The World is All About Girls

The other night as I sat on the couch, I could hear the melodious sound of my children arguing and fussing upstairs (a typical evening). I called them both down and made them sit on the couch next to me -- one on one side, one on the other. They began quickly to air their grievances with one another so I would know who really was at fault. Eventually the fingerpointing came back to an incident which transpired three months ago that my daughter still felt was unsettled:

It was her birthday, the boys wouldn't play with her and consequently, smashed her fingers in the door. She cried. They apologized. She cried more. They got sick of it and said, "Waa-waaa! That's all you ever do!"

It's been three months, and she is still bringing it up every chance she gets. With great frustration, my son entreated me, "SHE ALWAYS TALKS ABOUT THAT!"

I figured this is as good a time as any to let him in on the little known secret. "That's what girls do. If you don't want her to talk about the bad things, don't do anything mean to hurt her feelings."

All right... it's not Biblical, but you have to admit it's true.

He gritted his teeth, held his hands out helplessly and bellowed, "IS THE WORLD ALL ABOUT GIRLS!?" I felt his pain -- his heartfelt frustration, but I had to tell him, "Yes, it is. And the sooner you realize it, the better off you'll be."

He glowered at me silently for a moment, then burst out with, "I DON'T LIKE IT!"

A Couple More

Winnie the Pooh -- Not my favorite

Valentine's Snoopy quilt

Finding Nemo/Fish Bowl quilt

An Unfortunate Diagnosis

(Read this in a monotone.)

The verdict is in. I have no personality. It is unfortunate, I know. Perhaps this does not come as a surprise to you. English teachers are tedious as a rule. I am no exception. My deadpan expression. My blank stare. My humorless chortle. Yes, it's true. I have no personality. If you're looking for personality, you've come to the wrong place. There's nothing to see here. Just go about your business.

When you see me in a room full of people, do not smile, or wave, or try to tell me a joke. I won't laugh -- not even on the inside. You see, I have no personality. And I don't care for people who do. I'll tolerate them, yes. But only because no personality also means no depth of sentiment. I'm shallow. I'm apathetic. I have no interest in my environment. No passion. No ambition. No variety of sentence structure. It all goes together, you see. I have no personality.

I'll leave you with one final thought. Since I have no personality, one thing I can never develop is a personality disorder. And, somehow, even that does not excite me... I have no personality.

A Full Moon is a Disturbing Sight

I know you only clicked on the title because you thought you'd see pictures. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am actually writing about the moon.

Now, I realize the moon in its full phase is beautiful to behold. I do have a healthy appreciation for the beauty of creation. However, when you are in my line of work, a full moon is indicative of the havoc about to ensue -- an excellent time for a sick day. Unfortunately, most of the time I don't notice it until I am en route to work. Much too late to call in sick. Man, I wish I paid more attention to the moon indicator on my atomic clock!

Can I just say you have never truly experienced the full moon phenomenon until you have tried to hold captive a class full of hormonally-charged middle school students long enough to teach them your lesson plan? I'm telling you the truth. There is something disturbing about the sight of a full moon.

He Knows

It's been awhile since I've posted, I know. Pretty busy the last few weeks, I guess. Funny how the blog gets shoved lower and lower on the priority list. Today, however, I couldn't let the opportunity pass by without saying something.

Lately -- probably like many others -- I've been disturbed in my spirit. I have been concerned about the future of my family. I've been praying a lot about it -- What will we do? Where will we go? And, frankly, feeling at a loss for any of those answers.

Today, I was going through the kids' school folders while they did homework, and I discovered the new verse for this week: Psalm 32:8. If you knew the true bent of my heart lately, you would understand why I felt God was speaking directly to me. "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." You know what? God knows. He knows me. He knows where my heart is. He knows my worries. He knows what is going to happen, even though I don't. He knows, and He is watching over me. I don't think you can get much more personal than that.

P.S. For people who like history: Today is the 70th anniversary of Kristalnacht.

The Shadow of Death

My daughter has always been a bit too preoccupied with death for my taste. Tonight she told me she didn't want me to "get died" from being shot or "get died" from an accident. I had to ask, "Well, what if I 'get died' from being really sick? Is that okay?" To this she replied, "Yeah." I guess if you think about it, you could say she is concerned that I would be taken from her suddenly, but if she's expecting it, it wouldn't be as bad. I'm not exactly sure how to take that.

She went on to tell me she had been worried I was going to die when I went to the hospital to have the baby last year. She added, "Women do die of that, you know." Quite honestly, I do remember the anxiety being visible in her face when she came to see me in the hospital that afternoon. She was truly afraid it would happen.

It's one thing to reflect on your own mortality, but when your child brings it up, it is very disconcerting. I want to run away screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Instead I told her, "We'd miss each other too much." She replied, "But you'd be in my heart. And I would always remember you." A small consolation, I guess.

Not to be morbid or belabor the point, but this does bring up some deep questions for me. What would my kids do without me? Have I been doing a good enough job raising them to keep them on the right path when I'm gone? Will they have good support and role models around to help them get through the teenage years? Through life? Are they going to remember me as someone who was too tired or preoccupied to talk or play with them? What kind of legacy am I really leaving behind?

I just better not 'get died'. I still have too much child-rearing to do.

One of My Hobbies

Quilting is one of my hobbies. I made a full size quilt once, but it took me four years to finally finish the thing. I don't venture past baby quilts anymore, because I need to see a finished product regularly; although, I have found my production slows down considerably when I have a baby in the house. I actually have two I'm working on right now, and at least two which have to be done quickly thereafter. I make a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews and only a few others whom I consider as close as family, but I have done two or three for pay (they are hand-quilted, so each one is special). Some of the patterns are my own creation, others I just modified from one I've seen or done before. Here is a small sampling of my work:

Snoopy quilt
Sports Ball quilt - the fabric was textured, so each ball square was different
Strawberry Shortcake quilt -- can you find my mistake?
VeggieTales -- btw, stippling by hand takes FOREVER! - LX's
Zoo quilt - Taz's
Cars quilt - it's supposed to look like a race track in the middle
Elmo quilt - QB's
Ladybug quilt - Looks really cool, but the snowball pattern is a huge pain
Pink Panther quilt -- my all-time favorite, I think
Precious Moments quilt - I liked the textures in the different fabrics, but I prefer a better contrast in the colors

Room to Run

It's not often Taz has an entire gym to run around. We were at church this evening, but Taz has a bad cold, so he couldn't join the babies in the nursery. He got to hang out with Mommy instead. Of course, that meant I couldn't really sit in my class, I got to chase him around in the gym.

The reason I brought this up -- have you ever seen a puppy try to run? You know, its back legs get going too fast for its front legs and the poor little thing ends up running sideways. Well, I have never seen a bi-ped do that before tonight. Taz gets going so fast, his body can't keep up with his little legs, or vice-versa (I'm not exactly sure what's really happening). He looks just like a puppy trying to run!

But, Boy, was he having a blast. He ran ALL OVER the place. Every time he saw a new basketball hiding somewhere under a bench or behind a chair, he would drop the one he already had, run to the new "brrr", pick it up and throw it. One of these days I'm going to bring my video camera with me just to capture this for posterity. It was easily the most entertaining thing I've seen all day, and I teach middle school! :)

P.S. If you've been anxiously awaiting new vocabulary words, I've still been posting them, but they are on my Academic Drivel blog. I have enjoyed reading your uses of the new words. Keep up the good work!

Mother Knows Best

If you haven't met my mom, you're missing out. My mom raised seven children and stayed home to raise us. She cooked, she cleaned, she mommied. I know that some of you do these things all the time too, but I have problems maintaining the status quo most days. I feel like my house is a disaster area, and I NEVER have the energy -- nor the inclination -- to cook. I do try to be domestic, I really do. I can cook. I do know how to clean. I was raised by the best, after all.
Most days, however, it's all I can do to stay standing for an extra ten or twenty minutes when I get home from work to throw something together that my children will actually eat. I really just want to go sit on the couch and veg... the rest of the night. I'm totally wiped out. As a result, my unkempt house, my under-stocked fridge and my frantic last minute before bed time "Quick! Do this homework!" drowns me in mommy-guilt. I spend the weekends with my kids doing soccer and playing around, an occasional afternoon nap. I just want to relax. I take a look around my house, and I think to myself, "Man, you suck at this homemaking thing!"

Tonight, my mom was here for dinner (yes, I cooked the whole thing myself -- even if I did have to call Therese to ask how to use the potato bag). As I was cutting the roast and putting it on the serving dish, we were talking about my messy house and my lack of energy for cooking and cleaning. I asked Mom, "Do you think I'm lazy?" I know she'll be honest, yet diplomatic, so I was expecting something like, "Well, I suppose you could put in a little more effort."

Her response surprised me -- and freed me of some of my mommy-guilt at the same time. She said, "No. You are not lazy. Your priorities are different than mine were, but you are NOT lazy." I suppose since you weren't here, you could take that to mean my priorities were out of whack. But I knew what she meant. I do work hard -- all day. When I get home, I want to be with my kids relaxing and having fun together. I don't want to spend that time cleaning and cooking and yelling at them to get their homework done. That's not quality time.

I know it's not permission to just let everything go come Hell or highwater, but it's nice to know my mom thinks I'm a good mom too. Thanks, Mom!

Afternoon Tea

QB loves tea parties. One of her favorite things to do is bring her tea set and a load of her stuffed animals down from her room to the living room and set up a tea party. She goes all out. She writes invitations to the rest of the family, dresses up the coffee table with flower arrangements and a table cloth, sets up her tea set and searches the pantry for little odds and ends to use as tea cakes.

Whenever we visit Gramma, QB and Gramma (two birds of a feather) have a tea party together. It is always a special time for both of them.

This year we had a formal afternoon tea for QB's birthday party. We have had tea party birthdays before (like I said earlier, they are her favorite), but nothing like this. It was a two-for-one party with one of QB's friends, so we mommies planned out the affair to the "tea". ;) You may not believe this, since I have no pictures to prove it, but I even wore a skirt -- QB insists on fancy attire at her tea parties, so I figured I'd oblige her just this once.

It turned out to be one of the nicest parties we've had. We had eight little girls and seven mommies there (a mother-daughter party). It never ceases to amaze me how quiet eight little girls can be. We didn't plan any games, but the girls discovered a great one on their own -- Telephone. I've never seen kids voluntarily whisper at a party before... that alone was worth all the dishes I did afterward!

One of the pretty tables.

Cut the Romantic Crap

Today's word:

quixotic: (adjective) impulsive and unpredictable; extravagantly romantic or impractical [quick-zot-ick]

I have to admit. I looked this one up before posting just to be sure I had it right. One of my former students used it for the Q word on his alphabet autobiography (see previous post on that topic), and I've liked the word ever since. It's kind of fun to say. One thing I didn't realize before, though, was it comes from the name of the title character in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote -- the guy who thought he was a knight fighting dragons, but he was really fighting windmills. Makes perfect sense.

Want examples?

When I was a junior in college (right before I met my husband), I dated this guy named Phillip. He was so quixotic, it made me want to puke. He used to stand below my balcony and read poetry really loudly until I came out to tell him to stop. Yeah, I know... EWWWW. Ironically, I wrote a poem about that ("ready or not").

Chivalry is dead. Quixoticism killed it.

My All-Time Favorite

I don't want you guys to think I'm the loquacious one, so I'm going to make a decided effort to avoid expatiating this entry. However, today we are looking at my all-time favorite word, so I can't help but be a little excited about it.

Today's word:
asinine: (adjective) ridiculously stupid [ass-uh-nine]. *Sorry, it's the only way I could get the correct pronunciation across.*

Examples: It is frustrating when I'm leading a deep class discussion, and a student suddenly raises her hand to ask an asinine question like "Can I get a drink?" I mean, seriously.... You can see we're in the middle of something here! Then there are those times when I'm trying to impart some very crucial information to my husband (I'm sure no one but me has experienced this), and he chooses that exact moment to make a completely asinine comment. So I say, "I'd appreciate it if you would keep your asinine outbursts to yourself."

We aren't allowed to use the word "stupid" at our house, but there is no rule against "asinine." I may change my mind when I actually hear it come out of one of my children's mouths, but until then I shall scream it from the mountaintops! It's just the BEST WORD EVER!

You Make a Difference to Me

Once you get out of school, it becomes more of a complex issue to make new friends. Actually, moving to a new town can be one of the loneliest prospects as an adult. When you're still in school, it's not as difficult. There are built-in opportunities to meet people, which makes it much easier. I am certain that the degree of difficulty and loneliness is compounded even further when you are a stay-at-home mom moving into a new town. I haven't experienced that, but my job involves working exclusively with teenagers, so I have experienced a lack of opportunity to meet other adults in a new place to some degree.

When I first graduated from college and moved to my husband's home town, I was lonely. He had all his childhood friends around. I had no one. The ladies in the church were not willing to put forth any effort for me -- they already had their circles of friends. I'm on the shy-er side, so I'm not the easiest person to get to know. I like to think I'm worth the effort though. :)

When we moved to our city of current residence, the only thing that changed was my husband wasn't on his old stomping grounds anymore either. We attended a church for about three years, and didn't really connect with anyone there. Then we went through a family crisis, and I realized no one at that church cared about me or my family (kind of a bad feeling). I started to try out other churches, hoping for a good fit. It took a couple of different places, but it was worth it.

It has been exactly six years. I feel connected to a group of people; I feel like I am liked (at least a little); and I feel like someone thought I was important enough to make an effort for. I just want to tell you -- my friends -- You have made a difference for me. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. My family was in crisis, and you accepted us anyway. Thank you.

I posted a youtube video bar in the margin I think is well worth your time. It's the top thumbnail. You never know what people are going through when you encounter them. Let them know they are worth the effort.

Guess Who I'm Thinking Of

Today's word:

loquacious: (adjective) excessively talkative [low-kway-shus]

Personally, I like the definition "having diarrhea of the mouth", but you can take your pick. Someone at my house can easily be described as loquacious... a little hint: it's not me; although, I do suffer from it chronically, if you know what I mean. ;) No, seriously.

Anyway, on to the examples: My children inherited their loquacious genes from their father. My students often get extra work, because they are so loquacious.

Parts of speech people, please note that a lot of adjectives can be made into adverbs simply by adding 'ly'. Kind of like what I just did to the word simple. Nouns can be made by adding the appropriate noun ending (i.e. tion, sion, ity, and ness). In this case (and I have no idea what the rule is on how it's decided), you add 'ness'. :)

Happy assimilating!

Sooo Very Tired...

Today's word:

somnolent: (adjective) over-tired; desperately needing sleep [som-nuh-lint]

Don't forget to incorporate the new word into your working vocabulary. Write it in your journal. Slip it into your blog. Use it on your spouse for a really good reason to sleep in tomorrow. "Oh, Honey, the doctor says I suffer from excessive somnolence and need complete bed rest until noon!" I guarantee the more you process it, the more you'll remember it. This is one of my favorite words because it describes me most of the time. Personally, I like to use it in sentences such as, "I feel somnolent after a long day at work." Or, "I might get up and fix dinner, if I weren't so darn somnolent right now."

(Now we shall see my husband's ADD rubbing off on me) Somnolent reminds me of a definition poem I wrote as a junior in high school. I was up doing homework pretty late, and one of the assignments was a four-lined rhymed poem which had to define something... it was 1:30 in the morning, so I wrote mine "On Being Tired":

There's a dullness in the way I move.
My adrenaline ceases to flow.
Into bed I would have dove,
If I didn't move so slow.

Anyway, the root som is the same one you find in insomnia, Unisom, etc. You can change the word to a noun or an adverb by adding the appropriate endings (somnolence, somnolently) -- for those who like the whole "part of speech" thing.

Sorry for the long-windedness. At my house, writing is the most talking I can get in edgewise all day. :)

Warding off Alzheimer's

I heard somewhere that learning new words on a regular basis is good exercise for your brain. Good enough to help in fighting off Alzheimer's and other mind issues. Learning new vocabulary -- including new languages -- is a good way to make your mind stronger and more resilient. Another nice addition to that, I have found, is people tend to think you're more intelligent when you use big words (even when you're not). :) That probably makes some of you question whether I really am as intelligent as you originally thought, or if it is just my vocabulary talking, doesn't it? You may never know!

When I was a senior in high school, we had to write our senior wills. I thought it would be funny to put really big words in it, so I looked up a few. My first line read something like this: "I, Laura S -----, being of somnolent body, exiguous mind and incredibly expatiated vocabulary, do hereby bequeath the following to the following ...."

Yes, I would have thought I was a nerd too, if I hadn't fit in so well with the athletic crowd. According to Dave Ramsey's classifications, I would be a free spirit instead of a nerd. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions. ;)

Anyway, in an effort to help you exercise your own mind, I'm going to teach you some new words (I promise they'll be appropriate for class). This is an idea I got from a couple of my friends... Sense & Sensibility and The Potter and the Clay, so you can blame them.

We'll start with:

expatiate: (verb) to expand or enlarge

In order for you to really learn this word, it is critical you put it into your working vocabulary by USING it regularly... in your speech, in your writing, in your thoughts, etc. Things like, "It looks like we are going to need a few more things from the store. I had better expatiate my shopping list." Or "In order to fit everyone at the table for Thanksgiving dinner, I'll have to expatiate the table with the extra leaf." Even better -- "After Thanksgiving dinner, I had to expatiate the waist line of my pants, so I could breathe more easily."

Let your kids hear you use the new word enough they assimilate it into their own working vocabularies or at least know what you mean when you say it. There won't be a test at the end, but it'll be interesting to see how many people start picking up these words.

The Lighter Side

I get the sense my academic posts are too heavy for this blog, so I thought you might enjoy a few of the snapshots from QB's family birthday celebration this past weekend (especially some of those featuring her father). :)

Alphabet Challenge

This is a cool assignment I do with my freshmen every year (this year the 7th graders are doing it). I've done it as well, and I enjoy going back through and reading it every once in awhile.

Here are the directions:

1. You make a list of all the letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper.

2. For each letter of the alphabet, you brainstorm three or more words which can be proven autobiographical (i.e. names of places you've lived, visited, or want to go; names of people with whom you associate/to whom you are related; words which describe you or your life in some way; memories you have of events, people, places, things; etc.). The rule is anything you write about has to be autobiographical.

3. About once a week or so, write a one-page memoir about one of your words. Choose only one word from each letter list (the one you can write best about). Begin each by saying something along the lines of "A is for Alaska," or "S is for sisters". I had my students do a drop cap with the letter on their final drafts. It looks really cool all typed up!

4. Write one memoir for each letter of the alphabet.

When it is complete, you'll have a 26 page autobiography. If you're a scrapbooker, you can find photos to go with each memoir and create a beautiful portfolio. If you'd like to see mine, just ask! :)

One idea I've had is to adjust it for my own children. Have them either write or dictate a short paragraph or a couple of sentences about each letter, then draw or find pictures they can use to illustrate their autobiographies. It'd be interesting to see what they remember and think about their lives so far.

Memory Lane

I got this from Shawna. Looks like fun... just be nice to me. ;)

Here are the directions:

1. You comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, you re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I will assume you are playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

A Piece of Quiet

It was a Saturday evening. I had done the dumbest thing I have ever done in my teaching career and was paying the price for it. So I sat at my kitchen table, trying desperately to score a stack of about 150 position papers (almost all of which were plagiarized from the same three sources, I might add). I say "trying desperately" because I had NO desire whatsoever to be doing what I was doing.

I had been forced by the powers that be to inflict torture on myself via the aforementioned essay assignment. Foolishly, however, I made it into the semester final exam. Grades were due in just three days, and I had to grade them quickly.

First of all, grading essays is no picnic, regardless of the writing ability. But when you have to read essentially the same three essays 150 times -- and they weren't even that well written to begin with -- you get the strange, yet overwhelming desire to jab your red ink pen into your eye.

So there I sat at the kitchen table trying desperately to grade papers and to avoid my periodic involuntary attempts to put out my own eye. My two energetic and very boisterous children began to "play" in the living room about ten feet away from the table. This was more than I could handle. I stood up suddenly, slammed my hands down on the table and announced (or rather, bellowed), "I WANT PEACE - AND QUIET!!!"

My children were slightly taken aback at this outburst, but not really enough to move their game elsewhere. Instead, my son -- bless his heart -- sidled up to me slowly with his hand in his pocket. He pulled his hand out of his pocket wryly and handed me his fist. He said, "Mom, here is a piece of quiet. You can eat it... then, you can IGNORE us."

Laughing With Lou

Tonight my son and I had a "just me and him" night. Sis was at Grandma's, Baby was in bed, Dad was downstairs watching some kind of game; so me and Lou (a.k.a. LX) decided to watch "Robots" together. We popped some popcorn, grabbed some lemonade and headed upstairs to watch.

I don't know exactly why this happens, but every once in a great while I just need to laugh until I cry and can't breathe. The last time I did this was over a year ago -- August 22, 2007. I was pregnant, and it put me into labor (Hooray for a good laugh!). Usually these episodes come when I am home with my sisters and mother. I think it's stress reliever that can only happen when you're totally comfortable with whom you're with. Last time I was with my sister. This time I was with Lou.

I don't think Lou has ever seen me laugh so hard. We got to a certain part of the movie, and it just struck me so funny I started laughing. I laughed and laughed and laughed. My lungs hurt. I had tears streaming so furiously, they had made it all the way down my neck. I couldn't help myself... even after I didn't think it was funny anymore. I just kept laughing. I had to force myself to take deep breaths. It felt good.

My son loved it. He loves to make me laugh, and he had never experienced this joy to the extent he witnessed tonight. In fact, he thought it was so great, he kept wanting to go back to the part I thought was so funny. I actually had to threaten to leave the room to keep him from playing it over and over.

I love to laugh like that. Sometimes though (and I don't know if anyone else has experienced this), I end up crying. Not sure why, but after all that laughing, a sadness just sweeps over me, and I need to cry it out. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time burying my disappointments and other stuff. Enough to make me think sometimes that I don't really emote anymore. I guess somehow my subconscious just knows when enough is enough, and it has to all come out at once. It starts with a good belly laugh that lasts and lasts until a person can hardly breathe... then the floodgates open, and ya just gotta cry. That's something I haven't done in a long time either. It'd feel good right about now.

Baby's First Birthday

It's difficult to believe that this time last year I was adjusting to a new born -- something we hadn't had in the house for five years -- and now, it's hard to imagine life with out the little guy!

Taz is a cheerful and busy little boy. He started walking at 10 1/2 months (considerably earlier than both my older children), and he has been a blur ever since. Taz loves to be around the family, so if he looks around and realizes he's alone, he makes sure the entire neighborhood knows it... talk about abilty to project his voice. He has lungs you wouldn't believe!

You would think after a full year of life, Taz could spread his meals further apart, but you would be wrong. Taz HAS to eat every four hours... and he HAS to eat a lot. He's quick about it though, because he insists on a constant intake (God forbid the feeder pauses between spoonfuls to eat his or her own dinner). You gotta keep shoveling, or Taz'll let you know your error (See above lung power).

The other kids positively adore their little brother and never cease to brag on him at any opportunity. If you've been the victim of this -- I gotta tell ya -- I'm not sorry. It saves me the trouble of bragging on him myself. (Both of my older children talk WAY MORE than I do -- a gift they obviously received from their father).

Anyway, Taz made it to one. We had a little family party for him. And can I just say, Taz likes cake. And not just the frosting either. He likes cake. The funny thing was watching him take his first taste. His big brown eyes just lit up, and he looked at me to see if I was going to take it away (he may have been a little bit surprised that I hadn't already done so -- Mommy doesn't let him have the good stuff very often, after all). Then he meticulously began excavating his way through the cake one handful at a time. Somehow he managed to keep the cake just on his face and hands. Seriously. No cake in his hair at all. I don't think I've ever witnessed such a feat. I don't think his dad can even do that.

One thing is for certain. Taz is one multi-talented, highly skilled little toddler... Alright, I can't resist a little bragging of my own.

First Day of School 2008

In spite of my apprehension about the start of a new school year, we (the kids and I) survived our first day. I tell you, it's amazing how easily you can get these kids up in the morning on the very first day of school. My daughter's first words were -- at 6:30 in the morning, no less -- "I'm not tired, Mom!" and she hopped cheerfully out of bed. She's easy to rouse in the morning (yes, even on the second and third days).

My son, on the other hand, has issues with morning. Especially if it's still dark outside. The first day, he got up relatively quickly and was quiet but cordial. On his second day, however, he was a grump. He climbed back up in his bed and told me, point-blank, "It's not time to get up. It's still night outside." He had a plethora of excuses and condemnations for kindergarten: There's no rest time; They don't have centers; It's too long. Basically, he was in no mood for school.

How can he possibly know -- after only one day -- there are NO CENTERS in kindergarten? Breakfast was another disappointment for him... the Honeycombs were stale. He wouldn't eat them. We ended up grabbing a package of peanut butter crackers on the way out the door. On top of his rough morning, he started off his school day by losing his backpack on the playground so was unable to give the teacher his milk money in time. His mind just couldn't focus and so he was "re-directed" several times throughout the day until he finally ended up by Mr. Sad Face. What a day!

When I picked him up at the end of the day, he was sitting quietly at a table spinning a BopIt. Poor kid!

Well, for better or worse, we made it through our first few days of school and are happy to be finally at the weekend. Next week will be better!

The Summer Ends

Well, the unthinkable has happened. I am back at work. Well, "back" is not the most accurate word to use, since it's a new job -- but it is work, nonetheless. I started Wednesday. I still have virtually nothing accomplished in my classroom. I can't put anything away, so it just sits there in boxes in the middle of my room, taunting me.

Starting back to school in the fall is almost always a stressful experience for me. This time I have the usual stress compounded, since I have to learn a new staff, new procedures, new students and a new curriculum. For the past 8 years I have had only one prep (for those of you who are unversed in the educational lingo of today, that means I taught only one lesson to six different groups of students). This year I start out with five preps -- all new to me, and therefore, I am starting from scratch with the curricula for all five courses. Add all that planning to back-to-back faculty meetings, an open house for parents and students, an unorganized and hopelessly cluttered classroom, and anything else I've probably repressed, and you come up with a delightful recipe for "Dear God... HELP!!!"

I suppose that's a good thing though. Don't want to get too stuck in my old ways, after all. I think I need a little shaking up just to refresh my spirit for teaching. Once I get settled in, things'll fall into place. If they don't, well, you'll probably hear me hollering from where you are.

Some Summer Adventures

After complaining about our lack of activity this summer, I decided to do a couple of cool things with the kids. Since we are usually so home-bound (self-imposed, I might add), we rarely do anything new. This week we had two adventures we have never attempted before. Yee-haw!

First, we took a trip to the beach. Yes, there is a beach in Idaho... at least one. We drove up to Lucky Peak's Sandy Point for the day. It was a week day, so it wasn't too busy, and the weather was surprisingly mild: a nice breeze, plenty of shade and the sun wasn't it's usual overbearing self. The kids LOVED it! They got to build sand castles, go row boating, play in the water and have a picnic. It's definitely something we will adding to our repertoire of activities in the future.

Our second adventure was a short excursion out to the "country" to ride horses at a friend's house. Only my daughter accompanied me on this one. She's becoming interested in horses lately, so I figured she should try out a little horseback riding. She was so excited about going, it was fun to hear her chatter about it.

Upon our arrival on the site, her initial reaction to seeing horses up close for the first time was a little nervous and afraid. "Mom, I didn't know horses were so big!" she said to me. I was so proud of the way she pushed past her fear and got right up on the horse. We rode for about an hour, and somewhere along the way, she built up her courage to hold the reins herself. Then, she really started having fun. I could tell she was relaxing, because she started talking to our friend non-stop about all sorts of things. That's how we can tell when she's comfortable.
It was a great day! Of course, I still have dust in my hair...

I think I'm on a roll, because tonight we're doing something else we've never done. We're going to watch a play at the civic center! With just under two weeks left of summer vacation, it's about time we started our vacation!

That's Right! My Baby Walks!

There's no stopping him now. Everyday he gets more and more adept at walking from place to place. He breaks into a run, ends up in a face plant. It's easier to balance at a slower pace, apparently.

Since he was into everything beforehand (when he was only crawling), the only difference is the stealth mode he's operating in now. Walking is a lot quieter -- he always pounds the floor with a vengeance when crawling. So, we have to listen for cupboards opening and closing. Nothing is safe anymore. Time to break out the baby latches!

Summer Vacation

There are very few times in life that move as swiftly as summer vacation. It feels like I barely finished one grueling, stressful school year last week (when, in fact, it was just over a month ago), and I'm already on the countdown to start a new one... just three and a half weeks... a measly three and a half weeks.

And, you know, I start the summer break with such lofty aspirations: The kids and I will walk down to the park in the morning while it's still cool; we'll play for an hour then walk home. We'll do a little summer math and reading practice, then spend the afternoon in the backyard splashing around in the wading pool.

So far we've done the park thing ONCE. The other two things we've done about once a week (sometimes twice). We've been to the water park about four times, and we've been to the library four times -- and actually, two of those I went by myself. The rest of the time we've been mostly in the house (where it's semi-cool) doing virtually nothing. Pathetic use of time, I know.

I should be scheduling our days better, so they seem longer and we all fall into bed exhausted at the end of it. Now, I'm not saying I want to run us ragged so we don't feel like we've had a vacation. I'm really just wanting to have more QUALITY time, so it stretches the quantity out. When we do nothing, I feel like a horrible parent. Of course, I know a little of nothing is good now and then, and I'm okay with that; I really am. But we do so much nothing, it feels like we've squandered our summer.

The main problem is that I'm so worn out from the emotionally draining school year, I want to catch up on my rest at the beginning of the summer. Unfortunately, with three kids that is just a pipe dream. I guess what I really need to do is drink more coffee.