part II

Well, the principle called me back to tell me that she felt it’d be better for big E to change art classes…I stewed on that for a moment. While she was explaining that “the class has a lot of problems, the students tend to be a little chaotic, I just think he’d benefit more from being in a different class.” After her generous offer, I couldn’t help but think logically and ask “is E getting his work done in the class?, does he seem to suffer from the chaos?” Over ½ of the year has passed, and he’s often told me about the problem students in that class (25 kids, and ONE art teacher) and yet, his artwork comes home completed and he can’t talk more positively about the fun he has doing the projects. The principle couldn’t answer my questions, and told me she’d check into it and call me back. While I understand 25/1 ratio must be challenging for the art teacher, I almost felt like the schools way of resolving the problem was to remove MY kid from the art class… what the freak?!! My kid didn’t cause the “damn” problem…

frustrated

You ever get frustrated and drop the “damn” or worse, “sh&%!”?? I do, I’m not too proud to admit this fault of mine. I have to be accountable when I do this, especially when it’s in front of my kids. I know this has it’s drawbacks because my 3yo heard me say “holy crap” when I slammed on brakes ONE TIME and ever since then he says “holy crat (he uses a T)” each time I tap my brakes if I’m having to do so in the city traffic. I’ll never live it down.

Which brings me to what happened today at school… Big E generally hops in the car and tells me all about his day. This particular day he says to me “so, in art class today we were working on our self-portriats and I was really working hard on mine… some of the kids weren’t listening to the teacher and he got really frustrated with them.” I said “how so?” and big E says “well, he said a bad word to the kids to make them listen”, I said, “hmm, which one, you have my permission to repeat it for this conversation only” and big E said “well, he said you kids aren’t listening to a damn thing I’m saying.” Then he went on about the rest of his day like it was no big deal…. But it was a big deal. One of my best friends is an elementary school teacher, another friend is a college teacher, and I even have a friend who teaches in highschool – all of which would tell me it can become very frustrating at times…. Even to the point of wanting to scream at the kids who just don’t show respect. But that doesn’t make it ok, and they’d be the first to say it.

I contacted the school, was put on the phone w/ the principle and I briefly told her that I was just a little surprised by what E told me…she said she’d have the teacher be in touch w/ me and she’d handle things on her end. I felt like a tattle tale, like a person ratting someone out… why? Because I did what I thought was right and in today’s world of ‘just leave well enough alone’ that’s not generally accepted! I told her I didn’t want a call from the teacher, but I did feel that my son deserved an apology, he deserved a grown up being a grown up and becoming accountable for their actions – because if it were MY kid who said damn in class… he’d have been put in ISS or suspended and held accountable. We’ll see where this goes…

too happy to sit

The song with the photo montage is one of my favorites by the Parachute Express for kids... so be sure to switch the music button ON!! We had a special playdate today with daddy at Frank Liske park!!

here comes the sun

Something we feel like we've missed around here... the sun and it's warmth! Me, Little J and Big E are all dealing w/ the cruds... but we decided to take an outdoor break today anyway.

Little J loves to splash rocks in the water over and over. He's so content here, just him with some rocks and the water, you'd never know he was around if it weren't for the occasional giggle of joy over the big splashes he makes with the rocks.

Big E loves looking for shells, he generally comes home with both pockets full of them... later those are what I may hear in my dryer.... HA



There was another family out on this cove feeding the geese. There had to be 20 or more geese and they would fly right over our heads. Before the camera battery died, I tried my best to get a few pictures. Most didn't turn out like I wanted. The one above has one bird catching a piece of bread mid-air.

flashback Friday

Photo was taken by yearbook staff my junior year. I look 12 in this photo and I'm totally rockin a perm.

Obviously I was a dedicated student....

Class = Geometry, and I passed with an "A" - thank you very much.....
Why was I sleeping???? Who knows, wasn't really a regular thing I did in school, so it really surprised me when they snapped this one of me.... maybe it was that I finished my test (and aced it, HA) before everyone else and I was just 'resting my eyes', had to have been the case {if you're reading this dad}. >wink wink<

Post a flashback over at Courtneys Blog!! Check out the others!!

green it up with recycling

We have been home bound for 4 days with our little guy during his yucky cold. We've been coming up with ideas to keep the indoors fun... so, this morning we did some recycling. We took all of our broken crayons and turned them into a new set of crayons!
I got the idea from here last year... My little guy had a blast helping me peel, break, and sort them for the baking. I followed these instructions for the most part, I changed my oven temp half way through the project to 275 degrees because after 35 min the crayons were not even 1/2 melted. I read somewhere else that you can use the silicone baking pans for more fun shapes. I may run and grab some heart shaped ones and do those for Valentines day! Just remember if you try this, the pan you use will forever be dedicated to crafts afterwards!

recycling

We have been home bound for 4 days with little J during his yucky cold. We've been coming up with ideas to keep the indoors fun... so, this morning we did some recycling. We took all of our broken crayons and turned them into a new set of crayons!

I got the idea from here last year... Little J had a blast helping me peel, break, and sort them for the baking. I followed these instructions for the most part, I changed my oven temp half way through the project to 275 degrees because after 35 min the crayons were not even 1/2 melted. I read somewhere else that you can use the silicone baking pans for more fun shapes. I may run and grab some heart shaped ones and do those for Valentines day! Just remember if you try this, the pan you use will forever be dedicated to crafts afterwards!

2nd Snow

Last night it snowed less then 1" and our schools are closed {that doesn't happen anywhere but in the south}.... I'm betting people made a mad dash to the grocery store last night to grab their milk, bread and eggs. Why is it that a snowy day is the only time the entire south pulls together to have a French Toast feast?

The roads in front of our house are clear as can be and the driveway seems to be a thin sheet of snow with no ice... Little J woke up feeling MUCH better and was super excited when he looked outside and saw the snow covered yard.

Big E's going to be happy, for a not so typical reason...he has a project in class that he needed more time on last night - we had to make him stop working on it last night because he had TaiKwon Do class... so he'll be thrilled to know he can use a little time today to finish up what he wanted to do!

I'm doubting there will be any snowmen out of this one, there's not even enough out there to make snow cream or snow balls for that matter...

The sun is shining across the white blanket on my yard, that coupled with the bright blue sky makes for a perfect morning to sip on coffee (after eating french toast of course), sit by the window and stare out at natures beauty.

the cruds

Little J has a case of the cruds... took him to the doctor yesterday, eyes swollen, face red, moderate fever for 3 days straight and just overall yucky. The first thing the doctor said was "this looks and sounds just like the flu".. UGH. Flu test was negative!!! YIPEE!!!

the skin under his little nose is just raw from all of the yuckies...

So, turns out it's just a really really cruddy cold! His little face looks miserable, his cough sounds almost croup like, he's sneezing on average 10-15 times per hour, poor appetite, etc. Here's where I brag about our kid: He IS in TERRIFIC spirits, which is amazing to us as well as the doctor. He is co-operating with the nasal bulb syringe for recovery of the yuckies, he's oddly accepting of the nasal drops he have to do before the suction... and taking meds each 4-6 hours with only a few "don't want to's"... I must say, (because this is the bragging portion of my post - where I'm ignoring the fact that many other kids probably act the same exact way HA) we could learn a thing or two about making the best of a yucky cold from him... what a little trooper.

Seems that some cuddle time recharges his batteries... sweet moments like these will soon be only a memory as he grows into a bigger boy, so even though he's been sick - we've been savoring the cuddles!!

Turning 3

I'm behind on posting. There's been alot of things going on for us.... I have so much to journal.... even started several posts and saved them.

For now - I wanted to post this photo montage of little J's 3rd year celebration(s). We actually celebrated Thursday morning, Thursday evening, and then again with more family over the weekend...

Happy Birthday to my little peanut. You continue to amaze us with your humble and cheerful personality.

{the music ON was not working - so give it a whirl by switching it ON - the song is so precious to me}