Sunday, August 31, 2008

you know you're stressed when...

friends are suggesting that you drink.
Or take some pills.
Or both.

I even had a friend offer to bring me some mango margarita mix.
(I think that's what it is.)

I have a different plan.
One that I think will work well...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

why can't i be the kind of person...

who loses weight when they are stressed?


I would be getting so much thinner right now.

Monday, August 25, 2008

my weekend.

Some fun highlights from my weekend:


* Corey got up with the kids and let me sleep late on Saturday. Love him.
* He left to go help his brother on the farm.
* He's just called to tell me he's there and Sophie comes to talk to me. Her eye looks like this...


Pink, swollen... I'm thinking it looks a lot like pinkeye.
Until...


I pull her eyelid down and it's all goopy, jelly like, almost looks like her eyeball is swollen. Gross.
fyi: I took these pictures to email to my mom (aka: Dr. Mom)

* It's 12:30 pm on Saturday. The Immediate Care Clinic is only open until 12:00.
* I call my next door neighbor, Dana, who is a nurse. No answer.
* I call my other neighbor, Carol, who is a mom of 5, and ask her to come look at it and give me her Dr. Mom opinion. She doesn't think it looks good.
* I call our doctor friend, Mr. Lee. No answer. (Turns out he was the one working the Immediate Care Clinic)
* I email pictures to my mom and while talking to her think of one more person to call. Jill, our soon-to-be pediatric nurse practitioner (she's transferring to the clinic here), her sister is one of my best friends, and I've had 2 of her daughters in my class (fyi: Emily is one of the 7)
* We go to Jill's house, she diagnoses it and calls us in a prescription. And then wouldn't accept anything other than a thank you. Thank you, Jill. You're the best!

*************************************************************

* Sunday morning: Corey has to work. I planned on just staying home, since there is no Kid's Worship or Sunday School during the month of August and Sophie looks like she has pinkeye. But remembered I had 2 months worth of tithing that I kept forgetting to put in the offering. (June and July. Since I should now be tithing for August, I figure I ought to get them there.)

* Decide at the last minute to get everyone around. We're dressed, ready to go, and actually going to be somewhat on time (not as late as we usually are)

* Hurrying to get to church, crossing Main Street, I come to an almost complete stop, zip across, and realize that the car coming towards me is... a cop car. Crap.

* He turns, follows me, rides on my bumper for a few blocks, then finally turns on his lights. As he's slowly creeping up to my window, cautiously looking in the back seat (at my 2 children, buckled in their car seats) it occurs to me... I don't have my driver's license. Crap. Again. (I did have our church bag, filled with books, crayons, stickers and gum to keep these little people occupied during a service with no Kid's Worship. But no purse or driver's license.)

* He was very nice and ended up letting me off with a warning. Whether it was because he felt sorry for me, or because he felt bad giving me a ticket while I am obviously on my way to church, or because I name dropped our next door neighbor/police detective, I'll never know. (In my defense, I only name dropped while saying, "No, I'm sorry, I don't have my license. But I live next door to _______. He could vouch for me."

* Finally made it to church, not even close to on time now. By the time the service was done, it is pouring rain. Since I have no nice hubby with me who will go get the car and pull it up to the door for us, I run through the rain with 2 children, who manage to find and splash in every huge puddle.

*******************************************************

* Sunday afternoon: Sweet hubby sends me off with some girlfriends to go see this:

After 2 attempts to see it, both sold out, I finally got to watch it.

Loved it.
Want the DVD.
Want the soundtrack.
So much fun.
A perfect girl's night.

dog pictures.

I cannot, for the life of me, get a good picture of this dog.
She does have eyes. But you can never see them.
Indoors, my camera has trouble focusing on her... she's too black, maybe?
I need to take more outdoor shots, I guess.




I'll just have to rely on Megan for the quality photos...


Now technically, this isn't Marley.
It's her sister, Bella.
But they look very similar. We can pretend this is Marley.
(Marley's face is bigger, and her eyes are a little lower. Maybe that's why I can never see them.)




Look, Miss Amy... Marley likes her new dog bed!



Lawson likes it, too. :)

little chef.




still grouchy.

I am still the meanest 1st grade teacher in our school.

My kids are just not getting it.
We have practiced. And practiced. And practiced.
Lining up... walking in the hall... working without talking... working with whisper voices... lining up from recess... lining up from lunch... coming to the rug... going back to our desks... more lining up... more walking in the hall.

I am exhausted.

I've asked friends (I prefer that title over "Instructional Coach") to come and observe, to come give me ideas, to come assure me that I am not crazy, I haven't forgotten how to teach 6 year olds. They are agreeing... this is a unique bunch. I have about 7 kids that are consistently listening and following directions. 7 out of 21.

My favorite "stern lecture" from today:

"It is not okay to threaten your little Chinese friend and make her give you her paper so that you can erase her name, write your name at the top and then hand it in as your own."
(Yep. They are 6.)
Then the little friend and I practice saying in a BIG voice "No! This is my paper. I won't give it to you!"

Ugh.
It's gonna be a long year.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

playdate.

Marley and Miley had a little playdate on Friday.
Corey was running out of town for awhile and Amy offered (begged) for Marley to come over.
She said it took Marley a little while to get used to the playing, but then the two of then had a ball. Romping and rolling all over the yard.
She even went for a swim in Miss Amy's pond. Not quite on purpose... she's a pretty clumsy little thing.

Miley kept trying to crawl through the fence today to come see her new friend.
Marley was very excited to see her...



Big hug.



Because of the swim in the pond, Marley has had her first real bath now, too.
No pictures, though. It took both of us to hold her.
She is now clean, sweet smelling and oh-so-soft!

dribbling.

"Can I practice my dribbling?"

We probably hear this every other day.
And for a 3 year old, he is really pretty good!






But it's even more fun to play with Daddy.

1st grade.

I have never had a bunch of kiddos quite like this.
They NEVER STOP TALKING!
I have this project that we do on the first day of school.
For 9 years I have done this on the first day of school.
This year, we have yet to do it.
I planned to do it on Thursday. Then wanted to do it on Friday. But they are seriously wasting so much time! Lessons that should be taking us 20 minutes are taking 45.
I took away recess time from the entire class on the first day of school!
They must think I am so mean.
I have been mean. As mean as I get, anyway.
All you teachers know... you usually get that "honeymoon" period.
Not this year.

But I'm determined to get this taken care of soon.
And the lunch ladies were saying how crazy they were... so it's not just me.
And the kindergarten teachers have looked at my list and said, "Oh... yeah... you do have quite a crew."

So I will be mean.
I will continue to remind them that 1st grade is much more fun if you don't have a grouchy teacher.
And we will do all kinds of firecrackers, sprinklers and silent cheers during the moments that they are getting it.
And hopefully soon... I will have a wonderful little bunch of people.

Especially that little Talby girl. :)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

first day.

This little girl had the best day today!


Not even a hint of being scared, according to her daddy. Corey took some pictures (isn't he good?!) and said, "Okay, Soph... I'm gonna leave." She said "Okay! I love you, Daddy!"





Mommy had a pretty good day, too. I guess all my meltdowns yesterday were good... I managed to not be an emotional wreck this morning! (But it was handy having a spy in the building that went to visit Kindergarten and then reported back to all the teacher mommies in our building (there are 3 of us). Thanks, Sarah!) And the fact that I was so busy with my own 21 little people, one in particular who was climbing the walls (wanna make a guess who this is, Jess?) I didn't have time to be nervous for her!



Doing our "Kissing Hand." (wonderful book!)

When I saw Sophie at our all school assembly this morning, we both put our hands on our cheeks.
"Mommy loves me!"
"Sophie loves me!"





Her teacher this morning (they mix them all up for the first seven days... then assign them to classes once they get to know them a little) said that during indoor recess (the first day of school... yuck.) Sophie just sat and watched for awhile. She asked if she wanted to go play and Sophie said no. But she wasn't scared... just watching, taking it all in... which didn't surprise me. Pretty soon she got some pattern blocks and started to make designs and patterns.

She and Corey stopped by to see me before they left for lunch at McDonalds (1/2 days the first 7 weeks of school). She was absolutely giddy! So excited about her day. I love that she is there with me. I love that I can see her in the hallways and at assemblies and recess.

Thank you Mrs. Roux, Mrs. Koehn, Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Brown... for making her first school experience a great one! You are all wonderful and I love working with you!


And I love this little man, too.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

nerves.

I threw up in our kitchen sink this morning.
I cried off and on all afternoon.

I'm not sick.
I'm not pregnant.
At least I shouldn't be.

I think I'm really, really stressed.
And tired.
And emotional.

Our school year got off to a stressful start. Major changes made in K/1... 1 week before we start with kids. Stress.
I'm still going to bed at my summer bedtime, but I'm getting up about 2 hours earlier. Exhaustion.
I have 7 different people asking me for my 1st grade schedule and I don't have it figured out yet. Stress.
I'm sending an excited, but really nervous little girl off to kindergarten tomorrow. Emotional.
I'm surrounded by supportive teachers and friends who can take one look at me and say, "Are you okay?!" I'm nodding my head as tears start flowing down my cheeks. With a quivering lip, I'm saying, "I'm fine. Really. I don't know why I'm crying."

But I do know.
Stress.
Exhaustion.
Emotions.

Classroom is ready.
Meet the Teacher Night finished.
Plans are made.
Schedule is tentative, but pretty good, I think.
I'm ready for 1st grade.


But I'm still not sure I'm ready for kindergarten...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

dominoes.

Sophie and Lawson's favorite toy this week...





The fun part...





present.

I've said before...
we have the best neighbors.

How many people get presents for their new puppy?

Sunday, August 10, 2008

more marley.



Big yawn.



Marely meets Miley. Miley lives next door.



She really does have eyes. I promise.



See, there's an eye!



And look who came to visit...

There is a puppy in there.
Really.