The school year is wrapping up. I will be teaching summer school this year. *Thank you, Dr. G. for giving me that opportunity* There is an emptiness that comes with not being with my students. They are special people. Some of them have no one at home that truely cares about them, or at least this is the way they feel when they get to me. I will miss them this summer. Many of them will go on to summer school, while other must serve the rest of their suspension at home. Some have learned many lessons, others a few, and for a couple, they have taken nothing from this experience. That saddens me. I wish them all well.
The summer will go by fast. Friday is the last day for my afternoon group. Monday is the last day for the morning group. The week of June 2, I have a teacher work day to close out school and one to open up summer school. I am not sure what to do with the other two days that I have off. I do have a hair appointment on one day and a doctor's visit on another. Summer school will last until July 11. I have two weeks off before I volunteer at Girls Scout Daycamp for a week. The first week in August will be spent interviewing parents and students of the new semester.
We hope to take the kids to Six Flags once. Emma earned her free pass from reading 6 hours this winter. The rest of us get discounted prices. As long as the kids can stay with a grown-up, it should be fun. I have not been there since I was in high school. (20 year reunion next year--what does that tell you?--Joe is getting old.) hee hee hee
Emma begins 1st grade summer school in two days. That blows me away. Still. Proud of her.
James got a lesson in truth telling tonight. Caught in lie number one. Go to your room. Busted for number two. Wash your mouth out with soap. Let me tell you, I never had that done to me when I was a kid. He HATED that. I bet it tasted aweful. But, you know what? If he REMEMBERS the taste he won't be doing that again.
He is doing very well with keeping his thumb out of his mouth. Gummie Bears work great for motivation. Keep it dry. Get a bear. Love you, Bubba.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Family Update
James turned 4 years old today. Hard to believe. I mean it is not like this is a suprise, we have been talking about it for a year now. It did not sneak up on us or anything. There are many milestones that come with your youngest child turning 4. For us, it is limiting the thumb-sucking to laying down in bed or on the cot at school. (Of course, I realize, I cannot control what goes on at daycare, but they are usually pretty good with follow-through. Don't get me wrong,, this will be easier for us than for them.)
Giving up the thumb is BIG in his world. The milestone for me, though, means that in barely over one year from now, James will be going to Kingergarten summer school. Holy Crap. Where has the time gone? And that only means one thing--Emma will be entering Second Grade summer school. SECOND GRADE??!! She was just born.
The little smart-### found his birthday present. Daddy was supposed to have it wrapped before we came home. Life happens, and it did not get done. Well, as it was still sitting "hidden" in the garage, James found it. I am pretty sure that he knows what it is, but he was not 100% convinced. His reaction opening it tomorrow at his birthday party will be fun to listen to.
Emma had her Kingergarten graduation today. OMG. She got her little diploma. I know that this is a big deal, or is it? Who decided to hipe this up back in the day? I guess at one point it was a big deal to adjust to 1/2 day Kingergarten to full day 1st grade, but nowadays don't most kids go full day in this grade? Anyway, we got her report card. Pluses all the way down. (Nope, not bragging at all.) This is an improvement in many ways. She is now keeping her mouth closed at appropriate times, and has improved in her reading and writing skills. What I am most impressed with is the checkmark next to "exceeds grade level expectations". We are so proud.
Kevin is still doing well. We went with his mom to a celebratory one year anniversary of his sobriety meeting together. I am very proud of him. He is doing a great job. We continue to thank God daily for his sobriety, and pray that it continues.
And the laughs continue....I/we just bought Kevin a car from my brother. Paid lots of money. Kevin wants a birthday present. Humph. Doesn't he drive it everyday? hahaha.
Work is still going great. I helped put together a new handbook for my program. I also revamped the discipline policy. I am excited to have things in writing and to watch the implementation unfold next school year. If you don't already know this, I am proud to tell anyone who will listen that I have the BEST job in the world. I will do this until I retire.
I have spoken minimally about this, but I am a bit excited to keep it in. I have an appointment with my plastic surgeon in two weeks. I am fairly confident that I am going to get the surgery that I have been wanting for YEARS. If I get my way, it will happen on Dec. 19 so that I have my entire winter break to recover. This will give me the time off that recovery demands and I won't have to go back to work and move/lift heavy things as I would if the surgery happened over the summer. I will be recruiting people to come help take care of the kids(me), so watch out.
Any of you who read this and know me well, know that I started this approaching my bedtime. And since I have to get up and work a WW meeting in the morning, I must close.
God bless.
Giving up the thumb is BIG in his world. The milestone for me, though, means that in barely over one year from now, James will be going to Kingergarten summer school. Holy Crap. Where has the time gone? And that only means one thing--Emma will be entering Second Grade summer school. SECOND GRADE??!! She was just born.
The little smart-### found his birthday present. Daddy was supposed to have it wrapped before we came home. Life happens, and it did not get done. Well, as it was still sitting "hidden" in the garage, James found it. I am pretty sure that he knows what it is, but he was not 100% convinced. His reaction opening it tomorrow at his birthday party will be fun to listen to.
Emma had her Kingergarten graduation today. OMG. She got her little diploma. I know that this is a big deal, or is it? Who decided to hipe this up back in the day? I guess at one point it was a big deal to adjust to 1/2 day Kingergarten to full day 1st grade, but nowadays don't most kids go full day in this grade? Anyway, we got her report card. Pluses all the way down. (Nope, not bragging at all.) This is an improvement in many ways. She is now keeping her mouth closed at appropriate times, and has improved in her reading and writing skills. What I am most impressed with is the checkmark next to "exceeds grade level expectations". We are so proud.
Kevin is still doing well. We went with his mom to a celebratory one year anniversary of his sobriety meeting together. I am very proud of him. He is doing a great job. We continue to thank God daily for his sobriety, and pray that it continues.
And the laughs continue....I/we just bought Kevin a car from my brother. Paid lots of money. Kevin wants a birthday present. Humph. Doesn't he drive it everyday? hahaha.
Work is still going great. I helped put together a new handbook for my program. I also revamped the discipline policy. I am excited to have things in writing and to watch the implementation unfold next school year. If you don't already know this, I am proud to tell anyone who will listen that I have the BEST job in the world. I will do this until I retire.
I have spoken minimally about this, but I am a bit excited to keep it in. I have an appointment with my plastic surgeon in two weeks. I am fairly confident that I am going to get the surgery that I have been wanting for YEARS. If I get my way, it will happen on Dec. 19 so that I have my entire winter break to recover. This will give me the time off that recovery demands and I won't have to go back to work and move/lift heavy things as I would if the surgery happened over the summer. I will be recruiting people to come help take care of the kids(me), so watch out.
Any of you who read this and know me well, know that I started this approaching my bedtime. And since I have to get up and work a WW meeting in the morning, I must close.
God bless.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Can Santa Fix the Gas Prices?
I just got a phone call from Katie, my sister. Brian is coming home from the hospital today. (Most of you may know that he had heart issues and was in ICU after an open-heart operation.) It was nice to get a personal call, despite how busy she is with everything that is going on. Thank any and all of you who have said prayers for them. God Bless.
I have been in a state of denial/depression all week. It was discovered Monday that I lost my digital camera. At first, I was in this place of "oh, it will show up." Which slowly moved to, "I think a janitor or someone wandering around school must have picked it up." Now, I really don't think it is coming back. The ironic part is, I am not upset about the few picutres I lost of my kids. I am more mad at myself for losing the start of our "yearbook" for the kids in my class. In the scheme of things, this is really NBD. I just...the rest does not matter.
James' behavior has been improving a ton lately. I think he is crossing a maturity line. Twice this week some kid at school DID something to James, and he did not retaliate. Today, some boy peed on James. Boys will be boys. Apparently, they were both standing on the stool to reach the urinal at the same time. The boy just turned at the wrong time and squirted James across his shorts. I was actually a bit surprised to hear that Bubba did not aim right back at him.
We had James complete the P.A.T. screening yesterday. Despite my thinking the boy could be a bit ADD, he passed the Dial-3 with average to above average scores. The educator giving the test said she did not think he would be ADD. Let's hope not, but he also took the test one-on-one without any distractions. The boy is smarter than most people know. He scored as a 6 year old on a couple sections. He failed the hearing test in his left ear. We will have that checked out tomorrow.
Not to leave Emma out: She has had great behavior days at school since the day I shadowed her at school. Ten days without having to turn her card. We took her to get her ears pierced tonight. These were actually a gift from the Easter Bunny. I thought we would have to brace ourselves for the crying that would ensue. She did better than me. Not a tear. Her biggest worry is when am I supposed to turn the earrings? How many times a day?
Emma told me in bed the other night after prayers that, "Santa does not exist." Ouch. How does that happen? And why is she telling me this NOW? Four months later she is telling me about how some punk kid at daycare is telling people this story. How rude. She asked me what I thought. Of course, I told her that I believed in Santa. Who else had the power to do all of that work? She answers, "God." Duh, mom. How do you resond to that? She remembers Uncle Paul with the getup on last Christmas. He pulled at the beard enough for my observant little girl to see that there was another beard underneath. oops. oh well. "Well, Emma, you see. These are Santa's helpers. Santa can't leave the North Pole to go to everyone's Christmas parties and to the mall to listen to what the kids want. Santa made them all Santa costumes to wear in order to help out Santa.....it is only a matter of time....my little girl will no longer be a little girl.
Do your kids play on those playgrounds with equipment buried in the miniature rocks? So small they get caught in your shoes like sand pebbles? Everyday, James comes home from school and takes off his shoes. I hear ting, ting, ting. Little tiny rocks all over the floor. Everyday I sweep them up and throw them in the trash. Then one day out of a joke, really, we started counting how many he would bring home in one day. The highest we go to was 64. Sometimes we still count the rocks. Now we are keeping them in a glass jar. At the end of the summer, we will either make ourselves a pit of some kind or give them back to the daycare in exchange for partial payment. (hee hee hee) How much do you think they pay to have that rock put back there? Right now the circumference of our jar is full; not much volume to it yet though.
Here is a question for anyone who can help me:
Last year and the year prior, I received emails from people saying that we should boycott all gas stations for one day to really sock it to them. This year, the email says that in order to put the hurt on the gas companies, we should boycott Mobile and Exxon. With these being the two major gas companies, wouldn't that be hard to do? Where does QT buy from? How about Phillips 66 and Seven-Eleven? And who has researched this? If everyone were to really take part in this, would that really lower gas prices?
I was telling my students not too long ago how when we were kids, we would station hop to find gas that was under .90/gallon....I know some of you have better stories than that. What is happening in America when my tax credit (thank you for that boost) has to go to pay for me to get to work or to feed my kids? No wonder the obesity problem is rising. Junk food is cheaper than healthy.
Healthy eating. Happy May.
I have been in a state of denial/depression all week. It was discovered Monday that I lost my digital camera. At first, I was in this place of "oh, it will show up." Which slowly moved to, "I think a janitor or someone wandering around school must have picked it up." Now, I really don't think it is coming back. The ironic part is, I am not upset about the few picutres I lost of my kids. I am more mad at myself for losing the start of our "yearbook" for the kids in my class. In the scheme of things, this is really NBD. I just...the rest does not matter.
James' behavior has been improving a ton lately. I think he is crossing a maturity line. Twice this week some kid at school DID something to James, and he did not retaliate. Today, some boy peed on James. Boys will be boys. Apparently, they were both standing on the stool to reach the urinal at the same time. The boy just turned at the wrong time and squirted James across his shorts. I was actually a bit surprised to hear that Bubba did not aim right back at him.
We had James complete the P.A.T. screening yesterday. Despite my thinking the boy could be a bit ADD, he passed the Dial-3 with average to above average scores. The educator giving the test said she did not think he would be ADD. Let's hope not, but he also took the test one-on-one without any distractions. The boy is smarter than most people know. He scored as a 6 year old on a couple sections. He failed the hearing test in his left ear. We will have that checked out tomorrow.
Not to leave Emma out: She has had great behavior days at school since the day I shadowed her at school. Ten days without having to turn her card. We took her to get her ears pierced tonight. These were actually a gift from the Easter Bunny. I thought we would have to brace ourselves for the crying that would ensue. She did better than me. Not a tear. Her biggest worry is when am I supposed to turn the earrings? How many times a day?
Emma told me in bed the other night after prayers that, "Santa does not exist." Ouch. How does that happen? And why is she telling me this NOW? Four months later she is telling me about how some punk kid at daycare is telling people this story. How rude. She asked me what I thought. Of course, I told her that I believed in Santa. Who else had the power to do all of that work? She answers, "God." Duh, mom. How do you resond to that? She remembers Uncle Paul with the getup on last Christmas. He pulled at the beard enough for my observant little girl to see that there was another beard underneath. oops. oh well. "Well, Emma, you see. These are Santa's helpers. Santa can't leave the North Pole to go to everyone's Christmas parties and to the mall to listen to what the kids want. Santa made them all Santa costumes to wear in order to help out Santa.....it is only a matter of time....my little girl will no longer be a little girl.
Do your kids play on those playgrounds with equipment buried in the miniature rocks? So small they get caught in your shoes like sand pebbles? Everyday, James comes home from school and takes off his shoes. I hear ting, ting, ting. Little tiny rocks all over the floor. Everyday I sweep them up and throw them in the trash. Then one day out of a joke, really, we started counting how many he would bring home in one day. The highest we go to was 64. Sometimes we still count the rocks. Now we are keeping them in a glass jar. At the end of the summer, we will either make ourselves a pit of some kind or give them back to the daycare in exchange for partial payment. (hee hee hee) How much do you think they pay to have that rock put back there? Right now the circumference of our jar is full; not much volume to it yet though.
Here is a question for anyone who can help me:
Last year and the year prior, I received emails from people saying that we should boycott all gas stations for one day to really sock it to them. This year, the email says that in order to put the hurt on the gas companies, we should boycott Mobile and Exxon. With these being the two major gas companies, wouldn't that be hard to do? Where does QT buy from? How about Phillips 66 and Seven-Eleven? And who has researched this? If everyone were to really take part in this, would that really lower gas prices?
I was telling my students not too long ago how when we were kids, we would station hop to find gas that was under .90/gallon....I know some of you have better stories than that. What is happening in America when my tax credit (thank you for that boost) has to go to pay for me to get to work or to feed my kids? No wonder the obesity problem is rising. Junk food is cheaper than healthy.
Healthy eating. Happy May.
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