June 30, 2008

I can't believe it's the last day of June already. Not a lot went on here today. The kids and I did some cleaning around the house. Michaela is getting lazy about cleaning the bathroom. I'm going to have to start "inspecting" it when she says she's done for a while until she gets back in the habit of doing it right.

We also went to Wal-mart. I wanted a organizer thing for the living room. Some of the kids toys that stay in the living room were in desperate need of being tamed. While we were there we bought some snacks that we can have in the car with us when we take that long drive down to Destin. We got a few necessities, too, like laundry detergent.

Michaela had gymnastics tonight. I took my book with me. I'm reading Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I enjoy their books a lot. The first one by these two authors that I read was Cabinet of Curiosities. Most of their books have a character named Pendergast in them. He's an FBI agent that solves strange cases. He's a really cool character.

Relic is actually the first novel he appears in and I can already tell they really have gone out of their way to develop this character throughout the novels that they put him in as he's a lot less refined (I guess that's the word I'm looking for) in this one as he was in the other two books I've read with him in it so far. There is an actual sequel to this book called Reliquary that I'm going to read next. Then, there's a series that have other re-occurring characters and then three books known as the Diogenes Trilogy. These three books are about Pendergast's fight to survive his evil twin brother. Sounds a little hokey, I know, but I've read one from this trilogy already and it was really good.

I've decided I need to load some audio books onto my iPod for our trip. Since we're going to be traveling at night to go down there, it would be hard to read an actual book. And, I know there will be times on the beach that I just want to sit and be able to listen instead of read. It's not going to be easy to decide, though. I want some more Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child books. But, I also have a couple Jodi Picoult I've not read yet that I want to read. Then, there's Isabel Allende and Barbara Kingsolver that I keep putting off. Actually, what I want is for Tracy Chevalier to release a new book.

In any case, I've got a ton of books I've not read yet and several magazines I need to get through. Add that to the books I will put on my iPod, I should have plenty of reading material for our vacation. It sounds so nice to have a vacation where we will not be rushing around like crazy. It's not how I want to spend every vacation, but I'm definitely ready for this low key vacation this year.

June 29, 2008

It's been quiet around here mostly today. We went to church. I got our t-shirts from Melissa while we were there. Michael, Caleb and I went to Pasta House for lunch. I picked Michaela up from Anikca's around 2:00 PM.

Michaela and Michael both slept a lot this afternoon. Caleb watched television and played with his cars and car track stuff. I messed around on Facebook. I'm addicted to game on there called Pack Rat.

Michael and I were not really hungry so I just made the kids something to eat for supper. Then, we settled down to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Yes, we are probably the only people in the world who had not seen this movie yet. It was really good. I think it was better than the other two and I really enjoyed all three of them. I love the humor that they inject into the movie. Jack Sparrow's line, "That's just maddingly unhelpful." said in such a matter of fact way cracked me up. I can't seem to get the kids to believe that that is the same person that plays Willy Wonka.

After the kids went to bed, Michael and I bowled on the Wii. It's been a while since he and I played Wii without the kids. It was fun. I like it when we do things like that together, just the two of us.

June 28, 2008

This morning we went to help work on the float for the parade. There were a lot of people who showed up. It was great to see that many people there. I didn't get to help as much as I wanted, though. I really started feeling light headed and shaky. I thought I was just hungry, but I've not felt great the whole day since then.

Anyway, the float is all red, white and blue. They used tissue paper to decorate the grate on the back of the trailer. We put a white board there, too with scientific equations on it and cardboard cut outs of beakers and such. We put streamers on fans to simulate fire. They have a table on the end of the trailer for a lab table. Everyone is going to wear their VBS t-shirts. We got the kids plastic hats with red, white and blue bands on them and red, white and blue lays for the adults.

This evening Michaela went to spend the night with Anikca. Michael, Caleb and I went out to eat at R.T. Weilers. Then, we went to Sam's and bought candy for the parade. We got a HUGE bag of Dum Dums and a tub of bubble gum. At Walmart, we bought new Tiki Torches and Michael got some gardening stuff he needed. We drove up and down the highway to look at the flood before coming home. It's amazing how quiet the house is with just one kid in it.

June 27, 2008

What's cool about being off work for the summer is that I've finished the laundry already and it's only Friday. I won't have to do laundry during the weekend. Woo Hoo!!!!

The kids had their last day of Camp Read a Lot today. The students at Lindenwood that work with the campers always give a letter to the parents at the end of camp. Caleb's letter made me cry. He's made so much progress just during camp this summer. I think the one on one attention has really helped him. He's actually trying to read things on his own now. His interest in reading has skyrocketed. He can't wait to go back to Camp Read a Lot next summer. Good job on that decision, Mom! Both of my kids never cease to make me proud. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I got two great kids.

June 26, 2008

The kids and I went to the cheap theater today. We went to see "Horton Hears a Who." It was a really cute movie. It could have done without the "anime" parts, but it was still cute. We enjoyed it. I'm glad I did not pay regular theater prices for it, but it was worth going to the cheap theater to see. The kids really enjoyed it. The best part is, we paid for out tickets and all had popcorn and a soda and it was about 1/3 of what we'd have paid for all that at a regular theater. I think next week we're going to go back to see Nim's Island.

June 25, 2008

It'll be 4th of July soon. We always go to the parade that is here in town. It's not a huge parade, but it's nice. The kids like it. Last summer, Little Guppy had a float in the parade. Michaela's feelings were hurt that she did not get to be in it with Little Guppy, but the kids did not go to Camp Guppy last summer so why would they have been in it. I'm sure, too the kids that were in it had parents who helped make the float.

Anyway, Michaela not only got one offer, but two offers to be in the parade this year. Her girl scout troop is going to walk in the parade and the church we go to is going to have a float in the parade. The girl scouts are just walking as far as I can tell. They are expected to wear their uniforms. Well, Michaela is between Brownies and Juniors right now. Her Brownie vest is too small and I've not bought her Junior vest yet. Plus her Brownie vest still has the numbers from the old troop on it.

We decided to go with the Church. First of all, both kids get to be in it that way and not in separate places. Plus, I'm more social with people at church. I like the other moms from girl scouts, but I spend more time with people from church and am a little more comfortable around them. So, this Saturday we're going to go help put together the float for our church's parade entry. They are using it as a way to advertise for VBS this year.

June 24, 2008

The levy here in town broke early this morning. Actually, it was middle of the night, wee hours of the morning part of the morning. There is a mobile home park that may or may not see some water. They've got a major exit off one of our main highways closed because the end of that road is flooded.

There is more rain expected up north this week, too. If things get too bad, there is a possibility that the kids' daycare could see some water. I have a feeling with the levees breaking, though, it'll make the flooding not as bad as it could be. Although, there is so much that has been built up down there in the flood plane since our last flood it's ridiculous. People seem to think that since the last flood was at a height classified and 100 year flood and that since levees were rebuilt they won't see a flood down there for 100 years. Ok, maybe I'm stupid, but I really don't think Mother Nature pays much attention to statistics.

It did rain here today. We had a nice little thunderstorm for about 45 minutes or so. Just a typical summer thunderstorm. Then, it got muggy. But, not near as badly as if it were the end of July. The pool water where I take my acquacise class is still pretty cold. We really need some summer heat to warm the swimming pools up around here.

June 23, 2008

I got Caleb registered for first grade today. Since he went to Little Guppy for Kindergarten, this will be his first year at public school. Both of my babies are now big school aged kids. I'm not sure how that happened. It will more than likely be the only year they are in the same building, too. They are talking about splitting the high schools up like they did the middle schools with Freshman and Sophomores at one building and Juniors and Seniors at the other.

Anyway, it amazes me the paperwork involved in signing your child up for school. I mean really, how many times should you have to write down contact information. I think I recorded phone numbers, addresses and job information in about five different places. Here's a tip. Put it all online and parents will only have to enter information once. It can generate all those reports for you. Of course you'd still want the parent in person to make copies of the birth certificate, social security card and utility bill, but that would take a lot less time and hassle than filling out 2000 papers with the same information on them.

I do have one paper that still needs to be filled out. Since this is his first year at public school I have to have his doctor do a physical and fill out the paper on that. It seems they need a dental paper filled out too, but no big deal. Both kids have to go to the dentist soon anyway.

June 22, 2008

We went to a cook out at church this evening. It was a lot of fun. This is the second year in a row that they've done this. It's to try and gain interest in VBS. VBS doesn't start until July 6 this year. That's a lot later than usual. But, they are going to have a float in our city's parade for 4th of July this year and I think that's why. It's going to give more time to "advertise."

They had water balloons and a ball toss game and a bowling game out for the kids. They all played around and had a lot of fun. There was definitely a lot of food. We had quite a few people from the neighborhood come. Hopefully, they'll send their kids to VBS, too.

After eating, there was a game of wiffle ball that kids and adults both played in, but not me. Actually, there were several of us that did not play, but it was fun to watch. Caleb got some pretty good hits. I was proud of him. It was really nice to sit and visit with people, too.

Next weekend we go to help work on the float for the parade. We also need to buy candy to throw.

June 21, 2008

Michaela and I got haircuts today. They took 8 inches off Michaela's hair and 9 inches off my hair. We made our first donation to Locks of Love. It was a lot of fun to do that with my daughter. I wasn't going to make her do it because I know how much she likes her long hair. I think she was skiddish about it until she saw that when they cut mine off it did not make me completely bald.

I wasn't even sure myself if I was going to do it. When we got there the stylist asked me what I wanted done and I said, "Well, I'm not sure." Then, I told her I would like to donate to Locks of Love, but wasn't sure they'd take my hair. It had been a while since I had it cut and it was a bunch of different lengths and the ends were not in the best of shape. So, I wanted to know if they'd take it before I decided what I wanted done.

When it was determined that they would take it at that point I had no idea what I wanted because it meant that more got cut off then if they were not going to take it. I was going to go short anyway, just not quite as short. So, she gave me a style book and I found something I liked. Michaela got to look at the style book, too and she got a really cute wedge shaped cut. She's liking it but is adjusting to it, too.

Then, this evening, Michaela and I watched the gymnastics Olympic trials on television. She's really into Shawn Johnson because they've been talking about her at gymnastics class a lot. It was fun to watch that with her and listen to her talk about it all.

June 20, 2008

I got completely confused today. Today was supposed to be the last pay period for me for this school year. I was expecting my last paycheck, my escrow check and my Career Ladder check to all be in my bank account when I logged onto my bank this morning. Not so. The only thing there was my last paycheck.

Ok, so I wasn't all that surprised that they have not gotten around to cutting the Career Ladder checks. This is always the last thing they get around to paying out. Although it makes me a little nervous as the district's fiscal year ends on June 30.

So, the minute I know there is someone in the business office at the district, I call. Of course the person who would have an answer about the escrow checks is on vacation and they have not gotten notification on the Career Ladder checks from HR yet. They transfer me up to HR and thankfully, the one person that works in that office that I know will be honest with me answers the phone.

They have just this week gotten the paperwork with everyone's signature validating the payees for Career Ladder. We were notified three weeks ago if our plans were accepted for payment or not. So, hopefully, Career Ladder checks will come next week.

In the mean time I'm still not feeling very good about the fact that my escrow check is not in the bank. This is a HUGE check. We could survive the summer without it, but it would be really hard. Besides the fact that that is MY money that they took out of my paychecks all year.

Our mail did not come until almost 4:00 p.m. today. Guess what was in it? My escrow check. Now why in the world did they not direct deposit that check? Honestly, it's not a big deal because that money was going to be moved to the savings account anyway. But, had they told us that these would be mailed and not deposited it sure would have saved me a lot of worry today. I am still waiting on my Career Ladder check though.

June 19, 2008

I am being tested today, I think. Last Sunday in church the sermon was about loving your "neighbors." It was actually a very good sermon and one of those things that I feel we all need to work on. It's very easy to have kindness in your heart for the people we like. Not so easy for people who you don't like. And, even harder to do for those who have hurt you.

There is a person I know that really hurt me today. No one in my family or that I am remotely close to. I have a hard time liking this person in the first place. It's a person on one of my email groups. Generally, I tend to just not read what this person posts because I do not like the way the person responds to people. I figure it's just a personality clash and there's no reason to make anyone feel bad because I just don't get this person.

Today however, when I responded to another person's post, my words were attacked. Even when I tried to explain that I did not mean things the way they were taken, this person refused to believe me. I should have left it at that and worked on myself and just did what I could to find some kindness in my heart for this person. Instead I blew up and allowed this person to drag me into a very heated and ugly argument.

So, the whole "Love your Neighbor as Yourself" thing, although it's a big thing with me, (especially since Christians have such a bad reputation about being hypocrites in this area) it's still something I struggle with. I am working on this.

June 18, 2008

Today we mailed Michaela's second box for her shoe box exchange she's doing this summer. This is proving to be a very positive experience for her. She's loving getting the boxes ready.

What this is, is a Yahoo group. It's run by a girl scout leader. All of the participants are either girl scouts with the help of their moms or girl scout troops from all over the world. Each week girls/troops are paired up for the exchange. You are to send your partner a "shoe box" and your partner sends you one.

In this shoe box you are supposed to place things to help your partner "get to know" you. The things that have to be in the box are a letter introducing the participant, a couple small things that represent where the participant lives (post cards, booklets, brochures, etc.), a swap, something to do with the theme of the week (this week was crafts), a small "gift" type item.

Other things that can go in it are lists of websites that tell about the area you live in, pictures of families, a non perishable food item that may be made where you live, anything else that could let your partner know a little bit about you.

This week Michaela and I decorated a little photo album that looks like a purse. It was black and we added pink lace and ribbon and pink flowers with black polka dots. We also put the girl's name on it in iridescent pink letters. It turned out really cute. We bought her a sun catcher craft to do. We also got her a key chain that has the name of our town on it and a bank with icons of St. Louis on it.

There was also a little booklet about St. Louis and a list of websites that are relevant to the area in which we live. Then, we put in about 3 post cards from our town and St. Louis and pictures from when Michaela went to the Girl Scout sleep over at The City Museum.

Since we cannot really send a food that is unique to the St. Louis area we sent a recipe for Toasted Ravioli since that was invented here. Of course her letter was in the box. And, we put in three magazine type books about the history of our town because the girl's mother told me that they were using this project as a way to study geography and history of the different areas they are getting boxes from.

We sent it off today. Hopefully, Michaela will get her box from her partner by Saturday. She got her first box last Saturday and was so excited about it, she took it with her to Nana's house to share it with her. That one came from the middle of Georgia. The one for this week is not so far away. It's coming from Champaign, IL. I'm also eager to see what's in it, this week.

June 17, 2008

Today was pretty productive for me. I got one load of laundry folded and another that is waiting to be folded. That's one of the cool parts of being off work. I can keep up on laundry and not have to do it all in two days.

While the kids were at camp I went and did the grocery shopping. I got all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruit again this week. I'm trying to keep that stocked and not buy things like cookies this summer. Even the popcycles I bought are no sugar added fruit bars. The kids like them just as much as the frozen sugar water ones.

After lunch was when I really got busy, though. That's when I made beds and worked on laundry. Michaela and I made a gift for the girl she's exchanging shoe boxes with this week. She also made a swap to go in the box. The craft I bought does not fit in our box so I'll go buy some sun catchers tomorrow when the kids go to camp and then take it to the post office.

Then, I went to work in the kitchen. I took care of dishes and washed down all the counter tops, stove and table. This meant it was time to drag out all the produce I bought. These are the things I took care of:

• Cut up two cantaloupes
  
• Cleaned, de-stemmed and cut up 2 lbs of strawberries
• Cleaned and de-stemmed another pound of strawberries to eat whole
• Cleaned a container each of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries and put into bowls
• Washed all the apples, grapes, pears and plums I bought
• Washed and cut up carrots, celery and cauliflower
• Peeled and sliced a cucumber

Now there is no excuse to eat junk for snacks. I put out most of this at supper time, too to go with our Sloppy Joes.

June 16, 2008

You'd think I would be tired today. I've become really addicted to a game on Facebook called Pack Rat. It's a game where you try to collect sets of cards. There are a bunch of different series of cards. Anyway, you "steal" or buy cards to make sets. You can also use "recipes" to make some of the harder to find cards. That is you take three cards and combine to make another one. But, there are set recipes. You cannot just make whatever you want from whatever you want.

Of course the game doesn't make this easy. But, it's lots of fun. I was up until 1:00 a.m. playing it last night. I've been playing it a lot today, too. I've been playing it co-op now that I have learned there are two ways to play it. The co-op way is fun because you get to help your friends with what they're working on and they help you. Since I am only a mildly competative person, this suits me better than the free for all really competative way of playing.

But this also means my day has not been all that productive today. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be more productive tomorrow.

June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day! This is my third father's day without my dad. You'd think that would get easier, but it really hasn't yet. It just seems so weird to not buy him a gift or call him or see him or anything on this day.

We went out to eat with Michael's side of the family today. It was Michael's dad's choice so of course we ended up at Red Lobster. Michael's dad loves that place and I can't say as I mind that he likes it so much. Lord knows Michael and I cannot afford to go there except maybe once in a while on special occasions. Jeremy and Kelly and the kids were there of course.

We all spent a lot of time talking about our vacation. I can't decide who's more excited, the adults or the kids. As of today we have a month, 30 days exactly until we leave. We told Gale and Lloyd they have to lead the way when we drive down because they have that Hybrid now and they can break the wind for all of us! *LOL*

We're still not sure when we're leaving. Jeremy Jr. has a baseball game that night, but they've not decided if he's going to go to it or not. It doesn't matter to Michael and me. Our kids travel well and if it's later, they will fall asleep. I need to find them a couple of those neck pillows this year, though to make it a little more comfortable to sleep in the van.

June 14, 2008

Tonight was Michael's night. He needs/needed just about everything clothing wise. So, for his Father's Day present, we went shopping without the kids. He has no patience with the kids when we do clothes shopping for him and of course they are usually bored to tears. So, my mom took them for the evening and Michael and I had the evening for just the two of us.

We went to Bass Pro Shop. Michael loves that store. Right away we found two shirts for his dad. They are short sleeved henley neck shirts. That will be his dad's Father's Day gift.

Michael tried on a few shirts and decided to get three of the short sleeved polo shirts that were on sale for $9.88 each. Then, he tried on two pairs of jeans and decided to get both. I think we did really good. We got five shirts and two pairs of jeans total and walked out spending under $100.

Then, we went to eat. We went to one of our favorite places, Trailhead Brewery. Of course we got the nachos. We sampled a new beer. It was ok, but I got my usual Raspberry Beer. Michael got the new kind. It was nice to sit and talk and enjoy food just the two of us.

After we ate we came home and spent time together just the two of us for a while. Around 9:30 we went and got the kids. It was a really nice evening.

June 13, 2008

Happy Friday the 13th! It's been a pretty good day here. I got a few things accomplished that I don't normally get to do on a Friday when I'm working. That feels good. It's nice to not have to wait until Saturday to start laundry.

A new movie by M Night Shyamalan started at the theaters today. It's called The Happening. I would love to see it. I really enjoy his work. But, the kids cannot go to that kind of movie and Michael is such a stick in the mud about movies. I'll probably have to wait until it comes out on video because I'm sure my brother and his wife are going to be first in line to see it. Oh well, I'm sure the wait will be worth it.

The kids have finished the first week of Camp Read A Lot. They both are loving it. Lindenwood does a great job with this camp and the students that work with the kids are all really great. Michaela really likes her "teacher," about as much as she liked the one she had last year. Caleb really likes his "teacher" too. I think he has a little crush on her. I swear that boy is going to be the one to worry me like crazy when it comes to girls more than Michaela worrying me about boys.

June 12, 2008

Caleb looks like a first grader now. On Tuesday he lost another tooth. It's one of his top front ones. Being a first grade teacher this is what I see most of the year, children with one or both of their top front teeth missing most of the year. I think his face has matured some, too. I just look at him and can see a first grader. It is exciting and excruciating at the same time. My little Bugga Boo is not so little anymore.

June 11, 2008

The first day of my summer break and I don't feel very good at all. Last night was my first Aquacize class for the summer. I stepped right back into the routine without taking into consideration that I've not done any of this kind of physical activity since the beginning of last August. My muscles in my arms, neck and shoulders were not just sore, but literally burning most of the night so I did not sleep well the entire night. I got to the point where I felt a little better in the morning. My calf muscles are sore, but other than that I thought I was getting better.

I dropped the kids off at camp, did the grocery shopping, cleaned up the kitchen and the fruits and vegetables, did some laundry and then went to get the kids. We had mac 'n cheese for lunch and then I could not keep my eyes open. I told the kids they had to wait until 2:00 to get in the pool so that gave me a little over an hour to nap while they watched some television.

At that point I became completely unproductive the rest of the day. I did make supper, but that was it. I'm still not feeling great and have had some unpleasant trips to the bathroom. I guess maybe it was a little more than just doing too much too soon with exercising.

June 10, 2008

Schools out for the summer!!!!! While really a bit anti-climatic my school year ended today. The students went home at 12:15. I already had everything finished and my principal had checked me out so all I had to do was wait around until 1:30. That is when I got to leave. I only had 6 students at school today so it was very quiet. Now, it's time to enjoy my time with my kids.

June 9, 2008

Tomorrow is the last day of work for me!!!!!

Highlights of the day:

• It was an uneventful day at work
• I had a fun texting conversation with Stacey
• I got myself signed up for Aquacize
• The kids started Camp Read A Lot and enjoyed it very much
• I talked to my aunt for about 30 minutes on the phone
• I bought a few things for Michaela's first shoebox for her summer shoebox exchange
  

June 8, 2008

Today was a little on the busy side. We did the church and out to eat thing. Then, when we got home there was a message on the answering machine from Kelly. They wanted us to come over for cake to celebrate Jenessa's birthday. I already had her gift and card ready. The card I made her turned out really cute. I was proud of it.

We went over there about mid-afternoon. They gave Michaela her gift and then we watched Jenessa open her gifts. Jenessa seemed to be very happy with everything. She's such a sweet girl. I just love her so much.

We also played with water balloons and messed around on their Wii. Michael even played Rock Band with the guys some. They really get into it. It was fun to watch them.

We had not done any Wal-mart shopping so after we got home and got the kids fed I went to do that. I got home just in time to put them to bed. I still had some laundry to do. I folded two baskets full of laundry. I'm still not finished, but it's time to go to bed. Tomorrow is my last Monday of work.

June 7, 2008

I was very lazy today. In the morning I did pay bills. Throughout the day I did manage to change sheets on beds and get laundry started, barely. But, that's about as productive as I got. I just could not get myself motivated to do much of anything.

Anicka spent the night last night. She and Caleb tried to get up at 4:00 a.m. Considering how tired I was last night and the fact that I did not sleep well, I was NOT a happy camper. I was very ready for Anikca to go home today at 3:00 pm.

After Anikca went home we went pool shopping. The pool we bought last summer had a hole in it already. Michael decided we would get the snap together kind this year. I tried to tell him last year that's what we should get. We went to two Wal-marts, Toys R Us, K-Mart and two Targets before we finally bought one. It's a bit bigger than the one we had last summer. This one is 12 ft across and 3 feet deep. It came with a new ladder, which is good because the old ladder isn't tall enough. I guess I'll Freecycle it.

The kids helped Michael put the pool together. Caleb took his job very seriously. He was in charge of putting the "feet" on the support legs and adding the "elbows" to them. He and Michaela were in heaven spending that time with their daddy. I took pictures. It was cute to watch them all working together.

Michael had just started filling the pool up when the kids went to bed. It won't get very full tonight. It's going to take quite a while to fill as it's big. We'll have to finish filling it up tomorrow.

June 6, 2008

Today was the last Friday of work for me. It was the last day of Guppy for my kids until school starts. It was the last full day at Guppy ever for Caleb. It was the end of that chapter for us as we will never have full time Guppies again.

Work was eventful. It was our field day. We walked to a park that is about a mile and a half away from our school. Then, the kids got to do all the games that were planned. This took us until lunch time. The kids got hot dogs and chips and cookies for lunch. We had a pot luck thing going on with BBQ meat. After lunch the some of the teachers played kick ball against the kids. Not me. Kickball brings back too many bad memories for me.

We walked back to the school building around 1:45 p.m. We had only been back in the building about 10 minutes when it started storming like crazy. I guess we'd made it back just in time. The storm got so bad we had sirens going off again. We had to take the kids into the hall and have them get down for about 10 minutes. The storm ended just in time for us to go home. It was still raining slightly, but the storm part of it was gone.

Tonight I'm really tired. I'm wondering why I agreed to let Michaela have a sleep over tonight. They are so noisy. I hope they realize they are NOT going to be noisy all night. In about 10 minutes I'm enforcing the quiet activity rule. As in watch a movie or play a quiet game or something like that. They can get into their pj's to help them feel more calm and relaxed.

June 5, 2008

I have played around on Facebook most of the evening. I am really enjoying that social utility. The games on it are a lot of fun. I especially enjoy Northwest Trail, Blocky, and Word Bubble. There are others, too, but those are my favorites right now.

I also spend a lot of time messing around with some of the applications. Lil Green Patch, My FB Home, My City, and Make a Baby are my favorites when it comes to apps. Some of the other things I really like are the ones where you can send things to your friends like Poohs, Roses, Candy, etc.

It's cool that they have calender, kid and family apps, too. I have this blog imported into my notes on Facebook. I also have countdown tickers set for the last day of work for me, the day we leave for Destin and Michael's and my anniversary. Facebook is just a lot of fun.

June 4, 2008

I am down to just 4 days of work left. We have 41 days left until we leave for Florida.

I am trying really hard to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark with my family, but I'm just not interested in it. I've tried several times throughout my teens and adult life to watch this movie. I just cannot get into it. I must be the only person alive that has no interest in this. The kids wanted to watch the first three so they can see the new one. I'm thinking we'll be waiting until it's on DVD too because I cannot see me paying movie price and sitting in a theater for two hours to watch it. Maybe Michael will take them. That would shock the heck out of me as he doesn't really like movies. But, he seems to be enjoying watching this with the kids.

June 3, 2008

Ok, so I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to sitting outside with my kids while they are playing outside. On Sunday they were trying to lure the dog up to the top of the slide with dog biscuits so they could get her to slide down. Yesterday, they were rolling down the hill in a trash can... eeewweeee. Tonight they had to come in early because they were messing around by the garden and "fell" into the dirt and were just covered in dirt. There was no way to brush them off enough to even sit at the table to eat. So, in they came to take shower and bath.

They spent the rest of the evening playing Wii and watching Michaela's new Barbie videos. It's been a pretty quiet night around here. Michael did not get home until almost 9:00 pm because he's been fighting a broken machine at work.

I got a lot done at work again today. My students really helped me out, too. I've still got a few things to take down off my walls, but not much. And, I'm almost done packing up. There are some things I'll have to leave out until the last day, but I'm making sure there are places for those to just toss them into a box and pack it up quickly that last day. I should be ready to just walk out the door on June 10th.

June 2, 2008

Well, I'm in the home stretch of my school year. I cannot believe that this is the end of my 15th year of teaching. How is that possible? There's no way I've been teaching that long already.

Today was a really good day at work. My students were great! I am so proud of them. They really worked hard on what I gave them as assignments and they really enjoyed their time using the learning centers. I managed to get all the paperwork done that I can possibly have done at this point. And, I have gotten quite a bit of things packed up. I should have most of the rest of the week to take down, pack up and clean my classroom. I am beginning to feel like the year really will end.

I took Michaela to gymnastics tonight. It was the first night of the summer session. The whole group of parents has changed. It was weird. One mom there had a 4 yr old boy with her. He was playing with these TINY remote control cars. One was Lightening McQueen and the other was Mater. She said she got them from The Disney Store. Our Disney Store is closing and she said they were only $4.00.

I ran out there real quick while Michaela was busy in gymnastics and picked up four of them. I got jazzed up Lightening and a Mater for Caleb. I got Aurora and Ariel for Michaela. I'm going to give them to them the first day we're home together for summer break. Then, I got them each a shirt, too. Michaela got an Ariel shirt and Caleb got a Power Rangers shirt. I only spent $32.00 for all that.

June 1, 2008

It's June! It's been hot the last several days, too. I guess we're going to jump right over the actual spring temperatures into summer temperatures. That's ok with me, I'm ready for summer weather. The local pools are open and I'm ready to take the kids as soon as possible.

We went out to lunch to Pasta House with Michael's parents after church today. It was a nice meal. I always enjoy having a conversation with my MIL.

This afternoon the kids cleaned up their rooms and then went outside to play. They tried to get the dog to go up the steps to the slide. They wanted her to slide down it. OY! She really could have gotten hurt, but I know they didn't understand that.

I have been doing laundry and working like crazy to get my paperwork for the end of the school year as complete as possible before going back to work tomorrow. Michael has been working on the garden again. Hopefully soon he'll have it ready to plant.

This week will be my last full week of work before summer break. I hope it goes by quickly. Next Sunday will be my last Sunday that I have to set my alarm clock for two months! Woo Hoo!!!!