Here's Kylie with her baby doll, Emma. Poor Emma is suffering from a broken arm. Apparently she fell. I hope Kathleen didn't push her down the stairs in a box.
Find me on Amazon
2 years ago
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sick
It's the 27th today, or at least I think it's the 27th. I didn't have calendar time at school to confirm it!
I've had a cough for a good week or so, even before our little jaunt to California. I didn't think it was much, and it wasn't much, until Wednesday afternoon, when I started coughing harder and harder and harder. By the time I got to GAs that night, I had put the lesson plan on flashcards to save my voice. The girls thought it was kind of novel. : )
That night, Kylie slept on the living room recliner and I slept on the family room recliner and we both coughed our lungs out in tandem. The next morning, with great regret, I called in to the school to say that I would be out for the rest of the week, got the kids out the door and went back to bed for two hours to await physician doctor's hours. Kylie and I then spent all morning and a good part of the afternoon going to our respective doctors. (I haven't seen the pediatrician this many times in a span of a month in a long time!)
By the time we got all of our antibiotics and wonderful, glorious, fabulous and-in-all-other-ways miraculous cough syrup, I was absolutely spent and regretting our little lunch trip to Panda Express. I made it to bed with quick instructions to the kids coming home from school that they were now in charge, no friends could come play, they could see no friends -- I was checked out for the day. Four hours later, I came stumbling back into the family room to see life continuing as normal. I ate a little oatmeal and toast and a cola and lots of water (Mom!), watched a little mind-numbing TV, and then stumbled back to bed.
I'm still out of it today, but the wonderful, glorious, fabulous and-in-all-other-ways miraculous cough syrup has saved me from checking myself into the funny farm. I watched TV, ran two loads of dishes and four loads of laundry and have pretty much wrapped up any more productivity for the day.
We've got rain, so it's a good excuse to keep all kids inside and rested and no visitors to contaminate. Kristofer has been invited to a bowling night and Kathleen is spending the night with a friends. So dinner will be canned stew. Yay for easy dinners! And the weekend cometh!
I've had a cough for a good week or so, even before our little jaunt to California. I didn't think it was much, and it wasn't much, until Wednesday afternoon, when I started coughing harder and harder and harder. By the time I got to GAs that night, I had put the lesson plan on flashcards to save my voice. The girls thought it was kind of novel. : )
That night, Kylie slept on the living room recliner and I slept on the family room recliner and we both coughed our lungs out in tandem. The next morning, with great regret, I called in to the school to say that I would be out for the rest of the week, got the kids out the door and went back to bed for two hours to await physician doctor's hours. Kylie and I then spent all morning and a good part of the afternoon going to our respective doctors. (I haven't seen the pediatrician this many times in a span of a month in a long time!)
By the time we got all of our antibiotics and wonderful, glorious, fabulous and-in-all-other-ways miraculous cough syrup, I was absolutely spent and regretting our little lunch trip to Panda Express. I made it to bed with quick instructions to the kids coming home from school that they were now in charge, no friends could come play, they could see no friends -- I was checked out for the day. Four hours later, I came stumbling back into the family room to see life continuing as normal. I ate a little oatmeal and toast and a cola and lots of water (Mom!), watched a little mind-numbing TV, and then stumbled back to bed.
I'm still out of it today, but the wonderful, glorious, fabulous and-in-all-other-ways miraculous cough syrup has saved me from checking myself into the funny farm. I watched TV, ran two loads of dishes and four loads of laundry and have pretty much wrapped up any more productivity for the day.
We've got rain, so it's a good excuse to keep all kids inside and rested and no visitors to contaminate. Kristofer has been invited to a bowling night and Kathleen is spending the night with a friends. So dinner will be canned stew. Yay for easy dinners! And the weekend cometh!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
CA trip overview
We're back from California and recuperating after a whirlwind trip. It was a lot of fun, but as usual didn't get to see as many people as I would have liked. I guess I'm just going to have to get realistic about time.
It was especially good to see my Mom this time around. She was laid off a few months ago, so it was the first time we've come for a visit where we've actually really been able to spend time with her. She cooked up a storm, as usual, making many yummy specialties. My kids said, "So that's where you learned how to make scrambled eggs!" This time, though, we were able to sit and talk and catch up on things.
We arrived on Wednesday and marveled right away at the wonderful weather. They'd just had a ton of rain, so the skies were really clear, enough to see the mountains all around the L.A. basin and beyond. Gorgeous! We went to go see Grandpa Stan, Keith's Dad, right off because he was going to be at work the other days we were there. He was looking really good, even as he's looking to celebrate "four score" years. We played with his dog Scooter, got some pictures in the backyard, and marveled at all the green grass (since all of our grass here is dormant). Then, we went to see my new niece Danica Joy, Danny and Jessica's baby. She is just six weeks and as cute as a button. She, however, was not happy about the invasion and even Danny's CD of a hairdryer blowing or a vacuum sweeper going was not going to make her happy!
On Thursday, Mom and Rich took us to El Pollo Inca, because that is probably the restaurant that I miss the most. The food was just as delicious as I'd remembered. Then, we went to the beach. My Mom planned a trip to the beach, saying that the weather was really warm. They'd gone to the beach just the week before all the rain and had had a wonderful time. I was more than slightly skeptical, but we went anyway. June and Sarah Bostick, and Cathy and Dennis Quackenbush stopped by to say "hi." And most of the cousins were there -- Lola and Gabriel with Aunt Connie, and Danielle, Christine and Darlene. They all played in the water. Several of them, most of them my kids, got completely soaked in the waves. They made sand castles and collected shells and had a grand time at the beach in the middle of February! I took scads of pictures that I'll be posting as soon as I can!
On Friday, we stopped by to see Grandma Alice. We car-pooled over from her place, Mom with a group, Rich with a group and Alice with a group in her fancy red PT Cruiser -- all to Jack in the Box, where I could fulfill my craving for a Sourdough Jack. Sad, I know, but BOY was it good! After that little outing, we went over to Stanton to visit with my Grandmother, who is now 92. She treated the whole lot of us to Sizzler. We enjoyed that very much. I passed out crochet gifts that I had planned and of course had never gotten around to sending for Christmas.
And before we knew it, it was time to head back home. Good-bye family. Good-bye California friends. Good-bye wonderful weather! As soon as we got off the plane in Atlanta, we were hit with a blast of cold air from the outside. Brrrrr! Good thing our heater works at home, because we're going to need it as we acclimate to REAL February weather!
It was especially good to see my Mom this time around. She was laid off a few months ago, so it was the first time we've come for a visit where we've actually really been able to spend time with her. She cooked up a storm, as usual, making many yummy specialties. My kids said, "So that's where you learned how to make scrambled eggs!" This time, though, we were able to sit and talk and catch up on things.
We arrived on Wednesday and marveled right away at the wonderful weather. They'd just had a ton of rain, so the skies were really clear, enough to see the mountains all around the L.A. basin and beyond. Gorgeous! We went to go see Grandpa Stan, Keith's Dad, right off because he was going to be at work the other days we were there. He was looking really good, even as he's looking to celebrate "four score" years. We played with his dog Scooter, got some pictures in the backyard, and marveled at all the green grass (since all of our grass here is dormant). Then, we went to see my new niece Danica Joy, Danny and Jessica's baby. She is just six weeks and as cute as a button. She, however, was not happy about the invasion and even Danny's CD of a hairdryer blowing or a vacuum sweeper going was not going to make her happy!
On Thursday, Mom and Rich took us to El Pollo Inca, because that is probably the restaurant that I miss the most. The food was just as delicious as I'd remembered. Then, we went to the beach. My Mom planned a trip to the beach, saying that the weather was really warm. They'd gone to the beach just the week before all the rain and had had a wonderful time. I was more than slightly skeptical, but we went anyway. June and Sarah Bostick, and Cathy and Dennis Quackenbush stopped by to say "hi." And most of the cousins were there -- Lola and Gabriel with Aunt Connie, and Danielle, Christine and Darlene. They all played in the water. Several of them, most of them my kids, got completely soaked in the waves. They made sand castles and collected shells and had a grand time at the beach in the middle of February! I took scads of pictures that I'll be posting as soon as I can!
On Friday, we stopped by to see Grandma Alice. We car-pooled over from her place, Mom with a group, Rich with a group and Alice with a group in her fancy red PT Cruiser -- all to Jack in the Box, where I could fulfill my craving for a Sourdough Jack. Sad, I know, but BOY was it good! After that little outing, we went over to Stanton to visit with my Grandmother, who is now 92. She treated the whole lot of us to Sizzler. We enjoyed that very much. I passed out crochet gifts that I had planned and of course had never gotten around to sending for Christmas.
And before we knew it, it was time to head back home. Good-bye family. Good-bye California friends. Good-bye wonderful weather! As soon as we got off the plane in Atlanta, we were hit with a blast of cold air from the outside. Brrrrr! Good thing our heater works at home, because we're going to need it as we acclimate to REAL February weather!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Traveling would be so much more fun if you didn't have to pack!
I hit the ground running today with this vague notion that I'd clean every single dirty piece of laundry in the house. Fourteen hours and 12 loads later, I'm here to report that although I didn't clean every piece of dirty laundry, I did manage to wash enough clothes so that kids will not go naked on an airplane tomorrow. That, my friends, is an accomplishment these days!
I also got pizza for dinner so that there would be very few dishes to deal with at the last minute. Keith seems to think that Kody will be okay left at home while he's at work, so I didn't need to get a dog sitter. Whew! If I didn't have to pack, I think I would like traveling a whole lot more!
I'm getting up tomorrow at 4:30, kids up by 5:00, in the hopes of not running out the door in sheer panic because we're running late. I bought those yummy pancake sausage on-a-stick thingies and some orange juice for a quick breakfast. Everything is pretty much packed. The plan is to have a simple nice travel day tomorrow. Granted, I'm probably going to be a tad grumpy for lack of sleep, but at least I'll be able to catch a few Z's while in the air, but only if one of my kids is sitting nearby to elbow me if I start to snore.
It's very embarrassing to snore on an airplane.
I gave Keva a bath tonight, a nice long warm one, to encourage any diaper activity tonight as opposed to on the plane tomorrow, because way more embarrassing than snoring on a plane is changing a stinky 14-year-old on a plane. Haven't had to change her on a plane in a long time. THANK GOD!
Anyway, I left Keva in the bath to soak while I took a few minutes to check Facebook. (I am addicted.)
A few minutes changed into about 20, and I came running back into the bathroom to find out that Keva had not only taken care of business in the bathtub, but had thrown it all around the bathroom. I'm sure she was giggling all the while. (Sorry, to all my queasy-stomached readers.) So that was way fun to clean up when I should have been doing a few other packing chores, but at least I won't have to worry about an accident on the plane tomorrow!
5:00ish -- Meet with Danny and Jessica
Thursday
4:00 -- Dockweiler Beach (at the end of Imperial) for hot dogs and Smores. Anyone is welcome to come join us! The weather is supposed to be cleared up by then, but if it's too cold, then we're going back to Mom's.
Friday
12:00 -- Visit SBFA
4:00 -- Dinner at Grandma's
7:00 -- Keri Lynn's sleepover at Missy's
And that's about all I know for sure. It's a short but sweet visit. Impromptu, so not a lot of planning.
I also got pizza for dinner so that there would be very few dishes to deal with at the last minute. Keith seems to think that Kody will be okay left at home while he's at work, so I didn't need to get a dog sitter. Whew! If I didn't have to pack, I think I would like traveling a whole lot more!
I'm getting up tomorrow at 4:30, kids up by 5:00, in the hopes of not running out the door in sheer panic because we're running late. I bought those yummy pancake sausage on-a-stick thingies and some orange juice for a quick breakfast. Everything is pretty much packed. The plan is to have a simple nice travel day tomorrow. Granted, I'm probably going to be a tad grumpy for lack of sleep, but at least I'll be able to catch a few Z's while in the air, but only if one of my kids is sitting nearby to elbow me if I start to snore.
It's very embarrassing to snore on an airplane.
I gave Keva a bath tonight, a nice long warm one, to encourage any diaper activity tonight as opposed to on the plane tomorrow, because way more embarrassing than snoring on a plane is changing a stinky 14-year-old on a plane. Haven't had to change her on a plane in a long time. THANK GOD!
Anyway, I left Keva in the bath to soak while I took a few minutes to check Facebook. (I am addicted.)
A few minutes changed into about 20, and I came running back into the bathroom to find out that Keva had not only taken care of business in the bathtub, but had thrown it all around the bathroom. I'm sure she was giggling all the while. (Sorry, to all my queasy-stomached readers.) So that was way fun to clean up when I should have been doing a few other packing chores, but at least I won't have to worry about an accident on the plane tomorrow!
For those of you in California, I just wanted to write out a quick itinerary, as I know it.
Wednesday
12:15 -- Pick-up at airport and go back to Mom's house as home base. (Johnson invasion)
5:00ish -- Meet with Danny and Jessica
Thursday
4:00 -- Dockweiler Beach (at the end of Imperial) for hot dogs and Smores. Anyone is welcome to come join us! The weather is supposed to be cleared up by then, but if it's too cold, then we're going back to Mom's.
Friday
12:00 -- Visit SBFA
4:00 -- Dinner at Grandma's
7:00 -- Keri Lynn's sleepover at Missy's
And that's about all I know for sure. It's a short but sweet visit. Impromptu, so not a lot of planning.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
On our way to California
This week we have winter break! Whoo-hoo! That means that not only are all the kids off from school, but I'm off from work. It won't be so nice when payday comes around, but it's nice now!
So I got to thinking that maybe we should try to get a visit in to California. Keith won't be able to go with us this time because he needs to work, but the rest of us are going. We plan to fly out on Wednesday morning and come back Saturday.
Keith told me that this will be the first time we'll all qualify for first class seats since Konner is now eight! Not that they'll be available for all of us, but the thought makes me happy! It's been A LONG TIME since I've seen first class!
We plan to visit the family and any friends that may be interested in getting together. My grandma celebrated her 91st birthday just last month. My brother and his wife just had their first baby. And of course the kids are going to want to visit with all of the other cousins, too.
Kylie wanted to know if we could go to the beach. She really wants to go swim, but I told her that it would definitely be too cold. "Then, could we just go and play in the sand? I want to collect shells!"
We finally got passports for Keri Lynn and Kristofer for their trips to Mexico and Japan. Hopefully we'll get them back in time, especially for the Japan trip, as our music pastor is trying to get good prices on airplane tickets.
The passport hunt was an adventure all by itself.
We decided to meet Keith at the post office at the airport. He needed to sign Kristofer's passport application since Kristofer is under 16. The post office was supposedly on the north side of the airport, so we got directions to a little office there, waited about 30 minutes and then finally talked to someone who told us that they were actually an expediting office. For a mere $230 a person, they could expedite the passports and we'd have them in 14 business days. We then found out that there was a post office on the south side of the airport if we wanted to check there, but that they'd charge a fee for any expediting, too.
So, off we went to the airport post office. It was completely empty except for the employee behind the counter who told us that their office only did passports by appointment only and since Monday was a holiday, they could schedule an appointment for Tuesday. I looked around the vacant room and back to him again. "Um, the on-line information said that no appointments were necessary." He was unmoved, but he did finally deign to give us directions to a post office near the airport that took passport walk-ins.
We met Keith at his work and followed him in his truck to the next post office where we found a huge line waiting for us. At the Newnan post office, there's a separate line for passports, so we went to the door marked "Passport Office" and knocked. The lady told us that we needed to get ourselves back into the Full Service Line to get to the Passport Office. Keith then told us that he was going back to work and to give us a call when we got to the end of the line. Good grief!
We did eventually get to the end of the line and we did eventually get the passport pictures done, and passport fees made for half of the expedited fee price. "I'm supposed to tell you that it will take 4-6 weeks for the passports to come back, but most everyone tells us that they're getting their's back in about two weeks," said the postal worker. That sounded a lot better to me than the supposed expedited 14 business days and at more than half the price, too!
It was worth the wait to finally get it done, but as we walked out of the post office, the kids were talking about how hard it must be to work at a post office. I asked them if they'd ever heard the phrase "going postal", and they hadn't, so I got to explain that phrase. They understood!
So I got to thinking that maybe we should try to get a visit in to California. Keith won't be able to go with us this time because he needs to work, but the rest of us are going. We plan to fly out on Wednesday morning and come back Saturday.
Keith told me that this will be the first time we'll all qualify for first class seats since Konner is now eight! Not that they'll be available for all of us, but the thought makes me happy! It's been A LONG TIME since I've seen first class!
We plan to visit the family and any friends that may be interested in getting together. My grandma celebrated her 91st birthday just last month. My brother and his wife just had their first baby. And of course the kids are going to want to visit with all of the other cousins, too.
Kylie wanted to know if we could go to the beach. She really wants to go swim, but I told her that it would definitely be too cold. "Then, could we just go and play in the sand? I want to collect shells!"
We finally got passports for Keri Lynn and Kristofer for their trips to Mexico and Japan. Hopefully we'll get them back in time, especially for the Japan trip, as our music pastor is trying to get good prices on airplane tickets.
The passport hunt was an adventure all by itself.
We decided to meet Keith at the post office at the airport. He needed to sign Kristofer's passport application since Kristofer is under 16. The post office was supposedly on the north side of the airport, so we got directions to a little office there, waited about 30 minutes and then finally talked to someone who told us that they were actually an expediting office. For a mere $230 a person, they could expedite the passports and we'd have them in 14 business days. We then found out that there was a post office on the south side of the airport if we wanted to check there, but that they'd charge a fee for any expediting, too.
So, off we went to the airport post office. It was completely empty except for the employee behind the counter who told us that their office only did passports by appointment only and since Monday was a holiday, they could schedule an appointment for Tuesday. I looked around the vacant room and back to him again. "Um, the on-line information said that no appointments were necessary." He was unmoved, but he did finally deign to give us directions to a post office near the airport that took passport walk-ins.
We met Keith at his work and followed him in his truck to the next post office where we found a huge line waiting for us. At the Newnan post office, there's a separate line for passports, so we went to the door marked "Passport Office" and knocked. The lady told us that we needed to get ourselves back into the Full Service Line to get to the Passport Office. Keith then told us that he was going back to work and to give us a call when we got to the end of the line. Good grief!
We did eventually get to the end of the line and we did eventually get the passport pictures done, and passport fees made for half of the expedited fee price. "I'm supposed to tell you that it will take 4-6 weeks for the passports to come back, but most everyone tells us that they're getting their's back in about two weeks," said the postal worker. That sounded a lot better to me than the supposed expedited 14 business days and at more than half the price, too!
It was worth the wait to finally get it done, but as we walked out of the post office, the kids were talking about how hard it must be to work at a post office. I asked them if they'd ever heard the phrase "going postal", and they hadn't, so I got to explain that phrase. They understood!
Monday, February 09, 2009
February Walk #1
I'm very thrilled to announce that I passed the Special Ed. GACE test. (I'm doing a happy dance!) Now I will begin making contact with various people and see what teaching positions become available. Because I would be hired in a provisional situation, other teachers with actual teaching credentials would be hired before me. Here in our county, there has been a hiring freeze all year and will continue into next year, so I may have to go out of the county to find a job. However, it is and always has been in God's very capable hands. So it remains to be seen what happens next.
Last night, I set the alarm clock for 6:20, a sort of compromise to wake-up time. Not 6:15 but not 6:30 either, in case I had any emergencies like I did on Friday. However, the morning went very smoothly. Like clockwork.
In fact, the entire day has been pretty much an antithesis of Friday's complete chaos, I'm happy to say. Even at school several students were absent, making the workday a breeze.
I spent what seemed like all of Sunday sorting dirty laundry. I washed four loads while I sorted. Does that give you an idea of how pathetically behind I am in laundry? This whole week's focus is to finally get caught up on laundry. It can happened. I've had short spurts of laundry maintenance, so I know it's possible! I figure if I can wash four loads a day, by the end of the week, I should be caught up . . . mostly.
Just the feeling of laundry accomplishment has given me a mental boost to continue with life's challenges. Today, when I got home from work, I walked. Keith joined me. So that makes Walk #1 for February. The weather is super wonderful right now, unlike last week's freezing temperatures. We've been enjoying weather in the late 60's with lots of sunshine. I love it! I don't expect it to last, though. There's still a lot of potential cold spells before we start looking at spring temperatures.
Last night, I set the alarm clock for 6:20, a sort of compromise to wake-up time. Not 6:15 but not 6:30 either, in case I had any emergencies like I did on Friday. However, the morning went very smoothly. Like clockwork.
In fact, the entire day has been pretty much an antithesis of Friday's complete chaos, I'm happy to say. Even at school several students were absent, making the workday a breeze.
I spent what seemed like all of Sunday sorting dirty laundry. I washed four loads while I sorted. Does that give you an idea of how pathetically behind I am in laundry? This whole week's focus is to finally get caught up on laundry. It can happened. I've had short spurts of laundry maintenance, so I know it's possible! I figure if I can wash four loads a day, by the end of the week, I should be caught up . . . mostly.
Just the feeling of laundry accomplishment has given me a mental boost to continue with life's challenges. Today, when I got home from work, I walked. Keith joined me. So that makes Walk #1 for February. The weather is super wonderful right now, unlike last week's freezing temperatures. We've been enjoying weather in the late 60's with lots of sunshine. I love it! I don't expect it to last, though. There's still a lot of potential cold spells before we start looking at spring temperatures.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
"Funny"
I've been getting up at 6:00 this school year, a whole 45 minutes earlier than last year. Keith gets up at the same time. It's the first time in our entire married lives that we've gotten up at the same time, and it just doesn't work for us. We both need the bathroom, the ironing board, the space at the same time. So I decided that since I'm kind of waiting around for Keith to get out the door in his allotted 15 minutes, I can get up a little later. So on Monday, I set the alarm for 6:15 and felt entirely sinfully happy snuggled in bed while Keith got ready for work. Then I had time to myself to do all the woman things that seem to take so much longer than man things to get out the door.
Well, this morning, I was laying in bed after the alarm went off at 6:15. Keith had already kissed me good-bye. I thought, well, wouldn't it be nice to sleep in to 6:30. That would give me just enough time to get myself ready (20 minutes), Keva ready (10 minutes) and last minute kid things done (15 minutes) before running out the door myself. Perfect! Why hadn't I thought of that LAST night? So, I reset my alarm again and snuggled back into my warm cozy bed.
Alarm went off at 6:30 as set.
I got up, got dressed. Makeup done. Was doing really well with my schedule. Feeling confident. Successful. Rested.
I walked out of my bedroom door.
Sniffed the air.
Went into Keva's room. Keva was stinky all right. And so were her fingers where she had played in her diaper. And so was anything else she'd touched while waking up.
Ahhhhhhck!
I went running into the laundry room to get a towel when Kathleen caught me in the kitchen, "Mom! Kody pooped in the bathroom. It's diarrhea and it's all over the bathroom!" (We keep him in the guest bathroom during the night for just such possible issues.)
"Did he get anything on the carpet?"
"Well, he did scootch his butt across the carpet in the family room."
Ahhhhhhck!
I looked down at my watch and decided I really had no choice but to give Keva a bath and try to blow dry her hair before her bus came. It was entirely too cold to let her go out with wet hair. So, towel under my arm, I pleaded with Kathleen over my shoulder to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE clean up the dog poop while I cleaned up Keva. She could use some of Keva's baby wipes and some spray deodorizer to help counteract the terrible smell. Bless her heart, she did it, while I worked with Keva.
I even had enough time to write a short note about Keva's incident, since her hair wasn't completely dry, in her agenda before throwing her onto the bus.
I stood in the driveway, watching her bus drive away. I was dressed and ready for work, but maybe just a tiny bit bedraggled. And hungry. There was no time for breakfast. I was able to throw a lunch together. Yell good-bye to the remaining teenagers waiting for their ride to school.
The full moon is upon us, because the school day was pretty much a repeat of the morning. One student had a terrible seizure. Another one had a bad melt-down. Yet another was being physically self-abusive, much more so than usual . . .
Yet, God is gracious. He is able to give us grace to handle days like these. I'm actually thankful for such days because it makes me appreciate the "boring" days. Oh, yes. I love boring days!
In the midst of the chaos, I was giving a reading lesson to an autistic student. One of the words she was learning was "funny." (When I take her to the toilet, we always sing "Down by the Bay." It is a funny bond between us. I sing a line and let her finish the last word in the line. She laughs and guffaws through the song and we finish up the bathroom business.) So when we came across the word "funny" in her reading lesson, I'd sing a line or two from "Down by the Bay." I'd say, "Did you ever see a moose kissing a goose?" And she's start grinning. Then I'd tell her it was "funny." "Look, there's the word 'funny'. As the lesson progressed, she'd come to that word and giggle about it. I was so pleased. The lesson was successful! I wouldn't have traded all of the day's events for anything if it meant missing that lesson.
Later on that evening, Keith was home and we were chatting with Keri Lynn in the foyer. I related all of the days events to the two of them, ending with that special "funny" moment, and then I said, "You know, having the experience of homeschooling for so many years has really helped with teaching in the special ed class."
Keri Lynn looked at me a moment, and deadpanned, "Thanks."
But it's true. Teaching at a regular ed level requires much the same methodology as special ed. There still needs to be repetition. A teacher still needs to be aware of the child's strength and abilities. And there is still the excitement of seeing the student get it! I love that!
Well, this morning, I was laying in bed after the alarm went off at 6:15. Keith had already kissed me good-bye. I thought, well, wouldn't it be nice to sleep in to 6:30. That would give me just enough time to get myself ready (20 minutes), Keva ready (10 minutes) and last minute kid things done (15 minutes) before running out the door myself. Perfect! Why hadn't I thought of that LAST night? So, I reset my alarm again and snuggled back into my warm cozy bed.
Alarm went off at 6:30 as set.
I got up, got dressed. Makeup done. Was doing really well with my schedule. Feeling confident. Successful. Rested.
I walked out of my bedroom door.
Sniffed the air.
Went into Keva's room. Keva was stinky all right. And so were her fingers where she had played in her diaper. And so was anything else she'd touched while waking up.
Ahhhhhhck!
I went running into the laundry room to get a towel when Kathleen caught me in the kitchen, "Mom! Kody pooped in the bathroom. It's diarrhea and it's all over the bathroom!" (We keep him in the guest bathroom during the night for just such possible issues.)
"Did he get anything on the carpet?"
"Well, he did scootch his butt across the carpet in the family room."
Ahhhhhhck!
I looked down at my watch and decided I really had no choice but to give Keva a bath and try to blow dry her hair before her bus came. It was entirely too cold to let her go out with wet hair. So, towel under my arm, I pleaded with Kathleen over my shoulder to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE clean up the dog poop while I cleaned up Keva. She could use some of Keva's baby wipes and some spray deodorizer to help counteract the terrible smell. Bless her heart, she did it, while I worked with Keva.
I even had enough time to write a short note about Keva's incident, since her hair wasn't completely dry, in her agenda before throwing her onto the bus.
I stood in the driveway, watching her bus drive away. I was dressed and ready for work, but maybe just a tiny bit bedraggled. And hungry. There was no time for breakfast. I was able to throw a lunch together. Yell good-bye to the remaining teenagers waiting for their ride to school.
The full moon is upon us, because the school day was pretty much a repeat of the morning. One student had a terrible seizure. Another one had a bad melt-down. Yet another was being physically self-abusive, much more so than usual . . .
Yet, God is gracious. He is able to give us grace to handle days like these. I'm actually thankful for such days because it makes me appreciate the "boring" days. Oh, yes. I love boring days!
In the midst of the chaos, I was giving a reading lesson to an autistic student. One of the words she was learning was "funny." (When I take her to the toilet, we always sing "Down by the Bay." It is a funny bond between us. I sing a line and let her finish the last word in the line. She laughs and guffaws through the song and we finish up the bathroom business.) So when we came across the word "funny" in her reading lesson, I'd sing a line or two from "Down by the Bay." I'd say, "Did you ever see a moose kissing a goose?" And she's start grinning. Then I'd tell her it was "funny." "Look, there's the word 'funny'. As the lesson progressed, she'd come to that word and giggle about it. I was so pleased. The lesson was successful! I wouldn't have traded all of the day's events for anything if it meant missing that lesson.
Later on that evening, Keith was home and we were chatting with Keri Lynn in the foyer. I related all of the days events to the two of them, ending with that special "funny" moment, and then I said, "You know, having the experience of homeschooling for so many years has really helped with teaching in the special ed class."
Keri Lynn looked at me a moment, and deadpanned, "Thanks."
But it's true. Teaching at a regular ed level requires much the same methodology as special ed. There still needs to be repetition. A teacher still needs to be aware of the child's strength and abilities. And there is still the excitement of seeing the student get it! I love that!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
25 random things
I'd love to hear your 25. So if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged!
1) My faith in God defines me.
2) I've been married to the same man for 20 years, and couldn't imagine being married to anyone else.
3) I have seven children, but I don't usually volunteer that information to people I have just met because of the comments that follow: "Wow, you must be very patient." "I don't know how you do it. I can't do it with my two." Or "Have you seen Jon and Kate Plus 8 or the Duggers?"
4) I was born in Guatemala to a missionary family, grew up in Central America and then when I was eight my family moved back to the States.
5) I lived in Southern California up until four years ago. The move to Georgia was a HUGE change for our family, but we really love the house and the neighborhood and our church.
6) I hate to call people on the telephone. People rarely hear from me by phone and if they do, they usually immediately think something is wrong.
7) I've never gotten a ticket. Keith, on the other hand . . .
8) After 16 years as a SAHM, I had to go back to work to help with our family income. It was either that or lose the house. If I had a choice, I'd be home again in a flash.
9) Nonetheless, the idea of becoming a special ed. teacher is exciting to me, and that's what I'm hoping to do by next fall.
10) I'm just a "little" self-absorbed. I could spend hours on my blog http:/familydaze.blogspot.com and facebook writing about myself and my family happenings. (Oh, right, I already do.)
11) I have been working on a novel for the last three years. I'm got it maybe 5% done, but it keeps my mind occupied while I'm taking a shower, blow-drying my hair, sitting at a red light, etc.
12) I love a good book and a good movie. I usually hate movies based on good books. (Like the Bourne movies -- urgh!)
13) I'm kind of a frustrated artist. I have a bunch of art books on my shelf and every once in a while I'll pull one out and try to sketch portraits.
14) I am so proud of my kids. They are amazing people that just get better and better as they grow. For all of you people with young children out there, don't believe the teenager myth. They don't have to be like that!
15) I hate housework. I'm basically lazy. Laundry is my arch enemy.
16) If I could choose the perfect vacation, I'd choose to go away with just Keith to a fancy hotel with good cable, eat out every meal, go see a movie every day, and have lots of great books on hand to read. I wouldn't matter where the hotel was.
17) It hurts to be 43.
18) I absolutely adore studying the Bible.
19) I also adore debating the Bible.
20) I am both a procrastinator and a perfectionist. Go figure.
21) I am blessed by some wonderful loyal friends, but I wish I had closer friends here in Georgia, too.
22) I love to crochet while I watch TV. I taught myself to crochet in the first years of marriage.
23) I have trouble paying bills and turning in library books on time.
24) I hate to be wrong, but my husband loves me anyway.
25) I have a can of cola in the morning instead of coffee. One can a day, that's all I ask!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Walk #4!
I now have raised my overdue library fines to $42, just after I'd finally gotten it back down into the single digits. It's very frustrating. I think I'm going to really have to crack down on myself and only limit us all to a half dozen books at a time instead of the 30 or so I usually check out. I used to be able to charm my way out of fines, but the Mean Librarian has beaten all of the charm and fight out of me. Sigh.
Keith and I just got done with a walk. I can usually coerce him into going with me on Mondays. We walk around the neighborhood and critique everyone's yards, then come home and ignore our own!
Work went well today. The kids are such fun to work with. One of the autistic kids has finally started calling me by name. I've been promoted.
It's hard to believe that it's been a week since the Kings came for their visit. This weekend, I didn't plan on too much, but ended up staying busy anyway. On Friday night, Keri Lynn and I snuck out by ourselves to see the winter high school play, starring several of Keri Lynn's friends from church. Man, those kids can act! Church members took up the whole front section, and we were very enthusiastic!
On Saturday, I went to a GA activity at church and helped my 4th grade girls get caught up on their workbooks. Six girls came, about half of the group, which wasn't a bad showing for a Saturday event.
Then, I played hooky from church on Sunday. It essentially came down to the fact that I had no clean clothes to wear and neither did Keva. So instead of staying up late to make sure we had something to wear, I decided that Keva and I would sleep in, relax and get caught up on a little laundry. I made a dent. And to be honest, it's nice to play hooky every once in a while. I made up for playing hooky, though, by attending a parent meeting later in the afternoon for Keri Lynn and Kristofer's trip to Japan. (I need to get their passports soon --ack!) And then after the meeting, we stopped by to congratulate Jerry Walker, our associate pastor to seniors, for 25 faithful years of service.
Now I shall go make dinner. I think I'll make some homemade macaroni and cheese before the cheese gets all eaten up.
Keith and I just got done with a walk. I can usually coerce him into going with me on Mondays. We walk around the neighborhood and critique everyone's yards, then come home and ignore our own!
Work went well today. The kids are such fun to work with. One of the autistic kids has finally started calling me by name. I've been promoted.
It's hard to believe that it's been a week since the Kings came for their visit. This weekend, I didn't plan on too much, but ended up staying busy anyway. On Friday night, Keri Lynn and I snuck out by ourselves to see the winter high school play, starring several of Keri Lynn's friends from church. Man, those kids can act! Church members took up the whole front section, and we were very enthusiastic!
On Saturday, I went to a GA activity at church and helped my 4th grade girls get caught up on their workbooks. Six girls came, about half of the group, which wasn't a bad showing for a Saturday event.
Then, I played hooky from church on Sunday. It essentially came down to the fact that I had no clean clothes to wear and neither did Keva. So instead of staying up late to make sure we had something to wear, I decided that Keva and I would sleep in, relax and get caught up on a little laundry. I made a dent. And to be honest, it's nice to play hooky every once in a while. I made up for playing hooky, though, by attending a parent meeting later in the afternoon for Keri Lynn and Kristofer's trip to Japan. (I need to get their passports soon --ack!) And then after the meeting, we stopped by to congratulate Jerry Walker, our associate pastor to seniors, for 25 faithful years of service.
Now I shall go make dinner. I think I'll make some homemade macaroni and cheese before the cheese gets all eaten up.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Walk #3
It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to Keith's Aunt Velda. Velda died this week after a tough battle with cancer. She was Keith's mom's twin sister and lived up in the Seattle area. She leaves a husband and their two children, both married and living in the same area.
The week is flying by. I've been working in my special ed classroom. We had the TV on during the inauguration. I would have been happy to sit and watch the whole day long. Politics fascinate me. But even watching what little I did, I was getting steamed about the whole "history in the making" thing. I voted for a man's position on actual issues, not on the color of his skin. But it appears that a great many people voted on color of skin. Sigh.
It's been very cold this week. Even the kids have been staying home instead of going to friends' houses after school.
We said good-bye to the Kings after a whirlwind weekend visit. It was a lot of fun to see them. Ginny brought a ton of DVDs and videos for us as a Christmas present, along with chocolate and popcorn. So we watched a lot of movies while they were here and will enjoy them for many happy hours to come.
Today was the first day of a slight warming trend, so I finally got to go on a walk again. It was a balmy 48 degrees when I went out. Brrrrr. That makes three whole walking times this month. Not exactly an overwhelming number, but it's better than two, one or nothing at all. And it was nice to get out. It took a full five minutes of walking before I even took my hands out of my pockets, and another 10 minutes before I could convince myself that I could keep walking the full 30 minutes. By time I came back, I was already feeling the benefits of the walk. I went on to make dinner and make sure that Konner was doing his homework. (He's been majorly slipping under the radar with his schooling.)
The week is flying by. I've been working in my special ed classroom. We had the TV on during the inauguration. I would have been happy to sit and watch the whole day long. Politics fascinate me. But even watching what little I did, I was getting steamed about the whole "history in the making" thing. I voted for a man's position on actual issues, not on the color of his skin. But it appears that a great many people voted on color of skin. Sigh.
It's been very cold this week. Even the kids have been staying home instead of going to friends' houses after school.
We said good-bye to the Kings after a whirlwind weekend visit. It was a lot of fun to see them. Ginny brought a ton of DVDs and videos for us as a Christmas present, along with chocolate and popcorn. So we watched a lot of movies while they were here and will enjoy them for many happy hours to come.
Today was the first day of a slight warming trend, so I finally got to go on a walk again. It was a balmy 48 degrees when I went out. Brrrrr. That makes three whole walking times this month. Not exactly an overwhelming number, but it's better than two, one or nothing at all. And it was nice to get out. It took a full five minutes of walking before I even took my hands out of my pockets, and another 10 minutes before I could convince myself that I could keep walking the full 30 minutes. By time I came back, I was already feeling the benefits of the walk. I went on to make dinner and make sure that Konner was doing his homework. (He's been majorly slipping under the radar with his schooling.)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Danica Joy
Danny's a father?!? Look at that. She's got him wrapped around her little finger already!
Precious face
Here's my Mom with her 13th grandchild. Doesn't she look skinny? Mom, not the baby. Goodness, Mom, you look good!
Walk #2
This will be front burner stuff. Lots has happened as usual, but I'll not spend too much time going over old news.
First off, I'm an aunt again! Congratulations to my brother Danny and his wife Jessica. They now have a baby girl -- Danica Joy, born on Friday. Her pictures are so cute. I wish I could be there to hold her. But maybe it's best that I'm not since I've got this lingering cough that doesn't want to go away. I'm full of a ton of advice, though, Danny, should you ever need any.
I'm on a mission to get back to walking. I walked yesterday with Keith and today by myself. My goal is to walk four days a week, at least 30 minutes at a time -- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. So far, I've walked twice. I'm going to record each time I walk on Facebook and see if I can get any exercise buddies.
My foray back into exercise has less to do with the new year than it does that I'm tired of being tired. I have finally shaken my cough and I'm very lowwwwwww on energy. I got to thinking that I've been low on energy for too long. So back in the saddle I go. Yesterday's walk left me sore, even as pathetic as it was, but it also left me with more energy today that I've had in a while. Just that little bit made the difference especially in that sleepy afternoon stretch.
So get ready for some exercise updates. Today is Walk #2. Exiting update, huh.
On other news, I completed another GACE test on Saturday. I dragged my tired self to the test, about a 30 minute drive, and slugged my tired brain through four hours of questions on Special Education. I don't feel very good about it, but then I didn't feel very good about the pedagogy test either and passed that one. So I'm feeling hopeful! If I pass that test, it puts me in a position to apply for a teaching job. I am very excited about it.
Meanwhile, I continue to sub in a self-contained special ed. class. I'm scheduled through the month of January. Hopefully, I'll go through the end of the year in that class, but I don't know for sure. It has been really nice to go to the same place every weekday and work with the same people. The kids are great. Each of them have a piece of my heart.
My own kids just keep getting bigger and bigger. I don't know for sure because we haven't had time to breath lately, but I'm pretty sure Kristofer has gotten taller. And Kade and Konner had their birthdays. They are nine and eight, respectively. Older, more independent. Sigh.
We've got one of those crazy weekends coming up. Ginny King and her kids are coming for a visit. Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen will be gone for half of the weekend for choir festival, but Kristofer told me he'd set up his two game systems for the King kids with "specific instructions." I don't know anything about setting up the games, but Kade and Konner should be able to help me. : )
Because of the impending visit, the next few days are going to be nearly fruitless attempts at getting the house in better order. I've almost given up already. It just needs a good top to bottom scrubbing in which many Labrador hairs will be found.
First off, I'm an aunt again! Congratulations to my brother Danny and his wife Jessica. They now have a baby girl -- Danica Joy, born on Friday. Her pictures are so cute. I wish I could be there to hold her. But maybe it's best that I'm not since I've got this lingering cough that doesn't want to go away. I'm full of a ton of advice, though, Danny, should you ever need any.
I'm on a mission to get back to walking. I walked yesterday with Keith and today by myself. My goal is to walk four days a week, at least 30 minutes at a time -- Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. So far, I've walked twice. I'm going to record each time I walk on Facebook and see if I can get any exercise buddies.
My foray back into exercise has less to do with the new year than it does that I'm tired of being tired. I have finally shaken my cough and I'm very lowwwwwww on energy. I got to thinking that I've been low on energy for too long. So back in the saddle I go. Yesterday's walk left me sore, even as pathetic as it was, but it also left me with more energy today that I've had in a while. Just that little bit made the difference especially in that sleepy afternoon stretch.
So get ready for some exercise updates. Today is Walk #2. Exiting update, huh.
On other news, I completed another GACE test on Saturday. I dragged my tired self to the test, about a 30 minute drive, and slugged my tired brain through four hours of questions on Special Education. I don't feel very good about it, but then I didn't feel very good about the pedagogy test either and passed that one. So I'm feeling hopeful! If I pass that test, it puts me in a position to apply for a teaching job. I am very excited about it.
Meanwhile, I continue to sub in a self-contained special ed. class. I'm scheduled through the month of January. Hopefully, I'll go through the end of the year in that class, but I don't know for sure. It has been really nice to go to the same place every weekday and work with the same people. The kids are great. Each of them have a piece of my heart.
My own kids just keep getting bigger and bigger. I don't know for sure because we haven't had time to breath lately, but I'm pretty sure Kristofer has gotten taller. And Kade and Konner had their birthdays. They are nine and eight, respectively. Older, more independent. Sigh.
We've got one of those crazy weekends coming up. Ginny King and her kids are coming for a visit. Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen will be gone for half of the weekend for choir festival, but Kristofer told me he'd set up his two game systems for the King kids with "specific instructions." I don't know anything about setting up the games, but Kade and Konner should be able to help me. : )
Because of the impending visit, the next few days are going to be nearly fruitless attempts at getting the house in better order. I've almost given up already. It just needs a good top to bottom scrubbing in which many Labrador hairs will be found.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Senior Portraits
I took Keri Lynn as planned to Wal-Mart for Senior pictures. We got a photographer that has been working there for 13 years, Ms. Pat, 65, who works there two days a week just to stay busy. She was more than happy to get us those perfect pictures. For those of you who are local -- go to the Newnan Wal-Mart on Tuesday or Wednesday, ask for Pat and get someone who cares about capturing memories! I love her. I think I'm going to send her the family Christmas letter (It's coming -- really, it is!)
So you will have to go to my blog to see a few of the pictures. I'll try to put them up tonight. If you have Facebook, you can see them on Keri Lynn's page. They are really good! I'm thrilled with them and so giddy about having such a pretty daughter. : ) And, no worries to the grandmas and grandpas. Pictures are coming.
Tomorrow, school starts, so I'm getting myself together and getting to bed before midnight. I think.
So you will have to go to my blog to see a few of the pictures. I'll try to put them up tonight. If you have Facebook, you can see them on Keri Lynn's page. They are really good! I'm thrilled with them and so giddy about having such a pretty daughter. : ) And, no worries to the grandmas and grandpas. Pictures are coming.
Tomorrow, school starts, so I'm getting myself together and getting to bed before midnight. I think.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Procrastinators, unite!
I've been sick with a hacking cough. It hasn't been bad enough to go to the doctor, I don't think, but it has kept me down on the couch or in bed for a better part of a week. Today I've started to feel better. I think it's the idea that school will be starting back in just a few days, and we all HAVE to be better in order to get back into the routine. Keith spent a lot of time on the Porcelain Throne, too, so for a while we were playing The Most Pathetic Game -- the game in which you try to be more pathetic than the other to gain sympathy points from those around you. Keith won.
Before I got sick, I found -- quite by accident -- that one of our digital channels on our TV worked. We got ABC! I was thrilled and fearful all at the same time, because, as I've said before, it has been a huge time saver to no longer have the TV on all the time. We've actually had more family time, more project time and more everything time. Not to mention that we are no longer exposing ourselves to the yuck on TV! So when I found that digital channel, I kept the information to myself for a while.
Until New Year's Eve.
I did finally break down and say to my dearly beloved husband and children, as the played on the X-Box, "Hey, did you guys know we had a digital channel on our TV?" This was on the evening of New Year's Eve, when I had visions of watching the ball fall in Times Square. It took maybe 12.5 seconds for husband/kids to figure out that there was not only ONE channel still on our TV, but ALL of the major channels -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS, plus a few odd-ball local channels. Whether they will all be there after that February date when things go completely digital, I don't know. The main channels are in the digital section and take a few seconds to sync up to our TV. I think we have the channels in the first place only because we still have the Internet connection and that's why they told me that they still had to "leave a line open" and that it would only cost $4 less to take the cable portion of our TV off.
All this to say, we did in fact ring in the New Year with a rather scary-looking Dick Clark and some left-over fireworks from Fourth of July (plus and extra pack from Erin's family! Thanks, Kim!) And then we all went to bed!
I didn't begrudge the TV time on New Year's Day, though. Keith had it on all day long for the various bowl games. It kind of finished off our vacation rather nicely, I think. We haven't ALL had time off like this in a very long time. Keith goes back to work tomorrow (Tuesday) and the rest of us go back to school on Wednesday.
Then, Saturday, I'll be taking the GACE test for Special Education! I was going to be studying all through vacation, but when I got sick, I just didn't have much energy for doing much of anything at all. The kids had or went to sleep-overs (mostly went to, because of sickies on this end.) We generally got into a groove where the kids were going to bed at about 10:00 or later and Keith and I were going to bed at about 1:00 or 2:00, and all of us sleeping in to about 10:00 or 11:00 every morning. (I could REALLY get used to that kind of schedule.) It's going to be a huge shock to all of our systems when that alarm clock goes off on Wednesday. Ugh!
Saturday, when I return from GACE, we're going to have what I like to call Mom's Procrastination Party. This is when I suffer the consequences of having put off birthday parties for all of my kids from July on. Somehow, I don't seem to have a problem with Keri Lynn or Kathleen's party, mostly because they plan and execute most of it, and because it's at the time of the year when we have more money. However, from Kylie's birthday on, I have some real trouble. LAST year, I had a big group event for those "left behind". And this year is no different. I'll come home brain-dead from the test, which will be just fine really, because my house will be taken over by short and tall people. We're going to have a theme party for every birthday kid. So Kylie is going to invite all of her friends and have each of them bring a favorite doll or stuffed animal, and they will all play games related to the dolls/stuffed animals. Kade and Konner's friends will come and bring all of their matchbox cars or army men (haven't decided yet)and play all together with those. Kristofer will invite his friends and they are going to have a huge X-Box Championship! Whoo-hoo! THEN, we are all going to get together and each kid is going to have a cake with their appropriately numbered candles. We'll all sing happy birthday, or maybe we'll do one song per person. Blow out candles, take pictures, eat cake and tell everyone to go home! Then I will have paid my dues for my terrible procrastination!
I can tell I'm feeling better and am rested because the idea for the party sounds do-able. I may start going into melt-down on Friday night when not everything is ready yet for party or test! AHHHHHHH!
Tomorrow, I'm taking Keri Lynn over to Wal-mart for Senior Portraits. I remember by own Senior Portraits. We just had them done by the school photographer. But these days, there are such huge expenses surrounding the seniors. It gets to be a little ridiculous. But pictures are special. I wish we could do more for her, but I'm hoping to get a guy from church to do some really good ones in the spring. He specializes in outside photography. Meanwhile, we need pictures to go into the yearbook.
I can't believe my girl only has a few more months before she becomes a high school graduate. That is not easy to take! There are still so many things unknown to her for her future, but she has a good head on her shoulders and a desire to honor God -- this is the prayer of my heart.
Time to go make dinner. The natives are getting restless.
Before I got sick, I found -- quite by accident -- that one of our digital channels on our TV worked. We got ABC! I was thrilled and fearful all at the same time, because, as I've said before, it has been a huge time saver to no longer have the TV on all the time. We've actually had more family time, more project time and more everything time. Not to mention that we are no longer exposing ourselves to the yuck on TV! So when I found that digital channel, I kept the information to myself for a while.
Until New Year's Eve.
I did finally break down and say to my dearly beloved husband and children, as the played on the X-Box, "Hey, did you guys know we had a digital channel on our TV?" This was on the evening of New Year's Eve, when I had visions of watching the ball fall in Times Square. It took maybe 12.5 seconds for husband/kids to figure out that there was not only ONE channel still on our TV, but ALL of the major channels -- ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS, plus a few odd-ball local channels. Whether they will all be there after that February date when things go completely digital, I don't know. The main channels are in the digital section and take a few seconds to sync up to our TV. I think we have the channels in the first place only because we still have the Internet connection and that's why they told me that they still had to "leave a line open" and that it would only cost $4 less to take the cable portion of our TV off.
All this to say, we did in fact ring in the New Year with a rather scary-looking Dick Clark and some left-over fireworks from Fourth of July (plus and extra pack from Erin's family! Thanks, Kim!) And then we all went to bed!
I didn't begrudge the TV time on New Year's Day, though. Keith had it on all day long for the various bowl games. It kind of finished off our vacation rather nicely, I think. We haven't ALL had time off like this in a very long time. Keith goes back to work tomorrow (Tuesday) and the rest of us go back to school on Wednesday.
Then, Saturday, I'll be taking the GACE test for Special Education! I was going to be studying all through vacation, but when I got sick, I just didn't have much energy for doing much of anything at all. The kids had or went to sleep-overs (mostly went to, because of sickies on this end.) We generally got into a groove where the kids were going to bed at about 10:00 or later and Keith and I were going to bed at about 1:00 or 2:00, and all of us sleeping in to about 10:00 or 11:00 every morning. (I could REALLY get used to that kind of schedule.) It's going to be a huge shock to all of our systems when that alarm clock goes off on Wednesday. Ugh!
Saturday, when I return from GACE, we're going to have what I like to call Mom's Procrastination Party. This is when I suffer the consequences of having put off birthday parties for all of my kids from July on. Somehow, I don't seem to have a problem with Keri Lynn or Kathleen's party, mostly because they plan and execute most of it, and because it's at the time of the year when we have more money. However, from Kylie's birthday on, I have some real trouble. LAST year, I had a big group event for those "left behind". And this year is no different. I'll come home brain-dead from the test, which will be just fine really, because my house will be taken over by short and tall people. We're going to have a theme party for every birthday kid. So Kylie is going to invite all of her friends and have each of them bring a favorite doll or stuffed animal, and they will all play games related to the dolls/stuffed animals. Kade and Konner's friends will come and bring all of their matchbox cars or army men (haven't decided yet)and play all together with those. Kristofer will invite his friends and they are going to have a huge X-Box Championship! Whoo-hoo! THEN, we are all going to get together and each kid is going to have a cake with their appropriately numbered candles. We'll all sing happy birthday, or maybe we'll do one song per person. Blow out candles, take pictures, eat cake and tell everyone to go home! Then I will have paid my dues for my terrible procrastination!
I can tell I'm feeling better and am rested because the idea for the party sounds do-able. I may start going into melt-down on Friday night when not everything is ready yet for party or test! AHHHHHHH!
Tomorrow, I'm taking Keri Lynn over to Wal-mart for Senior Portraits. I remember by own Senior Portraits. We just had them done by the school photographer. But these days, there are such huge expenses surrounding the seniors. It gets to be a little ridiculous. But pictures are special. I wish we could do more for her, but I'm hoping to get a guy from church to do some really good ones in the spring. He specializes in outside photography. Meanwhile, we need pictures to go into the yearbook.
I can't believe my girl only has a few more months before she becomes a high school graduate. That is not easy to take! There are still so many things unknown to her for her future, but she has a good head on her shoulders and a desire to honor God -- this is the prayer of my heart.
Time to go make dinner. The natives are getting restless.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas blessings!
We've had a great Christmas break so far, especially given the fact that we haven't had any extra money to do "Christmas" the way we used to do it. Careful budgeting has meant no Christmas presents, no tree, no special holiday treats, no time to rest . . . or at least that was what it was supposed to be. Instead, God blessed us anyway.
One of the Sunday School classes from our church gave us a Publix gift card to buy a pre-cooked holiday Christmas dinner. So we got some wonderful food and invited a family (whose father/husband is off in Iraq) to join us in eating in on Christmas Eve. It was a lovely time. It was also handy in that we scrubbed the house relatively clean because company was coming. Keith even cleaned off the tops of the kitchen cabinets which had been cluttery for literally YEARS! This made me very happy!
Then, Christmas morning, we opened up gifts. We had gifts from our a group in our own Sunday School class, gifts from an organization that works in conjunction with Keva's school, and gifts from Keri Lynn who makes enough money from babysitting to feed a third world country. On top of that, Kathleen and Kylie got some extra-special gifts from Erin's family -- I'll post pictures soon and you can see for yourselves.
One of the volunteers that delivered the gifts from Keva's school also came with nice "gently" used clothing for all of us, plus a whole box of meat that kept our grocery bill down considerably! We've seriously enjoyed pork chops, ground beef and chicken breasts. And turkey. We got a turkey from the church for Thanksgiving, a turkey breast from our Sunday School class group, and a turkey from the lady who brought us the other meat. This has made Keith obsessively happy!
I was heartily surprised by a gift from Keith -- a camera to replace the camera that was stolen this summer in California. I have taken a hundred pictures at least already and will post pictures on the blog and on Facebook ad naseum as soon as Keith gets the camera software going on the computer.
Late into Christmas Day, one of the men from our church came by with a gift card for Wal-Mart. Keith nearly immediately marched Kristofer on down to buy him a Sunday suit, belts, dress shoes, etc. Kristofer used to be the "orphan" child on Sundays, but now he's looking might fine! And Keith just doesn't understand why women actually enjoy shopping for clothes!
Oh, and I can't forget last Sunday when I was sitting in our Sunday School class. Someone sitting next to me says, "Here, have this gift card for Kroger. I had this deal where I could get $30 at a time onto the card for free, but I hate going to Kroger." I said, Great!" (thinking it was about $30). Well, then, she goes on to say, "I get a little compulsive about this kind of stuff -- there's $330 on it.) Gulp. All I could say was, "Wow! Thanks!"
So much to be thankful for. Not the least of which is that I am back on the job again in January when school starts up again. I got the subbing job extended at least through January. The steady pay through December was VERY helpful. It's going to be a bit of a stretch going through the nearly three weeks of Christmas break, but all of the above blessings have made it a lot easier!
Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings and for Your servants who bless in such incredible ways! We are humbled.
One of the Sunday School classes from our church gave us a Publix gift card to buy a pre-cooked holiday Christmas dinner. So we got some wonderful food and invited a family (whose father/husband is off in Iraq) to join us in eating in on Christmas Eve. It was a lovely time. It was also handy in that we scrubbed the house relatively clean because company was coming. Keith even cleaned off the tops of the kitchen cabinets which had been cluttery for literally YEARS! This made me very happy!
Then, Christmas morning, we opened up gifts. We had gifts from our a group in our own Sunday School class, gifts from an organization that works in conjunction with Keva's school, and gifts from Keri Lynn who makes enough money from babysitting to feed a third world country. On top of that, Kathleen and Kylie got some extra-special gifts from Erin's family -- I'll post pictures soon and you can see for yourselves.
One of the volunteers that delivered the gifts from Keva's school also came with nice "gently" used clothing for all of us, plus a whole box of meat that kept our grocery bill down considerably! We've seriously enjoyed pork chops, ground beef and chicken breasts. And turkey. We got a turkey from the church for Thanksgiving, a turkey breast from our Sunday School class group, and a turkey from the lady who brought us the other meat. This has made Keith obsessively happy!
I was heartily surprised by a gift from Keith -- a camera to replace the camera that was stolen this summer in California. I have taken a hundred pictures at least already and will post pictures on the blog and on Facebook ad naseum as soon as Keith gets the camera software going on the computer.
Late into Christmas Day, one of the men from our church came by with a gift card for Wal-Mart. Keith nearly immediately marched Kristofer on down to buy him a Sunday suit, belts, dress shoes, etc. Kristofer used to be the "orphan" child on Sundays, but now he's looking might fine! And Keith just doesn't understand why women actually enjoy shopping for clothes!
Oh, and I can't forget last Sunday when I was sitting in our Sunday School class. Someone sitting next to me says, "Here, have this gift card for Kroger. I had this deal where I could get $30 at a time onto the card for free, but I hate going to Kroger." I said, Great!" (thinking it was about $30). Well, then, she goes on to say, "I get a little compulsive about this kind of stuff -- there's $330 on it.) Gulp. All I could say was, "Wow! Thanks!"
So much to be thankful for. Not the least of which is that I am back on the job again in January when school starts up again. I got the subbing job extended at least through January. The steady pay through December was VERY helpful. It's going to be a bit of a stretch going through the nearly three weeks of Christmas break, but all of the above blessings have made it a lot easier!
Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings and for Your servants who bless in such incredible ways! We are humbled.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Straight No Chaser - Sitcom Medley
Have I watched too much TV over the course of my life? YES! That's why this is so fun to watch!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Is it Monday?
I'm not sure which end is up these days. Is it Monday? I think it is because I went to work today. I've been working at a local middle school for the past few weeks and enjoying the steady hours very much. It's just nice to go to the same place every day and interact with the same people! This stint is done by Thursday when school lets out for Christmas break, and then hopefully I'll find something through the holidays. I haven't been looking very hard because of everything going on with the kids' schedules.
Just this weekend, I went to a jewelry party on Friday night, cleaned house Saturday day, then Keith and I went to our Sunday School Christmas party Saturday night, church Sunday morning followed by the high school choir fundraiser luncheon (in which I helped with cooking and cleaning), then the Christmas cantata Saturday night (involving Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen), then a choir covered dish dinner to finish off the weekend.
It's not surprising that I've now got a raging headache that just doesn't want to go away. I'm not getting enough sleep. But I'm going to take care of that right away! We've just finished dinner. I'm about to put Keva down. Keith has just left with the three cantata kids for their second and final performance tonight. The rest of us are going to bed! Whoo-hoo! I'm so excited! I'm just not a party girl, I guess!
Good night, everybody!
Just this weekend, I went to a jewelry party on Friday night, cleaned house Saturday day, then Keith and I went to our Sunday School Christmas party Saturday night, church Sunday morning followed by the high school choir fundraiser luncheon (in which I helped with cooking and cleaning), then the Christmas cantata Saturday night (involving Keri Lynn, Kristofer and Kathleen), then a choir covered dish dinner to finish off the weekend.
It's not surprising that I've now got a raging headache that just doesn't want to go away. I'm not getting enough sleep. But I'm going to take care of that right away! We've just finished dinner. I'm about to put Keva down. Keith has just left with the three cantata kids for their second and final performance tonight. The rest of us are going to bed! Whoo-hoo! I'm so excited! I'm just not a party girl, I guess!
Good night, everybody!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
