful place.
I could have spent ALOT of money, but I got away from there only $65 poorer.
I can't wait to go back. Tomorrow? (Just kidding.)

Now I'm Feeling Guilty

2009-03-25T21:47:00.002-04:00

Matthew was supposed to play a make-up baseball game today, but he didn't go since tonight was his last night of Awana for the year. I didn't feel too bad about it because it was raining all evening, and I figured the game wouldn't be played. Well, I was wrong. I guess the park decided that since these were make-ups, and they're probably going to lose all of this weekend's games because of the rain, they were going to play. Unfortunately, Matthew's team only had five or six players show up, so they had to forfeit. Now, I'm feeling guilty. I know I shouldn't feel so bad, because even if Matthew had come, there still weren't going to be enough players.

Ahh, the moral dilemmas of being a mom!

Living in Suburbia

2009-03-23T22:27:00.002-04:00

I'll admit it. I live in Suburbia. There really isn't any other way to describe it. We live OTP (outside the Perimeter) in Atlanta, and 90% of my county is suburban. There are still some farms, but you have to drive a looong way to get to them. But, I wouldn't live anywhere else right now.

I know, the suburbs get a bad rap. And, trust me, there are definitely things I hate about where I live. (Do you want me to even get started about the traffic??) But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. First, the county where I live has been recognized once again for its park system. Today, I spent 3 hours down at our local park working at the concession stand. It is truly a community place. This is our third year playing baseball, and we are beginning to know more and more people just from seeing them at the park. Plus, Matthew and Nathan are enjoying the fantastic opportunity to play baseball at a top-notch facility. (Hey, the place developed Jeff Francouer of the Braves, so it can't be too bad.) After I got done working at the concession stand, then I was able to walk the fully paved path around the park for a mile and a half with a huge number of people enjoying the weather. Really, in our county, if you don't get out and get active, you really have no one to blame but yourself. There are parks scattered all over the county, and they're adding more every day. And my park backs up to a fabulous library branch as well. The other day I took Andrew there. We went to the library so I could load up on books, then we walked for a half hour around the park while one of the boys had baseball practice.

I also love living so close to the city. In 20 minutes (on a good day), I can be in downtown Atlanta to take my kids to one of the largest aquariums in the country. Or, we can go to the zoo to see the two! baby pandas. Plus, the proximity to the medical facilities can't be underestimated. It's been almost a year since Andrew's surgery, and every day, I'm so thankful we were here when he was born. If we had still been in Indiana, we would have had to travel 3 hours to go to Riley for all of his doctor's visits as well as his appointments. Here, I jump in the car and drive 25 minutes to go to one of the top Children's hospitals in the country. Not only am I 20 minutes away from either campus of Children's Healthcare, they have an urgent care center designed specifically for children near me. Plus, they have this very cool idea where you can call ahead to get your arrival time so you don't have to wait for hours with an unhappy child. Best Idea Ever.

Finally, don't get me started on my church. I could go on for a very long time about how much I love it. But the most important reason that I'm so happy we're there is their dedication to children. They are intentional about shepherding children. I help on both Sundays and Wednesdays, and I know how important it is to my church that my kids are immersed in the Bible. Their goal is to make sure that the kids understand the "meta-narrative" of the Bible. (Don't be impressed. I didn't come up with the word by myself.) Every week, they learn how the story of the Bible fits together, plus they learn how to apply it to their life. I'm already starting to see Matthew begin to fit the pieces together in his head. Knowing that every Sunday they are all going to a place where people are intentional about their spiritual growth is so reassuring to me as a mom. There are so many influences out there that are trying to steal them away. I need all the help I can get. Plus, the worshhip and preaching in "Big Church" can't be beat either. Hey, my pastor's name is Buddy, and he preaches in jeans. How can that be bad?

Sick House

2009-03-03T21:27:00.003-05:00

Sickness has attacked our house. Nathan starting feeling bad yesterday. I checked his temperature, and it was about 100. As a result, we had him stay home today. Then, Andrew threw up last night. So, Jeremy was home with two sick boys. Nathan wasn't too bad. He just laid around and watched TV. Andrew did pretty good until about mid-afternoon when he threw up all over Jeremy who was holding him. We fed him Cheerios and really watered down white grape juice for supper. He's running a little bit of a temperature as well, but he's happy! I think he'll always be a good patient. Anyone who could have sections of his skull removed, and be grinning at the nurses a day later (Which actually happened after his surgery. The nurses loved him.) handles discomfort better than I could!

Nathan's going to go back to school tomorrow, and hopefully Andrew will keep everything down tonight.

What a Day!

2009-03-02T17:01:00.004-05:00

It's 5:00 pm, and I'm sitting here writing as I smell fresh baked bread, apple crisp, and roasted potatoes baking away. Plus my counter top is clean, the clothes are washed and put away, and I've checked off about 10 things off of my "Things I Really Have to Get To" list. Oh, and I even trimmed Andrew's hair! How did I do all this?

First, modern inventions. The bread is in the bread machine, and the apple crisp is in the crock-pot. (The recipe is from this fabulous site I just found.) But it's also because it looked like this outside my front door this morning.

Yes, people, that is snow and ice outside my front door. Since it's the South, and ice makes people curl up into a fetal position under their beds, we had a snow day today! March 2nd in Atlanta, Georgia, and I enjoyed a snow day today. There aren't words for the fabulousness of it. Plus, since I had gotten everything done on Saturday (Read: grocery shopping), I was able to get some of those things done that I've wanted to do, but haven't ever found the time for (Read: make fresh bread). Unfortunately, the snow is melted away, so it's back to work/school tomorrow.

I've seen 51 of 239 films

2009-02-26T22:17:00.004-05:00

This is something off of Facebook. This is a list of 239 not so classic movies.
SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life.
Let's see how I so, shall we. It probably won't be pretty. I'm not a big movie watcher.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean
() Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 4
( ) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw (Who in their right mind would want to see that?)
( ) Saw II
() White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 5
( ) Scream - I only saw to where Drew Barrymore gets killed, like the first 5 minutes
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 5
( X) Harry Potter 1
(X ) Harry Potter 2
( X) Harry Potter 3
(X ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:10
(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 12
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 14
(x) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 15
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago - I so want to see this!
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
() Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(X ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 17
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( x) Ten Things I Hate About You - The only movie I've ever seen with Heath Ledger
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 20
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x ) Ocean's Eleven
( x) Ocean's Twelve
(X ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy - But we own it. Thanks Jeff!
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X ) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(X ) Curious George
Total so far: 25
(x) Independence Day
() Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( X) My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 28
( ) Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator - Am I the last one on Earth who hasn't seen this?
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far:31
( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday - Old or new?
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
( ) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total so far: 34
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
() The Notebook
( X) K-Pax
(X ) Krippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
(X ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 37
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
( x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
( X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 41
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 41
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X ) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 43
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 45
( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 45
(X ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
( X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
( X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 51
( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs - Never, never, ever, ever
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 51

So, either I live a rich, full life since I only have 51 movies on this list, or I have no life what so ever, and I need to fire up Netflix.

This might just qualify as my longest post ever!

Are you looking to get married?

2009-01-30T21:42:00.002-05:00

Then, I have a deal for you!

(Just in case you get lost, they put in a major landmark. The Super Wal-Mart.)

Winter

2009-01-15T21:00:00.002-05:00

I know this will seem humorous to you guys in the northern climates, but winter has arrived here in Georgia. We are expecting overnight lows of around 12 - 15 degrees. This is the coldest it's been in 6 years. With the poorly insulated houses around here, it means our house is going to be COLD! (Of course, part of that could be the fact that I keep our thermostat somewhere near 60 at night. I hate paying for heat.) I got out the boys' hats and gloves, and I even had to go to the store to buy a legitimate winter coat. I had a fleece one that I was wearing, but I accidentally left it out on the playground last Friday, and it vanished. Somebody probably needed it more than I did, but that left me with nothing. If the weather had stayed normal, I probably wouldn't have gotten one, since I only wear it on the playground, but 12 degrees is cold. Even to run from the car to the school tomorrow. I had to laugh at our principal, though. She made an announcement tonight after the kids had left telling us to not worry about spirit wear tomorrow (we can wear jeans and school spirit wear on Fridays) and dress warm. I was wondering if the county had forgotten to pay the heat since she seemed to think our school was going to be so cold!

Jeremy's interview went well, but keep praying. We'll know something in a few weeks.

Honor Roll and Basketball

2009-01-10T22:24:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was report card day, and Matthew made the Honor Roll (YAY!) while Nathan was given the Patriot Award for his outstanding behavior and citizenship. So, to celebrate, I went to Ingles and bought the fixings for ice cream sundaes.

Then, today was the start of basketball! Both Matthew and Nathan are playing Impact basketball through one of the churches here. They're in an instructional league that focuses on teaching skills. Today, they divided the kids up into groups of 8 or so, and each group played a 4 on 4 game. I don't think they even kept score.

Matthew and Nathan were in two different groups, so I had to keep going back and forth between their baskets.

They play with eight foot rims, but I think poor Nathan needed rims that were about half that height. He had a hard time getting the ball up high enough. He also did NOT like it when the buzzer went off for the end of the quarter. (They played four ten minute games.)

Matthew was having trouble at first, because he didn't think anyone was going to pass him the ball. Of course, when he did finally get it, he took off away from the basket. I think he wanted to make sure no one could steal it from him! After a little bit, he did start to get the idea and was passing it to his teammates.

All in all, they had a good time. The group really focuses on teamwork and positive character traits. They even have a program called "Fan Mail". When you sign in before the game, you fill out a card for your child. Then, the cards are passed out, and you are looking for the positive things the person on your card is doing. (Thankfully, the cards have their jersey number on them!) At the end of the morning, they bring all the kids together in the center circle, and read and pass out the cards. That way, each child hears something positive that they did while playing. It's a really good program. This will run through February, then it's baseball time!

Back to School Today

2009-01-05T20:50:00.003-05:00

Today was our first day back after winter break. Actually, I had to go back on Friday for a teacher day, but we'll just pretend that didn't happen. I have thoughts about having to work on that day, but they're better left unsaid. :-) While I wasn't sure that I would be ready for the kids, when they arrived I actually was. Having the two weeks off was something I definitely needed. December was hard. This group is hard, the work was hard, and dealing with Jeremy losing his job was hard. I needed the time to refresh. There were times as December dragged on that I asked myself if I was really going to be able to finish the year out. In my heart, I knew I would, but every day was a challenge. I read somewhere once a quote that said "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." As a teacher, I have to disagree with that. I love what I do, I really do, but I work hard every single day. I drive home exhausted, and I wouldn't have it any other way. If I wasn't working hard, I wouldn't be doing my best for my kids. But the breaks are nice. We have one coming up on Martin Luther King Day and then nothing until Spring Break. I'm sure I'll need the rest and relaxation by then. Last year during Spring Break we were in the hospital with Andrew's surgery. This year, hopefully, I'll be able to rest and hang out at home!

By the way, Jeremy has an interview next week for a job with the Georgia Department of Labor. Whenever you think about it, please pray that it all goes well. I'm hoping that if I can get enough people banging on God's door, he'll get tired of hearing about it and go "All right! I'll make sure he gets the job!" Hey, it's wacky theology, but it's my theology. :-)

Things You've Always Wanted to Know About Me!

2009-01-03T21:26:00.003-05:00

Or not, as the case may be. :-) This is from Anissa at http://www.hope4peyton.org whose blog I love. I highly recommend it. (It's in the sidebar!)

1. What TV show would you like to live in? and why?
This one was the hardest because my favorite TV shows are crime shows, and let's be honest. Would you want to hang out with the characters from Criminal Minds? That shows about crazy serial killers! I watch it only after I've made sure every door in the house is locked. But after serious thought (seriously!), I decided I want to live on Jon and Kate Plus 8. That way, those kids could actually have someone around who would really care about them rather' than thinking about how they are the next meal ticket. I would play with them, and not worry about them getting dirty. I'd actually sit down and have a conversation with the two older girls instead of just waving off their behavior as "That's just Mady." There are lots of things I would do if I lived with the Gosselin family. I could actually rant about that show for hours, but I won't bore you. ;-)

2. What's the worst date you've ever been on?
This one was a lot easier. I was asked out on a date by someone in my church youth group when I was a junior in high school. He wanted to take me to see the spring musical at his high school and then go to dinner. The only problem? He was in the orchestra for the musical, so I got to sit in the audience with his best friend (who I actually got along with really well). Then the three of us went out for Mexican. I don't think the two of us talked at all during dinner. His best friend and I spent the whole time talking! As you can imagine, there wasn't a second date. I don't even remember his name.

3. What appliance would you absolutely lose it if it disappeared?
My blowdryer. My hair has such a funny wave to it that if I let it dry naturally, it looks completely weird. I have to wash my hair or at least wet it down every morning or else I look like a complete freak. I'd probably also lose it if my curling iron disappeared since I need that to get rid of that funny wave after I blow dry it. I've had mornings where there was no power at my house. That's not pretty.

4. Is there a piece of clothing that you've never forgotten from your childhood?
My grandma would always sew me my Easter dresses when I was little. The one I remember the most was my "Western" outfit. It had a full skirt that would fly up when you spun around and quilted vest. Plus, it was made out of navy blue flowered fabric. (Hey! It was 1982!) I wore it with a white blouse with a frilly collar. I felt like a cowgirl in that outfit! My school pictures from that year were the best.

5. What food do you crave that you'd NEVER serve at a dinner party?
OK, first I'd actually have to have a dinner party. :-) If I did, however, I wish I could serve Jeno's Pizza Rolls. I don't know if there's a more unhealthy food in the world, but they are the absolute best!

Want to be part of it?
Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T22:12:00.005-05:00

I hope everyone is having a safe and happy New Year. We stayed in tonight, and the boys had popcorn and hot chocolate. (Or, as Nathan calls it, warm chocolate.)

Yes, they are sitting a little too close to the TV, but I figured it would be easier to wipe hot chocolate off of the floor rather than the rug. They got to watch a movie and stay up late. (9:00 is late at our house!) Jeremy and I are watching Georgia Tech get smacked around here by LSU, and then we'll probably watch the ball drop and go to bed. I live such an exciting life. We are going to have my cousin and his wife over tomorrow to watch football. I'm looking forward to that especially since I have to go back to work on Friday. Don't even get me started on the wacky schedule the county came up with for us!

Prayer Request

2008-12-19T20:59:00.002-05:00

We're back with the job search again. Jeremy was let go from his job on Monday. He does have some vacation time he'll get paid for, and we've looked into a couple of options for jobs including a work at home opportunity, so we're hopeful. Just pray that something works out for him.

I am the suburban mom

2008-12-09T20:27:00.003-05:00

I have become something I never thought I would be. A suburban mom. Yes, it's true. I drive a mini-van, belong to a mommies group (online, no less), and sit in drafty gyms on a Tuesday night watching my kids play basketball. I even signed up for a day to bring the snack when I was there. I signed Matthew and Nathan up for Impact Basketball for the winter. It's their 5/6 instructional league which means they aren't really on a team. Right now at practice, they are rotating through stations working on their dribbling, shooting, and defense. Once the games start in January, they'll have a short practice, then play a pick-up game. They seem really excited about it right now. This runs through the middle of February, and then it's time for baseball to start up. Then, I really do look like the little mom from the suburbs with their bat bags sticking out of my stroller. Oh boy, I can't wait.

Ear Infection!

2008-12-08T21:22:00.003-05:00

Make that a double, in fact. Andrew finally convinced me to take him to the doctor. How, you ask? Simply by staying awake most of Sunday night crying. So, about 4 or so in the morning, I made the decision to stay home from school today and call the doctor. It turns out I probably should have taken him in about a week ago as both ears are pretty badly infected. Hopefully he'll be feeling better by tomorrow. The Nurse Practitioner warned me we may have a repeat of last night tonight, but so far he's been pretty quiet. I dosed him up with Motrin, so I'm hoping that continues. I can't do two nights of waking up every few hours. (Reason number 534 why I'm glad I'm a Babywise mom!)

However, we were able to create harmony long enough to get pictures taken on Saturday! They should be in this Saturday. I finally have updated pictures of all three boys.

I am just that lame. . .

2008-11-30T14:34:00.004-05:00

to take a picture of the gas I bought for less than $1.50!

Beautiful, isn't it?

My Son is Very Special

2008-11-28T22:42:00.003-05:00

It is not very often that a person gets to celebrate their first birthday, and then four days later celebrates their first Thanksgiving. However, my son is not your average child. Since Thanksgiving was so early last year and later this year, Andrew's 1st birthday came before the holiday this year. And, yes, I will have pictures of his birthday party up before the weekend is over!

I'm Just Going to Vent

2008-11-05T22:42:00.002-05:00

Here are the things that are going on in our school right now:

1. We have conferences next week that I STILL need to prepare for

2. We are being retrofitted which means that various items are being taken out of my room, and new things are being brought in. Friday, I have to turn in my laptop, and Monday I'll get a new one, so sometime between now and then, I have to move everything off of this one and onto the server. Plus, we have new printers and desktops coming too. While this is all nice, it's a huge upheaval in our rooms.

3. My room is being painted as I type. What does that mean? Friday, instead of having a fun Halloween party with my kids, I had to take everything off of the walls. That afternoon consisted of me climbing up and down on stuff interspersed with my frustration with my children as they kept wrestling on the floor. Plus, much of the stuff I had up on the wall was what I had made. When I took it down, it ripped, so I have to make it new. My word wall alone took me a week to get up. I have to cut out all new letters and glue them back up and make new words to put up as well. Then, today, instead of math, I had to move all of the furniture four feet away from the wall. If you've ever been in an elementary classroom, you can only imagine how much stuff that was. Plus, there wasn't really a math lesson. And tomorrow, I'll have to be in before 7 am to move everything back before my kids come. It could be worse. The people who are having their rooms painted Friday or Saturday were pretty much told they needed to come in on Sunday to move their stuff back. Also, I won't be able to put anything up for two weeks, so my room is going to look like a dungeon for conferences. That should make a great impression.

It's just so frustrating since it seems like every time I turn around, it's something else we have to do. I realize much of it is coming from the county, and my principal really has no say, but that doesn't make it any easier.

I've Made My Selection

2008-11-04T20:23:00.003-05:00

Well, I've finally made my selection. I did the research, pondered the choice, and decided today what I wanted. And the choice I made. . .Cigna Healthcare.

Oh, you thought I was talking about the election? I voted for Obama there. (Apparently, it's not going to matter too much since NBC just gave Georgia to McCain.)

The big decision I had to make was health insurance. Every year, we have open enrollment where we have to literally sign up for our insurance again. Last year was easy. I logged onto the website. Confirmed my choices, and was done in the space of about 5 minutes. This year was a little harder. I got a letter last July telling me that the State Health Benefit Plan was no longer offering Blue Cross Blue Shield. Since I was very happy with my insurance, I was a little peeved. The only companies that were available were United Healthcare or Cigna. The premiums were the same for both, so normally, I wouldn't stress about it since if I have to switch doctors, I just do. I don't have too much loyalty to a doctor since I got so rarely, but this time I had to make sure that I chose an insurance company that had Andrew's neurosurgeon as a provider. It took me a little while on both of their websites, but finally, I was able to find his doctor on the Cigna website. He wasn't on the United Healthcare site, so my decision was easy. I logged on and made my choice. I'm glad that's over for another year. Now, I just need to decide if I want a Flexible Savings Account for daycare expenses. Fun.

Thoughts on the Election

2008-11-01T22:43:00.001-04:00

This is the best comment I've read on this election in a long time. I'm not really going to comment or add to it, just encourage you to read it with an open mind.

Matthew's View of the Election

2008-10-31T22:09:00.005-04:00

On the way back from the Mall of Georgia tonight (where we went trick or treating, yes, pictures are coming soon), Matthew and Nathan started talking about the election. This last week, each grade level has been going to the library to vote for the President. So, Matthew announces to Nathan (and me) that he voted for Barack Obama. He then proceeds to tell us that he voted for Barack Obama because he likes all kinds of people, and the other guy doesn't. I asked him how he knew so much about the election, and he told me that his teacher has been teaching them about the election. (I think she's been a little more non-partisan than that. I think he's picking up the rest of his info on the playground.) So, he made sure to tell both Nathan and I that we have to vote for Barack Obama so that he can become the next president.

My dad will be so proud! :-)

There's a Reason They're Called Bird Brains

2008-10-28T22:36:00.004-04:00

As a working mom, I can do it all! After making dinner this evening, cleaning it up, cleaning the kitchen, and bathing two boys, I also had the energy to chase a bird out of my house. Yes, that's right, my adventures with nature continues with a bird. I opened the back door to close the garage door, and in flew a bird. Of course, I had the typical calm reaction of shrieking. Matthew yelled, "There's a bird in the house!" and since Nathan was in the tub, he immediately began freaking out. The only one who was excited by the event was the cat. This was the most perky I'd seen her in ages. I tried to leave the back door open, thinking that the bird would smell the fresh air of nature, and fly out, but no luck. After chasing it around the house for a while, I decided to get a broom. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it, but I figured having something was going to help.

Matthew and I proceeded to chase this crazy bird around the house for at least 20 minutes. I got a couple of good swats to the bird. I wasn't trying to kill it, but I figured if I could stun it a little bit, I'd be able to push it along the floor back out into the garage. All I suceeded in doing was knocking a few feathers off of it. Of course, poor Andrew's trying to drink his bottle through all this, and I think all of our running around and yelling was beginning to freak him out, so he started crying. Since he was done with his bottle, the poor child just got dumped unceremoniously in his bed. Unfortunately, by the time I got back into the living room, the bird had vanished. Now, I can't find this bird, and Nathan's still flipping out in the bathroom. I quickly got Nathan out of the tub, and went back to look for God's beautiful creature. I finally found it underneath our hutch. Once again, the chase ensued. My goal was to get a bucket over it, then I planned to get it out the door. But the bird didn't exactly follow the directions. Now, Nathan's in the family room and shrieking every time the bird flies by him, I'm getting hot and sweaty chasing after this darn thing, and I think Matthew's beginning to think we have a new pet. And the cat? Well, she knew she was too old and slow to catch it, so she decided that spectating was her best bet. Unbelievably, the bird got behind the back door, and scooted between the door and the wall to go back out into the garage. I don't think Nathan truly believed me that the bird was finally gone, but thankfully it was. All that was left for me was to clean up the feathers it left behind. At least Matthew and Nathan have something to write about during Writer's Workshop tomorrow.

So far, I've faced a frog, a giant roach, and a bird as well as all of the various insects and spiders I've killed since we've moved. I love nature.

I Have a Great Church

2008-10-26T11:35:00.002-04:00

It's 11:30, and I am watching our church service live over the internet. How awesome is that?

By the way, the website is http://www.gracefellowshipchurch.com/GraceVideo_live.aspx .

Staying Home with a Sick Baby

2008-10-26T10:25:00.002-04:00

It's a Sunday morning, and for the first time in about six months I'm staying home. Andrew has caught the cold that I've been fighting the whole week, and now he has green goop coming out of his nose. Plus, he's very fussy. I put him down for a nap about a half hour ago, and he has fussed off and on the whole time. It looks like he's starting to quiet down, so I hope he can get a good nap in. I hate that there's nothing I can give him to help his stuffy nose. I've never been one who gave my kids a lot of medicine, but when they did have colds, I would give them some cold medicine before bed to help them sleep. Unfortunately, since there are people in the world who don't know how to read dosage instructions, there is no more cold medicine for babies. Isn't that lovely?

Don't you like that I made the text color the same color as what's coming out of Andrew's nose? Hey, if I have to suffer, everyone else in cyberspace does too! :-)

Six Months Ago

2008-10-17T22:51:00.005-04:00

I was watching Andrew drink his bottle today, and I realized that it's been six months since his surgery. It's hard to believe that six months ago, we were here:

And now we are here:

It's truly amazing. Looking at him now, you would not even know that he had major surgery on his skull.

Here are some other pictures of my crazy, wonderful children. Enjoy!

Can You Believe It?

2008-10-15T21:45:00.006-04:00

Driving home from school today, I saw gas for sale for $2.99 a gallon. I thought I'd never live to see the day. Two weeks ago, I paid $4.29 a gallon when we were still in the middle of our "gas shortage". I've heard it could be below $2.00 by Thanksgiving, but I'll believe that when I see it.

Amazing.

(BTW, I did not actually stop and take a picture, though I might if it gets below $2! This is from photobucket.)

There are Days. . .

2008-10-12T13:28:00.002-04:00

when I'm so glad that my friend, Shelley, introduced me to Babywise seven years ago. For those of you who don't know, Babywise was written by Gary Ezzo, who, I've discovered, is one of the most hated men on the internet. Whatever. All I know is that it has made our lives with babies wonderful. While none of my kids have ever acted exactly the way it was written in the book, it always gave me a plan and a goal that I wanted to get to. Both Matthew and Andrew struggled with naps, and Nathan fought falling asleep at night, but by the time each of them were four months old, we were cruising along pretty good with all of them sleeping through the night and napping well.

Which brings me to this week. Andrew was up last Saturday night for about an hour and a half in the middle of the night. I still don't have any idea what his problem was. All I know was that he was wailing. So, guess who got to stay up with him? That's right, yours truly. Needless to say, I was exhausted last week at church. After we got home and ate lunch, it was wonderful to be able to put him down and have him fall asleep quickly. (Then I could take a nap too!) Then, yesterday, I was working on cleaning some stuff up in our bedroom when I discovered that he had crawled away and was sitting in his room playing with his toys. (And pulling stuff blankets out of the bottom of his changing table too, but oh well.) I just love that while he loves to cuddle and be held, he also is able to entertain himself for a period of time. I don't worry when I leave him with a babysitter or at the nursery at church, because, while he may fuss when I leave him off, he is able to separate himself from me, and then when we reunite, he knows I'm always coming back. Plus, I get compliments every week on what a happy baby I have. (And that makes me feel good. Yes, I am a shallow person. :-) )

Frustration

2008-10-10T21:18:00.002-04:00

There are days when I truly wonder if I'm getting through to my kids at school. This week was a collection of those days. This group has been a challenge from the first day, but this week showed me just how far I have to go. Gwinnett County has instituted an instructional calendar that we all have to follow. While it's been a pain to stick to the calendar, especially in math where we have to move on sometimes even when I don't want to, it helps me stay focused on my instruction. In addition, we are giving Benchmark tests this year. We gave a pretest at the beginning of the year, and this week, we gave a test that covered the skills that I taught the first nine weeks in Language Arts and Math. While I would love to say that all of my kids did wonderfully, I can't. Actually, many of them scored very poorly, some even below 50%. It was extremely frustrating to see that. I feel like everyday is a fight with these kids. I have so many who struggle with school, plus I have ones who don't struggle, but also don't care, so their only goal is to fool around. So I'm spending most of my time with behavior correction and not very much of my time teaching. Plus, I get the feeling that no one has ever asked these kids to think beyond the obvious. Whenever I ask them a question where the answer is not so obvious, they struggle. They also have a very bad habit of raising their hands to answer without even thinking. I've even had kids raise their hands to answer a question that I haven't even asked! They also have a hard time retaining knowledge. We spent one day in math this past week working on rounding numbers. We used number lines, we talked about the tens that "sandwich" a number, we did numerous examples together and independently. So, the next day, I gave them 5 numbers and asked them to round them. There were only about 5 kids out of 20 who even had the smallest idea of how to get started. Most of them just sat there and waited for someone to give them the answer. They've had so much given to them, they just expect it. If they need to work to get something, there's just no reason for them to try. I've also had times where we will do a worksheet together, and I will give them the answers as we are working through the sheet. Unfortunately, when it comes time to grade it, I'll have kids getting 60 or 70 percent because they weren't even paying attention. I've tried really hard to plan lessons that get them engaged and interested, and they struggle with that as well. I've just got to keep plugging away. Hopefully, for the ones that are behind, their parents will see that it can't all be done at school, and they need to work at home as well. I sent home the Benchmark scores today, and I'm expecting alot of notes when we get back to school on Tuesday. (Monday is a work day to get report cards done.)

On a happier note, Matthew took the Benchmark tests this week in first grade, and I got his scores today. While I may not have succeeded as a teacher this grading period, I did as a parent. He got 100% on both the Language Arts and the Math. My kid rocks!

An Open Letter to the Candidates

2008-09-26T21:45:00.002-04:00

Dear Senators Obama and McCain,

My name is Carrie, and I'm a typical mom in suburban Atlanta. I have three little boys, and I am a public school teacher. While I am a social conservative, I haven't yet decided who I will be voting for this November. Right now, the person who can solve this problem may be the person I vote for.

You see, here in Atlanta, we have no gas. That's right. Two weeks after a hurricane that did only minimal damage to refineries in Texas, and our gas shortage gets worse every day. Worse! What is going on?? I have been trying to conserve gas, but I do have to drive to work everyday, and there is no mass transit between my home and work. The only places I go right now are work on Monday through Friday and church on Sunday and Wednesday. How else can I conserve? It seems ridiculous that in a major metropolitan area, there are people who have to take vacation days because they can't find a gas station with gas. Then, if we do find gas, it's over $4.00 a gallon. So not only are we suffering a gas shortage, we are also being gouged in price.

What I want to know, is what will you do to prevent this? I don't want to hear about renewable fuels, because I have a car that runs on gas right now, and that car is going to stay my primary source of transportation for a while. What will you do the next time there is a hurricane (and we all know there will be a next time) to ensure that there are parts of the country that are not out of gas? What is your plan for this crisis that is affecting a large part of the population that you want to lead? We can all talk about wonderful pie in the sky theories about becoming energy independent, but the problem I'm facing right now has nothing to do with oil supplies and everything to do with domestic distribution. What can you do to fix that?

Thanks.

Our New Addition

2008-09-20T17:33:00.003-04:00

This has been a very long 12 days. Let me catch you up. Jeremy's accident was on the 8th. We dropped the Escort off at the collision repair place on the 12th, and heard on the 16th that State Farm was declaring the car totaled. (On an aside, I started to spell State like Satan, and I don't think that was a Freudian slip. You'll see why.) So, I called someone from State Farm, because my original intent was to use the money and fix the car on our own. (It's paid for, so I really wanted to keep it.) Well, I was informed that since it was a salvage total, it was going to take at least six months to get it back on the road. So, I asked her about at least getting reimbursement for a rental car. What I pretty much got was that since the person who hit Jeremy claimed someone had hit him, it was considered an Uninsured Motorist, so his company wasn't going to pay for a rental car, and we didn't have rental car reimbursement on our policy. As you can imagine, I was pretty depressed about it Wednesday morning. I think it was the combination of knowing we had to try and find a car on top of the fact that I had essentially been without any transportation for over a week, plus it was Wednesday, and we weren't going to be able to go to Awana since I had no way to get us there. (I wasn't going to ask to borrow my uncle's car for another week.) On top of everything else, I really felt like the service that State Farm markets (you know, "Like a Good Neighbor. . .") was really no service at all. All our agent had done for us was put the claim in the computer. We were the ones making all of the phone calls to the claims adjuster and the total loss adjuster and everyone else. So, Wednesday night, I just prayed for a miracle to happen because I was pretty much done with the whole situation. Thursday morning, I sent an e-mail out to the staff at school just saying that we were looking for a reliable used car in the $3000 range. An hour later I got an e-mail back from one of the fourth grade teachers telling me about a car that had belonged to her in-laws who passed away last year. She brought it to school on Thursday, and Jeremy came over to look at it. After driving it, he decided we'd take it. We went over today and picked it up, and here it is. . .It's a 1993 Eagle Summit, but it only has 78,000 miles. It is in immaculate condition, and it looks almost brand-new. It really is the miracle I prayed for!

Unfortunately, we had to deal with State Farm one more time. Thursday evening, I talked to the total loss adjuster to work out a time when we could sign the title over to State Farm and get the check. Even that was hard. Since we are on opposite schedules, it's really hard for the two of us to be together during the week. I offered Saturday, she said they don't work on Saturdays. I said someone could come to school where I could sign it and then take it to the house where Jeremy could sign it. She said that there are two different reps for Snellville and Lilburn, and apparently it's like gang territories where you can't cross into someone else's territories. Plus, she was taking Friday off. So Friday at school, I just kept getting transferred around until I got to the transfer rep who was the one who would actually come bring the check to us. He was the only State Farm employee who actually went out of his way to help us. He offered to come over today (Saturday) and get the title from us. He stopped by this morning, and it took all of about 5 minutes to sign the title and get the check. As you can imagine, I don't think we'll be insuring this new car with State Farm. I spent yesterday evening doing some research online to see what it would cost us to insure the cars with someone else. I'm done with State Farm and their "personal" service.

We Finally Got Excitement!

2008-09-09T21:27:00.003-04:00

I was thinking this weekend that I should post, but I thought what should I post about? We haven't had anything interesting or exciting happen, and I doubt anyone really cares what my opinion of John McCain or Barack Obama is. I do have some thoughts about Sarah Palin that I'd like to share, but I want to get them organized in my head before I put them on paper (screen?).

Anyway, we did have some excitement yesterday! Here's a glimpse:

Yes, the Escort met a Jeep up close and personal last night. Jeremy was on his way to work, and he was the last link in a chain reaction crash. He was sideswiped by a car that was swerving to avoid a car that turned out in front of it. So, thankfully he wasn't at fault. He did get really wet, though, since his window was shattered, and it was in the middle of a driving rainstorm. He wasn't hurt, either, but he will be picking glass out of his shoes for the next year! :) Right now, we're making due with one car, but thankfully my uncle Dan is coming through with a car for us to borrow tomorrow evening so I can get to church. Unfortunately, we don't have a car rental clause on our insurance, and the agent said we could rent a car and then try to get the money back from the other insurance company, but I'm not too confident about that. Apparently, the woman who caused the whole chain took off.

There is one good thing! We had to take both cars in to get them worked on because the "Service Engine" light was on, and we have to get that fixed before we can get the emissions tested, and we have to get the emissions tested before we can get new plates. But since the Escort needs some serious body work before we can get the plates renewed. So, now I just have to pay for the van to get fixed. I'm going to call whatever governement agency handles plates to get a temporary tag so we can work on the Escort next month.

I Love Holiday Weekends

2008-09-01T14:54:00.002-04:00

I love having a holiday weekend. I have three days to get all of my errands run, and I can sleep in late since I don't have more days to squeeze in my errands! I got up at 9:00 this morning. Yes, I am lazy, but I'm going to grade papers now, so I'm not that lazy!

The Lighter Side of Life

2008-08-28T21:37:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's post was DEEP, man, so I thought today, I'd share a couple of my adventures with Mother Nature over the last week. First, it was the frog, then the spider, and finally the cockroach.

It started last Wednesday. It was about 10:30 pm, and I was getting ready to go to bed. But, like any other average person, I decided to go to the bathroom before bed. Well, I lifted up the toilet lid and noticed something high up on the side of the bowl. Inspecting further, I discovered it was a frog that was about two inches long. Being the lover of God's creation that I am, I tried to flush him down the toilet. He stuck tight to the side of the bowl. So, I used the toilet brush to try and push him into the water so I could flush him again. That failed miserably, and he was able to get between the seat and the bowl and get outside the toilet. Being the calm, cool, collected person that I am, I immediately screeched. That must have scared him because he jumped off the bowl and onto the floor. I jumped the same time he did! Once he was on the floor, he didn't really move, so I went to the kitchen for a cup. After a couple of tries, I was able to get the cup over top of him. So now I have this frog in a cup on my bathroom floor. I thought about just leaving him that way, but then in the morning, I'd have a shriveled up dead frog on my bathroom floor. Not a good thought. So, I searched through the house and finally found a piece of thin cardboard to slide under the cup. (Sorry, Nathan, you're not getting that free ice cream at Chik-fil-A.) I was able to slide the cardboard under the cup and pick it up. Now, I'm holding this thing like the frog is going to fight its way out. (See why I hate nature?) I first planned to let him go out the front door, but I had left the light on outside, and there were a number of moths. Not wanting to fight the moths, I decided to use the back door. I opened the door, and I was just ready to open the glass door when I looked up and realized a HUGE spider had made a web across the door. Weighing my options, I figured I could handle the moths better than the spider, so I headed back to the front door. By now, the light had been off for a while, so most of the bugs had left. I was able to stand on the front porch and fling the frog across the yard. Hopefully, he found his kind and will not return to our house. I still check the toilet now every time before I sit down!

Then, the next morning, I had my adventure with the cockroach. We get these huge roaches down here. I was told they were called tree roaches, but I've also heard them called palmetto bugs. Here is what one looks like. I was sitting on the bed drinking my coffee when Matthew came in and said "Mommy, why is there a big bug on your carpet?" He flipped the light on, and we watch this huge bug run across the rug to underneath the dresser. We pulled the dresser out, but he was gone. I figured he had squeezed into a crack by the floor and taken off. We weren't sure, though, because the cat still seemed pretty interested in what was going on. I sat back on the bed to finish my coffee, and Jeremy says, "There he is behind you!" I jumped off of the bed, because I thought the bug was on the bed. He was actually on the wall, but he could move!! We grabbed one of my old flip flops to smack him, and we discovered he can also fly! He flew off the wall and onto the back of Jeremy's shirt. He was able to shake him off, and then hit him a couple of times on the floor. So, unlike the frog, this poor guy went to roach heaven rather than back to his friends. Of course, if he had stayed outside rather than inside, he would have had a long and happy life.

Food for Thought

2008-08-27T21:23:00.004-04:00

This is an e-mail my parents sent me. My dad always has the most thoughtful responses! Someday, I'll grow up to be as smart as him. (I always have a tendency to shoot off a smart-aleck response.)

Here's is an email we received yesterday: As I was listening to a news program last night, I watched in horror as Barack Obama made the statement with pride. . .'we are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, . . . As with so many other statements I've heard him (and his wife) make, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that from a
presidential candidate in this nation. To think our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation--and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be. I hope that each of you will do what I'm doing now--send your concerns, written simply and sincerely, to the Christians on your email list. With God's help, and He is still in control of this nation and all else, we can show this man and the world in November that we are, indeed, still a Christian nation! Please pray for our nation!

Here is Dad's response:Perhaps the writer of the original e-mail never read how Jefferson excised from his Bible all of the passages he did not like, or how Jefferson's
concern about the "wall of separation" between church and state was based more
upon the concern that the church not dictate to the state as it was upon the concern that the state would run the church. I would exercise caution in attempting to place on any nation the label of "Christian nation." If we are going to place that label on ourselves, perhaps we need to go back to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy to see how a nation bearing God's name is to treat its citizens and
the foreigners in its midst. May I suggest that we remember that the early church experienced explosive growth in the midst of an empire, Rome, that attempted to exterminate the church. In fact, after Constantine made Christianity the "in" thing, the empire and the church became increasingly weaker and the western world eventually entered a period we now call the "dark ages," a period in which the established church became indistinguishable from the state, a period from which the reformation, thankfully, delivered us. May I also point out that the areas of the world today where the church is rxperiencing exponential growth are areas where the governments are not all that friendly toward the church. Perhaps it is because the church in those nations operates in the realization that it's future growth is based not upon the favor of Caesar, but rather on the grace and favor of the King of kings. My concern is not so much that my nation be known as a "Christian nation," rather that my nation be one in which the Christians are living out the kingdom of God in the midst of all, whether they be the nominal Christians, or Muslims, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or atheists. My concern is that the Christians in my nation be the living embodiment of Micah 6:8, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." History has shown us that the church has been most powerful and effective when it has not been busy trying to control how people live, but rather has been totally focused on HUMBLY being the Body of Christ. While this will certainly lead us to support laws that reflect
kingdom values, let's make sure we are not selective about which kingdom
values we wish to support.While we will always live in a nation that at times will support kingdom values and will at times not support kingdom values, the church is free, unfettered by any political alliances with the government, to FULLY live out the values of the kingdom in the midst of every generation.
Mike

I guess I've always been one who said, "We should be a Christian Nation." But after reading what my dad wrote, I have to say that I agree with him. Maybe we should worry less about being a "Christian Nation" and more about being a "Christian Church".

By the way, Dad, I hope you hit "Reply All" when you sent your response.

Well, let's see. . .

2008-08-26T20:51:00.002-04:00

26 - 14 equals 12. Twelve days it's been since I found the time to get here. Yeah, sorry about that. The last few weeks have been crazy, and that's on the good days. Things at school haven't really seemed to slow down yet. We're in the middle of all of our beginning of the year assessments, and that means I have to find time during the day to sit down with each of my lovely children individually and listen to them read while I try to juggle a clipboard, a stopwatch, and a pencil. Plus, I have to be able to send out the silent death glare to any of my other children who aren't sitting there reading quietly like the county thinks they should be able to one week into school. So, teaching? I'm getting a little bit done since we have to keep up with the county calendars, but I feel like I'm just rushing through things. Plus, we have benchmarks. Don't get me started on benchmarks, or the steam will begin to rise. I'm sure they will be very helpful throughout the year, but trying to give a math pretest that takes about two hours and a language arts pretest that also takes two hours during the second week of school does not add up to fun. We're surviving, though. And that's usually the goal for the first month of school. Survive and advance. (Sounds like the NCAA tournament.)

Right now we're attempting to keep our selves from going underwater. I know, it sounds weird for someone in a drought, but Tropical Storm Fay has decided to stop by Atlanta! We've got to be the only people in the southeast who are thrilled to see a tropical storm! I'm sure Florida was more than happy to see her go. Fay has been generous with us. In some places, like the Lake Lanier watershed, she's dropped close to eight inches of rain! Yesterday, the lake had already risen about 3 inches which means an increase of 1.4 billion gallons. As I type, it's continuing to rain. Hopefully, we'll get another inch or two before Fay heads off somewhere else. And, there's another hurricane in the Carribbean which could bring us more rain in the next couple of days. I don't feel quite as guilty taking a bath now. :)

So that's about it for our lives right now. Jeremy's hours were cut back a little at work. He's going in at 5 pm now, so Andrew doesn't need to go to daycare. Hopefully, the money that he's losing in his paycheck will be offset by the money we don't have to pay for daycare. We'll see. They've also cut back on their Saturday schedule, so for right now he's not scheduled to work any weekends. While I'm not happy about the cut in hours, I can't complain about the Saturdays. I don't know how long this will last. Hopefully only for a few months at least.

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering. My student who had his adventure in the bathroom was back to school a week ago Monday. His arm is bandaged up still, but it seems to be doing OK. I think I've had enough blood for the year, although with this group, I have a feeling more accidents are in my future. They have a tendency to act before they think. I'll just make sure my insurance premiums are paid up!

Things You Never Want to Have Happen

2008-08-14T21:35:00.003-04:00

There are some things I have never wanted to have happen as a teacher. One, a child puking in a classroom. I understand it's something they can't control, but I have a very quick gag reflex, and I would puke right after them. I can't even handle my own kids' vomit. Two, one child hurting another seriously. I just don't want to have to try and explain it to a parent (or to the news media for that matter!). Three, having to call an ambulance for one of my students. That's never a good thing.

Unfortunately, number three happened today. Here's how it happened. I had my entire class in the hall for a bathroom break, and there were about three boys and two girls still in the bathroom. As I'm standing next to the line of students who are done, I hear this tremendous crash come from the boys bathroom. I knew immediately that the sink had fallen off of the wall, and I headed toward the bathroom ready to lay into someone. Suddenly, one of the boys comes running out saying, "Somebody did something!" As I'm trying to get more information from him, I look up to see another one of my students rounding the corner of the bathroom with blood pouring out of his arm. Immediately, I tell the first student to RUN and get the nurse. Thankfully, we have an RN in the building at all times. My assistant principal was coming across one of the hallways at the same time, and she must have heard me tell the child to RUN. She comes running, as I'm trying to make sure the bleeding child doesn't come out in the hallway where all of my students can see him. His arm looked really bad. The nurse comes and without even putting on gloves grabs a paper towel and puts pressure on the arm. (Something I guess I should have done, but I was in too much shock. One reason I'm not a nurse.) They take the child off to the clinic, while I try to get the rest of my kids settled down and in the cafeteria for lunch. After I had them at their table, I find out that the ambulance has been called for my student. I went quickly to check on him, and by the time I got back to the cafeteria, most of my class had convinced themselves that he had died. I got them settled down, and after recess when the tears had dried up, I gave them the "This is Why We Have Rules" lecture. I don't know what exactly he was doing in the bathroom, but I don't think he'll do it again. I also think seeing him with a huge bandage on his arm will speak louder than any words I could ever say to my class. They were pretty subdued this afternoon. The update I got from the nurse at the end of the day was that he had cut it all the way down to the bone. (What I had thought was a piece of sink stuck in his arm was actually his muscle hanging out! Another reason I'm not a nurse.) I have no idea how long he'll be at the hospital, or what kind of treatment he'll need, but it was certainly a memorable start to the year. Tomorrow's Friday, and hopefully we can make it through the day without the ambulance showing up!

Already an improvement!

2008-08-12T22:06:00.003-04:00

After yesterday, I was a little worried about how this year would be for me. My class had a very hard time listening and following directions, and they were trying to pull things that you usually see in May (like throwing food in the cafeteria). I told Jeremy last night, that I was going to have to really crack down, which I didn't want to do. I'm more strict at the beginning of the year, but I don't really like to hand out consequences the first week of school, since the kids and I are still trying to feel each other out. But I knew I was going to have to be tough with this group. However, they were a little better today. We still had some problems, and I know I'm going to have some that will test me the entire year, but there are others that are seeming to catch on to the idea that summer is over and school has started. I was happy to see it, because this year is going to be tough enough academically for some of my students. They certainly don't need the distraction of others acting up.