2nd Child

I realize that I don't work with Tyler as much as I did with Kaitlyn.  It was a whole lot easier with Kaitlyn because I could focus all my attention on her with no interruptions.  I always sang the ABC's with her in the car on the ride home from daycare.  I always counted with her.  I always told her the color of whatever toy she was playing with.  We read books all.the.time.  We practiced shapes & animal sounds with all the puzzles we put together.  With Tyler, I do half as much.  Sometimes it's hard to work with him because Kaitlyn is eager to please and loves to show off and will jump in and answer my questions.  Poor boy doesn't get a word in edgewise.  He's also ALWAYS.ON.THE.GO!  He never sits still enough to do anything.  If we try working on a shapes puzzle, he'll do it once and then want to move on to another puzzle.  So then we will move on to an animal puzzle and then he'll want to build with blocks.  So then we'll move on to blocks and he starts throwing them all over the place.  Then he'll want to get out his cars, all five hundred of them.  On and on and on.

I am thankful that we are able to pay for the daycare he does go to.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, I love our daycare.  I know that he gets the stimulation that he needs and the structure he craves.  He just moved up to the older 1's room and he's already shown that he's benefiting from it.  He's now more willing to sit down a  read a book with me and point to the objects or animals in the book and say what they are.  I can now sit and build block towers with him and not be afraid that he's going to sling one of the blocks at my head...most of the time.  His speech really blossomed this summer when he stayed at home with me but it really seems like now he's in the mood to never stop talking.  That one really surprised me because NONE of the other kids in his class say even one word.  I figured he would stop talking as well, but he seems to have started talking more.  Maybe he feels like he needs to make up for his nonverbal classmates.  Even my mom commented on how he seems to be talking a lot more.

We'll be taking the kids out of daycare for two weeks over my Christmas break so I hope that I am really able to focus on him and give his the extra stimulation that I was able to give Kaitlyn.  I need to do some research on how to involve Kaitlyn as well in helping me teach him.  I definitely see the impact it has on student achievement when parents do little to nothing to stimulate their children in their early years and I do not want my children to have to struggle through school.  I'm not looking to raise future brain surgeons, but I do want my children to be productive members of society and will do everything in my power to see they are.

I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant

I'm sorry, but I don't believe for one moment that a woman can't tell she's pregnant.  I can see how they could hide it from others, but how the hell can you not know you're pregnant, especially if it's your third pregnancy?  I will give you the "I didn't have morning sickness" excuse because I didn't have morning sickness with either of my children.  The weight gain excuse is debatable, but not a strong one that I give much credit to.  The one thing that completely baffles me is how the HELL do you explain the movement in your stomach?  You can freaking see it from the outside when the baby gets a certain size!  Tyler constantly got hiccups in utero and Kaitlyn loved to tap dance on my bladder.  What the hell else could move your entire stomach like the movement of a baby?  Unless you are severely an idiot unaware of your body, there is no way in hell that you could make it through an entire pregnancy without knowing that you are pregnant.  Also, labor feels NOTHING like appendicitis or an ovarian cyst or any other health issue that I've heard women use to try and convince people she didn't know she was pregnant until a baby came out of her.  I think that women who say that are just attention seekers, although I don't know why you would want to be known as one of the dumbest people on the planet.  I know there are some really dumb people, but I just can't fathom someone being that dumb.  As sad and unfortunate as it is, even my high schoolers know when they're pregnant.

Thanksgiving Hostess

For the second year in a row, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner.  I definitely felt a little more pressure to cook the perfect dinner this year than I did last and I'm  not sure why.  We really only added one more person...I don't count the little people that tag along :)  I know I was way more stressed out about it because I got a migraine on Saturday of all was said and done.  (I'm still suffering from the after affects.) 
We had a great dinner and the food was delicious.  I didn't get much in the leftover department because my mom stole most of the leftovers.  I didn't fight too hard because my family does not do leftovers and hers does.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins even though poor Tyler was once again surrounded by girls.
I didn't do any Black Friday shopping, mostly because I'm not crazy and not willing to be out there with some real psychos just to save a few bucks.  I did look to see if Toys R Us was having a deal on Power Wheels because that is what "Santa" is bringing for the kids, but I didn't find any worth the trouble.  I'm not against saving money, but trust me, deals stick around through New Years so why fight traffic and seriously crazy people the day after I've experience the worst food coma in the history of the world.
I've mad a commitment to myself that next year I'll be running in our local Turkey Trot so I have to start training now.  I'm on week 4 of the couch to 5K program so it shouldn't be too hard.  I have suddenly developed a strong like to running.  I wouldn't say I love it yet, but I do really like it and try to get out everyday and I never look for excuses to miss a day of running, so that's in my favor.
All-in-all it was great to feast with family and get rave reviews about my cooking.

Half Moon Bay

Oh sweet baby Jesus!  In just a few short days, I will be hopping on a plane and flying across the US to Half Moon Bay!  I am so excited.  Did I mention it's a sponsored trip by my hubby's company and we didn't have to pay a dime?  We also get to expense all our meals and any other activities we decide to do.  This is probably my favorite perk of my husband's job.

My parents are going to watch Kaitlyn and Tyler for the weekend because they're nice like that.  (It also helps that my hubby took my dad on his trip to Aruba since I couldn't go.  He owes us for that one.)  Peanut is going to stay at the spa vet so we have no worries while we'll be gone.

We are staying at the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay.  If it's even half as good as the Ritz at North Star, which my hubs says it's even better, then I will be one happy girl.  The first night we get there we'll have a cocktail hour and dinner to attend, but the rest of the night is ours to spend as we want.  The second day we'll take a trip to Napa and get tour wine country!  Last time we went to San Fransisco, we were supposed to stop in Napa, but I found out I was pregnant with Kaitlyn so that trip was pointless.  We'll spend half the day in Napa and the rest of the day is on our own so we'll probably go to the Wharf and grub on some dungeness crab.  Yum!  The third day Jerry signed us up for massages and let me tell you I can't wait.  I got one at North Star and it was the bomb.  Their spa is magnificent with saunas, hot tubs, cold showers, hot showers, lotion rooms and lounging areas.  There is an evening dinner planned and I know those girls know what I like to eat and the food at the Ritz is ALWAYS so delicious.  We have the early flight back home on Monday so we can get back with enough time to pick the kiddos up from daycare.  Three days away is really enough for me.  Any longer and then I start to get homesick and start to miss my babies.

I'm so glad I get to go on this trip because I missed out on Aruba.  I also really need this break from work because these last two weeks have been hell because of this computer based testing we've been trying to get through.  I'm going to be getting my (free) drink on, but I'll be good enough so that I don't embarrass my hubby in front of some of his best clients.

Now I need to figure out how I get on that Beaver Creek trip so I can get my snowboarding on again.

Mouse Tales

Last night, after I came home from my run, Kaitlyn informed me during dinner that she saw a mouse in the living room.  I looked at my husband and he shook his head and rolled his eyes.  She said she saw his tail under the big chair.  Jerry said he lifted the recliner and there was nothing there.  I though it was strange because Kaitlyn usually doesn't just make stuff up and I questioned Jerry, but he just blew it off.  I questioned her again about the mouse and she said she saw his tail but not his face.  I was worried, but only mildly so because sometimes she gets confused with time...like maybe she was remembering the time we trapped one in the garage and showed it to her before we let it go in the field.

I always put Tyler to bed first and then I came out to get Kaitlyn.  They were talking to Jerry's mom on speaker phone and she told grandma about the mouse tail.  She said she saw a tail under the big chair when she was cleaning up the room.  Again, Jerry just blew her off and said his good nights.  I talked to her again about the mouse tail and she told me once again that she saw his tail and not his face.

After I came out of Kaitlyn's room, I went into the playroom to get on my touchpad because Jerry was in the living room still on the phone with his mom.  I heard him get aggravated with Peanut because he kept trying to get at something under the couch.  Probably a piece of food the kids dropped under there.  He kept shooing him away and then decided to pull out the couch to see what he was trying to get at.  He quickly hung up the phone with his mom and ran to the garage to get the poison and put it behind the couch because he found a mouse!  I was freaking out.  I kept saying "are you sure?"  He then went and got the humane trap so we could get it outside.  The damn thing would not go into that trap and kept trying to come out from under the couch or from under the chair.  Jerry kept scaring it away by banging his shoe trying to redirect him to the trap.  He wanted to go out and get some glue traps, but I told him I was too scared to be left alone with the thing.  I went instead and got a few glue traps and brought them home.  The stupid mouse kept bypassing all the traps so Jerry kept having to scare him back under the couch.  He finally went into the humane trap, but wasn't quite in far enough to set the thing off.  Jerry asked for a broom so I brought him one.  He tried to set the trap off, but it didn't go and the mouse ran out of the trap, but it got caught on one of the glue traps.  I felt bad at first because I really wanted to set the thing free.  Then I remembered two little words that scare the bejesus out of me: HANTA VIRUS. 

After Jerry got the trap, and the mouse, out of the house, I kept thinking about how it looked.  It was big, bigger than I though mice got, so I did what any normal person who had a question would do...I googled it.  Turns out, it wasn't a mouse after all, it was a RAT!

Beach Babies

I have a couple of beach babies on my hands.  It makes sense since we do live in Florida and we are surrounded by beaches on all sides.  We live on a peninsula, on a peninsula...if that makes any sense at all.  Jerry and I have only taken Kaitlyn to the beach once when she was like 17 months old and although we had fun, it was more trouble than it was worth.  My mom wanted to take the kids to the beach last night after dinner and I agreed.  I thought we were just going to let the kids play on the playground and get some ice cream after, but she wanted to take them down to the water.  I didn't bring their bathing suits, but I did bring a change of clothes.  Good thing too because Kaitlyn was standing in the waves and  Tyler ran at her full force and knocked her down.  Of course he didn't get wet, but she was soaked.  Nothing I could do so we took Tyler's diaper off so he wouldn't have a ten pound diaper on him.  They had a blast and kept running towards the waves as they went out and ran away from them as they came in.  It wore their little butts out too because they both crashed as soon as I put them in bed and Kaitlyn even slept in till 8!

After shopping all day at the outlet mall in Ellenton today, I wanted to treat my mom to dinner since it is her birthday.  I also wanted to get the kids to the beach again, so we ate at a local seafood restaurant on the beach.  This time I brought the kids' bathing suits and towels and my mom brought her little beach chairs.  The kids loved it again and threw the biggest fits as we left.  It made me realize that we need to do it more often so they know that they'll get to come back whenever we want to.  It's nicer to go during the evening because it's cooler and not as crowded, even for a holiday weekend.  I can't wait till next weekend when I force Jerry to go to the beach with me and the kids!

I Heart Daycare

And my kids do too!  They so needed to be back into a solid routine.  They both love being back with their friends and they are learning so much every day.  Kaitlyn is even napping at daycare and is still able to fall asleep at a reasonable time without her summer routine of getting out of bed a hundred times.  If I remember to get her to go potty before AND after bath time, then she doesn't come out of her room at all. 

The only thing that I am not thrilled about is that Tyler is with the same teacher he had when he left.  He should be in the older toddler class because he is 19 months, but they have so many toddlers right now he's still with his old teacher.  Not that I don't like his current teacher, but I really love the older toddler teacher.  She did so well with Kaitlyn and she really likes that age group.  I know it's really weird to say because their toddlers, but I feel she really gives them a good foundation for learning.  She really gets in to teaching them shapes and colors and the basics they need.  Tyler needs so much more help in this department and I really wanted him to be with a teacher who was good at teaching such a young age group.  (For the record at this age Kaitlyn was speaking over 100 words, using simple sentences, knew all her colors, shapes and ABC's.) 

I'm also happy that Kaitlyn now has homework and of course she's excited to do it.  We work on it together and hopefully this will carry through when she starts school.  I love that she asks to do her homework when she's still at daycare and she calls everything she works on homework.  So cute.

I know we save a lot of money when we take the kids out of daycare for the summer, but I think this summer I'm going to try to talk daddy into keeping at least Kaitlyn in or I need to find some type of summer program for her.  She really needs the mental stimulation and I can only do so much on my own.

Ruffled Lamp

I came across this lamp here.  I thought it would be perfect for Katilyn's room so I decided to tackle it.  I LOVE how it turned out.  I bought the lamp with the shade from the family dollar store for $6 and I ordered the fabric online for about $4.  It was pretty easy to make, but I'll admit that cutting the circles out was super tedious.  It was totally worth it and it's going to look perfect in Kaitlyn's newly painted room.  I can't wait to put it all back together and add her new furniture.  I'll post pics when it's all done!

Do I Have Time for That?

I'm thinking about getting a Master's Degree in some sort of educational capacity.  I know that to permanently get out of the classroom I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get one.  I just don't know when to start and in what direction I need to go.  A friend of mine keeps telling me to get my ed leadership degree, but I have absolutely NO intentions of being any kind of administrator.  I am not cut out for that.  Besides, everyone and their mother want to be an AP/Principal.  I'm kinda leaning towards guidance because let's face it, I'm a fixer.  I just don't know if I have the fortitude to put in those long hours with no pay bump what-so-ever.  Right now, technically, I can work to my contract.  (I don't ever as I'm here early in the morning and usually stay late in the evening.)

I know you're probably wondering why the hell I got into teaching if I don't want to go back in to the classroom.  Well, in the few short years that I have been in education it has changed drastically.  Public school teachers are enemy number one these days.  Everything is blamed on us and we usually shoulder the majority of the burden of our respective districts.  Classroom teachers feel like circus performers having to jump through so many hoops that our state and local government place on us.  There is no authentic teaching going on these days, all we do is teach to a test, whether it be FCAT, EOC's, AP tests, etc.  Kids aren't learning English, Math or Science these days.  They are learning test taking strategies and how to guess correctly by process of elimination.  Those aren't necessarily bad things, but they definitely should not be the main focus in education.  Creativity has long gone out the window and we shove material down the throats of our students in an effort to cover all the standards that are going to be tested on the (insert test here).  Not to mention that these tests are given in April so now it's the teacher's responsibility to prepare 2 months worth of lessons that most students are going to blow off.  (School is over in June.)

I'm tired of being beat up in the classroom.  If little Johnny fails my class, it's because I'm a bad teacher, not because little Johnny never-comes-to-class-or-has-materials-when-he-does-so-he-tries-to-sleep-and-curses-me-out-when-I-wake-him-and-then-I-call-home-his mother-says-he's-my-problem-from-7-2-and-his-administrator-is-so-backed-up-that-he-suspends-him-because-that's-the-easiest-thing-to-do-with-the-limited-resources-we-have-available-and-it's-what-little-Johnny-wanted-anyway-because-he-doesn't-want-to-be-in-school-anyway.  *sigh*

Maybe I'll just go back to the corporate world.  At least I can leave work behind me when I clock out at night.

Letter Hooks

I found these wooden letters with hooks on them and thought they would be perfect in Kaitlyn's room...with a little help of course.

They started out like this:

And ended up like this:

I got the letters from Michael's in the dollar section.  Love me some dollar finds!  I took off the hooks first and spray painted them a deep plum color.  Then I painted the sides of the letters with a purple acrylic paint I had on hand from a mother's day project I did in May.  Then I traced the letters backwards on some scrapbook paper.  After I cut the letters out I modge podged the letters and put the paper letters on top.  I then coated the top of the letters with some more modge podge.  I liked them with just the paper but also thought they needed a little something more.  So I embellished them with some purple rick rack and some purple buttons.  I absolutely loved how they turned out and can't wait to put them up in Kaitlyn's room when it's all painted.

DIY Glass Pedestal Vases

So I have seen all these DIY pedestal vases all over the internet and decided to make some of my own.  I don't have any before shots but I got the candlesticks at a thrift shop 2/$1 and I got the vase part at the dollar store.  I just used E600 glue and set heavy books on them overnight.  These are really crappy pictures because I couldn't get the lighting right but I love them and they look great on my dining room table.



The Summer That Flew By!

Wow, I can't believe that summer is almost over.  This one really did fly by and yet I feel like we didn't even really do anything. 

We had my cousin's wedding in Indiana at the end of June and I feel like my whole month of June was consumed by getting ready for that trip.  I was at one store or another almost every day getting stuff for Kaitlyn's dress, getting an outfit for Tyler, getting stuff for me, etc.  It was a nice wedding and we had fun.  Kaitlyn was the CUTEST flower girl I have ever seen, but I may also be partial. 

While we were in Indiana for my cousin's wedding, we were also visiting Jerry's side of the family.  We stayed with his mom.  She has this cute town home in Indianapolis that is just perfect for her.  It's only a two bedroom so it was a tight squeeze for the 5 of us, but we made it work.  The kids and I slept in the guest room and Jerry slept in the loft area on a little pull out sleeper.  She has a little patio area that leads up to a shared outside space that the kids LOVED.  They were able to run around in the grass and had a ball.  It was cold, which surprised me because it was the end of June and I wasn't expecting it to be so cold.  Coming from Florida where we wear shorts on Thanksgiving and MAY break out a light sweater at Christmas, I was unprepared.  It was all fine though and my children didn't freeze to death.  I think my hot baby boy actually was comfortable for a change.

We were so glad to come home and I think I did a little too much veggin with the kids.  I usually get them to the park, library, mall playground, etc. as much as I can to wear them out, but I got really lazy.  Now school is about to start and I really don't have any time left to do all those things that I normally do.  I'm glad they will be going back to day care because they will get the stimulation that they need and haven't been getting from me.

I had to attend some training this week and left the kids with a babysitter so tomorrow I am going to make it up to my kiddies and take them to a new park that just got renovated.  I'm sure they'll have a blast and it will be great to get out of the house and have some fun with them.

Super Stoked

I am super stoked because I ordered a cricut expression today!  I cannot wait to get that little machine in my house and start cutting away!  I've seen a lot of project on the interwebs that I have been dying to do.  I'm super into home decor right now and I need to do it on the cheap since we have a lot to do to make this house our home.  I think I'm going to start out with card making or scrapbooking until I feel like an expert cricut user before I tackle stuff like vinyl.  I'm going to watching the mail like a hawk for the next week or so!

Happy Fourth

I started this wreath in February and finished it just in time to hang on my door for the fourth.

I love how it turned out and it makes me feel all patriotical :)  It's made with felt using the felt pomander technique that you can find all over the blogosphere these days.  Hope you have a safe and happy fourth!

Looky What I Made

I actually made this a long time ago, like before Easter, but haven't had the time, or motivation for posting it here.  I am quite proud of my work considering I have not an original creative bone in my body.  I cannot draw, sew, knit, or craft.  I want to start taking sewing lessons because I want to be able to make cute accent pillows and curtains and what not.  Since I'm taking the summer off I'll probably have time to squeeze in a class here and there...just need to find a babysitter first.  I know I'm not going to be making my family's wardrobe with my sewing skills, but I do want to be able to use a sewing machine to make some simple things.

I have been bitten by the crafting bug...watch out world!

 Yarn wreath

Close up of the felt flowers

School's Out for Summer!

Not yet though.  I still have 7 more days of work left and then summer break officially starts!  However today is my last day at my current school.  The coaching positions have been cut because of the looming budget cuts the district has to make so that means my school who earned a "B" by the state of Florida is loosing their instructional coaches.  Not that I mind, I don't want to be here any longer and just want to move on with my career.

That being said, I am officially out of a job until June 21st when the district is having their involuntary transfer fair.  A lot of coaches are loosing their current position and have to reapply with schools that have openings.  Basically most of us are going to be placed back in the classroom.  I did apply for a grant specialist position that is funded through RTTT and is guaranteed for three years.  I am super excited for this opportunity because I have always wanted to write classroom grants and just have never had time to research or write any.  The job closes on June 3 and they should start interviewing soon after.  I'm really hoping that I get this because I think it's just the thing that my career needs right now.  I do love teaching but there are so many hoops to jump through right now because of current legislation that was passed that I do not want to deal with right now.  (That legislation will change in the next few years when the train wreck that are EOC's lower the graduation rate.) 

I also need some flexibility in my job that I really don't have with classroom teaching.  Jerry hates taking off work to take care of the kids, but it's easier for him to do it.  I have to get a sub and make plans for my students so that they're not bouncing off the walls and then there is a ton of paperwork for me to sort and grade and it's just a big pain in the butt.  I also have to take days off work if he travels because school starts at 7AM and there is no way I can get the kids to daycare and make it to school on time.  The new position will allow for me to flex my time and be able to take the kids where they need to go and still get to work.

I'm really hoping for the best and hope I get this job.

We Don't Need No Education

There are only four weeks of school left!  I am so excited for summer.  This will be the second summer that I'll be taking the kids out of daycare and I am so ready to do it.  Last year was hard because Tyler was so young and we really couldn't get out because it was such a production to pack up an infant to go anywhere.  This year he's walking and talking so we can do a lot more and go more places.  Plus we have our own pool and a nice fenced yard to play in.  I am going to move their sandbox and hopefully get some kind of climber or slide.  We had a lot of fun with the water table last year so we will definitely being using that again.  I really want to take them to the parks as much as I can and find one that we really like.  There's a water fountain park in Dunedin that I want to take them to as well, but I'll need another adult to help out with that one.  I may even hire a babysitter to stay home and watch one while I do something special with the other, like a movie day with Kaitlyn or a baseball game with Tyler.  Fun times are heading our way soon!

Want Some Cheese with the W(h)ine?

Tyler is going through a VERY fussy and whiny stage right now.  Of course, like any toddler, he hates to be told no and he has an EPIC meltdown if you do have to tell him no.  I'm trying very hard right now to not just tell him no and to redirect him to something else, but it's not always easy to redirect him when I'm cooking dinner and he's at my feet trying to touch the hot burner.  He also melts down when he doesn't get what he wants right away.  He thinks that if he doesn't get it right now that he's not going to get it at all.  Like last night when he wanted ice, I had to get a cup for him and then get some crushed ice out of the dispenser.  Then I asked him to follow me to the living room to sit on the couch and he dropped to the floor and started bawling.  I just left him in the kitchen to cry and then when he was done he walked over to me and asked for "more please" (he signed it).

I'm really working on his vocabulary and his sign language.  I really think that all his frustration stems from his communication skills.  He understands us, but he has trouble communicating his wants.  When he wants something, he usually just signs "more please".  It's a guessing game as to what he wants more of, especially when he hasn't had anything yet.  Kaitlyn had A LOT of words when she was his age so we didn't have the same difficulties as we do with Tyler.  I try to give him lots of words, but it's not working.  He has a handful of words, mamma, dadda, more, dog, duck, nut (Peanut), ball, all done, and no.  He can also sign more, please, thank you, and all done.  I really need to step up the sign language with him because I think he'll be more successful with it now that he's really taken off with his motor skills.  He WANTS to communicate with us but he just doesn't know enough words to do it.

I think I'm going to print up a bunch of signs for all kinds of objects in our house and also make a poster of some common signs and put them up everywhere.  This will be more of a reminder for me on what particular sign goes with what.  It may even help Kaitlyn learn to read since I'm going to put the written word on them too.  Hopefully this will stop the whining and crying and me totally losing my shit.

Easter

We had such a great Easter.  It was really fun because both kids were able to participate in the egg hunt.  I'm hoping for all the little cousins to be able to come down and have a huge egg hunt like we did back in the day.  I seriously have so many memories of eggs hunts with my cousins...maybe another post.

Kaitlyn came into our room around 7:15 and just stared at me from my side of the bed.  (It was kinda creepy when I opened my eyes and there she was just staring at me.)  I told her to come up on the bed so I could get more sleep snuggle with her.  She jumped in between me and Jerry and flipped and flopped until I couldn't take it anymore.  We went and got Tyler and I made french toast for breakfast.

Then we took the kids into the playroom and opened Easter baskets.  They were stoked to say the least.  I've never seen Tyler try to hold so many things in his little hands before.  He didn't want to put any of it down for a second.  Kaitlyn was over the moon excited when she saw her bath tub Ariel doll.  She wanted to play with it right then but I told her to wait till we got in the pool.

We colored eggs after baskets because I am a horrible very busy working mommy.  Kaitlyn really dug it but the fun didn't last that long because we only colored a dozen eggs.  (I can only eat so many egg salad sammies.)  As we let the eggs dry, I got them dressed in their Easter outfits and tried to take pictures of them...fail.  I got a few pictures, but nothing that I'm going to frame any time soon.

Then we let the kids hunt their eggs that the Easter bunny hide for them.  Kaitlyn was super excited and ran from egg to egg screaming "I found one!"  Tyler kept opening every egg he picked up instead of putting it in his basket so he lost a few jelly beans to the ants.  He didn't care what was in the eggs, he just wanted to open them.  We opened all the eggs after the hunt, Tyler's most favorite part.  He would shake them, then open them.  Cutest thing ever. 

We swam before nap so we could get the kids good and tired.  Nap time was a little longer for Kaitlyn and a lot longer for Tyler.  They hated the brisket that we had for lunch even though it was the best brisket ever!  I guess they prefer hot dogs and spaghetti...eh what do they know? 

My brother got his first start for FSU baseball as the DH.  He was 1-4 but he scored the go ahead run on a sac fly.  He also got a second sac fly RBI and the K he got was total BS because the ball was literally outside and at his ankles.  He's 6'3"...he's not swinging at the low ones.  He was so excited and you could really see that he was happy. 

All-in-all it was a great day!

To Pray or Not to Pray

My grandpa had surgery yesterday to fix his aneurysm in his stomach.  He's not doing well.  My dad went to Orlando to see him after surgery and didn't get the chance because he's not allowed to have visitors.  I'm not sure of all the details because I had to get them from my mom and she's never sure of what people tell her.  (I'm not being mean it's just part of that language barrier my mother has.)  I'm hoping he pulls through this because it was supposed to be no big deal.  However he is old and it's much worse than anyone could have imagined.

I feel like I should say a prayer, but then I feel like I'm being a hypocrite.  Why do we only pray in times of need?  I'm not sure of my relationship with God right now.  I think it's because of what is going on with my aunt and how she uses God as an answer for everything and it just drives me bat shit.  I don't go to church, nor do I really have the desire to go to church.  I feel like that's just one more thing "those" people want me to do to prove my worth to God.  I really don't feel my relationship with God is anybody elses business but my own.  I do feel torn though that I don't show God enough that I am a believer in Him.  I try to live a "good" life and teach my children the basics of what the Bible preaches.  I teach my children to be good to others and treat them like they would like to be treated.  I just don't insert God into our conversations.  I don't want to make any decisions about religion for my children.  It's the one area where I would like them to explore, with my help of course, other religions and beliefs and find something that they want to believe in.  I've seen time and time again where children rebel against their religious upbringing because it was forced on them and now they are resentful of it.  I don't want that for my children.  I want to teach them to make decisions for themselves and to help guide them to know what is best for them.  I believe that only then can they have a true relationship with God, or whoever else they choose their deity to be.

Spring Break

Spring break was some much needed time off from work.  It was also some much needed time to spend with my babies so we pulled them out of daycare.  (It didn't hurt that we also took vacation from daycare and saved $400 that week.)  Jerry was in Vegas for the first part of the week and then I went to meet him in Tahoe for the weekend.

It would have been a marvelous spring break but it rained the entire time I was home which ruined my plans to spend every waking minute outside with the kids.  It was too cold to do water table, even though I did let them splash around after Kaitlyn begged me for the millionth time.  It was too wet to do sidewalk chalk and sit outside to eat our snacks at their cute little Toy Story umbrella table I bought special for spring break.  Kaitlyn and I did get to play with her new play-doh set she got for Christmas while Tyler was napping so that's a plus.  We spent a lot of time snuggling under the blankets on the couch watching the Disney version of Robin Hood over and over and over.  That girl LOVES her some Robin Hood.  She can pretty much recite the entire movie word for word and recreates the pretend fight scene between Lady Clucky and Skippy all.the.time.  (Yeah, that's how much we watch the movie; I know the name of the chicken and the little bunny.) 

Thursday night my cousin came in to town to help watch the kids on Friday and Saturday while I was in Tahoe with Jerry for the weekend.  My mom and dad watched them on Sunday.  My mom took them to daycare Monday morning and we picked them up Monday afternoon.  I was kind of nervous with leaving the kids with my cousin, only because she's never really been fully responsible for any kids for any amount of time.  I had to teach her how to change a diaper and prayed my whole trip that Tyler would wait for my mother to come home before he pooped.  She's great with my kids and she loves them to death and I was comforted by the fact that my parents are only 5 house away and my mom would get off of work in a heartbeat if there was an emergency.  Of course it helps that Kaitlyn LOVES her some "Windsey" and I left before either kid woke up in the morning to avoid a meltdown.

Tahoe was beautiful!  We got to stay at the Ritz Carlton at Northstar courtesy of Jerry's company.  It was a reward for a contest that his company sponsored for the resellers that he works with.  Let me tell you his company was out to impress!  We were all wined and dined and hopefully the resellers were impressed enough to look out for more of these contests in the future.  There were multiple excursions for everyone to enjoy: skiing/snowboarding, spa, snowmobile tour, snowshoe tour, etc.  We chose to snowboard the first day and get the hour massage the second day.  Originally we were going to board both days, but we were WAY too sore to go down the mountain the second day.  It had been 5 years since we last boarded and let's just say we were VERY much beginners this time around.  (Although I do have to say I improved my boarding skills by about 80% from the last time I went.)  Tahoe is beautiful and I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to go courtesy of his company because we can not even dream of affording a trip like that right now. 

Even though I had a lot of fun on the trip, I was very happy to get my babies.  I missed them so much!  They grew on me too!  Kaitlyn is at least a half inch taller, even her teacher noticed her growth, and Tyler looks like a little man with his new haircut.  It's nice to get away, but it's so much nicer to get back home.

Terrible Threes?

For the most part, Kaitlyn is an angel.  I'm not saying that because I'm her mom and I think my child can do no wrong, but it is the truth.  I always get compliments about how well behaved she is and about her manners, etc.  For example, the other day when she got in trouble at daycare, which is RARE, she cried and another mommy was surprised that she was 1) in trouble and 2) she cried because "Kaitlyn never cries."  It always amazes me when other mommies think that my child is perfect because she is far from it.

Lately though, she has been testing out her new devil horns.  She is especially testing her daycare teacher, which is something she had NEVER done.  She will challenge me, daddy and even grandma, but NEVER Miss *Susie.  (I was dying for Kaitlyn to turn two so she could be with Miss Susie because she is an amazing teacher and I'm glad that she will stay with her until she turns four.)  Anywho, Miss Susie has had to put Kaitlyn on the wall twice in the last month.  They are not allowed to put them in time out, it is against school policy, so they must sit on the wall if they are outside to "think" about their actions.  Kaitlyn does NOT like to get into trouble at school which is probably why she's rarely in trouble.  She LOVES positive attention so mostly she acts all cute and cuddly because every single teacher will love on her for being good. 

Since she's acting out at school I'm wondering if she's getting bored.  Right now I think her room is maxed out with kids which makes the ratio 13/1.  That one teacher has to deal with the same 13 kids all day long, and for the most part, BY HERSELF!  Can you imagine?  Working with 13 three to four year olds every day without regular adult conversation.  I for one cannot.  Sometimes I don't even want to be left alone with my own two children for more than an hour by myself.  Anyway, Miss Susie is so busy with 13 kids, and she does a stellar job, that sometimes I wonder how much learning is going on.  Right now there is only one little girl that, from what I have seen, is on par with Kaitlyn developmentally.  (I think this little girl is either already 4 or is VERY close to 4.)  Kaitlyn has always been advanced intellectually.  Other parents seriously asked me every day if she was reading yet...at 18 months old!  She was already speaking in full sentences by then and knew all her colors, shapes, body parts, etc, etc.  I know that Kaitlyn is learning things because she still amazes me with the things she says and does and I know she gets it from daycare.  For example, she can spell Tyler, she's knows what letter sounds are and she can determine what letters words start with and most other things that are on considered 4 year old things.  I did not teach her those things; mostly because I didn't know that she should have those skills yet.  Right now, though, I just wish that Miss Susie had the time to take her to the next level.  I am not blaming Miss Susie at all, I just wish the daycare had the resources needed for Kaitlyn to really excel.  God knows we spend enough money there to get those extra services. 

I know this is selfish, but I'm hoping that the class will thin out with kids leaving and the older children moving on to pre-K before we take the kids out for the summer.  I'm going to ask Miss Susie about some skills that we should be working on over the summer so Kaitlyn won't be behind when she returns in the fall.  I'll just have to reinforce that Miss Susie is the boss at school and that what she says, goes, no questions or arguments.  Hopefully, like all other things children do, this is just a phase.

*Name has been changed.

Migraines

Wednesday was the first time I have ever experienced a migraine and let me just say that I hope it's the LAST time too!  That sucker knocked me on my ass...literally.  It came with no warning at all and took me out for a day and a half.  I'm still not 100% and I have been taking frequent breaks today at work.

It started with a slight headache when I left work.  I thought I was just hungry since I only ate a banana and some biscuits all day.  I know, I know, very bad, but I was so busy with getting the subs last two weeks of lesson plans done I didn't stop to eat.  I figured I'd just grab a smoothie on the way home after I got the kids.  (I've been dying to sneak Kaitlyn some ice cream on the way home but I know Tyler will scream for some and he's SO not ready to eat ice cream by himself, let alone in the car.)  I stopped at this dollar store to see if they had any glass candle holders so I can make some hurricanes to display.  (Damn all you craft blogs out there that have me thinking I'm Martha freaking Stewart!)  I went down the candle aisle and the smell hit me like a ton of bricks.  I have been super sensitive to smells lately and that one just sent me over the edge.  I quickly left that aisle and continued searching for junk treasures.  I noticed that I was seeing spots and I really thought that I was going to black out.  On my way out of the store the spots turned to these translucent star burst things.  I could see through them, but they did create some weird blind spots if I turned my head too quickly.  It was affecting both eyes and I was contemplating calling Jerry to pick up the kids.  I decided that I was ok and headed to daycare.  That's when the headache started.  It was a dull pain, not overpowering at all. 

As soon as I walked into the daycare, the star bursts turned to spots.  I was having a hard time focusing, and quite frankly, seeing.  When I walked into Kaitlyn's room, I always pick her up first, I must have had a strange look on my face because her teacher asked me if I was ok.  I said I was, just seeing some spots and I quickly got Kaitlyn, I never just grab her an go, and went to Tyler's room.  He was eating snack, so I knew it was not going to be a grab and go situation.  I leaned on the changing table for support because I was starting to feel wosey at this point.  His teacher offered me a chair; she thought my knee was bothering me.  I declined because I didn't think I would make it back up.  Luckily Tyler ate his snack quickly and he didn't throw a fit when we left.

As we were driving home, I was desperately fighting back the nausea.  I was looking in my car for something to vomit in just in case.  I made it home and gagged as soon as I opened my car door.  I had to drag Tyler in the house kicking and screaming because he wanted to walk in on his own and I NEEDED to carry him as fast as I could.  I forced myself to get the kids some drinks and a snack and gobbled a breakfast bar and water for myself.  I seriously thought I was hungry or dehydrated.  WRONG.  As soon as I finished my water I had to run to the bathroom and vomit, and vomit, and vomit.  I couldn't stop.  I eventually had to call Jerry to come home so he could watch the kids.  I could not pull myself away from the toilet. 

He came home and asked me if I needed to go to the ER...that's how bad I looked.  I said no, just take care of the kids.  Luckily my mom wanted to take the kids to the park so Jerry got a reprieve because he really needed to get some work done.  I was done for the rest of the night.

I took the day off work Thursday because I just could not pull myself out of bed.  I ached all over from throwing up so much.  I also had the chills even though I was freakishly hot.  Jerry asked if I wanted the kids at home and I was all HELL NO.  He took them to daycare and I slept until 10.  The nausea stayed around a little longer and technology was my worst enemy.  I couldn't even tweet because looking at the screen made me want to vomit.  I did manage to keep down toast and some chicken noodle soup so that was a big win.

I still feel like ass today, but am grateful that the marathon vom-a-thon is over.  I swear that I will sell my soul to never have a migraine again.

Sidelined

So this sucks really bad and probably only happens to me.  I mentioned earlier that I started C25K in my effort to get healthy.  I was committed to sticking with the program and I'm proud to say that I did.  I was really starting to enjoy running and looked forward to my runs at night.  I ran after dinner clean up so I would have something in my belly and not wear out too quickly during my run.  It really was the perfect time to run because I would leave the kids with Jerry and he would have quality play time with them and I would have quality alone time.  All was good in my world until I hurt my knee.  I don't know what I did to it, probably just a sprain, but it KILLS!  I seriously want to chop off my leg at the knee just so I can stop hurting.  I'm trying to rest it as much as I can, but really how well does that work when you work full-time, have two young children and have to keep up with house chores?  I have to take Tylenol for the pain just so I can get up and walk around.  I have been putting heat and ice on it and have been using icy hot at night and at work.  It's been a little over a week and it still hurts like a bitch. 

I'm really disappointed because I really did enjoy running.  I'm probably not going to continue running even when I do heal because I don't want to reinjure my knee.  I will start biking instead since it's a low impact sport.  I want to get a trailer for my bike to put the kids in so I can take them on rides.  I think they would enjoy that.  I will try running again, when I am a little less heavy because I truly believe that it's the best way for me to stay healthy.  Running is not a hassle and that's what I need to stick with exercising.

Summer Break

I know it's way early but I am really looking forward to summer break this year.  Last summer was fun, but it really was a pain in the ass trying to haul an infant and a toddler around and do fun things.  (It was even a pain in the ass getting out into the front yard because I couldn't leave either of my kids alone anywhere.)  Tyler was formula fed and he was pretty particular about the temperature of his formula.  He liked his drink HOT and that was really hard to achieve out and about.  It was also hard because everything revolved around his nap schedule.  He was taking two naps back then so we were under major time constraints.  I also had to do a lot of prep work to get two kids out of the house.  Now I only need a few diapers/wipes, a spare set of clothes, which I keep in my car now anyway, a snack, the double stroller and we're off.

This summer is going to be so different.  Tyler is running walking like a pro and he's able to interact with me and Kaitlyn.  He'll really get to do all the fun things that Kaitlyn gets to do instead of sit there in his stroller and watch her have all the fun.  He'll get to participate in story time at the library and I'm super excited to check out the new children's museum.  I don't know how much swimming I'll be doing alone with the kids, that may be something I'll have to only do when I have help since neither child knows how to swim yet.  I do plan on enrolling both of them in swim classes because I know that once they get in it this year that damn pool is going to be tempting.  (Tyler knows how to lift the bar up and he can open the slider if it's unlocked.  Kaitlyn knows how to unlock the slider.  We are pinning the top of the slider and installing an alarm.)

I really want to get a new water/sand table because the one we have is really only for one child, maybe two small children.  I can see the fights start already.  I'll probably have a garage sale soon to get rid of a lot of our baby stuff to make room for some big kid stuff.  Maybe I can even talk Jerry into one of those play sets for the backyard on those days we just want to chill at home.  I'll have to start organizing.

I think I'm going to have to hit the garage sales too to look for clothes the kids can trash.  I want them to be able to paint the sidewalk, play in the sand, make mud pies, etc and not have to worry about them ruining their clothes.  I think with Kaitlyn we can get away with wearing her clothes from last fall that are a wee bit too small but Tyler doesn't have a stock of summer clothes.  (I'm just now starting to buy his summer clothes for daycare.)  Maybe I'll take some stuff to Once Upon a Child and get some play clothes for the kids.

I'll be taking the kids out of daycare for spring break so that will serve as a mini trial for the 2 1/2 months we get in the summer.  I'm going to be scouring the mommy blogs for lots of fun stuff to do.  I'm so excited!

Randomness

Because I can't seem to put together a coherent blog post I am going to ramble today about what is going on and coming up.

* Tyler is getting two bottom molars (yeouch!) and his two eye teeth at the same time.  I would have never known it had I not tickled him to death a few days ago and looked into his mouth.  
* Tickling Tyler to death also led me to discover he already has his top two molars!  That kid is a champ at teething.
* Jerry is going to be traveling a lot this month due to his promotion at work.  He has to do all the new manager introductions to HP and then things will slow down and he can send other schmoes delegate travel accordingly.
* I get to go to Tahoe with him and snowboard and spa on the company's dime!  The last time I went with him on a business trip was to San Fran.  We were supposed to go to Napa and make it a late anniversary/VERY late homey moon and enjoy wine country.  That did not happen because I was pregnant with Kaitlyn.
* It's Strawberry Festival time!  I love me some strawberry shortcake and I get to make it everyday now that strawberries are like $1 a flat.  (They really aren't that cheap, but they are ridiculously cheap right now since they are in season and they grow an hour away.  Yeah local farmers!)
* Tyler starts in the toddler room today!  He loves it there and I'm glad he doesn't have to go back to the baby room anymore.  He's been transitioning for a little over a week now and he's been saying new words like crazy.  Helps when he's not being baby talked to.
* Kaitlyn is going through a moody stage lately.  She'll be super happy one minute, then you'll say something to her like the Phillies stink and she'll have a breakdown.  Then I'll tickle her and she'll be all manic again.  I'm not liking it at all and want my happy little girl back.  I think she's getting bored at daycare and may just have to do more learning with her at home.
* We had to do deflea our house because we are getting bit.  We washed and sprayed the dog and applied flea treatment on him and also powdered, vacuumed and sprayed our carpets.  Jerry also did all the laundry, linens included just in case there were some eggs.  I don't think we had as many as he thought, but he was being all paranoid and went crazy.  At least I have a clean house now.
* I'll be going to Tallahassee with the kids and my parents to watch my brother play baseball and visit with my sister.  My mom insisted that we all drive up together because she is anxious about me driving with the kids by myself.  Whatever, at least now I get to have adult conversation.
* I jacked up my knee running and I'm dying because I have been resting it and haven't been able to run in two days.  I'm going to walk tonight because it's still a little sore.  I can't take not being able to exercise.  (I can't believe I just said that.)
* I'm tired...all the time.  My momnesia is really kicking my butt lately.

C25K

So I decided that I need to stop being fat and that I need to start getting healthy.  (Notice I did not say skinny.)  I changed my eating habits and doing that alone I dropped 10 lbs.  It most certainly is not enough, but it is a very good beginning.

I am not an exercise person.  I loathe exercise.  I feel that I could be spending my time doing other things like playing with my children, cleaning my house, crafting, etc.  Of course I could be doing those other things instead of exercising, but I NEED to exercise.  I need to do it because I'll be able to play with my children and keep up with them.  I'll be able to clean my house and not get winded cleaning the tub.  I'll be able to craft with a clear head and won't be falling asleep in the hot glue.

I decided that running is the best way for me to get healthy.  I don't want to pay for a gym membership that I'll use for maybe two weeks and then stop going because it's a pain in the ass to get to said gym.  I don't really have enough room in my house to do videos, and really videos get old after awhile.  I can just throw on a t-shirt, shorts and running shoes and I can just hit the pavement.  Problem is, I am NOT a runner.  I hate running.  When I was in school and we had to run a timed mile, I walked the whole thing every year.  It was the easy thing to do and I tend to stick with easy all the time.  I've heard lots of good things about Couch to 5K and decided to download the app to my phone. 

So far? I am in LOVE!  You turn on the app and are good to go.  You just have to make sure you are on the correct day and week.  Music from my Ipod is played through the app so I don't have to switch back and forth, I can just cycle through songs from the app.  The nice robotic lady voice tells you when to run and when to walk and when you're half way done and also when you have a minute left.  Isn't she nice?

The only thing I don't like about the program is there are only 3 days in each week.  I know that I'm the type of person who doesn't do it every day I'll find excuses to not do it at all.  I decided to just do each day twice so that I'm out there running.  It also will help me when it gets harder.  I'll be used to running and I won't want to give up so easily.  It's only 30 minutes a day so I can do it right after I put the kids to bed and not be running in the pitch black dark of the night.  I think that when I'm better at running then I'll try to drag my ass out of bed at 5:30 in the AM and try running to start my day.  Usually me and morning workouts don't well, work out.

I really feel like I'll be successful with this.

Education Turmoil

For the better part of this school year, the majority of my workload has been focused on lesson planning for the Biology long term sub.  (I am certified in Earth & Space science and have taught both Earth/Space science and Environmental science.)  I am pretty much winging it when it comes to lesson planning for this class.  I have NO prior knowledge as to where students struggle the most and where they need the most help in.  I can hazard a guess, but it can be hit or miss.    The long term sub has absolutely NO background in science. 

So, I have begged and pleaded with the administration to give me one of two things; 1) someone who is biology certified (hell, I'd just take a science minded person right now) or 2) someone who has strong classroom management skills.  Give me one, and I'll help as much as I can with the other. 

I have been told on MANY occasions that there are two whole pages of people who are certified in biology and would be willing to do a long term sub position.  Here we are, almost the end of February, and we still have the same sub in that biology class!  I am BEYOND frustrated!  We are doing those students a huge disservice by leaving them in that situation.  I can understand if there was no one available, but there are two whole freaking pages of people who are available! 

Sometimes I wonder why people are so down on teachers and so negative and willing to teacher bash.  I usually just brush it aside because most people have no clue what goes on in a classroom and would not last one day doing the job of a teacher.  But, when something like this, something preventable happens?  I stop wondering and join in on the bashing.

Love Stinks

I am not all about only showing love and appreciation one day of the week, but I do love any excuse to buy gifts for the people I love.  I mostly focus on my kids, of course, because I want them to have happy memories and constant reminders of how much I love them.  I don't think I go over board, they got sesame street socks ($1), a few pieces of candy, and a book.  I also got Kaitlyn some Valentines Day granola bars to share with her daycare class; they had their Valentines party the previous Friday and I handmade all the kids Valentines.

I bought my parents some flowers just to say thank you for always being so good to us.  They have done so much for us, especially when it came to buying our house.  I just wanted to say thank you because I know my brother and sister are at that point in their lives where the world revolves around each of them and they might not even get a text from either.  (My brother did send out a mass text to everyone in the family so he's getting there.)

I got Jerry a six pack of Sam Adams 5 hop beer.  He's a connoisseur and loves to try new beers.  He DVR's Brewmasters and is fascinated with the owner of that brewery.  I also planned on cooking a nice dinner complete with a chocolaty dessert.  Two weeks earlier he got me my favorite candy because we were at the mall and saw the kiosk.  (It was See's, which is the best chocolate in the world, and you can't get it in Florida on the regular.)

Want to know what else I got for Valentines Day?  Nada, zip, nothing.  I didn't get a "Happy Valentines Day" not even an "I love you."  He didn't even cheat and get me a card from the kids.  I didn't get a thank you for dinner or dessert.  He didn't notice that there were zero toys laying on the floor, which is a miracle in itself.  I even had to do the dishes after dinner all while Jerry yelled at me to move Tyler out of the way so he could teach Kaitlyn how to dribble a basketball.  (She was NOT having any of it, BTW.) 

To say I feel unappreciated and hurt is a huge understatement.  It really makes me wonder if it's all worth it sometimes.

6 out of 7

So with the sub I decided that genetics is just too hard a subject for the sub, who has no science background, to teach and way too hard for students to figure out on their own.  I felt like they needed a solid foundation and I was going to (hopefully) give it to them.  I decided to go into the classroom for one day and teach.  I have been out of the classroom for almost two years now being a science coach.  I was a bit nervous because I'm not used to going into a classroom cold and I always hated covering other people's classes because the majority of the time I didn't know most of the kids.  I love teaching my own students because I know their quirks and how to get them to work, but that takes A LOT of work and a lot of time building a rapport with the students.  Let me just say that I survived, but could not do it on a daily basis.  I lost my voice after only one day.  I guess my "teacher" voice is out of practice which is odd because I'm not a quiet person.  Of course a "teacher" voice is a little different because sometimes you have to project your voice so that the students in the back of the class can hear you.  (I normally walk around the class when I talk, but I was using an overhead and it was at the front of the class so I couldn't really move.) 
I had to do this 6 different times with a short break after 5th period and a planning period during 6th period.  I am NOT used to teaching 6 classes in the same day.  I'm spoiled and came from a school who was on a block schedule so I taught four classes at the most in any given day.  With a block schedule, you have longer periods; 90 minutes as opposed to 50.  You get a lot more done this way and you can have the students do a variety of things in one class period.  It can get exhausting with so many transitions, but at least you don't feel like you have to rush through everything because you only have 50 minutes.  If there is a disruption, it's not big deal because you have a lot of time.  With 50 minutes, you really can't afford disruptions.  You can't even really afford questions from the kids, which is sad because they were asking some really good questions.  I had them write their questions down and turn them in so I could hopefully answer them later.  Anyway, if I can't find something else at the district office or continue coaching, then I'm going to have to apply to a school who uses a block schedule.  Not too many do, so I'm hoping to probably go back to my old school who still uses it.  Fingers crossed!

Blame it on...ME

So, the hubs got locked out of the house today by Kaitlyn.  He apparently leaves the kids in the house and loads up his work stuff and daycare stuff into the car.  BTW, Kaitlyn is 3 and Tyler is 1.  Kaitlyn decided it would be a good idea to latch the sliding lock, the kind of lock you find on public bathroom doors, while he was taking things to the car and she couldn't figure out how to get it unlocked.  He tried to come in through the front door, but again, the bar on that door was locked as well.  We have a security bar on our slider so there is no way in hell that he will be coming in through the slider.  I guess he resorted to taking the hinges off the door, but even then he couldn't manage to get the door opened.  Finally after 30 minutes and before he decided to break the door, Kaitlyn figured out how to unlock the door.  I'm sure she got in big trouble and he's going to drive the point of never touching the door or lock for the next month because that's how he rolls.  He calls me and tells me what happened.  Then, get this, he blames...ME!  Yes, it's my fault that he got locked out of the house!  Because I locked the latch on the front door at night, so no one can break into our house while we sleep, and I didn't unlatch it in the morning before I left for work (which I NEVER do) he got locked out of the house.  Not that he made a bad decision to load stuff into the car first instead of children, not that he should unlatch the door while he's letting the dog out, not that he should have had this talk with Kaitlyn about not touching the door or locks, but because I didn't unlatch the door.  Ok, from now on I'll unlatch the door, along with my bazillion other things I have to do because he doesn't pull his weight around the house, so he doesn't get locked out of the house ever again.

Nuts!

This new substitute is driving me nuts!  He knocks on my door at LEAST 3 times a day.  Usually he asks me the same questions over and over, like duh, it's not that hard dude.  I had to explain to him 5 times how to grade the tests and he still didn't get it until I actually graded one for him.  He was like "isn't there an easier way?"  I wanted to scream "how much easier do you want me to make it?"  Seriously?  He just asked me today about scissors and not having enough.  I told him to look for the scissors and if he couldn't find them to let me know ASAP so I could speak with the other sub to see where they are.  Of course he doesn't let me know till the day he needs them and how much help can I really be when you give me NO advance warning.  I give you lesson plans AND make copies for you AND even hand write answer keys a week in advance and you can't even give me a day warning that you'll be needing supplies????  WTF?

The students will be starting genetics and I have little confidence that he will do the pre-planning necessary to be able to help the students out.  I will be going above and beyond and will go in for two days to teach them genetics.  Now, if anyone knows is familiar, it's going to take A LOT more than two days to teach genetics, but I want to give them a good foundation and hopefully the sub can keep them above water the rest of the time.  I don't even want to think about DNA and RNA right now because my head might explode if I do.  (I am hoping beyond hope that we will have a certified person in class by then.)  I'm going to make it a little fun using a Sponge Bob genetics lab that I found online to make it a little less daunting for the students.  They always like the Sponge Bob worksheets I use at the beginning of the year to talk about Experimental Design so I'm sure they'll love the genetics stuff.

Argh, I just want someone in the class that knows what they are doing so these kids can stop suffering.

Quick Ramblings

*The birthday party was a huge success and fun was had by all.  (Especially for my cousin who blew out Kaitlyn's candles.  Yay for bad parenting!)

*I hate the new sub already.  He's only going to be here for two weeks, but he will be the death of me.  Just do your job!

*My husband is getting on my nerves.  He won't let me spend money on things we need yet I have to stare at our 40+ inch flat screen tv and listen to him blast the surround sound on our brand new wireless speakers...

*I need to start looking at the school job postings every day.  I'm pretty sure they are NOT going to keep coaches in the schools that improved in letter grades and I don't want to get stuck at a school I know I'm going to hate.

*Tyler is a full-time walker.  Kaitlyn got this little, light-weight soccer goal and he pushes it around the house.  Obviously it's not strong enough to support him and he even lifts it over his head and actually walks better with it that way.  Would have bought that thing sooner had I known it would help him walk.

*Kaitlyn is a pistol.  She's really trying hard to push my buttons.  She does the ONE thing that really pisses me off and she does it well...sass talking back.  We may have to start with time-outs again if she keeps up with her sassitude.

*I worry about my sister on a daily basis.

*I have to start looking at bridal stores to see if they carry the flower girl dress I want Kaitlyn to wear in my cousin's wedding this summer.  I want to make sure the purple is dark enough to match the bride's maids dresses.

*Who picks dark purple for a summer wedding anyway?

*My weight loss is going well.  Down 5 pounds so far.  I could be doing better and I will but it's a huge start for me.

*I'm tired a lot lately but it's my fault.  I need to be strict about my bed time again.

*I need to take more pictures of my kids.

Running Out of Time

I am quickly running out of time to get things done for the birthday party this weekend.  I am CLEARLY not ready to have people in my house right now.  I'm going to have to kick it into overdrive after I put the kids down at night. 

Things I still need to do before Saturday:

• Clean the bathroom.
• Hide all toys in the playroom.
• Shine the kitchen till it sparkles.
• Vacuum the entire house, bedrooms included.
• Rearrange Kaitlyn's room.
• Clean the carpet in the master bedroom.
• Clean master bathroom.
• Take toys from living room and hide them in playroom.
• Wrangle random Christmas decorations that were missed in undecorating.
• Buy food for party.
• Buy beverages for party.
• Prep food for party.
• Buy last touch decorations.  (I decided to add yellow to the color palette.)

Things to do Saturday:

• Pick up cake.
• Pick up balloons.
• Put the kids down for a nap.
• Bath and dress kids for the party.
• Bath dog.
• Cook food for party.
• Decorate house for party.
• Clean what the kids destroyed in the AM.
• Make sure bathrooms are spotless.
• Febreeze house.

So I'll be pretty busy trying to get everything done before my mother comes over to critique and redo everything.  *sigh*

Kiss Your Mom With That Mouth?

When did it become ok for children to curse?  I'm not being a prude by any means because I have the mouth of a sailor.  I am not proud of that, it's just a fact.  However, I do know when it's not ok to curse.  I don't curse in professional settings or in front of children.  I still am VERY uncomfortable cursing in front of my parents and VERY rarely curse in their presence. 

I have an "office" in one of the science buildings of the school I work at.  My door is off the main hallway so not many students walk past my door because there is only one classroom to go to and most students use the outside door to get there.  I constantly hear a barrage of curses streaming down the hallway coming out of the mouths of students.  They are NOT afraid to drop and F bomb or even four even if there is a teacher standing right there in the hallway.  It doesn't shock me anymore the fact that they curse, but it does bother me that they think it's ok.  I did not allow my students to curse when I was in the classroom.  I didn't make a big deal out of it if they did curse because you are just asking for other students to join in on the "fun".  I would give them the "look" if they did let one go to show the class my disapproval.  Then later, in private, I would speak to the student about what happened.  Since I usually have a good rapport with my students, it never became an issue in my class and students most certainly would not curse in my presence out.  Now, all I hear all day is students dropping F bombs like tomorrow is going to be the end of the world and they haven't met their cursing quotas. 

Now, some students are respectful and if I come out of my office then they will apologize, or at least they will have a look of terror on their face and have some kind of remorse.  Usually I just give them a look and ask them to watch what they are saying because you never know who is listening around the corner.  But some students will intentionally say stupid stuff when they see a teacher/adult coming like they want to get in trouble.  I know most of them just want attention and so I usually ignore it unless it is really vulgar or suspicious, but it really bothers me that kids act this way.  When did our society deem it acceptable for anyone, especially kids, to speak this way?

I'll end with a story that might help explain why this is type of behavior is acceptable.  I was pulling into the parking lot of a pack &; ship store which is close to the middle school in my neighborhood.  This boy was on the phone, I assume with an adult/guardian, announcing to the world his displeasure with his current situation.  Boy: "I'm going to bust you in the head!  How come you didn't tell us to get on the damn bus?  I'm going to walk through..."  The conversation ended there because I got back in my car.  I was dumbfounded that this child was speaking to an adult with such blatant disrespect.  I seriously wanted to walk over to the kid, rip the phone out of his hand and hit him with it.  God help my children if they EVER speak to anyone that way.

One Is FUN!

Holy hell!  Tyler is ONE today!  Where the hell did my year go with my baby boy?  I remember this exact time last year when I woke up at 5:00 AM to go to the hospital for my induction so Jerry could go to California without worrying that he would miss the birth of his first, and only, son.  I have already blogged about his birth story here, so I won't go into any detail about that day and why I always yell at advise pregnant women to not get induced and just be patient.  I should have also told Jerry to cancel his trip and to just stay home, but that my dears is another issue.

Any who, Tyler is freaking ONE!  I just can't believe it.  My favorite thing to do is to look back at his younger pictures to see how much he has changed.  They never change as much as they do that first year they are learning to navigate in their world.  The thing I miss the most about him being little is being able to cuddle him.  He HATES to be cuddled because he can't really move and he can't see what is going on.  Don't get me wrong, he loves to be held, he just hates to be cuddled.  It's just hard to hold a very heavy boy who is wriggling this way and that trying to smack you in the face.  The thing I love most about him right now is that he looks like a little boy.  Kaitlyn is also taken a new interest in him because he can play with her and not just take her toys away or knock over her towers she just built.  (Of course he still does it, but he does it now to get her attention.) 

I now officially have a toddler!  He has been standing on his own for awhile and has also been able to take one step from the coffee table to the couch, but now he is actually brave enough to take steps in the middle of the room and stand up on his own without using something for support.  He doesn't lunge and fall now, he takes his time and takes actual steps across the room.  He still giggles if you ask him to walk to you which makes him more likely to fall over.  He can also pretty much keep his balance when he is faltering a little and mostly stays on his feet.  Of course if he is determined to catch me as I'm running down the hallway to jump in the shower get to something fast, he will crawl because he is as fast as lightening at crawling.

He's on whole milk and has been for awhile.  They won't give him formula or bottles once he's in the toddler room so I needed him to get used to drinking milk.  My pediatrician doesn't make a big deal about transitioning to milk so I figured it would be ok.  It also takes him a long time to adjust to new stuff, especially if it's going to be cold.  I still have to warm it up a bit so he's not shocked that it's ice cold and spit the first gulp all over his front.  Now I just have to get him used to drinking it all gone from his sippy and not needing the bottle during the day because they will NOT give him a bottle in the toddler room.  (I learned that the hard way with Kaitlyn.  Thank GOD she didn't give a shit about the bottle.) 

He is picking up a few new words now, but has dropped some others.  He doesn't really say mamma all that much anymore which bums me out.  The cutest thing he does is when he sees Peanut.  He'll say dog, nut, stop.  Which I'm assuming means "hey dog, Peanut, stop!"  We tell Peanut to stop all the time so I'm not surprised that he picked that up.  He's also back to signing milk and will sign it when he sees his bottle.  He also signs all done when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap and say "ah don".  Daddy taught him that one.  He's do it when he's done with his food or there is no more to give to the dog.

Right now he does the cutest little thing I call the happy clap.  He does it when I walk into a room, or if he sees daddy come home from work or when he's eating...really whenever he's happy.  It's super cute and I love his happy clap. 

Even though he's my second child, I am still amazed at all the milestones they hit and the new things they learn to say and do.  I am also amazed that my time with him seems to have gone by so much faster than it did with Kaitlyn.  I guess I'll have to learn how to slow down time and really appreciate my time with my children.