Update

Hi All, I haven't posted in a very long time... partially because I didn't know much I could post without offending those that I really really don't want to offend, while at the same time being authentic to myself. So I just stopped posting. Time to update though.

The summer was hard, but that isn't really news. We are still living with my in-laws, which is a huge help yet still very hard. Our marriage had some bumps. I worked the community lunches at our school (it's a federal program that provides free lunches to people under 18 years old for free) with my friend Nari. It helped to be able to have some kind of income until school started and it was a good preparation for when school actually started. We didn't venture any farther than thiry minutes away because we simply couldn't afford it.

The highlight of my summer? Well, that would have to have been the massage that I was able to get in June. I had given my dad a gift certificate for Christmas that he was not going to be able to take advantage of so he returned it to me so that I could use it. It was fabulous :)

School started on August 15th for Turbo (Preschool) and on August 18th for Missy and Goober. Because I'm an assistant at the school now I don't have to pay tuition for Turbo and he gets to stay all day until the other kids get out of school... which is a godsend because otherwise he would not be getting preschool due to cost and having him there until after school also makes me working more doable if Jer is able to find a job.

Oh, I can't remember if I updated on that or not. Jer found a job for a short time with a construction company that required that he live in Colorado until Sept. We tried it. It didn't work so well. So he came home and is now looking for a job again.

Anyways, back to me working. Right now I work for the charter school who provides our school with lunches. In the morning I get the number for lunches then prepare them and deliver and serve them to our school. After lunch I switch to assisting at the kids school until school gets out and then I switch back into lunch lady mode to input lunch balances, input figures into the computer, make reports (both daily and monthly), distribute fruits or vegetables to the classes for the Fruit and Vegetable Grant that our school got, and count the milk in the kindergarten room so that I can restock in the next morning for the Kindergarten Milk Snack Program. Then some days I switch modes again to PFA (remember that? It's like the PTO) President to do meetings for that etc.

Needless to say I spend a lot of time at the school and doing school type stuff.

The last couple of weeks were hard. Really hard. There wasn't enough time in the day to do everything that needed to be done for lunches (making lunch cards etc), the computer program at the school wasn't working right (the orders were not coming in on time or were not able to be input), the school changed the lunch schedule on me without letting me know (well, actually that was more the teachers than the school...), and then I had a teacher argue with me about how a student didn't get her lunch ordered and how that was somehow now my problem... oh, and did I mention that this was in front of at least 15 students while I was serving lunch? Then there was my assisting job that simply wasn't happening for a while... and the poor teacher that was putting up with it and my feeling like a failure in that department. Yeah. It was a swell week.

On top of that I came home to a house that was not mine, that my sister in law decided to stay at for the week as well, and that I have no personal private space in (though, don't get me wrong, I'm very VERY grateful to have a space to live at all... it's just really hard) and that I seem to be constantly offending someone in some way in...

Well, you get the point.

I miss feeling at home basically.

Now things are starting to chill out a little with school. I'm starting to get into a routine at least somewhat. I need to take a test for Math and English skills with the college sometime this month because I will be starting classes in January and need to register in October for those and hopefully Jer will get this job that he has applied for and passed a couple of screenings on.

So, that is the update. It's not very cheerful... but it is what it is. And I really am not trying to complain, but it's hard to say "life is hard" without sounding whiny. I'm just trying my best to buckle down and somehow do everything that I need to do to get through this. I can say that I'm very grateful that I have a loving and kind husband who doesn't moan about being a stay at home dad and running all sorts of errands etc for me, that put up with my long hours for those couple of weeks (hopefully these next few weeks will be a little less), and that is a really good dad. I know this is hard on him too, and I'm certain that at times I make things worse even when I don't mean to.

Our kids are clothed and have food and beds to sleep in and they have good teachers, I have a job that I can at least potentially leave when the kids get out for he day and that I can do partially from home if needed (at least the paperwork). I'm grateful for my in-laws and their generousity in putting up with us and for my parents and their generosity in trying to help us with letting the kids do fun things like dance class for Missy, going camping, and taking them sometimes so that we can get some time to wind down. I'm thankful for understanding friends who realize that I don't feel comfortable inviting them over socially unless I ask my in-laws first and who also understand that I also am reluctant to invite my children's friends from school over ... because, again, it isn't our house.

I'm grateful that our renters have paid their rent (so far) even if they are a little flaky and do pay late. I hope that we don't have to evict them for not paying certain utilities... but if we do... well, maybe Jer will get that job, eh? And maybe we could move back into our own house... maybe, but I'm not counting on it... Wishful thinking, eh? Well, you have to hope for something... right?

PS. My camera is having issues as well, so sorry... no pictures. Fuzzy fuzzness is not fun to look at lol

Here's the lowdown...

So, as Jer and I prepare for the worst we have come to some conclusions...

First, we need to rent our house out.

If the market were better we would try to sell it, but as it stands we would have to sell it at a loss... which is technically considered a short-sale. And it dings your credit. So for now we will be moving into Jer's parents basement. This is the most reliable way that we can see of being able to continue playing our house payments while I look for work.

Yes, that's right. I'm going back to work. I've applied to a temp service with the hopes of finding a job I can not just tolerate, but which I can enjoy. Hopefully something great will come my way.

If you are wondering what Jer will be doing, well...

He's going to go back to school.

He wants to go into computer tech. I'm glad he has a goal and something he can see himself doing :) And I hope that after we get through all of this we will be in a better place all around!

And who knows!? Maybe when we are all done we will truly be able to say "I understand" when the other complains about the monotony of housework or about a long week at work!

In the end, I have to think it's all for the best.

PS if you hear of any clerical or office jobs that are hiring... that's what I'd like to end up doing :)

Goober at School

So yesterday in Goobers "take home folder" I found some pictures of him that his teacher sent home. I think these are great! They also show how a Montessori school is different from a regular school so I'm posting them!

See the big smile above? Yeah, that's awesome for me to see! His work mat is behind him, I think he is working on his grammar, but I'm not sure cause the area of the classroom he is in focuses on math (which is his favorite subject).

Here Goober is sitting at his table with some other kids in his class. It looks like they are all supposed to be working on language and spelling. The kids are allowed to work in groups and help each other, everything is not based on grades but more on the fact that you are learning and working hard, even if you are learning from the other kids (which builds good teamwork skills and encourages kids to not be ashamed of asking for help if they need it even if the teacher is currently helping someone else)

We have parent teacher conferences this week, I'm excited to see how both of my kids are doing. :)

This is Goober reading during "Read aloud time". I thought it was "circle time", but Goober just informed me not. But because I know more about "circle time" I'm going to explain that! lol

They do circle time at the beginning of class, right before lunch, and at the end of the day. At the beginning of the day they go over roll (one of the kids takes roll), they go over what the weather is going to be like that day (again, another child is in charge of that), what the date is, and what the lesson plan is for the day.

Most of circle time is lead by a student, the only time it's not is when the kids are having a really hard day or the teacher does reading time (they have read Laura Inglis Wilder and after they were done they made bread as a class and talked about things that people used to do back when pioneers were coming to the west).

I love Goober's teacher, she is wonderful and does an excellent job working with him, and I SO love the school, it really is a Godsend for my kids.

Our School

I'm so happy! They redid our schools website! It looks 5 thousand times better and I'm excited to see when all the info is put into it :)

Tonight I get to be on a question and answer panel (whatever that entails... all I know is that I'm the  "parent" on the panel). I guess the panel is going to be after we have a Montessori Expert Speak... interesting, I guess we had her fly in from... um, somewhere that's not here, I can't remember lol.

She's supposed to be good and it's open to the public :) Come join us if you want! it's at 7pm at the Shilo Inn.

Telling Stories

Goober decided to read a story to his siblings this morning! :) So glad his reading skillz are getting better and that he is getting more confident.

In other news: They were supposed to have school Monday and Tues but it's been canceled due to potential weather narstys...

Also... I made out like a bandit... you know that couponing thing? Ya well take THIS:

$25.90... oh, and I forgot to include a fifth bottle of dish soap in there... yup, once in a while I DO figure the stuff out. :)

Oh No, what did I get myself into?

Somehow I've ended up being the PFO (think PTO) President at a brand new school without any experience in anything PTO ever....

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

PS, this happened today.

Math!

Okay, I admit as a kid I did say I didn't like math... probably because all the other girls said they hated math. But honestly, I liked it. No one could mark an answer wrong if it was right... very black and white.

Goober likes math too. For homework each night we are supposed to do reading for 15 minutes and "math facts" for 5 minutes. I bought him a workbook because I'm bad at remembering to HAVE him do math, let alone think up things for him to do. I should have probably just bought him flashcards, but he really seems to enjoy his workbook.

This is the page he did today:

yes, it is counting by twos, but it's really BIG numbers (for him) and Jer and I were able to help the logic click for him as far as when to change the bigger numbers.

 999
 +_1
1000

with all of the "carry the one over here... and add it to here...."s

Now, I have to admit, I don't know where the rest of the worlds 7 year olds are at... but I was pleased he was able to figure it on his own after a bit! You should have seen him beaming! :)

I'm glad he likes math! I would hate to have to fight him not only on reading but math too...

SCHOOL!!!

So Saturday was the schools openhouse :) And then today Goober and Lissy took off for the big first day!

And yes, I'm aware that these don't look much like "first day" pictures... I think it's the lack of backpacks, but HEY no backpacks means no daily homework... and I'm ALL FOR that! :)

And in other recent news, we are "trying out" a dog for a couple of days. Here, meet Whiskey... he's a mutt, but a pretty nice one and he isn't going to grow any more... I do have to brush him and if we keep him I'm going to have to cut his hair too. Sooooo we shall see....

Only 4 more days....

Until the kidlets go to school! I love them to death and honestly I'm used to having them around by now (you know, summer and all that jazz), but their friends went back to school a couple of weeks ago which leaves my kids somewhat bored with each other....

Which leads to bickering and other expressions of boredom.

So, needless to say, I'm ready for school to start. It starts Monday and while I'll be sad to have so much less time with Goober, it will be nice to have a little respite from the fighting.

I'm looking forward with some one on one time with Turbo and a little bit of freedom to do things. After all, it is MUCH easier to load up one kid than it is to convince all three to go run errands with me! And this year I don't have to worry about homework (outside of reading for 15 minutes a day) because of the style of school they are going to go to.

At first Goober was upset that he wouldn't be getting a new backpack... then when I told him that he didn't need one because he wouldn't have any homework he yelled "YES!!!! NO HOMEWORK!!!"

Ya, I think that won him over... hopefully the actual school will win him over as well!

I'm also looking forward to the school schedule, while I've been getting the kids up at the school time this last week, it is taxing because they are tired and then I don't have a designated place to take them to so I get to deal with the "tireds". Hopefully they will adjust enough by next week to not be total pains to their teachers.

Anyhow... that is what has been up with me lately. I would have posted sooner about something in the news, or thoughts, or SOMETHING! But my brain is fried from getting up early to exercise and get the kids up, the news has been slow and pretty boring to me lately, and frankly I can't think of anything else to post!

PS we had our family pictures retaken on Tuesday... I'm excited to see how they turn out :)

Sorry I've been slacking.

I've been remarkably tired lately... and when I'm not and think "I should do a blog post" I then immediately think "about what?!" lol

So here is what has been up with me. This Tuesday I get to go in for my Bronchoscopy, something that has made my exercise streak die quickly :( Sucky, right when I get used to it too! (Now to muster the will power to start it all back up again!) Then later that day I get to take Missy to the eye doctor...

I'm kind of wondering what to think about that one... I mean, when we went to the pediatrician for the annual exam they tried to get her to tell them the letters on the wall. Now, if any of you knew Missy, you would know she can be a bit flaky. Be that because that is in her personality, or because she is five, I don't really know... nor care for that matter. She's cute and I love her! But it does make it difficult to tell if she is intentionally answering wrong, or if she just doesn't care enough to answer right... OR that she really can't see very well.

So I made sure to make her an appointment with a pediatric eye doctor here in town so that (hopefully) we can rule out the "flakys" as the reason she didn't do well at the pediatricians eye test.

Thursday I get to go to an orientation for Missy's Kindergarten class... which should be interesting, but I'm not really sure if I should take her with me or not... and then that same night I'm doing a neighborhood BBQ in front of my house.

I put out fliers yesterday but apparently the post man decided he needed to take some of them when he came around for the mail. YES... I know.... I shouldn't be putting fliers in mailboxes... But what would you do if you had 300 fliers to deliver and didn't want to spend all day doing it? I'm sorry Mr. Mailman, but you of all people should know how much more time that takes... and the fact that I'm not getting paid to deliver these things kind of makes me think... Meh! Mailboxes look good!

Besides, I don't think I will be doing another neighborhood watch activity for a while... if the neighborhood wants to put together something before next spring someone else can do it, especially if the turnout to this event is low. One meeting a year is starting to look really good about now...

Goober has a new friend he has found... Mr A is a neighborhood kid that grates on Jer's nerves like nothing else lol  He also is almost 10 years old, which concerns me in some ways. I wonder if he wants to play with Goober because Goober has video games or because he really likes Goober. So today I told Goober he gets to play video games for 2 hours... and those hours are not when friends are here.

Goober didn't like that much, but I really don't know how else to test the reasons for why this kid is around. His little sister is Missy's age though... and the girls get along well and nothing seems amiss there.

We will see what happens when the neighbor kids all go back to school on the last day of this month. I'm a little worried about my own kids boredom though, they aren't starting school until Sept 20th... I may see what I can do doing a review of the things they know so that they aren't so rusty when school starts. I have to admit that as far as reading with Goober and practicing letters with Missy I've been a horrid mother this summer... so I should probably be trying to do some make up work! :)

I haven't been watching the news much due to too little good news. Most of the news related things I think about tend to be things like "Oh great, Iran with Nuclear power... sounds bad... wow, isn't bad what is normal in the news?" So I scan the headlines and call it good lately. No deep thoughts there.... and I haven't been reading my regular blogs much either due to the major blogs recently being inundated with butt heads. What is up with that?!

Oh! Speaking of blogs, Jer and I went down to UT last week to meet up with some of my favorite bloggy people. We left the kids with Jer's mom and took a detour through Bear Lake to pick up one of the ladies :) It's so nice when you meet people you get along well with! It's funny how much you can have in common with people you have only talked to online!

Anywho, That is that I guess...

Oh, and here's a picture... just for kicks and giggles... 

 You would be amazed at how much fun kids can have with a hose and a slide :)

Holy School Supplies Batman!

What in the WORLD am I going to do when I have THREE kids in school....

Is it just me, or does everyone think that a swanky job would be public school administration? I mean, come ON... that MUST be where the tax money goes... since it isn't getting to the teachers....  

Now, as to why that same tax money can't buy copy paper for the copying machine or tissues (which I don't even keep around my own home.... TP anyone?) for the classrooms gets kind of frustrating.

I mean, sheesh, here pretty quick the Tax cuts from several years ago will expire and most likely we will end up with new taxes to try to balance the national budget. I don't know where I'm going to get the money for supplying the whole school with office supplies!

Hoping it will start to feel like summer...

before I have to start doing school shopping.

Last weekend I went to Boise for a Bloggersnacker with some of the FMH women... it was an all weekend long thing where you bring yourself and stuff to spend the night and of course some munchies. It was really fun and I really wished I could stay all weekend long, but alas I had to be home by Saturday night due to the Neighborhood Watch BBQ that I was in charge of. So I ended up leaving the delightfully hilarious FMH ladies with whom I wish I had gotten a chance to know better, really early in the morning (well, really early if you have stayed up till 2 the night before...) in order to get back to IF in time for the BBQ without konking out on the long (and might I say BORING) drive home alone from Boise.

The BBQ turned out okay I guess. At the moment I'm rather frustrated with my neighborhood. They say they will support you in something and then don't follow through. I'm having a bit of difficulty finding anyone willing to make it so that if I NEED to skip an event I can... and needless to say, donations toward the signage are going rather slow. Honestly there are a lot of houses in our neighborhood, and all it would take is 20 of them donating $5 to get the signs up... Ya, it's going slow, and I must say I'm rather underwhelmed. If I don't start seeing more support from my neighbors I think that I may just come to the conclusion that most of them aren't interested in having a neighborhood watch (some are interested in it mind you! just not many) and I will bag it. It's not worth the time and effort working on things that people aren't interested in or willing to support. Let alone the fact that I'm having everything translated into Spanish and not ONE Spanish speaker has shown up to either of the events. Why am I doing this if no one is benefiting? I regretted not staying at the Bloggersnacker in Boise.

Monday I went to the Chiropractor and got my back adjusted, then Wednesday I called and canceled further appointments until I can afford them. Started to seriously consider going back to school... and was going to start looking into it yesterday but got distracted somehow. Which happens often do to the kids asking to go do something like this:

 or this:

:) They are sweet and I love them to death....

Today is the last day of Goober's Summer School. He was behind in reading so they asked if he would do summer school, which actually I would prefer simply because me keeping a schedule for him and I reading to each other is a bit of a mess... and often doesn't happen. I know.... bad mom. Anywho, with summer school he was less likely to get any farther behind than he already was so I jumped for it.

Well, today is the last day, and I had a Dermatologist appointment to get to this morning. I didn't realize that Goober was likely to get out early today until he told me last night. So I let him skip out on school, because honestly, I was worried he would come home when I was gone to my appointment and totally freak out. My friend Erin watched them while I went to my appointment.

I love having friends that I trust with my kids and that I don't feel like I'm imposing on when I do. Plus, she has dogs... which Turbo HATES, but which are good for him because he really needs to learn to be okay with them. Erin is sweet and manages to keep him untraumatized. They are sweet dogs too, so he has absolutely no reason to be afraid....now I just wish he would internalize that!

The doctor froze off two spots on my skin so now I have ouchness, but I'd rather that than cancer... Thankyouverymuch. Fair skin can suck.

So anyways, June was nuts and I felt like I hardly had a moment to think let alone relax! Hopefully July will be better and I will find that the kids don't pick on each other to the point that my sanity goes out the window. I really need to look into when the Library does "reading time" and when the pools next session of lessons are even though I'm not terribly sure we can afford it this year. It's a safety thing though, so I really really WANT to afford it for them.

Tomorrow our family is going to my parents house for our annual fireworks! My parents get fireworks for the group, we have a BBQ then light them off, when they are done we move to the back yard and watch their little towns fireworks because the view is really good :) It's wonderful to be able to do that, if my kids get too droopy I can always go lay them down inside! As always the weekend of the 4th is always a bit insane, this year our city is moving the celebration from the 4th to the 3rd because the 4th is on a Sunday (don't ask me... I don't really get why celebrating our Independence is not Sabbath worthy... ) so because of that my parents little town moved theirs to the 2nd because they don't want to have to compete with the bigger city (now, I DO get that).

I don't know if we will be going to the parade or not... mainly because if the kids are up late the night before they may be a major handful the next morning, but we will see. I would really like to go.

Anyhow, that is that.... as they say. Oh! and I taught myself how to do a 4 strand braid. Yay me! lol

What is Modest?

Okay, so a little background.

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while know that I've been exploring what I feel I believe with regards to religion and other things.

Some would call what I have been doing lately "rebellious","careless", or just downright "confusing"... depending on where you are coming from personally. I call it "trying to find out if I am what I am because someone told me to be, or because I truly believe it."

Yes, I've been drinking Tea *gasp* and wearing tank tops when I work in the yard *oh the horror*... and then there is that purple in my hair.... :)

Because of all of my "exploring" I'm finding myself looking at things in a whole new light. A different light. One that doesn't see Tea as a grievous sin, but as a healthy drink that has less caffiene than most colas (we are talking Green Tea here... you know, the stuff that is full of anti-oxidants and helps to suppress appetite so that you can loose weight. Call it justifying or whatever you want, but with my Insulin Resistance I really shouldn't be drinking sugar choked Hot Chocolate every morning, and I like something warm to help wake me up). I also no longer see showing my shoulder as something that may cause other people ie men, to think "unclean thoughts" about me.

So night before last I went to a Parent Orientation for the Charter School that I have my kids enrolled in next year. It was very informative and makes me excited for the Fall and (hopefully) all the good this school will do for my kids.

One part of the meeting was on what the kids should wear. They have decided that the kids will wear solid color polo shirts (any color) and dark blue, black, or khaki colored pants. The pants can be jeans (Horrah!), but they need to be dark colored jeans. As they were discussing this they were talking about sleeve length on the shirts...

"Is it okay to have long sleeves in the winter?" asked on parent.

"Yes, that is fine. Short or Long sleeves... as long as it's a solid colored polo shirt and isn't sleeveless. We want to make sure the clothes are modest."

Now, I know most Mormons in this area would think nothing of this exchange... and I understand that. They have been taught since they were young that sleeveless is "immodest". But to someone who is a non member or disenfranchised with the Church this screams LDS.... and I will tell you why.... where else outside of church do you hear the word "modesty" or "modest"? I'd be willing to bet not many places.

"They gave us a modest estimate on the house"... mostly in reference to things that are not done to an extreme.

Hate to say it... tank tops are not extreme... I could see the argument that halter tops or tube tops are. Really I can... heck! One wrong move and the girls can come out the play! Yikes! But when you see a nice womens business suit and the top is sleeveless does it really make you immediately think the outfit is skanky? In the past it would make me immediately think "Op, can't wear that!" and then I would go on... but never that the outfit didn't look nice.

So, to some, by indicating that sleeveless shirts are immodest... it appears to be a religious issue, not a "modesty" issue. And by default it seems to say "People that wear sleeveless shirts are immodest" and can be offensive. And it can imply not so good things about the speaker... one of the synonyms of "modest" is, after all, "prudish"...

Now, just to be clear, I wasn't offended by the exchange, though I have to admit that I did cringe a little for the thought that many people that are vehemently opposed the the LDS viewpoint might have an adverse reaction.

Sometimes wording can say a whole lot more than you intend it to say...

I think I must be missing something....

Last night I went to a board meeting for my kids soon to be new school. It was very interesting and answered a lot of questions I had. I'm excited to see how they do with the Montessori teaching method.

As the meeting went on someone asked the board members why they were in the position they were, basically what qualifications they had. It was interesting to listen to many of them list degrees and past jobs etc. There were also two new board members voted in, one of whom I know from high school. The one I know is currently working on his PHD and already has a MBA and a Masters in something else.

He is my age. Literally graduated the same year I did.

As I look around at the people that surround me in life I start to realize I have about zero qualifications to make it in the "real world". Sure, I have an associates degree.... but it's in "Floral Design Management". If that isn't a "fluff degree" I don't know what is. I have worked as an office assistant ie "gopher girl", as a florist, and as an order filler for a local music company. If someone was looking for a leader in any way I would probably be the last on their list by the look of my resume.

Maybe if I had worked on college when Jer and I were newly wed... maybe if I had let Jer be the stay-at-home dad instead of me staying home. I know he would have been awesome. I'm starting to think that many of my choices when I was younger were just plain dumb... and not only that, I think they took away opportunities for both Jer and I in this life.

I would so love to go back to school. I really would. It would be so nice to get a BA and have that sense of accomplishment. Or to learn something really cool in a field that I really enjoy. To be an example to my children of what I want them to be able to be... basically whatever they want to be and not settling for anything.

Now, I'm not saying that I settled on being a stay a home mom. I'm very grateful that I can do that. I wouldn't want anyone but Jer or myself raising our children! It's just that sometimes I wonder if we wouldn't all have been happier if I hadn't just done what my religious culture had told me to. If I had only realized that happiness sometimes requires much more than having children.

I love my children dearly. I also love my dreams and want to see the possibility that some day they might come true. Right now I don't see a way, and that really sucks. How do people DO school, work, and family and actually keep food on the table?

I keep looking around myself and wondering "I must be missing something" and "Am I failing at this?"

End of School Program...

or as I see it "Our bribe to get you to vote FOR the bond", because, lets face it... elections were yesterday too.

That being said, Goober was so cute! He was so excited to see me, Missy, Turbo, Grandma J, AND Grandpa J there. You really should have seen his smile and how excitedly he waved. What a cutie!

PS Turbo was really pissed that Goober couldn't "Come wif us!". I had to put him down for a short nap as soon as we got home.

School!

Okay, so I know school is almost out for the summer, which I'm excited for as well and a little worried about lol have to find out when swim lessons are this summer!

This summer Goober will be in summer school for a month for Title 1 reading help. I know with the change in everyones schedule that I probably won't be so good at making sure he reads and I don't want him to loose all the progress he has made this year! My mom is awe-some and is willing to take him while we are out of town for a week this summer (really, could I ask for a better mom?! I don't think so!)

All this year Missy has totally resisted learning much (unfortunately) but it IS preschool, so at least that is some comfort... she refuses to learn how to spell her name (or work on it at all with me) and her teacher says she needs to work on using scissors. I'm hoping that bribery with gummy bears and some help from her older brother might help. Considering this, I'm also hoping that a different teaching method might help.

Recently it was advertised that there is going to be a new Montessori style charter school starting in our area. I applied for both of the older kids and got them both in! One of my friends husbands did the design on the building (it won't have grass on the top though) and I drove by the other day and the tractors are going, getting that baby up and ready to go come this fall. I'm excited, but I little worried because it will be it's first year running and of course everyone will be scrambling to get things into smooth running order... I hope everything falls into place quickly. I looked at the committees they still need help on and don't see that I'm qualified for where they need help. I think I will offer to be a willing body, even if it is just to run out and get coffee and donuts lol.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the changes!

I Refuse to Shovel the Walks!

Usually I'm all for it, Usually I like the peace and quiet it brings...

Today I just want to give Old Man Winter the bird and walk off in a huff.

It snowed 4 inches last night, the wind is blowing and school has been canceled for three different districts in the area... it's the first "snow day" this school year and wouldn't you know it? I put away all the snow stuff last week. Grrrr.

Oh well, it will be nice to have Goober home and to have a reason to just sit around (outside of just being lazy lol).

In other news... I met my trainer this morning (yes I made it there, I was surprised I didn't get stuck) and she says that I have lost 6 inchs and 10 lbs in the last month!!! Wooooot! I'm leet!

Sent home? Really?

Okay, so the last little while all of my kids have had a bit of a cough. With Missy and Turbo it was accompanied by a runny nose, but Goober hasn't struggled with that so much.

This morning Goober woke up with a cough (not surprised, didn't expect it to disappear over night) and we got ready for school.

I figured that I had woken up with a cough too, and had coughed for a short while (due to a dry throat) and then it died down somewhat... though didn't completely disappear. I figured Goober probably had the same issue. So I sent him out to the bus stop and proceeded to wait for my mom to show up to watch the other kids so I could go get my biweekly beating see my trainer.

After going to the gym to drip on the equipment a bit, I headed home and found my mom and kids gone... they had gone to pick up Goober from school.

Apparently the school called to ask someone to come get him because he has a cough.

Kinda odd really. I mean, I could see it if he was hacking up a lung, but he's not. And he had the same cough yesterday... and they didn't send him home then...

Anyhow, of course I let him stay home, though I wasn't so mean as to make him take a nap (which I would usually do if he were to stay home from school). I did tell him he couldn't play with friends today though... cause, you know, if the school sent him home maybe it's do to worrying about the other kids?

So he had a good day off playing with his siblings, playing on the wii, and watching movies... and occasionally coughing.

I wonder if they sent more than just him home today? Cause if they did, it was probably about half of the class...

Bus Trauma

So, yesterday was a bit of a ringer, and the fact that it was a Monday really didn't help.

First things first, Goober missed the bus. I admit it was partially my fault, but I'll also say the bus came early (I later found out that it had a substitute driver, so that was probably why). Anywho, I had to wake up his siblings and bundle everyone up to load in the van to drive him the 2 minutes to school. I'm so glad that Missy didn't choose to be an uber grump like she often is when I wake her up in the mornings. If the path between home and school didn't involve a 50 mph road that needed to be crossed I would have made him walk. But alas, this is why they even HAVE a bus route near our house.

The time between going to school and coming home was exhausting. Not because the kids were all that bad, but because it's that time of the month. Best. Time. Ever. I'm exhausted and my Christmas shopping isn't done yet!

Goobers school day was a short day, due to something about teachers needing time to work during school hours or something. Not entirely sure actually. Happens once a month and seems kinda odd. They never did it when I was a kid, but HEY! they have changed a lot since I was a kid. School providing breakfast is one of them.

So about the time Goober is supposed to be getting home I hear the bus and watch for him to get off. EB is napping, I just put him down no more than a half hour ago.

Goober doesn't get off the bus.

So I sigh, cause I'm tired, and go to the phone to call the school. No sooner do I get a message left on the schools machine than Goober walks in the door. ?? He tells me he "tricked" the bus driver into thinking he wasn't there when it was his turn to get off. Ahhh! Thank GOODNESS he let them know he was there soon enough they could stop and let him off near enough to home that it wasn't a problem.

I got after him, because he has been hiding and such from adults quite often to "trick" them and it worries the SNOT out of me. He hides from his dad every night when he hears the garage door go up signaling he is home. Jer doesn't even acknowledge it anymore because it is so standard. I've told Goober that it's not fun when he does it every night, that one of these times Goober is going to get upset cause dad doesn't look for him. He hides from me at his grandparents house (at the most inopportune times), and now apparently he has taken to hiding from the bus driver.
How do you explain to a six year old that in most cases, hiding from adults is not an intelligent thing to do? Unless of course it is someone that is trying to hurt them. It mostly just irritates adults, it's not fun.

After all of that, I realize he isn't wearing his backpack. I ask him where it is...

It's on the bus.

Grrrrrrr Mama Bear Almost Makes Her Debut....

So for the past week or so Goober has been telling me about kids teasing him at school.

I was thinking on the playground mostly, where there are teachers and duties. Turns out it's at the bus stop in the morning when there aren't any teachers or parents around. I gave Goober advice about trying not to care about what they think, that if he is going to care about what people think they should be his friends and family. People that are around him all the time. I talk to him about ignoring them and pretending like they aren't there. Because I know that the bigger reaction they get the more they will tease.

So this morning I sent Goober out to the bus stop and stood at the door and watched.

Can I just say, some kids are really stupid?

Did they not think I could hear them taunting him and laughing from across the street? really? REALLY? He did a great job in trying to ignore them. Needless to say I was pissed. But I also don't want to make the problem worse, and with how pissed I was I knew I probably would. So what did I do?

I sent Jeremy over there.

Turns out it's three kids (all the other kids at the bus stop pointed out which kids they were, Jer thanked the kids that told for being nice). Isn't it kinda odd, the kids that are teasing are a chubby blonde girl, a short pale kid, and a Hispanic kid. Now, the Hispanic kid probably isn't teased very much simply because half of the school or more is Hispanic, but the chubby one and the runty one probably are (or were) a lot.

Jer basically just asked them why they thought it was okay to tease Goober... to which there was no reply, just cowering. Then he told them that we know they live near here and it wouldn't be hard to find their parents and talk to them if the teasing continued. The response ... silence... (it does seem that the cowards are usually the bullies). Jer then asked them "Okay?" to which they sheepishly nodded.

I really hope that fixes that. I know it will do one of two things, I will either make the problem abate, or it will get worse and we will be talking to parents.

Oh the joys of elementary school.