Blessed Sunday

I was blessed to have a movie date with my favorite 12 year old today. He finished reading The Hunger Games last week, so I kept my promise to take him to see the movie. I don't know who was more excited, him or me. Even though I'd already seen it, it was like seeing it for the first time through his eyes. He surprisingly had some opinions about things they left out of the movie that he thought it needed from the book. What fun to share this book and movie with him.

On the way home from the movie, Josh requested Domino's pizza. I obliged (even though it's my least favorite pizza). After we picked up the pizza, he said, "Thanks for taking me to the movies...and for the pretzel and pop...and for the pizza...and for giving birth to me." Well, it's about time he thanked me for that!

Found Pictures

I was going through all my blog post drafts and came across these never published gems. Julianna on her second birthday. All together now...awwwww.  (Update: Turns out they were published back in June of 2010. But you can never get enough cuteness, right?)

Wednesday Word

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.  Matthew 5:9

This verse and verse 10 about being persecuted because of righteousness are my class's memory verses for the week. They have been working on all the beatitudes--Matthew 5:3-10. But this one I spent extra time on. Peacemaker. Shouldn't we all be peacemakers? Don't we wish there were more peacemakers? When I asked the kids what they thought being a peacemaker meant, one said that it was trying to make a problem better. One said it was someone who tried to make peace. Well, yes. A peacemaker makes peace in any and every situation. But even more, a peacemaker doesn't cause unpeaceful situations...someone who carries peace with them and shares it with others. I explained to the kids that the opposite of peacemaker is troublemaker. If you are a troublemaker, you are most definitely not a peacemaker.

And look at what you get if you are a peacemaker. You get to be called a child of God. Picture this. You are playing a game. Any game. With a bunch of other people. And all of the players' parents are standing on the sidelines. And your parent in attendance is God. The father of all. And he is watching you. And he is smiling. And he is leaning over to the parent standing next to him. And he says, "See that one. That one right there making all the peace. That one's mine." Ooohhh. Don't you love that? Don't you love being called a child of God...by God himself. I do. I really, really, really do. That makes me want to be a peacemaker more than anything else.

I get peace. I understand it so completely because I've been without it so completely. I have felt it to my core and I've longed for it without success. I've had my soul flooded with it so powerfully that I felt the very presence of God and I've grasped at it and missed miserably. And through all of those times with peace and without, I've learned that peace, the true peace that passes all understanding, is my favorite gift from above. The one that holds all the others in its hands. The one that can ease my soul, heal my heart, and quench my thirst. The one that guards my heart and mind. The one thing that I never want to be without again.

So a peacemaker I will strive to be. I will carry it with me. I will share it. And I will be blessed. I will be called a child of God. And I will shout from the rooftops that the peace I have is not my own. It has been given to me by the ultimate Peacemaker. The peacemaker who has been and is and will ever be.

Moments

So today Jules and I were running some errands after school. One of the stops we made was the post office to pick up our mail. When we were walking in, she asked me if she could open the mail box. I told her she could and handed her the key. With a few instructions she was able to unlock and open the box and then close and lock it after I emptied it. Then she asked me if she could carry the keys as we walked back out to the car. As I told her she could, I had this vivid memory of having the same exact conversation in the same exact building with Josh nine years ago and Adam seven years ago. That moment, and others like it, make me smile and get all misty at the same time. I smile at the joy and wonder of my children as they do the smallest things and all those amazing memories that I've stored up over the years. And I get all misty because those little kid days are over with the boys and going by so fast with Julianna. These days with the boys have joys of their own, even with the teenage moments sprinkled in. Even those moments have a special place in my heart. And as I repeat these early years with Jules, I am enjoying, savoring even, every single moment. Even the littlest things like getting the mail remind me of what a blessing it is to raise my own children. What a gift they are. What an answered prayer. What an amazing purpose God has given me as I walk hand in hand with these three little souls toward him.

I'm Afraid So

Did you know that the first music video on MTV (back when they used to actually show music videos) was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles? Yep. A song about videos. Now, all these years later, it seems The Buggles were wrong, because I listen to the radio every single day and haven't watched a music video since 1998. But I was thinking the other day as I posted on Facebook that Facebook is killing the blogging star. Well, maybe not all of them because some of them are getting book deals and making money from blog posts. I am doing neither. But maybe that's because I'm finding it much easier to post a short little update on Facebook than sit down and compose and edit a full length post. It's not for lack of ideas. I have those to spare. Maybe it's lack of screen time. Maybe it's lack of motivation. Maybe it's just more satisfying to see that little number pop up beside the notification button on Facebook and know that someone commented on my silliness. Either way I have posted a lot less on my blog since I joined Facebook. I don't know if that's true for all bloggers, but I'd be curious to know. But for now I'm going to cut this short and see if I can figure out how to add a "share on Facebook" button to my blog.

Wednesday Word

Hope.

Blessed Sunday

I was blessed today to spend some time alone with my Adam. He was a great help setting up the book fair. And besides that, he's an amazing kid. Sweet. Smart. And funny. I love him all to pieces.

10 Things Thursday

10 favorites I listed on an info sheet given to the teachers at school by the PTO...

1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Chai latte
4. Toblerone
5. Tacos
6. Movies
7. Daisies
8. Trail mix
9. Oreos
10. White board markers and erasers (not a favorite, but what I could use in my classroom)

Two For Tuesday

The ride home after a day of garnet digging last summer. Mining is hard work.

Blessed Sunday

It was just Julianna and I at church this morning. Well, not just us. There were a few hundred other people, but just the two of us from our family. We sat, us two girls, in our regular seat. She with her books and a bag of pretzels. Me with a Bible and a pink stuffed dragon. (The dragon was hers, too, but I got to hold it for awhile.) For most of the service, Julianna sat on my lap. She got up and down a few times, but mostly she sat with me. And most of the time that she sat with me she was wiggling and squiggling and putting her feet on the seat in front of me and twisting to whisper observations to me. She reached for her pretzel bag and turned pages in my Bible and almost made me spill the communion tray. But I did not make her sit beside me in the long pew. I did not make her get off my lap. Because the one time I thought about asking her to move, I thought of Josh and Adam. My two little boys who used to sit on my lap at church. Now they are as tall as me and are no longer those little boys who wiggled and squirmed there not so many years ago. Jules will be four in a few short weeks and I know from experience than in the blink of an eye, she will be sitting across the auditorium with her friends in the youth group. But for today, and for as many more as she will, she sat on my lap. And I treasured it in my heart for those days when she doesn't.

Spring Break Staycation

It's the end of spring break. The end of a fun filled, but very short week. We thought about going away, but decided to save the money for a longer summer trip. It turned out to be a good decision. Julianna started getting a really bad cold last Thursday that led to a trip to the doctor on Saturday and a round of antibiotics. She wasn't really ready for much fun until Wednesday. With that and a rainy forecast, we made the best of it.

The boys had sleepovers on Sunday night. Adam spent the night with Aidan and Josh had a friend over to our house. Monday afternoon there were naps to recover.

Tuesday was movie day at home, Josh's first spring break request. Always a fun time for us.

Wednesday we all went to see The Lorax which was quite entertaining and reminded me how much I love taking my kids to the movies. Then lunch at Outback and dessert at Jamms. Pretty much a perfect outing if you ask me.

Thursday we headed to Spokane despite another day of rain. We headed way up north to Cat Tales, a cat rescue and training facility. (Adam's first pick.) It was just sprinkling when we got there and wasn't too cold, so we braved the weather to see the cats. The first cat we came to was this amazing white Tiger named Apollo. He is beautiful. But he apparently doesn't like umbrellas because when we got too close to the fence he roared at us to let us know to get back. And we did...quickly.


There were lots of other, less grumpy cats, too. Lions, tigers, leopards, mountain lions, and lynx. There was even a black bear to complete our lions and tigers and bears (Oh, my!) adventure. Since it was raining, there weren't a lot of guests, so we got a lot of attention from the staff. They walked with us and told us the story behind each cat. Some are rescues and some are movie and tv stars. Two of the leopard brothers were the first live leopard birth on tv.







And later, they took the cats out of their enclosures one at a time and went in and hid chunks of meat around for them to find. When they let the cats back in, it was like watching a big, furry egg hunt. It was really fun to watch the cats be so active and playful.





We had a great time despite the rain and were so glad we made the trek.

After Cat Tales we headed to Chuck E. Cheese's, Julianna's one and only spring break request. She loves going there and playing the games and climbing and sliding. She is an expert at the spider stomp game. Probably because it is kind of like dancing...and stomping spiders! She loves the place and the games, but she does not like Chuck E. Whenever he makes his hourly appearance, she dives under the table and hides until he is no longer in her sight. Then she's back on the go. Funny!

Spider stomping...

Spider sitting...

Alien hunting...




And finally, yesterday, we took Josh and Adam to see John Carter of Mars, Josh's second pick. You know I love going to the movies. I love going by myself. I love going with my friends. I love going with Arrty. But I especially love going with my kids. They are terrific movie buddies. All three of them started going to the movies when they were very young since we go to the free movies during the summer. (I think Julianna was about two weeks old when we took her to the movies for the first time.) Josh is great because he gets really into the movies like I do. He laughs and gasps and reacts without worrying about who might hear. I love that. I know that the day will come when he does worry about what the people around him might think. But that day hasn't come yet. And Adam. Oh, Adam. He vibrates with excitement. Literally. I sat next to him yesterday and loved being able to sense what he was thinking just by feeling. During the exciting parts he would just shake. I love that! And besides loving going with the boys, I loved the movie! It was really, really good! I know it hasn't gotten much good PR, but it deserves better. It's a great story and a well made movie. I hope it ends up getting the recognition it deserves.

Today we still have bowling to do. Adam's other pick. Arrty had to teach today so it will have to wait until this afternoon.

It's been a really great week off from school. Some fun. Some rest. I think I may just be able to make it through the last nine weeks of school now. Maybe.

Wednesday WORD

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

History Fair

We had our history fair at school on Thursday. Each class preschool through 2nd grade did a class project with each student helping with the presentation. Julianna's class did their project on George Washington. They colored pictures of our first president and made cherry trees out of toilet paper rolls and construction paper with red fingerprint cherries. The four year olds did a project on the history of macaroni and cheese complete with macaroni sculptures. My kindergarten class's project was based on our social studies unit on children of the world. We learn about how children around the world live and our project shared what we learned. The first and second grade class have been studying several presidents and presented their artwork and writing about them. The third, fourth, and seventh grade students chose historical figures to study and present. And the fifth and sixth graders did a written project about a country of their choice and an oral presentation about a historical figure.

To start the program, the preschoolers led the Pledge of Allegiance and sang and signed "Glory, Glory Hallelujah." Then they and the kindergartners and first and second graders sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Skip to My Lou." It was so cute. And only one little boy announced that he "had to pee" during the show. Julianna and Abby were, of course, the cutest ones on the stage. Here's some proof.

They worked on the railroad all the livelong day...

They skipped to the Lou my darlin'...

But mostly they giggled...


Then the third, fourth, and seventh graders gave a dramatic reading of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. It was quite inspirational. And finally, the fifth and sixth graders did their portrayals of historical figures including Mary Queen of Scots, Daniel Boone, Sacajawea, Louisa May Alcott, Thomas Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart. They all did such a good job.

Here are Daniel Boone and Teddy Roosevelt...well, younger, cuter versions of them.

I was very proud of all the kids and what they accomplished. They did a great job.

10 Things Thursday

10 things representing the countries in the kindergarten "Children of the World" history fair project.

1. Australia--stuffed koala
2. China--paper lantern
3. Japan--origami dragon
4. Japan--bowl of rice with chopsticks
5. Kenya--toy animals (elephant, giraffe, hippo, rhino, zebra, cheetah)
6. Mexico--paper flower decoration
7. The Netherlands--tulips
8. Israel--Adras game
9. Italy--plate of pasta
10. Peru--picture of rainforest plants

Blessed Sunday

So I turned 40 today. 40 is a lot of years. 40 years worth of love and laughter and memories combined with some trials and mistakes to make me who I am today. 40 years spent loving and being loved by parents who chose to be a family for me. 40 years for my spirit to grow and learn and follow a path that leads upward and homeward. 40 years filled with people who have touched my heart and helped form my character. 40 years spent watching sunsets, chasing butterflies, and marveling at His creation. 40 years in which I have been a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, wife, mother, aunt, student, teacher, friend, and Christian. 40 years worth of reading books and watching movies and singing songs. 40 years to dream and write and search. 40 years of life lived full of all kinds of wonderfully good things. Yes, 40 is a lot of years. And I have looked forward to this day for a while. Because somehow, it feels like a new beginning. A good time to start living the life I'm meant to live. A good time to look at where I've been and where I'm going. A good time to start living every day with purpose. A good time to count the blessings I have and embrace the ones that come my way each day. So here's to the wonderful, amazing, crazy 40 years I've lived so far...and to the many still to come. I can only imagine what they have in store for me!

10 Things Thursday

10 things in our "100th Day Trail Mix." (To celebrate the 100th day of school, each student gets 10 each of 10 things brought in by the students...and me since I only have 7 students.

1. Honey Nut Cheerios
2. chocolate chips
3. vanilla cupcake flavored goldfish crackers
4. Apple Jacks
5. M&M's*
6. mini marshmallows
7. peanut butter pretzels
8. mini pretzel twists
9. valentine heart candies
10. Nerds

*Why is there an apostrophe in M&M's?

Road Report

As part of Arrty's position with the Transportation Department, he plows snow in the winter. Like big time plowing with the huge, yellow, state trucks with the flashing lights and everything. He leaves the house at an hour that I consider to be the middle of the night and braves the dark and winter weather to go to work to make the roads safe for all of us who will be driving to work or school several hours later. He even plows the highway from town north to just past our house. So most mornings, and especially if there's any weather to speak of, he calls just before we leave for school and gives me my own private road report. He tells me if the roads are dry or wet or slushy or icy. He warns me if there might be black ice or fog. He alerts me to any accidents or other things to watch out for. I really, truly appreciate his updates. It's good for me, a nervous winter driver, to know what I'm getting into. And he knows that about me. So his road reports are much more than just road reports. They are one more way he tells me he knows me and loves me...and is protecting me in every way he can. What a blessing.

10 Things Thursday

Josh and Adam are working on projects for the history fair coming up in March. They each had to choose a historical figure to portray on stage and a country for a written project. Josh chose Daniel Boone and Peru. Adam chose Teddy Roosevelt and Australia. It's been interesting learning along with them. So here are 5 people and 5 places I would choose if I were in their class.

1. Amelia Earhart
2. Georgia O'Keefe
3. Harriet Tubman
4. Laura Ingalls Wilder
5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
6. Ireland
7. Brazil
8. Greece
9. Switzerland
10. Kenya

Who and where would you choose?

Idol Shmidol

I like to watch singing competition shows on tv. You know, like American Idol and The Voice (which I just discovered and LOVE). I have often caught myself thinking, "If I were on this show I would sing...(fill in the blank with any one of a million songs that I love)." I love to sing and have for as long as I can remember. I sing often. I sing at home and at church and at school and in the car...especially in the car. I sing by myself and with my family and my students...and especially with my kids. I sing when I'm happy and I sing through the tears when I'm not. And even though I'm way to old to try out for Idol or Voice, I don't need to. Here's why.

Sunday at church I was singing, like usual, when Julianna motioned for me to hear a secret. She then, in her most precious little girl voice, whispered, "Mommy, you have a beautiful voice." I was surprised. Not by her sweetness, because that's just the way she is, but by her observation and thoughtfulness in sharing such a compliment. I said, "Thanks, Julie," and went back to singing...even though I was tearing up a little.

So Steven, Jennifer, and Randy and Adam, Cee Lo, Christina, and Blake, I really like you guys and wish you all the best, but I've been judged by a much more important person. She's three years old, her name is Julianna, and she's way, way, WAY cuter than any of you.

10 Things Thursday

10 questions about Facebook.

1. First, why, oh why, did I fall into temptation and join? It is not a good place for someone who is naturally nosy...I mean, curious...to find themselves.
2. What am I supposed to post? Does anyone really care that a kid threw up in my class or that my daughter calls lullabies "luvabies?"
3. What am I supposed to "like?" What if someone posts something sad? Can I "like" that?
4. How can I not confirm friendship? I've taught kindergarten for 7 years. It goes against everything I know to say no when someone asks me to be their friend.
5. Why is it impossible for me to write anything, including a Facebook post, without using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation? (At least to the best of my ability.) It must be just me because lots of other people don't seem to have that problem.
6. Can I really call someone my friend if I haven't spoken to them in over 10 years? Or ever.
7. Isn't it wrong to find out really important information on Facebook? Seems to me it is.
8. When someone is on chat, do they really want to chat? Because I'm not so good at chatting in real life so I'm probably not good at it online either.
9. Do I get free stuff if I "like" a product or business? Because if I get free stuff, there's lots of things I "like."
10. Where does Mark Zuckerberg get all his money? It's free to be on Facebook. There really aren't that many ads that I've seen. The aps that I've seen so far are free. I'm confused by how he can be so rich. But since joining Facebook, I'm obviously confused by many things.

Valentines

The dictionary defines valentine as "a sweetheart chosen or complimented on Valentine's Day." A sweetheart is defined as "one who is loved, a generally likable person, a remarkable one of its kind."

That being true, I have lots of valentines. My four favorites though, are the four I live with. The one who's been my valentine for well over 20 years. The one whose birth made me a mommy. The one who makes me laugh more than any other person in the world. And the one whose perfect pinkness has brought completion to our family. They are all loved. They are all generally likable people. (Generally.) And they are each one a remarkable one of a kind. And today, on this, my 39th Valentine's Day, I am overjoyed to have four such amazing, wonderful valentines.

I love you Arrty, Josh, Adam, and Julianna. You are my valentines today and every day.

Neon

I was walking through Target the other day and saw their new line of neon clothing. The brightest green and pink and yellow seen since the 80's. It gave me a serious flashback to high school and jazz choir. The first year we chose to have our costumes be bright blue, pink and yellow. (Well, they decided. I was too shy to say, "Ummm...really?) It was 1988 though. Those bright colors were cool. So not only did we stun the audience with our talent, we blinded them with "rad colors." And lucky me, I got to wear yellow. (Once again done in by my shyness.) Even in 1988 it was impossible to find a bright yellow dress so Mom had to make me one. It was a very simple pattern. Long sleeves, straight skirt. But paired with the wide black belt and black bead necklace, I was only the fifth silliest looking person on the stage.

The second year of my jazz choir experience we mixed it up a little and added black to our bright colors. Black pants for the boys and black skirts for the girls with neon tee shirts on top with black tees underneath so we could roll up the sleeves and have black edges. The boys wore their black shirts on top and had neon edges.* There was no yellow that year. Only pink, green and orange. I got orange. I know. Super cool. But it was better than yellow.

So either Target is going retro or we were way ahead of the times. Either way, I've done my neon time.

*I only remember the details because I found the pictures when we were de-flooding the basement. I will post the pics for a small fee.

10 Things Thursday

10 things we found while de-flooding the basement.

1. That we have too much stuff.
2. 2 boxes of VHS tapes with stickers that said things like "Seinfeld Finale" and "90210." (The Brenda and Brandon and Dillon and Kelly 90210. Obviously, if it's recorded on VHS.)
3. Several blank VHS tapes. Anyone need them? Kathy, maybe?
4. Boxes and boxes of books. Some that I knew about and some that I didn't. About a third of them survived.
5. That if you have brand new puzzles, they are in plastic bags inside the box. Even if the box is ruined, the puzzle might be saved.
6. Wet carpet is very, very heavy.
7. Bags and bags of stuffed animals that I had stealthily moved to the basement. Julianna has now carried, by the armful, many of them back upstairs to her room...and the couch...and the living room floor...
8. Everyone has a flooded basement story of their own or at least of someone they know. And plenty advice for the clean up.
9. Did I mention that we found that we have too much stuff? Oh, I did?
10. We found out what's important. Everything in the basement could float away today, but as long as the people upstairs are safe, we're good.

When It Rains...

it pours.

Ever heard that saying? Well, I've had one of those weeks. The big finale (at least I hope it's the finale) began early yesterday morning when my husband woke me up at 3:40 am and told me that our basement was flooding. How could that even be possible? We live on the prairie! But with all the melting snow and heavy rain overnight, our backyard was a small lake and we had water about a foot up on our sliding glass door in the basement. That foot of water outside had leaked inside around the door and was covering every inch of our basement in 2 inches of water. Arrty called my dad (because that's what you do when you need something fixed) and he came out to the house and helped block the water from coming in. That was the easy part.

Arrty spent all day Monday getting the water out and when I got home we began the slow process of drying everything out. It took Monday evening and all day yesterday to get everything moved, the carpet up, and the things that weren't salvageable thrown away. One of the hardest parts was the books I lost. I had to throw away at least 6 boxes of books that were ruined. I looked through the first few to see what was in there, but after that I just carried them to the trash pile. I didn't want to know what was in there. It just made it worse. There were a few things that I checked on right away...the safe box holding birth certificates and other important documents and my scrapbooks. They were safe...or so I thought. For some reason Josh and Adam's first year scrapbooks were not on the shelf with all the others and were found yesterday afternoon after sitting on wet carpet for over a day. That's when I lost it and cried hysterically for about a minute and a half. Then I pulled myself together and made a plan. I ran into town and made color copies of all the pages and then laid them out to dry to see what could be saved. They aren't looking so good, so the color copies may have to work as replacements. But I will include a note to the boys reminding them that at one time their scrapbooks were lovingly handmade. Most everything else of significance was either well protected in Rubbermaid boxes or put on shelves. It looks like we will be able to save all the furniture. So we lost our carpet, lots of books, some jigsaw puzzles and board games, and a few other odds and ends.

Now we have to continue to dry out the concrete floor with fans and heaters and then put everything back where it belongs. It was bad, but certainly could have been much worse. It sure is a hard way to get the basement cleaned up.

Oh yeah, and did you know that homeowners insurance does not cover loss or damage caused by ground water? So it looks like we'll have no carpet in the basement for awhile. But the floor sure is clean!

10 Things Thursday

10 things about the dentist.

1. I took all three kids for their 6 month check-ups on Monday.
2. The boys have always been great patients from the time they started going to the dentist and Julianna is following in their footsteps. She was perfect in the chair. No fussing. Opened and closed at all the right times. Shook hands with the doctor. Even chatted a little with the hygienist.
3. Adam is a get-in-and-get-out kind of patient. No small talk, please. (Must get that from me.)
4. Josh is really good at the small talk. (Must get that from his dad.)
5. Julianna chose the pink Snow White toothbrush and pink chapstick and pink flossers. And a purple flower ring from the treasure chest.
6. Adam chose a green toothbrush and orange flossers.
7. Josh chose a red toothbrush and a grown up flosser.
8. I don't know what or if the boys chose anything from the treasure chest.
9. We still visit the same dentist that I went to as a teenager. Somehow he looks exactly the same as he did 20+ years ago.
10. 76 teeth checked, one cavity.

Perspective

It's a good thing I have a 3 year old who still thinks I'm "the best mommy in the world" to balance out the 12 year old who often thinks I'm "the meanest mom in the world."

WooHoo!!

Snow day!!!!

Tagged

Alyson tagged me and I don't want to be it so...

First Things First, The Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

11 fun facts about me.

1. When I was 13 I went to Sea World in Florida and wanted to be a marine biologist for about a year. Funny thing is, I can't swim.
2. I have 33 teeth. The normal person, with wisdom teeth, has 32.
3. This year I will celebrate both my 40th birthday and my 20th anniversary.
4. I always eat two fries at a time. And I separate them out into pairs with similar lengths.
5. When I was a teenager I traded babysitting for art lessons. But I still can't draw. Even my kindergartners laugh at my white board drawings.
6. I lettered in high school...in choir...two years in a row.
7. I also took drama in high school. Which if you know me probably sounds unlikely. But that's what I get for letting my dad take me to register for my freshman year. (He also convinced me to take French instead of Spanish because, "Everybody takes Spanish.")
8. Until age 16 I declared that I was never getting married and therefore not having kids.
9. I watch Hollywood awards shows. I know how ridiculous they are and don't really care (or remember the next day) who wins. But I still find them entertaining.
10. I have taught every grade from kindergarten to 7th grade in my 16 year teaching career.
11. I was voted 3rd best speaker in my college Speech class. I guess they didn't notice how terrified I was every.single.time.


Now to answer Alyson's questions.

1. Would you rather be in prison for the rest of your life, or stranded on a deserted island with your closest loved ones for the rest of your life? (Assuming this is a tropical deserted island with plenty of food and such.) I actually had to think about this one for a minute. Of course I don't want to go to prison, but would I want my family to be deserted with me and deprive them of their lives off the island? But then I figured that since there would be fishing for Josh and bugs for Adam to study and a beach for Julianna to play on and seafood for Arrty, they'd be just fine. So I'd pick the island.
2. What was your biggest worry in high school? (Friends, grades, boys, acne, sports, something else?) I surprisingly had a pretty worry free high school experience. I just went, sat, learned what I could, didn't bring any attention to myself, and went home. I got good grades, didn't want a boyfriend (until I had one), had a few close friends (which was all I needed), and made jazz choir both years I tried out. I did worry, though, that my typing (yes, typing) teacher would stand behind me when she yelled "STOP" during timed tests and scare me so that I jumped and squealed. She always seemed to stand behind me for some reason.
3. If you had to be a character in a movie, who would you want to be? Wow. That's a hard one. Scarlett O'Hara? Strong, independent, but such a drama queen. Princess Leia? Confident, able to hold her own, but weird hair. Bella Swan? Two cute boys to choose from, immortality, but I don't think I could deal with all that angst. Thelma or Louise? Cool car, young Brad Pitt, but, well, they die. Dorothy Gale? Cute shoes, cute dog, but wicked witch to contend with. Clarise Starling? Umm, no. Sandy Olsen? Cool boyfriend, great hair, but I would never, ever wear skin tight leather pants. Hmmm. Oh, I know. Belle. She loves to read, is adventurous, and ends up being a princess. All I'd have to do is fall in love with a beast.
4. Would you choose an all-expense paid trip around the world (as many destinations as you want, for however long you want it to be, including your spouse and family if you want), or would you rather have $1 million cash here and now? I want to say cash, but the "for however long you want" part makes me think that I could travel for the rest of my life and have it paid for. I could "travel" in Ireland for a few years, then go on to some tropical island for a few years, then to Australia...
5. If you had to go a year and eat only 5 foods, what would you choose? (Let's assume your nutritional needs are taken care of by a vitamin of some sort.)
1. chicken (it's very versatile)
2. tacos (could be made into taco salad if I got bored)
3. pizza (a variety if I could have it, or pepperoni, mushrooms and olives if I had to pick just 1)
4. watermelon (summer wouldn't be summer without it)
5. potatoes (mashed, baked, fried...)
6. What is your favorite physical feature on yourself? My hands. I don't know why. They're not especially attractive. I've never even had a manicure. And I can't remember the last time I even painted my nails.
7. What is your very first memory as a child? Walking down the path from our house to my grandparents house in West Virginia. It's very green and lush and warm.
8. If you had to move to another country, which country would you choose and why? That's an easy one. Ireland. It would give me opportunity to research my family's genealogy and I would be able to understand the language (sort of). I've read of people who travel to a different country and feel like they are coming home. I think Ireland would feel like that to me. Hopefully I'll get to find out someday.
9. What movie can you watch over and over and over again? I'm not an "over and over and over" again kind of movie watcher. But I will watch "Grease" every time I catch it on tv. Oh, and the Fast and Furious movies. I love them.
10. What is one job that you'd like to do, but can't or wouldn't because of circumstances? (circumstances such as: it doesn't pay well enough, the hours are bad, you don't live in a place where there's a great need for marine biologists, you don't have the body type to be a professional figure skater...) A professional dancer on Broadway. (Stop laughing, all of you.) I am fascinated by the effect dancing has on people. Just watching a really good dancer can be really moving. I have just in the last few years learned to appreciate dance as art. But I am way to old to start now. (At least I'm going to blame it on my age.) I'll just have to enjoy the kitchen dance sessions that I have with Julianna.
11. What is your secret phobia? (I'm not talking spiders or being alone or public speaking, I'm talking about the weird and totally irrational one that you don't like to admit to.) Oh, there are so many. I guess they all stem, though, from the fear of severe anxiety attacks and having one when it might be dangerous to me or others to be irrationally afraid. I am blessed to have very few these days and to have learned to control them most of the time.

Now, 11 questions for those I tag.

1. What was your favorite subject in school?
2. Pepsi or Coke? Chocolate or vanilla? Soup or salad?
3. If one holiday was going to disappear forever, which would you vote to lose?
4. Who was your favorite teacher and what subject and grade did they teach?
5. If you could only own 3 books, what would they be?
6. If you would have been able to name yourself, what would your name be?
7. Do you have reoccurring dreams and if so, is there one you're willing to share?
8. What is your favorite season and has it changed over time?
9. What is your dream vacation and what 3 things would be "musts" while there?
10. What 5 television shows, past or present, are your favorite?
11. If you were a tree (or plant of any kind), what kind of tree (or plant of any kind) would you be?

The 11 victims. (I don't know 11 bloggers (counting the ones that Alyson didn't already tag) well enough to tag them, so if you are not a blogger and I tag you, you can email me your answers and I will post them for you on my blog.) And if you choose not to play, that's okay, too. But it is a good exercise in creativity.

1. Ada
2. Kelly
3. Kathy
4. Marci
5. Amelia
6. Francis
7. Mom
8. Monica
9. Kim
10. Phil
11. Mel

Girl Time

Yesterday after school, the boys wanted to hang out in the youth center with some of the other kids from church. I told them they could since I had a few errands to run anyway. So Julianna and I went to Target to look around and pick up a few things. We still had time after that, so I asked Julianna if she wanted to go to the library. She said, "What's the library?" After I stopped crying, I told her what it was. I guess she doesn't remember the few times we've gone in her short life. Working at a school, having book loving friends to borrow from, and having a "library" of our own at home doesn't give much cause for using the public library.

When we got there, I was surprised at how busy it was on a Tuesday afternoon. But when we walked in I saw why. Every computer station was full while very few people roamed the book aisles. I headed toward the young adult section to look for "Fire" by Kristin Cashore and was glad to find it on the shelf. Then I led Jules to the kid's area. She loved it. She looked in every nook and cranny at all the books and toys and puzzles. It was really fun to explore with her. After a while I let her pick out a few books to borrow. It was all very exciting. But the best part of going to the library is that it's quiet. My life doesn't lend itself to being very quiet. At the library you don't have a choice. It's just quiet. So wonderfully, gloriously quiet. I think my little girl and I may just have started a new Tuesday afternoon tradition. Girl time at the library.

If...

If I asked you what one book you would say I must read, what would it be?

Bedtime Conversation

The other night when I was tucking Julianna into bed, she told me that she needed to take her phone to bed. Here's the conversation:

Jules: Mommy, I need my phone.
Me: Why do you need to take your phone to bed?
Jules: Abby is going to call me.
Me: She is? Isn't it her bedtime, too?
Jules: Yes but she is going to have trouble.
Me: Trouble? What kind of trouble?
Jules: Trouble with her light. I might have to use your car.
Me: Use my car? Why?
Jules: To go help Abby with her light.
Me: Umm, I'm pretty sure her mommy can help her with her light.
Jules: Oh. Okay.

Recess Duty Today

Recess duty today felt like recess duty in late March or early April. I loved it. The kids were running and chasing and playing soccer. I walked around the playground five times and enjoyed the activity of it. The sun was shining and the sky was blue and my hands and toes stayed warm. It was lovely...well, as lovely as a walk in the sunshine can be while supervising 45 children. But, I am not fooled. I know full well that it's still winter. And in a few weeks, when there is three feet of snow on the ground, I will remember this day, this warm, wonderful day, and smile. And I will look forward, once again, to a North Idaho spring with days that feel remarkably like today.

2012

Christmas Weekend

Christmas this year was pretty much perfect. I had a week of vacation before the holiday weekend which gave me plenty of time for all the preparations without feeling stressed. I also didn't get stressed at all because I didn't let myself get stressed at all. I was determined to have an easy, smooth, relaxing holiday weekend. And it was.

Monday I finished my shopping and didn't even mind standing in line which I only had to do a few times. Besides that, waiting in line is a perfect time to watch people, one of my favorite past times. Tuesday I cleaned house and played with the kids. Wednesday I wrapped presents and played some more. Thursday Arrty and I split up the kids and took them shopping. Adam chose to spend his own money on a gift for me. He was determined to get me something perfect. (And he did. The new Lady Antebellum cd which I love! He's a very thoughtful kid.) Then Thursday night I watched Christmas movies with some of my favorite girls who could hardly believe that it was my first time seeing "A Christmas Story." (Thanks, Katrina.) Friday was spent making goodies (lemon bars, cream cheese drops, fudge, chocolate covered pretzels), finishing up the wrapping, and making a pre-Christmas dinner (ham, augratin potatoes, green beans, apple asiago bread). And all that was done with very minimal, if any stress. Aaahhh.

Saturday we went over to Mom and Dad's house for lunch (West Virginia sandwiches, homemade fries, and cookies for dessert). Then we opened our traditional Christmas Eve gift--pajamas. Since we were getting ready to go to church, the kids held their pajamas in front of them instead of wearing them in the annual "jammies in front of the tree" picture. Then we went with the family to their church's Christmas Eve service. It was nice to get to sing and worship with Mom, Dad, and my sister and her family. Then we went back to Mom and Dad's for cookies and tea. Then to our congregation's first annual Christmas Eve service. It was lovely. I enjoyed it very much. After all that, it was still before 6:00, so Arrty drove us around town to see Christmas lights. There were lots of great displays, but my favorite was the one in a local neighborhood that played to music on the radio. It was very entertaining. Then we headed home for snacks and animated Christmas movies. It was a great day.

Sunday morning we got up early and opened stockings and presents. The kids were thrilled and that means I was, too. This was the first year Julianna has really been able to participate in the whole process. It was so fun watching her open presents and appreciate each one. She was laughing and jumping and absolutely loved every minute! It was different this year with the boys. They are at an age where they've kind of outgrown most toys. So they got video games, movies, and books. Which they liked a lot, but I so missed the scattering of Transformers and Legos and Matchbox cars. But I did enjoy the scattering of Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop and Fur Real pets. After presents we ate egg nog french toast and ham. (Yes, I made egg nog french toast.) Then we all got ready and headed into town for church services. (That made three times to church in two days. The kids were a little overwhelmed with that prospect when we told them the plans for the weekend. And, honestly, I was, too. But it turned out to be such a blessing. It was a great way to keep Jesus at the center of the holiday.)

After church, we went back to Mom and Dad's. We had lasagna, salad, and Ada's homemade bread sticks for lunch. Even though some people around the table thought it was a weird Christmas meal, I loved it. It was simple and yummy. After a record breaking fast clean up, we all gathered in the moose room to open presents. Dad and Mom had a special treat in store for us. They had planned to share a childhood Christmas memory with us. As they told their stories, the room was silent as all eyes and ears were on Grandma and Pappy. Their stories were wonderful and will make for a good blog post someday. Ada had suggested that we open gifts one at a time so everyone could see what everyone else got instead of a free-for-all like last year. So we went around the room from youngest to oldest and opened gifts. It went amazingly smoothly and even Julianna and Abby were very patient while waiting their turn. Only one gift was opened out of turn when one of Dad's "fell off" the couch and mysteriously came open. It was all very suspicious, if you ask me. It took awhile for 6 adults and 6 kids to open several gifts each, but it was well worth it to see the faces on all the recipients as they opened their gifts. Every one was happy and overwhelmed with all the gifts...especially when we had a $10 limit for the grown ups. (Amazingly, we all won, earned, or were given things that we gave to others in the family...books, gift cards, movies, and I even got a beach blanket and umbrella from mom. The creativity of sticking to this new limit was one of my favorite parts of the day.) After we picked up all the paper and boxes, the boys took their new air-soft guns outside to shoot, Abby vacuumed with her new mini pink vacuum, Julianna got all dressed up in her new princess dress up clothes, and Asher watched it all looking adorable as usual. After a little more clean-up and visiting we headed home.

Christmas night we watched movies and played and just kind of soaked it all in. It was an amazing weekend. So peaceful and full of love. And so full of Jesus. Just as it should be. A lot of Jesus and a lot of family with a few gifts and some really good food thrown in for good measure. Hope yours was just as merry.

Blessed Sunday

Christmas vacation.

Reason for the Season

I've always shied away from cards and gifts that say "Jesus is the reason for the season." Not that there's anything wrong with that saying. I guess I just feel like everybody knows it already. It's the celebration of his birthday after all. I don't need my Christmas cards to remind anyone of that. But over the last few weeks, I've needed reminding myself. I had lost sight of the reason for the season. I was preoccupied with what my kids would like to find under the tree and the fact that I wouldn't be able to buy every single thing on their lists. But the sad thing is, their lists were in my head. The boys have asked for only a few things...airsoft guns, a game for their DS, and a silver dollar (they both collect coins). And Julianna, for the last several weeks, only wants "a dog that walks." (Luckily she means a toy and not a real dog. We already have two of those.) But my list was full of electronics for the boys and sparkly, pink things for Jules. And I was beating myself up over the fact that I couldn't provide all their (well, my) heart's desires. Until last week when I voiced my concerns to my friend Kathy. She didn't say much, but her just listening and me being able to share it, helped so much. And for the last several days, God's been reminding me of the reason, His reason, for the season. Like when my sister told me the story of a 6th grader at a local middle school asking for laundry detergent, toilet paper, and dishes and silverware for her family on her Christmas wish list. And the outpouring of support for that child and others. And when I went to the church giving tree to pick a child for my class to support and received two gifts the very next day from the parents of my students. And I'm sure that by Friday, our little one year old boy who likes balls and puzzles will be well supported by all of the families in our class. And then there's the fact that our school (with 50 students) has collected well over 100 books to donate to Books for Tots. Giving, sharing, loving. That's the reason we're here. That's the reason for this season and every season.

So on Christmas morning, my kids will be spoiled because not only will they have a warm house and clean clothes and an amazing Christmas meal, they will each have three lovely gifts and a stocking full of treats. They will have two loving parents who are willing and able to provide for them. They will have smiles on their faces not just because they are unwrapping presents, but because they have people and a place that make them feel safe and loved. And they will know, because their mommy knows, the reason for the season.

Books, Burgers, and Trader Joe's

I went to the Scholastic Book Warehouse sale yesterday. If you've never been to the book warehouse and are a book lover, you should go. It's literally a warehouse full of books. Shelves from the floor to tall enough that I have to stand on my tiptoes to reach the highest one. (And yes, I know that's not that high. But still.) You can find everything from board books for the youngest reader to kid's picture books to young adult lit to adult best sellers. With some pencils and posters and bookmarks thrown in for good measure. And right now almost everything is 50-80% off. To give you a little perspective, Kathy and I were in the warehouse for 3 hours. 3 hours. Granted we go up and down every aisle (sometimes twice) and pick up anything that looks remotely interesting and read the back. And I couldn't help but think, "So many books, so little time." It would take me year to read all the books I picked up and thought, "Oh, this looks good." (I chose 4 including The Reading Promise.)

During this trip we were looking for books for our classrooms, Christmas gifts, and Books for Tots*. The best deal is the "Build-a-Box." For $24.95 you get all the books you can pack into the provided box. The books for this are usually older or something they have an overabundance of, but there are still lots of good finds. The average person can probably pack around $100 worth of books in the box. Kathy can pack $300 worth of books into the box. That's why I go with her. So for 25 bucks I got at least 20 books for Books for Tots with a few extras for stocking stuffers for my students and kids thrown in for good measure.

After our book shopping, we were hungry. We had decided to go to Wolffy's, a 50s themed hamburger joint. The lady in Kathy's phone told us how to get there, but when we got there, it was gone. Hmmm, we were just there...12 years ago. So we decided to eat later and go on to our next destination, Trader Joe's. The phone lady led us right to Trader Joe's and guess what was right next to it! Hogan's, a 50s themed hamburger joint! We happily went in and ordered. Kathy got the bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate shake and I got the bleu cheese burger with bacon and a hot chocolate with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and sprinkles. (I was freezing!) The food was yummy and the service was good and the music was wonderfully retro.


Then to Trader Joe's we went. Neither of us had ever been there, so it was a fun little adventure to explore all the quirky, unique items. And the employees seemed thrilled to be there and were so friendly and helpful. I bought a few snacks and treats for my family and a few stocking stuffers. Then we headed for home. We were happy with our book finds, full of yummy food, and thrilled that we got the last four boxes of Trader Joe's Candy Cane Coal to be found in the Pacific Northwest. It was really fun. And a much needed break from real life for me. I think this little excursion could easily become a new tradition.

*Our school is collecting books for Books for Tots until Thursday, December 15th. Our goal is 150 books, so if you'd like to donate, just drop them off and we'll add them to our collection. Thanks.

Wednesday WORD

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ~Luke 2:8-12

Dilemma

Every year at this time I have a dilemma. It's this. Do I do a gift exchange in my class? Some teachers do. Some teachers have a book exchange. Some do treat bags and everyone brings a little something for everyone else. I can never decide what to do. It's really fun for the kids to bring a gift for a classmate. They love the giving. And it's fun for them to get a little toy from someone else. In the past, when I've had a gift exchange, I've had all the boys bring something for a boy and the girls bring something for a girl with a $5 limit. (I always bring a couple of wrapped gifts in case someone forgets.) It's always been fun with a few exceptions of kids not being happy with their gift or wanting what someone else got. But is a traditional gift exchage outdated? Unwanted? Silly? What do I do. Here are my options.

A. Traditional gift exchange with $5 limit.
B. Book exchange. (I give my students a book every year no matter what we do.)
C. Treat bags with everyone contributing small treats for each other.
D. No gifts exchanged. Just a party with treats and games.
E. None of the above. (Share your ideas.)

What do you think?

10 Things Thursday

10 things you can find at our annual CCS Craft and Gift Fair this Saturday.*

1. This Stephen Lyman "Moonlit Flight on Christmas Night" signed and numbered print. I've had it for years and have never been able to frame it or display it. Even though I love it, I'd love even more for someone who would enjoy it more to have it. (And I really hope to sell it so that I have some money for Christmas shopping.)
2. Bubble bath. Avon bubble bath. I have a few craft fair customers who come every year and buy bubble bath.
3. Jewelry. Avon and Silpada along with others.
4. Stocking stuffers. Lots at my booth and even more at others.
5. Rice bags. You know. The wonderful ones that you can heat up in the microwave to keep you warm on those cold, winter nights.
6. Photography. A budding photographer friend will be taking shots with and without props. A great time to get those Christmas card photos. One pose will be provided free as a way to promote her new business.
7. Booths to benefit World Vision supporting children sponsored by our school's classes.
8. Yummy baked goods. Our PTO is famous for their amazing bake sale booth.
9. Lunch. Mr. D. is cooking up a full turkey meal available in the kitchen. I know you just finished off your turkey from last week, so you're bound to be ready for some more.
10. 35+ vendor booths selling a huge variety of handmade crafts and gift items. You can get all your holiday shopping done in one stop!

Bonus: Me! I'll be in booth #14. Stop by and say hello.

*Coeur d'Alene Christian School on the corner of 4th and Hanley.

A short story...

Once upon a time, there was a kindergarten teacher who loved her job...most of the time. She loved teaching children their letters because she knew that would lead to teaching them to read. She loved teaching children numbers because she knew that would lead to adding and counting money and telling time. She loved teaching art and poetry and songs. She loved new crayons and glue sticks and even the smell of new Play Doh. She loved teaching. But she didn't love child care. You see, every afternoon, this kindergarten teacher gathered all the school's preschool students into her classroom to provide child care for working moms and dads. And as much as she loved each little soul who walked through her door, she did not love all that it entailed to care for them. She did not love the fight to get them to be still at rest time. She did not love the bickering over toys or the tattling. She did not love the mess that the whirlwind of 18 preschoolers left in its wake at the end of each day. And this teacher, as much as she fought it, began to have a bad attitude about her job. She didn't like that. She wanted to be happy about the place God had placed her. She wanted to laugh and play and make school fun for all her students--morning and afternoon. So she decided to make some changes. She was going to be more consistent and firm about the rules. She was going to have more structure for the students to follow. And she was going to pray really hard for each little child in her care and for herself to have more patience with them. She wondered if it would make a difference. She hoped, for all their sakes, that it would.

Monday

I stayed home from church with Julianna yesterday because she was up all night coughing and just didn't feel good. She laid on the couch or sat on my lap all day. It made me worry a little because even when she's sick, she is normally up and around some. Then at 2am this morning she was fussing in her bed and I went in to check on her and noticed she felt a little warm. By 4am she was throwing up. So I'm home with her today, too. Really?! Whooping cough isn't enough? We have to have every cold and flu, too? That's it! We are doing whatever it takes to build up our immune systems. Eating more veggies. Taking more vitamins. Washing our hands until we no longer have fingerprints. I am sick of any of us being sick...and it's not even December.

Happy Thanksgiving!

for

family

friends

home

hope

work

rest

play

love

laughter

peace

providence

God

Jesus

today

Breaking Dawn

Yes. The title of this post is referring to the latest installment of the Twilight movies. I saw it yesterday afternoon with two of my Twilight pals. We are not those silly kind of fans who wait in line for days and see the midnight showing on opening night. (Although we know some of those.) We are those silly kind of fans who at least wait until Sunday of opening weekend. The funny thing is, I've read the books. I know what's going to happen. There's really no big surprises in the movies. Especially at this point with this being the 4th movie in the series. Bella is going to be angsty and awkward. Edward is going to have great hair and be charming in a teenage vampire sort of way. Jacob is going to be angry...and shirtless. And the plot is the same as the book. Human bride/vampire groom wedding. Some sort of weird, time warped pregnancy. Wolves growling. Crazy baby name. Disgusting birth scene of half human-half vampire baby. It's all in the book and all in the movie. But I went to see it anyway. "Why?" you might ask. Well, these movies are just so bad that they're good. They will never win any Oscars. But they are fun. Just pure fun for anyone with an open mind to the ridiculous. And I guess that fits me.

So here are my thoughts about the major scenes in the movie.

The wedding scene. Nervous bride. Smiling groom. Unsure father of the bride. Human and vampire wedding guests. (Including a cameo by author Stephanie Meyer.) Lovely dress. Sincere vows. Romantic kiss. It was sweet.
The wedding toasts. Emmett...umm, are you sure you want to give him the mike? Charlie...so hilariously protective. Renee...really, lullabies? Edward...so sweet with his promises of love...forever.
The honeymoon. I loved that the bride and groom were nervous on their wedding night. It was so refreshing to see two teenagers in a movie who were nervous about the whole consummation thing and who knew it was a big deal and took it seriously. And if you've read the book, you know that vampire/human relations are not, ummm, normal. The broken furniture and flying feathers were hilarious.
The wolves. It's no secret that I am a wolf girl. The vampires are nice and all. But, come on, you have to admit the wolves are more fun. They laugh and play and howl at the moon. The scene where they are reading each others thoughts but we can hear is so very cheesy and great. The whole mysticism part of the book was well portrayed, I thought. So compared to other movies with mind reading werewolves, it was really good.
The pregnancy. So creepy. So gut wrenching. So weird. So good. And drinking blood through a straw out of a Styrofoam cup with a lid. Priceless.
The names. E.J. for Edward Jacob if it's a boy. Okay. I get that one. But I loved that they kind of make a joke of the whole Renesme thing. The look on Jacob's face when they tell him is perfect. He's thinking what we all were when we read it in the book. Really? Renesme? Really?
The delivery. Okay. It's disturbing to say the least. I won't go into details for fear of spoiling it for those who plan to see the movie. But be prepared to groan and look away for at least a part of it. And plug your ears if you can.
The baby. She's cute. After she's cleaned up a little. But please, call her Nessie.
The imprinting. Jacob imprinting on Nessie is very interesting. I know the whole subject has caused a lot of controversy, but I liked how they showed it in the movie. It was less creepy than it could have been.
The change. We all know that Bella becomes a vampire. But watching the change is kind of fascinating. This is one scene where having read the book changes things. You know that she is feeling what they all felt as they changed to vampires...excruciating pain. And yet she is lying there motionless, controlling her screaming so that she doesn't upset Edward. Such a Bella thing to do. The movie doesn't go into that and you'd miss the importance if you didn't go in knowing it.
The final shot. Unexpected. And pretty much perfect.

So there it is. I am slightly embarrassed to say that 1) I paid (matinee price) to see this movie and 2) I not only admitted it on the world-wide web, but spent more minutes of my life that I will never get back writing about it. But it made me happy. It gave me two hours of uninterrupted silliness in an otherwise mostly serious life. And, if you must know, I'll even buy it on dvd when it comes out so that I have the whole collection. You can come over and we'll have a Twilight marathon. Come on. You know you want to.

Blessed Sunday

Singing. Singing is a blessing. In the car. Doing housework. With my kids. In church. I love to sing. For the last several weeks I haven't been able to sing. At all. With all the coughing, my throat is shot. I can barely speak most of the time, no less sing. But today I was feeling better in church services and decided to try to sing. I looked through the schedule of songs and waited for one I really wanted to sing. And I did. It was kind of croaky and my voice only lasted for that one song. But I sang. And it felt good. I've missed it. Slowly but surely I'm getting better. Maybe next week I can sing two songs.

5 And Counting

I did it again. I missed my blogiversary! On November 4th, 2006, I started this blog and have been stunning readers with my brilliant posts ever since. Well, maybe not. But some of you are still checking in and reading my posts, so that's something. How things have changed in the last 5 years. In 2006 I was the mom of two little boys. Now I have two half grown men and a 3 year old daughter to mother. Then I had one sweet little nephew. Now I have a nephew who is taller every time I see him, an amazingly adorable niece, and another nephew who just happens to be the cutest baby in the world. In 2006, Adam was in my kindergarten class. Now, I still teach kindergarten, but it's Julianna in my afternoon pre-school/kindergarten class. In 2006, I found my first gray hair. And now, five years later, I couldn't count them if I wanted to. The biggest difference, though, is my state of mind. I started this blog as a distraction from my severe, yet to be diagnosed, anxiety disorder. And today? Today I am fully in control of my anxiety and look on that time as painful, but necessary to make me who I am today. This blog was such a blessing in those days giving me something to focus on besides my pain and worry. And it remains a blessing 5 years later as a place to write and share and collect memories and stories for my kids to read someday.

It's funny how five years seems to have been just a day long and a lifetime long at the same time. So much has happened and changed in my life. Good and bad. Trials and blessings. And yet, here I am. Smarter and stronger and thankful for it all. Thanks for joining me on this journey. Here's to the next five years!

In Stitches

So I made it through 12 years of parenthood without any of my children having an injury worthy of stitches. 12 years of Josh running and riding and trying to jump to the 5th monkey bar that only resulted in a scraped chin and a broken baby tooth. 10 years of Adam chasing butterflies and throwing rocks and racing with his brother that only resulted in minor scrapes and scratches. And 3 years of Julianna climbing and sliding and running around the playground...which is what finally led to the stitches. Yep. My boys are not the first of my children to require stitches. My cute little girly girl is. Here's the story.

I'm sitting at my desk enjoying the 12 1/2 seconds of peace I have during the day when I hear one of the older boys rush into the building and yell for me. I could tell something was wrong and headed in his direction right away. From the look on his face I knew it wasn't good. All he said was, "Julianna." I started to panic a little, but know from experience that minor things can get made into more than they are. I hurried outside and saw the teacher on duty cradling Julianna and rushing to get her to me. The closer I got, the more blood I saw and once I reached them all I could see was the blood. Luckily my common sense kicked in and reminded me that head wounds always look worse than they are because of the blood. But for a few seconds my mommy sense kicked in, too, and all I could think is that my baby was in my arms covered with blood. (Kathy described her as looking like Carrie during the prom scene in the movie.) I got her into the office and with the help of our secretary, grabbed some tissues to start cleaning her up. Then Kathy came in with wet wipes and we were able to use them to clean her little face and hair and clothes. The more blood we removed, the easier it was to see that it all came from a little 1/2 inch cut right in the middle of her forehead. During all this she never cried. She was mostly mad that I was holding her like a baby and just wanted to be put down. She sat patiently as we ministered to her and calmly told us what had happened. One of her friends was throwing a stuffed dog off the top of the jungle gym and she was running to catch it and ran into one of the poles. And her friend Tyler caught it instead. If the cut would have been a little higher and covered by her hair, I probably would have cleaned it up and left it to heal. But since it was right in the middle of her perfect little forehead I decided to take her to see if she needed stitches.

Our regular doctor was able to see her right away and confirmed that she did in fact need a few stitches to hopefully prevent scarring. So the nurse cleaned it up using her handy, dandy little squirter and since it was pink, Jules was fine with it. Then they put some numbing gel on it for about 5 minutes. Then it was time for the stitches. The only fussing she did through the whole process was when they wanted her to lie down on the examining table. But with a little persuasion she went along with it. (Which was a relief because they also brought in a board with straps into the room in case she wouldn't lie still for the procedure.) They covered her with a sheet covering her whole face except for a hole around the cut. Still she laid still and didn't complain. Then the doctor began the stitching. I watched as much as I could but had to look away a few times. Not because of the needle or blood, but because all I could think of was my baby girl lying on that table being sewn. She was such a trooper, though. Amazingly cooperative and brave. (Braver than at least one of the boys would have been.) Soon she was stitched and bandaged and praised and ready to go. I sent her home with her daddy and headed back to school exhausted from the whole ordeal. But oh so glad that two stitches was all that were needed. And grateful for such a sweet girl, stitches and all.

Here's the injury.

Here's the Tweety Bird bandaid holding on the numbing gel.


Here's Little Miss Stitches with her humongous bandaid and her new "what a brave girl" puppy.

And here's the picture that "needs to be cute."

And another one trying to "be cute."

As you can see, she's no worse for the wear. And cute in every picture if you ask me.

Names

Josh and Adam loved stuffed animals when they were little. They collected easily a hundred each over the years and most of those slept in their beds for many years. Whenever I would ask them the names of some of their furry friends they would usually say something like "Brown Dog" or "Spots" or "Hippo." Nothing too creative, but perfect for them. So having Julianna is totally different. For a while she named every animal and baby "Sally." Then there was a "Sarah" and an "Abby" after her cousin. And just the other day I asked her what she'd named her fuzzy, pink rabbit. She looked at me without hesitation and said, "Bunnyster Daisy." Well, now that's a name. I can't wait to see what she comes up with for her new found panda.


Speaking of stuffed animals, since the boys were born they've gotten a stuffed animal in their Christmas stocking. A couple of years ago I'd decided that they were too old for another animal. But then I overheard them discussing what kind of animal they might get in their stocking that year. Needless to say, I went out on Christmas Eve and bought two stuffed animals. So my question is this. Should I ask them this year if they are too old for stuffed animals or should I just put them in the stockings and wait for them to tell me when they are too old?

Blessed Sunday

I am feeling blessed today to feel up to blogging. It's been weeks of barely being able to do the necessary before I collapse on the couch. I'm still coughing some and still the "take your breath away" coughing occasionally. But oh, so much better than this time last week. I'm still mad that I got whooping cough at all. (The family who gave it to me is no longer at our school, by the way.) But it has encouraged me to build up my immune system to try to be a stronger against the bombardment of kindergarten germs. So if you are healthy today, count that as a blessing. Because it really, truly is.

5

I slept for 5 hours in a row last night! That's the longest I've slept at one time in the last 3 weeks of waking up every hour or two coughing. Amazing what a little sleep can do!

Dear Parents of all of my future students,

Please, for all that is holy, have your children immunized so that the sweet little darlings don't give me whooping cough ever again in my entire life. I know that you may have reasons why you choose not to immunize your children. But if they get sick with these preventable diseases, they can give them to those of us who are immunized. Like me. And if the last week and a half of my life is any indication, you DO NOT want your child, or anyone else, to get whooping cough. If you would spend just one day, or night, with me and hear the intense and body wracking coughing I go through, you would not wish it on your worst enemy, no less your precious children. You protect them in every other way. Why not protect them, and everyone else, from these illnesses? At least think about it.

Sincerely,
Jen

P.S. To the family whose child gave me whooping cough: I forgive you and pray for your sweet daughter's healing, too. But if my own children get it, it will not be so easy to forgive.