Heavy Heart

There is a "situation" with one of my kiddos in my class that is weighing very heavy on my heart and mind right now. I can't go into details, but I can tell you that I've not experienced anything like this in education thus far.....and it's tearing me up.

So.....if you're reading this, and if you're the praying type......Please say a prayer for this child and their family.

Top 10...

Top ten reasons why I am OVERWHELMED with my life right now (because this is my blog and I can vent if I want to!).....in no particular order:

10. Rain...my kids are stir crazy and I think they're gonna blow at any given moment.

9. Rain...my students at school are stir crazy (they haven't been outside to play in over a week) and I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!

8. ELDA testing. You fellow teachers know what I'm talking about.

7. My children's preschool. I'm having major issues with some things going on there. Let's just say that I'm not happy in the least, and counting the days (14.5 to be exact) until we walk away for good.

6. New carpet at school...which means that EVERYTHING in my classroom has to be boxed up by the last day of school...EVERYTHING! Every item on every shelf must be in boxes. Do you know how much crap Kindergarten teachers have????

5. New Grant. We have this new grant at school, and it is very time consuming and deep. It is great, but it requires a lot of research and studying. I am up EVERY night until at least 11:00 "working and learning" (as we call it in the classroom) to build a new foundation for every aspect of my professional life.

4. Schizophrenia. Ok, not really...but sometimes I feel like it. I feel like I am being pulled in so many different directions. Sometimes I can't decide what task on my "to do" list is most important, or most attainable......so I do nothing. Yep, nothing. Well, maybe facebook or blogging, but that's important too right?

3. Will. The Occupational Therapist recommended that we have William screened again with a developmental psychologist. It has been about a year since all of that grueling testing (cognitive, behavioral, developmental, autism spectrum testing) . The neuropsychologist said to come back in 9 to 12 months to check for progress. I just kinda put it out of my mind and tried to forget there were any problems (denial is a happy place), but was reminded by an outside professional who has much experience with children w/ disabilities, that she was seeing many behavioral/social/emotional/cognitive "red flags".....OUCH!

2. My house is a DISASTER. Laundry, mess, and clutter have taken over!

1. I feel like a bad mother. I am so busy with work and day to day survival things that I forget to enjoy my kids. It's not their fault that I have a lot on my plate. Every day I pray for patience. Usually by the end of a long school day my patience is gone, and my family feels the brunt of that. I am doing my best.....I just hope it's good enough. Thank goodness children are so forgiving, and don't seem to notice I'm frazzled. I thank God for them every day, and am so blessed to have happy, healthy kiddos.

So, there you have it. Hopefully I'll pull myself out of this funk I'm in, and have a trivial, normal, day to day post soon. Until then....thanks for listening!

PS. My computer has powered off at least 6 times while I have been typing this post. DAMN RAIN!

Alive and Well....

Yep, the Thomas family is still around. It's just that the Thomas mamma is crazy busy these days. We received a new grant at school, which has left me SWAMPED with things to do at work. Just when I thought things were slowing down, this week is parent teacher conferences, and Pettigrew's last week at work before she has little Henry....which means we'll be scrambling this week getting ready for a sub for the rest of the year! I guess it's always something!

Anywho, the kids are great. Caroline had a bout with strep throat this past week, but is almost fully recovered. Here are a couple pics. of the kids from this morning. This afternoon is Karsen's first birthday party, so I'll be posting more pics. later today.

I wished they loved each other and were this happy all the time!!!
Caroline is giving her pony a makeover. She's a girly girl!

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!

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!!

Another weekend gone...

I can't believe the weekend is already over. Time flies when you're doing nothing. Today we have just hung out and been lazy. Me and the kids, that is. Tim had to work today. Yuck!

Sat. morning Caroline and I went with Heather and Katie Pettigrew to breakfast with Santa at the Holiday Market. We had a good time. Thanks for the tickets Erin! Although, Caroline would have absolutely nothing to do with Santa. She preferred not to even get close! She did love the clown who was there making balloon sculptures.
Sat. night Tim and I had a date. We went to dinner and a movie. We went to see Twilight. I enjoyed the movie, but of course not as much as the book! We had a nice evening alone. Those are few and far between. Thanks Sue and Larry for babysitting.

Now I'm off to get clothes ready for everyone for tomorrow, and kids ready for bed. The story of my life ;)