Leap Day

I thought when I woke up today that today is like an extra day. One you wouldn't normally have. One that should be special in some way. I wondered what I would do with a special day. I thought that maybe we should take the day off and spend it as a family doing something special. I thought that would be really fun to make it a tradition (if we can remember in 4 years that it IS a tradition) and do something special. As I said good bye to the kids, put my shoes on and grabbed my coffee, I thought that today should be filled with special things. Maybe I should make something. Maybe I should celebrate the day doing something fun in the classroom with my students. Maybe we could do something as a school. I arrived at school a few minutes late and I mentioned to another teacher that today should be fun and special and we should do something neat today. She agreed with me and I went into my classroom and prepared for the day. (logged into my computer and checked my email...)The kids came and went 3 times before lunch and then came and went another 3 times. The last group I just watched the clock as I taught. I couldn't wait to leave. After they left, I grabbed my lunch bag, coat and keys and out the door I went. Grocery store and then home to fix dinner and take a shower. Now I sit here and I have not done anything special with my extra day. I think I need a do over...

There is something wrong...

WAY wrong!

Look at my weather girl. What person in their right mind would be out in THAT outfit in the rain and in 61 degree weather? 61 and rainy is downright cold. It is not weather for wearing a short sleeved shirt with the belly showing. Am I right or am I right?

Derby Update

My son took fourth in the district today for the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He was very proud of himself and he is already talking about his car for next year. AND so is my husband. We had a bit of an upset today at the Derby.

Last year we sat next to the family who won for the age group. I sat chit chatting with the mom who seemed very nice. She gave a few hints about wheel polishing with a paper bag and that she would sit while watching tv and polish wheels at night. I said that the men were more into this than some of the kids and she agreed. What I didn't know what that she was holding a secret from all of us. The boy had used that same car as the year before. They asked her at one time while I was sitting there if it was the same car and she said no it was a different one. What I didn't know what that they pulled her son aside and asked him to and said, "scout's honor is this the same car that you used last year? " The boy's face changed like he had been caught and he looked at his mom and then turned to the judge and said, "it is a different car." Come to find out it was the same car as the year before.

So this year, I spied her right away recognizing her from last year and knowing that she was a big contender. Her son sat right next to her and her husband rotated around the room. They had another son competing in another age group this year. They both (both boys) had an identical car this year but different weight placement from last year. I noticed the car right away and guessed it was theirs and from the face of the son (who we were competing against) when he won his first heat it was definitely his. What I also noticed right away was that he was running on three wheels, which is illegal in our district. The car was FAST! Nicholas's car never ran against him in the beginning heats but we could tell from the electronic finish line that we were a close competitor this year. Of course, my husband had to mention something to the judges that the car was running on three wheels and they immediately took the car out for inspection. They later brought the car back into the race and it continued with the rest of the cars. It was much faster than the other cars racing, seeming to have an unfair advantage. My husband kept questioning the car to the officials and at the end of the race when this car took first place and Nicholas had come in fifth, the officials decided to take the car apart and inspect the axles and the wheels from the inside. They had used aftermarket axles that they had grooved and they coned a wheel so that they were not only running on three wheels but one other wheel wasn't touching the track with all its tread. They had three places where they were cheating according to the rules of the district. They disqualified the car from the race. Hmmm....

Come to find out the district has been trying to get this family on cheating for a couple years now and finally they were able to do it. The race director thanked my husband for being bold enough to question the car and he said that another boy had said something too about it. We felt good about that.

But every happy ending has a dark cloud in there somewhere right? Well this story is no different. The part that we didn't like was that the boy who's car was disqualified was in hysterics because he didn't win. He was upset and visibly so. The biggest part that bothered me was that his parents who built the car for him cheated and because of that the boy couldn't participate in a fun wholesome activity. The boy was disqualified because his parents chose to cheat and risk getting caught. How can a parent risk that for their son? I would much rather lose the race (like we did) and console my son for losing but having an honest car. It is aweful to win a race and then upon post race inspection get disqualified for his parents cheating. That to me is just not good role models.

I sure hope that in this event today two things come out of it. One his parents never do that again. I doubt that will happen but I sure hope so. And two, my husband and I remember this and continue to be well aware that our actions must always be honorable and honest for our children to learn from. This, I know, will happen!

I have to say Nicholas learned a lot from this experience. He saw the boy and he saw the father, who I might mention was very angry at my husband for outing him and his son, so much my husband thought the father might meet him in the parking lot. Nicholas learned that cheaters never win and do get caught. Nicholas learned that the honorable thing to do is follow the rules. And Nicholas learned that winning isn't everything. He was a gracious loser like usual. He was proud that his car had come so close to winning as it usually doesn't when he goes to districts. Plus he had fun competing against two of his friends!

Photo of the Day

Go ahead ... comment away....

To pox or not to pox that is the question...

Okay a bit corny but bear with me. Tuesday, my middle one came to me and said the nurse at school put some anti-itch creme on her arm for her bug bites. I asked her to show them to me and they were four big bites that looked like mosquito bites. For her they get big and swollen and they scab over usually at the site of the bite. We didn't think much of it and then the next day she said she had more. She showed me that she was bitten on her belly too. I forgot about it later, the bad mom I am and Thursday she had them on her legs, back, belly, both arms and one on her chin. Well, I woke up with these and thought hmmm....maybe it is in her bed. I stripped her bed down and pulled out all her clothes that were on the floor. I looked under the mattress for signs of bugs or ugh bed bugs... nothing... whew.

That night I tucked her in and looked again and thought maybe they are chicken pox and her body is reacting funny to them and causing them to be bigger than normal. I looked it up on the internet and found that often they look like bug bites and get a little white puss in the middle and then pop and scab over. Sounds a lot like what is going on here. My better half and I talk and decide to look at them in the morning and call the doctor. The next morning they are still there and she has another one too. We call and get an appointment. We send her to school and I go to work and as I am sitting there I start to feel very guilty that we sent her to school contageous with a highly transferable disease. I call the nurse attendant who just happens to be my hubby's aunt and she takes one look at her and tells me to come get her.

On my way to pick her up I call the doctor's office again and ask to get an earlier appointment and tell them that she may have chicken pox. They then tell me not to bring her and to treat her for them at home. I told them I wanted a difinitive diagnosis and I wanted her seen and by the way doesn't the CDC want a diagnosis and a count and aren't they doing a disservice to all the classmates who need to know if a child has been sitting in their class touching their pencils with this disease? The nurse then says to bring her in before they reopen for the afternoon appointments. Basically, please come when there aren't any patients around. They then said to tell the office worker to send you straight back to the examining rooms. Okay.

So we get there and she doesn't have the pox, she has HIVES! The doc asks if there was anything that we changed recently, foods, drinks, soaps, shampoos, detergents..... YES!!! my husband thought it would be okay to buy the generic brand of laundry detergent and I did laundry last weekend. Yes most of her clothes were in the wash and yes they were washed with the generic detergent. The doctor said that it was most likely what was causing the hives and that they have been coming on gradually all week because she has been wearing the clothes freshly washed all week.

Final answer? Benadryl and rewash all the clothes I washed last week, including all towels, bedsheets and anything that she will come into contact with.

Thanks honey for trying to save a penny....

Hello Mickey Here We Come

For all those scared of the big-eared mouse don't read on. For all those who love Mickey you can read away.

This morning my husband asked me what I wanted to accomplish today. Granted I have not felt my 100% in the past couple days and ended up at the doctors office last night, I lessened my goals. I told him that I wanted to get the laundry done (another story all together) and I wanted to clean the floors, wash, vacuum, or dust/sweep as needed. I said it should only take a little while and I wanted to sew together the three fleece blankets that I have been walking over in our room. Apparently he had a different priority.

After he had finished breakfast and while I was still eating he pulled his laptop onto the table and proceeded to sign on to Disney.com. Then he says to me where do I go to get the reservations for this year. I show him and he fumbles a bit and then next thing I know I have the mouse in my hand and have scooted the laptop over to me. Four hours and two phone calls later we have reservations for next Christmas. At one point I suggested we stay off site and in a 4 bedroom home with an indoor pool. He about cried on me and now we are staying back in the Disney Campground in our travel trailer. We will enjoy the Disney meal plan again and will be planning our days very soon.

He DID work on the laundry while I got our reservations. The floors will just have to wait until tomorrow as I am going to go get my sewing machine out.

Pinewood Derby

This morning was the 2008 running of the Pinewood Derby for Nicholas's cub scout pack. My husband helped set up the track last night and they had the trials. This is a time to run your car and get it broken in a little. There is a big science to this whole racing thing. It has something to do with the weight in the back of the car, graphite, and axles. I try to stay out of it but the boys in our family have a good time with it and I put up with the tools on the kitchen table for the two weeks prior to the race.

Nicholas prides himself on the paint job. It is always shiny and neat. This year he went with the style car that won the district races last year. Nicholas has gone to districts for the past two years and while doing well in our pack he never does well in the district races. Once you get to districts it becomes a real competition and no one tells their secrets. Basically how do you get a block of wood to go down a track as fast as you can using the standard wheels and axles given to you in the kit. It can only be 5 ounces too. The cylindars you see in the pyramid pattern are the weights.

Nicholas won his den races. 6 races total and then they average your speed to see who wins. There are only three boys in our den so competition wasn't too hard. We had to run three dummy cars also in our races to finish out the lanes. Half the time the dummy cars beat us. In the picture Nicholas' car is third from the right. He is racing against the red hot rod next to him on his right and the "money car" on the end on the right. The three to the left are the dummy cars.

Then the winner from each den race to find a winner from the pack. Nicholas came in second for the pack which is the best he has ever done.

Nicholas loves the pinewood derby and while his car does look really good and it does well in the races the design and the painting is all him. He isn't allowed to use power tools on his own so he can't do some of the woodwork but he sands and paints and puts the stickers on and the weights in and polishes the axles on his own.

Last night I was up late sewing patches on his uniform. The uniform he is wearing in the picture up there was the same uniform his father wore when he was a cub scout. He wanted to wear it today so I cut the patches that he hadn't earned yet and I sewed the ones on that he did earn. I left some historical patches on it like the one on his right shirt pocket which has the 1976 date on it and I didn't replace the Council patch on his left arm. Several years back our council changed their name. I left the old name patch on there. He was very proud of the uniform today.

My Weather Pixie

I am not sure what is happening to my weather pixie but I just stepped outside and at 61 degrees I certainly wouldn't be wearing a short-sleeved cropped at the middle shirt. It is friggin (using a word from my sister) cold out there. I am in a turtleneck and a wool cardigan and am chilly. Okay the sun has gone down but come on weather pixie. My belly button would be frozen if I were wearing your style choices. Do I even need to talk about the 10.4 mph winds?

A giggle for a Friday

I was just reading a favorite blog and thought that I might remind my readers that there are others out there besides my wonderful blog.

Check this one out if you haven't already ventured over there...

http://15minutelunch.blogspot.com/

I love this guy. I think he must be my same age because I can relate to most every entry he writes. He just makes me laugh out loud.

And we all know that laughing is like exercise for your insides.

My sister thinks...

this is a made up holiday and Hallmark has the monopoly on it. I suppose along with the florists in town, too!


I personally think it is just a time to remember the ones you love. I don't expect jewelry (every year), nor do I expect flowers (though I really like them but you don't have to do roses). I do like to be noticed though. Just a little something like a hug in the kitchen or a "Happy Valentine's Day".

And that is what I got today. It was the perfect morning. We woke up early expecting for my son to have tutoring (as he does every Thursday morning at 7:30). But it was cancelled today. So I lay in my bed trying to wake up and the kids in their beds.

"Mom", my middle one says.

"Yeah", I reply.

"Happy Valentine's Day", she says.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too!"

Then my son chimes in, "Happy Valentine's Day mom."

"Happy Valentine's Day to you son."

Then my youngest, "Happy Valentines day!"

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too, baby girl"

The best part of the whole exchange was that we were all still in our beds and the day hadn't even started.


My husband and I exchanged cards this morning over the first sips of coffee. Here was the card he gave me!


Yes we both snore and no we don't have sleep apnea.

Strange Day Number 2!

I am NOT kidding you. I walk in to work today, from the outside which was quite cold, and their was a weird stentch in the air. I had walked in with a co-worker and they said something about the smell too. It like, hit you in the face, well nose really. It smelled like something was burning. As we walk closer to the school area and enter through one set of locked doors the smell got even worse. I said to him, "wow, something is really burning." It was a heavy burning smell. Not a fresh fresh burn. (yes two freshes). It wasn't quite a burned out fire burn smell. But somewhere in between.

I said, "maybe they burned the breakfast this morning."
The other teacher said, "no it smells like charcoal."
I asked, "like a charcoal grill?".
He said, "no like making charcoal."

We then, walked through the next set of locked doors and the smell was worse and now it was starting to burn my eyes and give me a bit of a headache. There were a couple other teachers standing there and someone mentioned that they could see a haze in the air. Yup, I could see it too. So we stand there a minute longer and wonder if it is because the lights are back on or because the heat was back on. Then a guard walked in (which is our first indication that the kids are coming down soon) and we asked them what was on fire. Oh, by the way, they don't always evacuate the building if there is a fire for security reasons. I know don't ask. Yes, if you read yesterday's entry you would know how secure the building is and that this is odd. But there was real possibility that there could be something on fire in a different part of the building and we would be business as usual and may not know. But he says that it was worse in the school area but they could smell it on the units also. We asked what it was and he said it was the forest fires that were burning a county away and it was being pulled in by the ventilation/heating system. And the maintenance people knew about it and weren't doing anything about it nor were they switching it to recirculate instead of sucking in fresh (or in this case smoke filled air).

The weirdest part was that I had just come in from the outside and when I was out there I didn't smell anything, but it was all over the inside of the building. Just another weird day in jail.

All Parts of this Day was Strange

It all started last night. I was getting ready for bed and turned on the TV. The news was on but it was the part just before the sports and the newscaster said, "now just a reminder the following schools will be closed tomorrow" and he listed three schools: a high school, an elementary school that is right next to it and the county technical center that is right next to that. Okay it wasn't that strange but, well it was because our county is huge and we never just have a couple schools out. The other strange part is that there was no snow and no foul weather. We did have a very very windy day and some wind gusts were in the 60 + mile an hour range. The other strange part was that these schools are right down the street from the Juvenile Detention Center where I work as a teacher. I checked the internet and it confirmed that these schools were closed as was the admistration building which is at the other end of the street from me. Hmmm...

So I get up this morning and check the news again and I hadn't gotten a phone call from my principal and so I headed in. Sure enough we had no power. All the teachers and our principal were sitting in the big center room that our classrooms all surround. Okay, so typically the kids come down with the guards and rotate through our classes. So today we have no lights in the classrooms and typically when this happens they lock down the kids in their cells until the lights come back on. It is a security risk. Not that they will escape but they have no video cameras on into our classrooms and with the darkness the kids can do things to each other more easily. So we all sit there and our principal had brought us donuts and coffee so we sat there enjoying. We all figured that we would be able to go home early. I mean we couldn't even really work in our rooms much with the darkness. But NOOOOOO......

We are told that we are going to run a semi-regular day. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Clean out the ears, yes, I heard right. We would do music therapy, finance/business, reading, PE, and something else. 5 classes for 5 groups of kids and we would all go to the units and hold class there in the center rooms where their cells are, except PE which would be in the gym and music therapy which would be down in the school area in a room that had the most light shining through the window. I was assigned to music therapy with our therapist. So we decide to pull out some puzzles that are in black and white and have the kids work them. They had a good time but it was quite dangerous actually. The kids come down unit by unit and there are about 8 kids per unit. There is no video cameras and they come with one guard. On a typical school day each unit is in a classroom with only one guard but there are no less that three guards that rotate around the large center room and watching the kids through large windows which are the entire half wall facing the large center room. Here, look at the picture and you will see a basic layout of the school area.

So let's just say if a kid wanted to throw a couple of punches while they were in the classroom with us it would be about, oh, 45 second to a minute before anyone else could help. Now we have been trained to back away when a fight erupts. So that would leave the guard by himself to handle it. The kids could easily gang up on us or the guard easily and then there would be no video evidence of the event. Luckily, that didn't happen but I would say on any typical week the tapes of the video cameras are refered to for something or another. We did get out about 45 minutes earlier than a normal day but it was quite strange. The only bathroom we could use today that had generator light was way on the other side of the building from the school area. We had a yucky lunch consisting of overcooked fish (like shoe leather) and collard greens that were overcooked as well. The best part of the meal was the chips-ahoy cookies that were placed right on top of our fish!

The other horrible part was that I didn't have email. So I couldn't contact a person who I needed to contact today, so I had to drag the girls up to my son's cub scout meeting so I could talk to her and get the info I needed. More weird.

Okay, last thing. I go to the grocery store this afternoon. That wasn't weird. But we bought some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (the kids' favorite), and I am scooping it out tonight after dinner and there are hardly any chocolate chips in it at all. Where did they go?

Another Flat Stanley

Here is another Flat Stanley. These are those times where you wish your kids weren't in the same grade. One Flat Stanley was appropriate to ask, but now I am reduced to asking again.

This is Nicholas's Flat Stanley. Thanks ahead of time.

Lent

Lent is 40 days and 40 nights. We will start the Lenten season tomorrow. Every year I think about and try to give up something for Lent. It is only 40 days and 40 nights. So this year after much thought about what I should give up, like sweets, chocolate, alcohol, food in general, and what I want to give up, like going to work, paying bills, oh and laundry; I have decided to not give up anything.

Yup, you heard me. Not nothing!

I am however going to add something this year. I am going to add exercise. You heard me right, exercise. For Lent I am going to increase my exercise to 5 days a week at least 30 minutes each session. There I did it. I wrote it down and published it. I have to do it now.

Want some rationalization? Well, for one, when I give up something I am depriving myself and I usually pick something that is impossible to give up with kids in the house. I mean really how can you make a batch of brownies without licking the spoon? How can you serve ice cream with out taking a bite yourself? And oh yeah, the year I decided to give up alcohol, well that wasn't all that depriving so I didn't feel it that bad.

I think the reason for Lent is to take something away that will make you think about God and his sacrifice for you, right my minister people who read this? I also think that God doesn't really want you to suffer but to better yourself because of your sacrifice, right again? So with exercise, trust me I will be sacrificing because I HATE to sweat AND I will be bettering myself in the process. I will certainly be thinking about God while I am exercising because I will be wondering why I am doing this and then, oh yeah, remember it is for LENT!!

So in sum, think about it like me this year. Instead of giving something up, add something positive.

Okay, you caught me, I am giving something up. The 2 1/2 hours a week I could be sitting on my butt in front of this computer. So I may not be blogging as much.... uh oh....

Is it me?

My middle daughter has recently been bugging me a bit. We ask the kids to be polite to adults and that includes me and her father. We ask them to say "yes ma'am" "yes sir" etc., when we ask them to do things or when we talk to them about something they need to respond with "yes ma'am" or "no ma'am". We don't enforce it all the time and my son and my youngest daughter don't say it as often as we would like. My middle daughter though says it all the time.

Now, we shouldn't be upset about that, it is what we wanted, right? But when I ask her to do something, like take her plate to the sink, or help her sister with something, or pick up her coat, she says, "yes ma'am" like it is belaboring.

She has recently been watching the American Girl, Felicity and Samantha movies and is fascinated by the past, and I think that when she says "yes, ma'am" she is pretending to be like them. She says it in a polite, sweet voice, but it seems almost too sweet or too polite.

I should be happy she says it as often as we want her to say it and I sure hope that she is saying it to other adults too, but it is starting to grate on my nerves. It is that sugary sweet voice that she says it in, almost like as I said before she feels above what I am asking her to do.

Is it me or am I in for a heap of trouble when she gets to be 12?

Great Wolf Lodge New Ride

So here is my husband riding on the new wave ride at Great Wolf Lodge. The water comes up from the bottom of the hill and it is supposed to simulate riding waves at the beach.

Great Wolf Lodge

Gotta love a waterpark in the winter! It is a time to show your winter body to the world!! How much fun is that? Well, me and my white skinned body bared all that was necessary to all who happened to rent a room at Great Wolf Lodge on Saturday night. The kids had a ball as usual and it really is fun. No one really pays attention to you because they are all totally focused on their kids and whether or not they are having fun. If you haven't been and have kids it should be put on your "to do" list. If you don't have kids, don't go. Seriously, you won't have fun.

The best part about the whole experience you ask? Pierce's Barbeque! Yup! You heard me right. It is right next door and we pick it up on the way home. It is our favorite Barbeque. The place is out of the way and if you aren't going to Great Wolf Lodge then you probably won't know how to get there. They don't really advertise and they don't have to. If you are ever in Williamsburg it is a perfect place to experience.

Flat Stanley Time

Yes, here he is. To my friends, please click on the picture, print it out, cut him out and take him along your travels for a week or so and email me the pictures. Alexandra brought him home on Thursday and asked if I would send him somewhere "good". I have been pondering my brain trying to figure a way to get this to as many places as possible and I thought this venue might be a good idea.

Please comment if you are willing to participate in my daughter's project. I will reply to you with my email address. If I can't reply to your comment in an email then please go to my About Me page and email me.

Thanks all. Oh, by the way, she gave Flat Stanley a Santa cap and really wanted me to send it to Santa Claus. I told her he was on vacation right now and wouldn't get the mail in time for her project. So, I really do need y'all's help with this, as she was expecting Flat Stanley to go to the North Pole.

More Proof...

that my youngest will be an animal expert of some sort. My youngest (5 years old) has always had a love affair with nature. That is nothing new. But recently she has been angering her older sister. Her sister plays with dolls and has clothes for dolls and diapers and such. My youngest has decided her stuffed animals need clothes too so she has been stealing her sister's doll clothes. The most prized loot are the clothes that actually has a tail hole in the back so her lion's tail can fit through. This angers the sister to no end because now she can't find any of her clothes for her dolls and the dolls are all naked.

Hmmm...perhaps her true calling will be as an animal clothing maker. Nope! That wouldn't be quite right for her but I do guarantee that her pets will all have clothes!

My future rock star

Okay, I know that the quality of the sound is bad but you can get the jist of this. My in-laws have a karioke machine and they bought the High School Musical karioke version CD. So my girls were playing with it and my youngest stood up and started singing. Now, she is speech impaired and so it is even harder for you to understand the words but it doesn't matter really. Just watch her expressions as she is singing. I think she is a natural! The best part is the beginning minute or so because she didn't know I was recording her but once she realized that I was videoing she stopped doing most of the animation.