Odds and Ends

Warning: This post is kinda all over the place. But hey, I feel like a lot of the time my life is a bit like that!

Tim is out of town for a long weekend getaway. He went with my brothers and all my guy cousins to my uncle's cabin on the river. They go every year, and it is something he really looks forward to. I'm glad he got to escape for a while and have a good time. But.....we terribly miss him--or at least I do! I don't always let him know how much I appreciate him. I just take for granted what a great parent and husband he is. Then I realize just how lucky I am to have to have him around!....especially when I have to do this parenting thing alone!!!

My house has been like a war zone for the past 2 weeks or so. I think maybe the cold cold weather has finally taken a toll on us, because we can't go out and play and burn off energy like we need to. The kids are fighting like cats and dogs! They are griping, yelling, and screaming at each other all the time. Which in turn, makes for a very cranky momma! I know that my kiddos are not at the developmental stage yet where they fully understand sharing and taking turns......but I am running out of patience and energy to model it for them. I just want to scream!!!....and sometimes do!

On a more positive note, Caroline got her report card last week. She is doing great in school, and seems to enjoy it. This is her report card:

Did you know that Caroline and Jack are obsessed with "crafts". They are constantly asking to do a craft. Will does not like crafty things one bit, but doesn't want to be left out when the other two get so excited. Tonight they were begging for a craft project. So, we colored Valentine pictures and then glittered them. I remember glitter projects as a child and I always thought glitter was just magical. Well, so do my kids. They had a big time, and you can tell it by looking at the traces of glitter glistening all over my kitchen!

I'm off to get everyone ready for bedtime routine. Since daddy's out of town, Caroline gets to sleep in the bed with mommy. It's a MAJOR treat for her (and me too), because it doesn't happen very often!

Happy Birthday Tim!!!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and father anyone could ever dream of!!!!!!!

Creature Comforts

It's been a while since I've posted. There are two reasons for that.

First, our computer modem died, and we had to get a new one. I never realized how much I used this computer! I felt so disconnected from the "outside" world. Then the disconnect got even worse!

Our electricity went out in the ice storm. It went out about 2am Tuesday morning, and we got it back on Tuesday afternoon at about 4pm. The kids didn't seem to mind too much though. The later it got in the afternoon and the colder it got in the house is when I began to stress. Tim was at work--he is crazy busy at work when the weather gets bad, so it was just me and the kids. Brad brought us a propane heater, which was a lifesaver! When he brought it the temp. in the house was already down to 48 degrees. Brrrr. We bundled and managed, but are thankful for lights and heat again!

Speaking of ice storm, we have been out of school for 2 days. Any teacher's dream right? Not so much. The idea of being home is great, but the kids were stir crazy and are about to kill each other! We finally got out today and went to McDonald's play place(which has a whole other story to go with it--another post soon), and used up a lot of our stored energy.

Anyway, I'm so glad to have our computer back, and electricity for that matter, and am so glad things will be back to a normal routine tomorrow!

Oh--do you love my new look? Heather fixed me up with the new blog design. I love it. Thanks Heather!!

Kindergarten Mentality

I love teaching Kindergarten. I couldn't imagine teaching any other grade.......except for today. The kids were especially honary today. I spent most of the morning reminding my kids (kindly, yet firmly-ha ha) that we come to school to work and learn, not to run around like wild banshees. So, by lunch I was already exhausted. But wait, today I had a working lunch to discuss assessments and interventions, blah blah blah.

Now for the good part. As the kids come in from recess the duty teacher tells me that there was problem after problem with my kids on the playground. So......we had a class meeting, to discuss our woes. Ya know, just lay it all on the table and have an open discussion (come to Jesus meeting) for everyone. So I say, "Ok guys, what was the problem at recess?"

Hands go up. Yes, Derick? (of course these are not my kids real names--but you get the picture)
Gracey stepped on my fingers.
Me-- Gracey, did you step on his fingers?
Gracey--Yes.
Me--Did you mean to?
Gracey--yes
Me--Can you tell me why you stepped on Derick's fingers?
Gracey-- Because Maria said she wasn't my friend.
HELLO....ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Next hand goes up. Paco, what happened with you?
Paco--Lizzy, Deena, and Izabella were pulling my sweatshirt and dragging me and choking me.
Me--Girls, is that true?
Girls--Yes
Me--Why did you do that?
Girls--We were just playing
Me--Well Paco, did you tell them to stop?
Paco--No.
GO FIGURE!!

And last, my favorite one. Javier, your turn.
Javier--Ethan put grass in my mouth.
Me--What??????
Javier--ya, he put grass in my mouth

Here's where I'm thinking, you opened your mouth long enough for a kid to shove grass down your throat? But I of course said nothing of the sort.....even though I wanted to!

Sure enough.....Me--Ethan, did you?
Ethan--yep
Me--Why?
Ethan--He was messin with me!
WELL, THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS!

A day in the life of a Kindergarten teacher!!! At least they're still young and innocent enough to tell the truth.

Traumatized!!

For Christmas, the kids got the board game "Don't Wake Daddy". You move your pieces around the board and try not to land on things that will cause you to push daddy's alarm clock. To make a long story short, daddy randomly pops up out of his bed and "wakes up". Then you have to go back to the beginning if you're the one to wake him up. Sounds fun, right?

Tonight we decided to teach the kids how to play. The boys were having a blast. Caroline, not so much! It seemed that every time she spun the spinner, she had to push the alarm clock and daddy always woke up. She was scared to death!!! The first few times he "woke up", she jumped and screamed....as the game progressed, she hysterically cried and would not take her turn. She decided to sit out and watch. Do you see the look of horror on her face as she waits in anticipation while Jack pushes the alarm clock? Every time he popped up she just cried and cried. Something tells me she's gonna have nightmares tonight!!!!

Thank goodness for Monday!

Thank you Martin Luther King Jr......Not just for being a civil rights activist, but for having a National Holiday in your honor--meaning no work for me!!! Yay!

Not only am I off work tomorrow, but I have cafeteria duty on Mondays. Meaning only duty ONE day for me this week.....even better!

Caroline

Dramatic

Silly

Sassy

Bossy

Creative

Funny

Sensitive

Girly

Stubborn

Independent

Princess

Daddy's Girl

Smart

Attitude

Prissy

Shy

Artistic

Perfectionist

Entertaining

Exhausting

BUSY!!!

I know, I know.....I have been slacking on my blog posts. Things have been very busy around here.

Things are in high gear at work, and I am spending a lot of time on school stuff. After Christmas break, Kindergarten gets to be serious business!!......You know, teaching 20 kids who don't speak fluent, if any English to read. If that's not enough to make you tired, I don't know what is! I shouldn't complain, hey, I'm happy to have a job....especially one I love!

I have not been snapping many pictures lately.....but I did take a video clip of the kids saying bedtime prayers tonight. I spared you the "God Blesses", or it might take all day to watch the video :)

Random Picture Challenge

Okay, Lesli has a random picture challenge going. You're supposed to pick the fifth picture from your April folder and post it. After I read it I thought, April folder......are people organized enough to save their pictures and label them by the month? No way, not me, that would be too easy. But, low and behold, I found a folder named "April".....which is funny because most of my folders are saved by "subject" or "event". So, here goes.....

This is Caroline helping her daddy mop the floor. Take a good look at the floor with nothing on it......You won't see that around my house very often!!!! This picture is indeed pretty random.

Kids say the funniest things....

Tonight at the dinner table Caroline said this out of the blue..... "Mommy, you know what happens when people get like a hundred?" Me, "What sis?" "Their face gets all soggy!!"

Priceless! A child's perspective sure is fascinating.

This 'n That

Well, our winter vacation is officially over. Back to the grindstone tomorrow. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I'm ready to go back. I need some structure and routine in our lives again. All that being said, I will definitely miss being at home with the kids. Here are a few random pictures from the past week.

This was one of the pretty days this week, and they all decided that they would take turns hanging out in the doghouse. Of course I had to grab my camera and snap away!

It seems like the kids spent their ENTIRE vacation in dress up clothes. Whatever floats their boat!

Caroline found this little frog outside and was obsessed with it. She cried when we wouldn't let her bring it in. I guess she has a little tomboy in her after all!!

So long Sassy.....Sassy has been staying at our house for about a month now. We have been taking care of her while my friend spent the holidays in Mexico with her family. The kids and the dogs absolutely love her. We will miss her!

Skating....fun?...Not so much!!!

The kids got skates for Christmas (thanks Pootie) and we headed outside earlier this week to try them out. Well, it didn't go so great. No one could stay upright. There was a lot of falling, and Will did a lot of crying. Jack was the best skater in the bunch!!! We quickly decided to ditch the skating and head to the backyard for some trampoline action. Maybe this spring we'll try again.