So, Wednesday morning went well. But that was not because I got up and got all of my morning routine done. TDaddy had to go to a conference in the city so since he had to leave early to take the train, I had to get the shower earlier than usual. Because I got in the shower earlier I was out earlier and so had more time to get myself and the kids ready. Then more time pressure was taken off due to the fact that we didn't have the usual 8am teacher devotions because of an evening parent teacher meeting on Tuesday night. All of that combined to a low pressure morning. Totally until the previous wake-up-late-dash-around-madness of the morning before.
Thursday. Not so much. I didn't wake up late, but it was the first morning this season that when I woke up it was kind of cold and the temperature made me want to stay under the covers. And I have to admit that that is precisely what I did. I did my Bible reading, on my phone, under the covers. Not exactly the quiet time I had planned. By the time I was in the shower, Tboy was crying about not wanting to get dressed, Tgirl was tattling on him, and TDaddy was already getting frustrated. All this by 6:45am. So not exactly a great start. Every time we have a morning like this I can't help but think that had I been up and ready before everyone else and have prepared the day for them in prayer would that have made the difference?
Friday was better. Got up, read the Bible, got to the gym. I only had time for a short workout, but some exercise is better than none, right?
TDaddy went to a screen writers' conference this weekend. So we all got up at 5 to take him to the airport. I did not get up earlier than the family, in fact, my alarm didn't go off and TDaddy had to come wake me. And I have to admit to settling the kids in front of the PBS kids channel and going back to bed until it was time to get up and get going to basketball and soccer.
Sunday was better. No gym (can't leave the kiddos alone). But I got up and read and prayed and got going on time.
So overall, the week was rather a mixed bag, a couple of good days and a couple of not so good days.
Guess I will have to keep trying! :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A New Cousin!
One of my (3) brothers and his wife had their first baby! We are so excited!
Tgirl and Tboy have older cousins on TDaddy's side, but they are much older and live 2 states away. But on my side of the family, they are the only children. They have a few second cousins, three who are much older, and two closer in age who live far enough away that we only see them a couple of times a year. We have been hoping for first cousins since my first brother got married 8 years (I think) ago.
I am delighted to be able to get a good baby fix but not have to return to sleepless nights. (Neither one of my babies was a good sleeper.) It's been 5 years since we had a baby in the family, ok, since I had a baby, and I am more than ready for another one. But I don't really want to personally raise another child. Unless God has a different plan, it appears that I now have my hands full. So it is definitely time for my brothers to step up and give my parents some more grandchildren! :)
I must say that Tcousin's parents had another baby a year and a half ago. However, sweet little G was taken from us before he was born. Tcousin's birth is that much sweeter for all of us after losing G.
Tgirl is delighted that Tcousin is a boy. She wouldn't mind a girl, but also rather likes being my mom's only granddaughter so far. She is also looking forward to babysitting in a few years.
Tboy is delighted because he has always been fascinated by babies, he points them out to me whenever we see one at the store, etc. He was very excited for Tcousin to be born and in the last month or so of my SIL's pregnancy would talk about all the things he plans to teach Tcousin: baseball, riding a trike, and climbing up and bouncing down stairs on his bottom to name a few. So I did my best to prepare him for how small Tcousin would really be when he was born. And how little Tcousin would be able to interact with Tboy. As in, the baby won't be able to talk or walk or run for quite a while.
Which lead to multiple discussions of what babies CAN do. They sleep, and cry, and wet their diapers, and eat lots of snacks of milk because they have tiny tummies. And then after you feed a baby they get bubbles in their tummies so you have to burp them and sometimes, if they are like Tboy, they spit up a lot after they eat.
Tboy's very serious response to babies spitting up..."Yeah, then you have to hold them over the garbage can (to catch the "throw up" in his mind) ...
...and hope you don't drop them in!"
Tgirl and Tboy have older cousins on TDaddy's side, but they are much older and live 2 states away. But on my side of the family, they are the only children. They have a few second cousins, three who are much older, and two closer in age who live far enough away that we only see them a couple of times a year. We have been hoping for first cousins since my first brother got married 8 years (I think) ago.
I am delighted to be able to get a good baby fix but not have to return to sleepless nights. (Neither one of my babies was a good sleeper.) It's been 5 years since we had a baby in the family, ok, since I had a baby, and I am more than ready for another one. But I don't really want to personally raise another child. Unless God has a different plan, it appears that I now have my hands full. So it is definitely time for my brothers to step up and give my parents some more grandchildren! :)
I must say that Tcousin's parents had another baby a year and a half ago. However, sweet little G was taken from us before he was born. Tcousin's birth is that much sweeter for all of us after losing G.
Tgirl is delighted that Tcousin is a boy. She wouldn't mind a girl, but also rather likes being my mom's only granddaughter so far. She is also looking forward to babysitting in a few years.
Tboy is delighted because he has always been fascinated by babies, he points them out to me whenever we see one at the store, etc. He was very excited for Tcousin to be born and in the last month or so of my SIL's pregnancy would talk about all the things he plans to teach Tcousin: baseball, riding a trike, and climbing up and bouncing down stairs on his bottom to name a few. So I did my best to prepare him for how small Tcousin would really be when he was born. And how little Tcousin would be able to interact with Tboy. As in, the baby won't be able to talk or walk or run for quite a while.
Which lead to multiple discussions of what babies CAN do. They sleep, and cry, and wet their diapers, and eat lots of snacks of milk because they have tiny tummies. And then after you feed a baby they get bubbles in their tummies so you have to burp them and sometimes, if they are like Tboy, they spit up a lot after they eat.
Tboy's very serious response to babies spitting up..."Yeah, then you have to hold them over the garbage can (to catch the "throw up" in his mind) ...
...and hope you don't drop them in!"
"Maximize Your Mornings"
I have joined in the challenge going on over on one of my favorite blogs, Inspired to Action. The challenge is basically to establish an effective morning routine which includes: 1)getting up early/on time/when the alarm actually goes off, 2)exercising, 3)spending time with the Lord, and 4)planning. The idea is that if as a mom I get up before the rest of my family to take the time to take care of myself, spend quality time with God, and prepare for the day, the day will run more smoothly and purposefully.
I could use more purpose in my life and a little less flying around by the seat of my pants putting out fires and feeling stressed all the time. :)
The only problem? Since starting 3 days ago, I have woke up with a migraine on day one. Day two? Set the alarm wrong on my phone and it didn't go off early enough. And on day three, today? I woke with a start at 7:10. The kids and I aim for 7:30 to be out the door, no later than 7:45. God was gracious and we left the house at 7:43. However, I was supposed to throw together the ingredients for crock pot lasagna for dinner tonight. So no coming home to a hot meal courtesy of the crock pot!
Thank the Lord that tomorrow is another day!
It will be better.... right?
Just So You Know...
There is no kissing allowed at school. We may love our buddies, but there is no kissing at school!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Catching up...
Good grief! It has been over a month since I last blogged! And a crazy month at that.
We started back to school. Tboy is in kindergarten this year and had a rather difficult transition. You see, he was coming to the same school as Mama and Sister and so thought that (of course!) that meant he would get to see us, especially me, all the time. But in reality, it doesn't actually work that way. Our schedules don't match up at all. The only times I see him are Monday and Wednesday afternoons at choir and Friday mornings at Chapel. This made him sad, which is understandable and ok. What is not ok, is that he decided that the solution was to cry/scream very loudly so that I would hear him (in his mind, I couldn't in reality) and come to him. This didn't work, no matter how many times he tried it. So on day 6 of kindergarten, my baby was sent to the principal's office. After two days of going to bed right after dinner (and missing soccer practice the second day and reading books and snuggling both days before bed) something clicked and he realized that the crying wasn't working and so stopped. He has been well behaved ever since. Whew!
Tgirl is in 5th grade and her class is the "big guy" on campus. She has started playing basketball, is still dancing ballet, tried out and got into the school choir, hates math, and loves her teacher. TDaddy has been delighted with both her interest in basketball and the talent that she has shown. While she isn't the least bit aggressive with the ball and will have to learn to be more so on the court, she is a good shooter and has enjoyed herself so far. Hormones have begun flowing and we are now navigating the ... shall we say "interesting" waters of parenting a preteen.
Teaching a new grade level means lots of extra work day to day. As each new event, subject, time of year comes up I am starting from scratch researching and creating assignments, flyers, letters, visual aides, etc.
My maternal grandfather passed away. He lived a full life (he was 88), was in an increasing amount of pain in the last couple of years, and as he was a believer in and follower of Jesus he is now in a much better (pain-free) place. But we who loved him and are left behind for now miss him very much.
My dear sister-in-law gave birth to my kids' first cousin on my side of the family. It was a tough, long labor but my sweet little nephew is finally here! My brother and sister-in-law lost their first child to Trysalmy 18 (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) nearly 2 years ago and it has been a difficult road for them to travel (difficult to watch as well). Tnephew is a huge answer to many prayers!
These have been a few of the highlights of this last month...
Highs and lows...
While I hate to make any promises of renewed time and energy for blogging for fear of failure... I shall try! :)
We started back to school. Tboy is in kindergarten this year and had a rather difficult transition. You see, he was coming to the same school as Mama and Sister and so thought that (of course!) that meant he would get to see us, especially me, all the time. But in reality, it doesn't actually work that way. Our schedules don't match up at all. The only times I see him are Monday and Wednesday afternoons at choir and Friday mornings at Chapel. This made him sad, which is understandable and ok. What is not ok, is that he decided that the solution was to cry/scream very loudly so that I would hear him (in his mind, I couldn't in reality) and come to him. This didn't work, no matter how many times he tried it. So on day 6 of kindergarten, my baby was sent to the principal's office. After two days of going to bed right after dinner (and missing soccer practice the second day and reading books and snuggling both days before bed) something clicked and he realized that the crying wasn't working and so stopped. He has been well behaved ever since. Whew!
Tgirl is in 5th grade and her class is the "big guy" on campus. She has started playing basketball, is still dancing ballet, tried out and got into the school choir, hates math, and loves her teacher. TDaddy has been delighted with both her interest in basketball and the talent that she has shown. While she isn't the least bit aggressive with the ball and will have to learn to be more so on the court, she is a good shooter and has enjoyed herself so far. Hormones have begun flowing and we are now navigating the ... shall we say "interesting" waters of parenting a preteen.
Teaching a new grade level means lots of extra work day to day. As each new event, subject, time of year comes up I am starting from scratch researching and creating assignments, flyers, letters, visual aides, etc.
My maternal grandfather passed away. He lived a full life (he was 88), was in an increasing amount of pain in the last couple of years, and as he was a believer in and follower of Jesus he is now in a much better (pain-free) place. But we who loved him and are left behind for now miss him very much.
My dear sister-in-law gave birth to my kids' first cousin on my side of the family. It was a tough, long labor but my sweet little nephew is finally here! My brother and sister-in-law lost their first child to Trysalmy 18 (pretty sure I spelled that wrong) nearly 2 years ago and it has been a difficult road for them to travel (difficult to watch as well). Tnephew is a huge answer to many prayers!
These have been a few of the highlights of this last month...
Highs and lows...
While I hate to make any promises of renewed time and energy for blogging for fear of failure... I shall try! :)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
It's Almost School Time!!
Summer is definitely over!
I never did get my menu typed up on here last week. I made it last Saturday. But then Monday morning right before our first teacher meeting of the school year, my principal pulled me aside and told me that I would be teaching 3rd grade (I've taught 5th the last two years) in a new classroom, which is across the street from my old one.
So, to put it very mildly, it was a rather busy week. :)
Meetings galore, packing, moving, unpacking boxes, taking the boxes back across the street and packing them up again, and attending more meetings is what I have done all this last week. I never did get to the store to buy what was needed for what I planned for our dinners. Instead it was all about looking in the freezer and pantry and finding what I could that would be fast and easy.
TDaddy has been wonderful. Monday and Tuesday I picked the kids up from daycare, came home and started dinner and then he let me go back to school to work for a couple more hours. Wednesday I had to leave work early to take Tgirl to ballet. After inhaling fast food for dinner and driving all the way there (a 30 minute drive with lots of stop lights) we spent about 40 minutes in the bathroom with Tgirl having stomach cramps, that I think were due to eating food that was a bit too spicy too fast, we turned around and came home to go stand shivering in the cool wind and watch Tboy's soccer practice. Thursday and Friday were full days of meetings as my stress level has begun to rise. The shock of all that needs to be done in the next two weeks has worn off and now I am just feeling rather frazzled and not at all sure that I can get everything that needs to be done, done.
Welcome back to school! :)
I never did get my menu typed up on here last week. I made it last Saturday. But then Monday morning right before our first teacher meeting of the school year, my principal pulled me aside and told me that I would be teaching 3rd grade (I've taught 5th the last two years) in a new classroom, which is across the street from my old one.
So, to put it very mildly, it was a rather busy week. :)
Meetings galore, packing, moving, unpacking boxes, taking the boxes back across the street and packing them up again, and attending more meetings is what I have done all this last week. I never did get to the store to buy what was needed for what I planned for our dinners. Instead it was all about looking in the freezer and pantry and finding what I could that would be fast and easy.
TDaddy has been wonderful. Monday and Tuesday I picked the kids up from daycare, came home and started dinner and then he let me go back to school to work for a couple more hours. Wednesday I had to leave work early to take Tgirl to ballet. After inhaling fast food for dinner and driving all the way there (a 30 minute drive with lots of stop lights) we spent about 40 minutes in the bathroom with Tgirl having stomach cramps, that I think were due to eating food that was a bit too spicy too fast, we turned around and came home to go stand shivering in the cool wind and watch Tboy's soccer practice. Thursday and Friday were full days of meetings as my stress level has begun to rise. The shock of all that needs to be done in the next two weeks has worn off and now I am just feeling rather frazzled and not at all sure that I can get everything that needs to be done, done.
Welcome back to school! :)
A Visit to an Art Museum
Last Friday, the kids and I got to go see "The Birth of Impressionism" at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. It was so much fun!
Ok, so Tboy wasn't crazy about it, but he didn't hate it either. And if we hadn't had to wait in so many lines before we got in to see the paintings he would have done much better. As it was, he kept trying to sit down on the ground every time Tgirl and I stopped in front of a painting and I ended up giving him my iPhone to keep him busy so that he wouldn't start whining about wanting to leave.
One of the things that I liked most about the outing, besides how amazing it was to see the original of paintings that I have seen in books, on stationary, etc for most of my life, was watching Tgirl discover the art. She was fascinated by it and could have spent a lot more time standing looking at all of the paintings had I not been hurrying her along concerned her brother might explode.
I did learn how useful the audio guide it when visiting a museum. I hadn't been planning on renting one. They were $7 a piece and after buying the museum tickets, I just didn't think we needed to be throwing money all over the place. But as we stood in the second line waiting our turn (after standing in another line for nearly 45 minutes, including 30 minutes after our time of entry on our ticket) and my little natives were starting to get restless, I bought one audio guide and told them that we would all take turns listening to it and sharing it.
Which worked ok. Except, both kids were rather impatient with each other when it wasn't their turn.
So I bought another one. Each kid had their own and I just looked at the paintings. Then, when the boy gave up on the art and I gave him my phone, I got to listen to the audio guide and it was definitely worth it. I learned so much more, the narration definitely enhanced my experience. And from watching my girl honestly enjoying art that was made over 200 years ago, it was absolutely worth it.
So even though we got lost/missed our turn about 4 times on the way there and once on the way home (thanks to my horrible sense of direction - hooray for the GPS on my phone!) and the parking garage was full so we had to drive up and down the surrounding streets, trying not to get lost again and ending up having to walk rather a long way from the parking spot we ended up getting into the museum, it was a great outing and a wonderful experience!
Ok, so Tboy wasn't crazy about it, but he didn't hate it either. And if we hadn't had to wait in so many lines before we got in to see the paintings he would have done much better. As it was, he kept trying to sit down on the ground every time Tgirl and I stopped in front of a painting and I ended up giving him my iPhone to keep him busy so that he wouldn't start whining about wanting to leave.
One of the things that I liked most about the outing, besides how amazing it was to see the original of paintings that I have seen in books, on stationary, etc for most of my life, was watching Tgirl discover the art. She was fascinated by it and could have spent a lot more time standing looking at all of the paintings had I not been hurrying her along concerned her brother might explode.
I did learn how useful the audio guide it when visiting a museum. I hadn't been planning on renting one. They were $7 a piece and after buying the museum tickets, I just didn't think we needed to be throwing money all over the place. But as we stood in the second line waiting our turn (after standing in another line for nearly 45 minutes, including 30 minutes after our time of entry on our ticket) and my little natives were starting to get restless, I bought one audio guide and told them that we would all take turns listening to it and sharing it.
Which worked ok. Except, both kids were rather impatient with each other when it wasn't their turn.
So I bought another one. Each kid had their own and I just looked at the paintings. Then, when the boy gave up on the art and I gave him my phone, I got to listen to the audio guide and it was definitely worth it. I learned so much more, the narration definitely enhanced my experience. And from watching my girl honestly enjoying art that was made over 200 years ago, it was absolutely worth it.
So even though we got lost/missed our turn about 4 times on the way there and once on the way home (thanks to my horrible sense of direction - hooray for the GPS on my phone!) and the parking garage was full so we had to drive up and down the surrounding streets, trying not to get lost again and ending up having to walk rather a long way from the parking spot we ended up getting into the museum, it was a great outing and a wonderful experience!
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