Character Dress Up Day!

There has been a book fair going on at Jacks's school this week, and today was character dress up day. It has been kind of a crazy couple of days, so I didn't take a lot of time to decide what Jacks would dress up as. At the last minute this morning, we dug his very first Halloween costume out of the basement - a monkey. He took his copy of Curious George to school with him so everyone would know just what monkey he was supposed to be. He wore his costume proudly over his sweat pants and tee shirt (after all, he had to be comfortable for tumbling class today!). The costume doesn't fit him as well these days as it did for his first Halloween, but it did just fine. I posed for a few shots with my little monkey, too. One thing is for sure - at 33 weeks pregnant at 7:00 in the morning, I am a puffy little mama! Oh well, I make pretty babies. That's what really counts, right? Maybe one day you'll be able to see my eyes again. Check in next week - it is Dr. Seuss week all week long, so Jacks will be dressing up each day for school. A good thing that happened at my school today was that one of my fabulous children's mothers came up to school to donate a beautiful picture book to our library. I posed for a picture for the paper with the mother, the daughter, and the book. After seeing this picture with Jacks, I'm really kind of worried about that other one actually being published anywhere. Ugh - sometimes pregnancies are best NOT photographed for posterity!

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Happy Valentine's Day!

It has been a very long time since I've blogged. Mostly because I'm trying to keep from frightening all of you with a hormonal tirade. To be honest, when I do go on hormonal tirades, I certainly hope that you see my comments as humorous and funny rather than crazy and tyrannical. I don't mean to scare you, simply to entertain! I promise!! So, let's sum up the past couple of days.....
Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and is was also the day that our school children celebrated Valentine's Day (being the last school day before the actual day of LOVE). It was fitting that it was Friday the 13th, because it truly frightening. The week leading up to Valentine's Day at a middle school is a curious time - you can tell that there are a few young souls with romantic hearts who are determined to have a special someone to enjoy Valentine's with. The unfortunate but true fact of the matter is that those sweet children are about to learn a valuable lesson - Valentine's is overrated and love stinks. And when you throw candy grams in the mix, things get just a little bit harder for those lost souls out there.
Okay - enough of being vague, let's get specific! The children at my school have spent the past two weeks eagerly purchasing candy grams for one another for fifty cents a pop during their lunch time. The proceeds are to benefit the math team, so we were all very supportive of the cause (the math team doesn't exactly get additional funding in the athletic budget). You can imagine how candy gram purchases go - several children go ahead and buy candy grams for themselves, even going so far as to write themselves a self affirming message. This is a great idea, in my opinion. Plenty of kids do it, and those that do get the great benefit of receiving a treat on the day that the grams are passed out. Then there are the parents out there that buy candy grams for their children. This is also a great idea. The child gets a treat from someone they love. Who could ask for anything more? Then there are those who buy for their friends. This is what we want all of them to do. After all, they're in the 6th grade. They should all be friends with each other with little interests in other relationships. Then there is the saddest group of all - those who put their hearts out there to be broken; those who send candy grams to the ones they fancy the most. It is important to note that candy grams are passed out during the last period of the day on Friday before Valentine's. On one hand, this is smart - there isn't any time for backlash. On the other hand, those who are putting their hearts on the line have most likely already taken a chance earlier in the day - so their candy gram is being sent to a heartless person who has already rejected him/her.
Case in point - one of my little boys we'll call James. James is a little boy who likes to act up a lot at school, but deep down he is a good boy. We've had some behavioral problems out of him, but nothing a short meeting with Mom and Dad can't solve. He has taken a particular liking to a little girl on our team who is very, very cute - and she knows it. Although she is a sweet girl, she also runs with a tough crowd. Many of her girl friends live in the neighborhood surrounding our school (also known as the ghetto - yes, even Auburn has a ghetto). The kids in that neighborhood are characteristically mature and tough, and it really isn't their fault that they have those traits; it is their life. This little girl in question doesn't live around our school, but she needs to maintain a certain street cred to hang with her girls, so she gets a little sassy and tough from time to time. But, at her heart, she is a very good girl with a great family, and she dresses like a page out of Seventeen magazine. James bought her a candy gram, but before she could get it, he made an attempt at romance; he bought her a $5 giant sized pencil with a feather on top from the book fair. He attempted to give it to her as a gift, and she rejected the gift. Well, we all know that that really means that she rejected him. So, he employed another child to break said pencil in half, then he spent the remainder of the day continuing to dismantle the gift and sulking deep within his hooded sweatshirt. He started out my class on Friday - the last class of the day - with his head down and the hood down over it. His seat mate pointed out the situation to me, but we all assumed he was sleeping. I said he'd wake up soon, so we kind of ignored it. It wasn't long before I realized something was wrong. Poor James had experienced his first heart break. And it wasn't going well. Everyone in the class quickly realized what was happening, and the fallout was harsh. Some kids sympathized, others laughed from a distance. And although I didn't see it, I suspect some laughed in his face. Overall, the whole situation was hard. As an adult, it's hard to watch him and not remember that same heartache from my own adolescence. As a mother, it's hard to not be protective of him and go after the little girl who caused the problem. Who does she think she is, anyway???? As a teacher, the whole thing just makes me mad. If we could avoid this entire holiday in the first place, we could avoid these problems altogether. Then, to add insult to injury, that little girl still received his candy gram, which he sent before the rejection. Before the hearbreak. Before he became hard and bitter.
As you can tell, I'm grateful that when we return to school on Monday, the whole mess of Valentine's Day will be over and done with. And I so wish that we were celebrating Presidents' Day with the day off, because I think the kids need the extra time to recuperate. Thanks state school board for adding more days to the school calendar with no plans on where they would fit in!!!!
Let's see....moving on.... oh, yeah, did anyone catch Survivor this week? The principal at my school is a contestant on the new Survivor. This week was the first episode, and so far so good. She looks good, she sounds great, and she hasn't done anything embarrassing yet. We're all thrilled with our little local celebrity, and we will all watch anxiously to see what happens next. She has already admitted that we won't be exactly proud of her the entire time, but who can maintain total propriety in the circumstances of a Survivor show? They plant those people in the harshest environments in the world and set them up to act like fools. I'm just proud of her for coming back in one piece! I would be reduced to something horrible and unrecognizable. Anyway, watch for Debbie! She's the tiny blonde one, mid-forties, and looks great. I have to be honest when I say that I HATE that her age will come up as a "weakness" time and time again, because it is total crap and continues to encourage ageism on television. Oh well, I'll just have to keep on hating it.
Now, on to important matters - JACKS! Last year I was the worst mother of all time and I didn't make Valentines for his classmates. It didn't even occur to me - is that terrible, or what? So, come Easter time last year, I worked my butt off and made handsewn sock bunnies for all of his class plus his other friends. And I was ready for Valentine's this year. A friend of mine made some heart shaped crayons as a fun craft with her daughter, and I knew I could do that for Jacks's friends. So, Joe and I got really busy last Saturday night, and we made close to 100 heart shaped crayons.
It was sooooo much fun. We used all of Jacks's old crayons that needed replacing anyway. All the wrappers were stripped, and the colors were sorted. We weren't picky about colors; all purples went together, all greens, etc...so we made all new colors with the combinations of the shades. We melted the crayons in muffin tins in the oven at a low setting, then we poured the melted wax into heart shaped ice cube trays. A few minutes in the freezer, or not (they cooled pretty quickly on the counter top), and they popped out like a dream. Before we knew it, we had piles and piles of multi colored, heart-shaped gems to pass out to Jacks's friends. And the best part - no candy!! We get way too much candy in this house at holiday times, and the less we could contribute, the better. Each child got some crayons, a color sheet we made on photoshop, some stickers, and a little box in which to hold everything. We were very proud of ourselves. Several of the kids tried to eat the crayons, but it only takes a nibble to realize they aren't edible, plus crayons are non-toxic. The worst they can do is turn your poop a lovely shade of pink!!
My total cost for this project was about $5 - the ice cube trays came from the dollar tree, the muffin tins from the grocery store, we recycled old crayons, and we had the gift boxes and cardstock (for color sheets) already. Cheap and creative - my favorite kind of craft.
And, lastly, you have to enjoy some pictures of my adorable child enjoying his new crayons. He has been playing with his heart shaped crayons, but he also received an all new set of 120 crayolas as a present for Valentine's. He deserved them since his parents destroyed his previous collection for crafting purposes! He looked so sweet and grown up working at his little table in the morning sun today.
Joe and I had scheduled a baby sitter for tonight, but we canceled at the last minute because I'm feeling a little sick. It is just as well, because our only plans were to go to the movies and out for dessert. We can have just as much fun doing that here at home after bed time. I hope everyone else has a great Valentine's Day doing exactly what you want! Love to you all - K

I have to find entertainment somewhere.....

I am currently sitting in the waiting room of the Lab Diagnostics center at the Opelika Medical Arts Center waiting to have my blood taken again. I failed my initial glucose screening, so I have had to return to take a three hour glucose test which is much worse than the first one. I had to fast starting after dinner last night - which basically means I haven't had my first OR second breakfasts, and I'm about to gnaw my own arm off. Luckily, they allowed me to take my anti-nausea meds, and I don't think I'm in danger of getting sick. Some people get sick after drinking the glucose beverage they give you, and if you do then the entire test is null and void - come back another day. So far, knock on wood, it looks like I'm going to make it through this first time. And hopefully, I'm here for nothing and my test will come back normal.

In addition to having wi-fi in here, which is helping me survivie the wait, the television is on Fox news. I don't know why they would pick something as specific as Fox news for a public waiting room, but based on the age range of the people around me, that might be why (lots of older folks who love the conservative right - sorry Mom and Dad, but you know you like Fox news, too.). Right now, they are having a heated debate about the new Britney Spears song called If You Seek Amy. It basically means something terribly dirty that some of us had to figure out for ourselves, and if you can't - just say it really slowly or really quickly. It spells something dirty. The people in this waiting room are gaping at the television with their mouths hanging wide open. And it's up for debate as to what is shocking them - is it the content of the song? Can they even understand what the commentators are trying to say about it? Or is it just the general appearance of Britney Spears on the tv screen, wearing a ridiculous outfit with a top hat and humping everything in sight? Or are they shocked at how horrible her music is, because they are intermittently playing her songs as they go through this argument? Either way, I think Brit-Brit exposure is severely detrimental to our senior community. They just cannot fathom it. The blood pressure in this room is rising, and the medical personnel needs to be aware of that. Personally, I am thoroughly enjoying this entire show. Ugh - they've moved on to the peanut butter scare. Yawn......

Teacher Mamas

Last year I had the great privilege of working with three wonderful ladies on our own little language arts team. All four of us worked with all of the other teams in the 6th grade, and we all taught language arts. It was idyllic for us - we planned together, we taught the same things, we were totally in sync with our work. The other teams didn't like it so much, but we loved it - mostly because we all love each other so much. Well, Brooke has left us for Birmingham to be closer to family and home, but Jenny and Shealy and I are still at Drake just plugging along even though we have been separated on to different teams. And miraculously, all four of us became pregnant in the last year. Brooke delivered her sweet Will last week, Jenny is about 7 weeks away from having baby Ryan Lily, Shealy is 10 weeks away expecting Kathleen "Kate" Elizabeth, and I am 12 weeks away from little miss Nealy. We do miss Brooke dearly, but we are thrilled to keep in close contact with her through email and blogs. And all three of us who are still at DMS showed up, big bellies and all, for the school dance last night. I think you can tell we were having fun throwing our big ole selves around the dance floor.

New Truck

Well, Joe has loved and loved his little Toyota truck, but it was time to bid it farewell. Our little family is growing, and he needed a new car that would fit two car seats. He really enjoyed having Jacks up, close, and personal in the two-seater, and they had a lot of fun together, but growth happens. Joe was so lucky to sell the red truck earlier this week to a cheerful and willing buyer, and the sale enabled us to be able to get a new truck. It isn't that we're all that partial to trucks, but you find that once you've had a truck for a while, you can't really imagine living without one. You think that you can always borrow one from a friend if you need to, but people are not always as generous in reality as they are in theory. Sad, but true. :)

So, after months and months of research and searching, Joe came upon this lovely 2002 Dodge truck for sale at the right price (after plenty of negotiating) just down the road in Lagrange. I don't want to say where we got it, because we didn't have the greatest experience. Needless to say, no matter how prepared you are, no matter how much work and research you've done, and no matter how nice and lovely you think your salesman is, no car dealer will ever make this process easy. It is very hard to understand how they are all so happy and cheerful all the time when they make a living at making people's lives absolutely miserable. What really blows me away is that car dealers are somewhat desperate to sell cars at this point in time, but still, nothing can be easy. They just manage to take all the joy out of buying a car. So, while we should be thrilled and excited about our new car purchase, we are still getting over the manipulation and low-blow tactics that were inflicted upon us. No 7 month pregnant woman should EVER be made to sit around a car dealership for three plus hours -that should be a rule.

One more thing to add - this is a TRUCK! Joe has even found himself in some new, secret truck-club where other truck drivers wave to him and regard him as one of their own. This thing is full sized and LOUD. The previous owner added some duel such-n-such that makes it really go vroom, vroom! So, when we come over with the new truck, you'll hear us pulling up the driveway. Let us know if you need help hauling something - we promise to be good truck friends!

100th Post!!!

Well, it has been a few weeks since my last post. This new year is off and running, and I have barely had a chance to breathe. School is working our booties off, and we have all been stricken with some sort of crud since new years. Jacks was diagnosed with the croup earlier this week, and he was given antibiotics and a round of prednisone to treat it. I will definitely think twice before I willingly give my child steroids again - he was completely crazy. We had a bi-polar child for a couple of days. He was rip roaring mad one minute and high as a kite the next. I could have handled a few difficult nights if it was just coughing and cuddling, but it was screaming and writhing and wailing and hollering. Not fun. Needless to say, we are most relieved that he seems to be back to his normal self as of this morning, and we still have a few days until we have to return to work. (thank you MLK!!!)
As for baby news, there is nothing all that exciting to report. Nealy's crib bedding arrived, and I found some perfect fabric for her rocking chair. But, the room still needs to be cleaned out before I can put any of it together. I'm getting very anxious to get a lot of it done, but my abilities to actually move furniture and such is extremely limited these days. I'm so hoping it will be done before little Nealy decides to join us. She is regularly kicking and jumping to let us all know she's in there and doing well. Jacks is still not so into talking about her, but he is aware of where the baby is (he'll pat my tummy and "regard" her), and he knows he is going to have a sister named Nealy. As for being happy about it, I'm pretty sure he's not. At all.
For my hundredth post, I should be talking about our super wonderful major purchase of a new (to us) Dodge truck, but we need to take some pictures and such. So, I'll save that for a couple of more days. For now, you get to enjoy pictures of Jacks and his new big boy hair cut!! Of all of the hair cuts that Jacks has had in his life, we have been very careful to preserve his baby curls. I have had a lot of difficulty parting with them. So, as a result, he has always had a pretty shaggy hair cut that most people are especially fond of. But, today, the lady who cut his hair was pretty ruthless. I told her to please try to keep some of the curls, but she was clearly working as fast as she could (she has apparently worked with toddlers before). She did a lovely job, but all of a sudden, my precious little baby looks like a grown up boy! (excuse his mouth full of food): He is smiling this big because Joe thought it would be a good idea to give him a few tablespoons of cream soda. Jacks absolutely loved it, and he drank from his little shot glass with his pinky pointing out like a perfect gentleman at tea time.
That is pretty much all for now. I hope everyone is staying warm on this frigid cold weekend. If it's going to be this cold, we could at least get a little snow! As it is, it's just too dismal and dreary to consider going outside. Yuck!