Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Periodic

SR is currently fascinated by the periodic table. He is reading whatever he can get his hands on. Memorizing the table, and learning about them. I took chemistry 2 times, and he is doing better than I ever did. The amazing thing. He understands it on a level I never did. He currently has the first 15 memorized, and he starts mixing them up. IT is strange that at 7 he would even be interested.

PN, has been busy training the puppy with DH, while on break. She is doing well. The puppy makes SR nervous. The puppy does know the command whoa, and has learned to fetch. You can throw his toy, say whoa and he will wait until you say ok, before he goes after his toy. DH is trying to get some things around the house done while he is off. I think he is learning how hard it can be, especially with kids around.

Work is fair. I am nervous about starting school in January, and am sure I will be exhausted. I am not nervous about content, or learning, I am nervous about the time it will take from us...

My Father needs help cutting some trees out on his property, and this weekend would be a good time to do it. Finding adult children and spouses with similar schedules to help, is the problem.

He and his fiancee will be getting married soon, supposedly in the next month or so. they had planned to have it done by now, and the kidney stone thing happened. That required 3 surgeries, and put the kabosh on things. They are going to either church, or the judge, and just doing it....

PN wants to live in her princess costume and cannot wait for Halloween. I hope the weather is nice. SR could really care less.

Both children are getting tall! I notice this especially with SR, he hit a spurt.....

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Why so reluctant about the puppy meanie...?

Oh the reluctance of becoming a pet owner.

First off, if you know me, I DO NOT LIKE SURPRISES. (Unless it is a windfall of cash or something, which is never bound to happen)

Second, I am a preparer.

Third, I am pooped most days.

Fourth, I really do a lot around here already. (Fixing toilets, wash machines, parenting etc)

Fifth, I take owning a DOG SERIOUSLY. My childhood was spent caring for other peoples discarded animals. Not a joke.

We had 16 cats at one time, because my neighbor had a cat ( sans tail because of severe frostbite) , they did not feed, spay etc. My Father and I took pity on her, and several kittens and cared for her for years. She was the best hunter, and best momma cat ever.....

I also had an old part Pomeranian adopted dog, that had 3 good legs. WE are unsure of why it only had 3 legs, he had either been beaten or hit by a car.

There was another cat that we had to care for a while, another stray that no one would care for.

So my childhood was a sort of isle of misfit animals if you will. I take pet ownership SERIOUSLY, I have seen what happens to animals when someone "thinks" a puppy or kitty sounds like fun for a minute.

I know it is serious.

Heck why do you think we waited 10 years to have babies...

DH has admitted that he went about bringing this puppy home as a surprise was not the wisest decision he ever made.

I am guessing he did it that way because for almost our entire marriage I have SAID no to one.

I have acquiesced. There are rules, and they WILL be followed.

The puppy is very affectionate, and loves to snuggle. He is not full of crazy puppy energy, although I am guessing that will come soon. He seems laid back for this breed, which can be a little excitable and high strung. He is learning new tricks and so are we.

In good news DH and the kids have the week off, I am working an actually week with overtime! Just in time for Christmas shopping I am sort of excited at the prospect of actually having money this Christmas!

Work is BUSY, and the days go by soooo amazingly FAST.

Your name will be bleach

This evening my Father and his fiancee were here, after attending a terrible Nebraska Husker game.

We had eaten, and DH volunteered to run some errands.

I said, DH I need bleach.

When DH left, I sat in the recliner speaking to my Father and his fiancee about the dog conversation that occurred just the other night. Yeah there was a long and healthy debate over dogs. One in which SR and I did understand why PN and DH felt a dog was soooo Necessary. No overlap. A Venn Diagram with NO overlap. As I am trying to explain this to my Father...

DH returned 1 1/2 hours later with this...










Uh, yeah not bleach.

God has a good sense of humor and DH does too........

This is 8 week old Poncho, the newest member of Casa De Dust.

Poncho is a male German Shorthaired Pointer.

Uh, yeah not bleach.

It is a living and breathing puppy, who misses his siblings, and Mother tonight.

So far it seems as if he understand the word no, and has a healthy howl, and bark.

He also needs to be taking to whiz every 3-4 hours...

Not my job...I nursed humans for 15 months and survived 3 plus years sleep deprived.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Halo Moon...

Tonight there is a halo around the moon. This is an indicator of bad weather...ick.

Today was the kindergarten party. DH left work early and went to volunteer in SR's class, and showed up to find the kid in the Principals office. Oye. I am glad DH took the afternoon off, just in time to be there for this...Why was SR in the OFFICE? He pulled a chair out from under a kid in music. Yea, I know, the kid really could have gotten hurt.

WE are sensing a trend here. Homeroom teacher, we adore. He listens to her, respects her. Not a problem generally. The other day, I came home to a note from the art teacher. I guess SR thought it would funny to put his hand in front of the projector. He got into trouble, and then proceeded to say the following "Have Mercy on me", about 15 times. Today the chair thing happened in music. DH and Vice Principal (who also is the director of the gifted program, and KNOWS SR) had a chat. In good news, they are keeping on his tail, and are going to modify things a bit for him. Why? Because the minute anyone lets guard down with this kid, well it will be like a house of cards. I am glad they care enough to keep working on this with us. I think one of the culprits at this time might be boredom. He only gets mentors for a brief part of the day. He is currently doing algebra, basic 4th grade algebra, but he is 7. He doe not sho his work, he does it in his head. The other mentor is Spanish. Frankly, he is not excited about this...AT ALL. He can do it, no problem, it is a memorization game for him, but he does not care, is not excited about this. (You might be saying, big deal no one is excited about school or learning) Oh he loves learning. He is currently studying the periodic table and is EXCITED. He is talking about free radicals, etc. I think we need to get rid of the Spanish mentor, keep the math mentor, and add a science mentor.


I am disappointed in his choices right now. I am hoping this will pass. And quite frankly, we are in a better place right now than I would have thought 2-3 years ago.

Still, it is exhausting. And when I hear of other folks having similar problems, I am grateful we are not the only ones.

PN's fall party went off with out a hitch. Time FLEW. Seriously. The kids were well behaved. The boys loved pumpkin bowling. LOVED it! The craft, whatever. The boys used a lot of google eyes. The girls would have made spiders all day, and could have cared less about the bowling. I was lucky enough to have 4 Moms show up to help! It was actually nice. I do not have much experience with 23 kindergarten children at one time. It was lots of bouncing, jumping, nothing big. None of the kids were bad. The story was a hit. I had lots of left over crafting supplies to school. I promised her books this year. And I need to get that DONE ASAP.

I am pooped.

My Dad called tonight, he and his girlfriend are coming down for the football game. Now I need to clean tonight and tomorrow. Yuck...I did not want to hurry....

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Maybe I wont have to be #1 for how to get dog poop out of the carpet, even if i might be now...

DH has the weekend off! Thank God! The amount of stuff to do on the amazing never ending list of things driving me crazy.

So instead of actually spending the day together, we separated into the boy team, and girl team and hit the town running.

Actually DH and the kids were peaches and cleaned my gardens out. Booo Hiss winter! Considering bringing my asparagus ferns that are on the front porch into the house. ( Has anyone done this?)

Errands commenced for 3-4 hours....seriously. Uck. In good news both of us enjoyed hanging with each child tremendously.

PN and I had to go to Micheal's craft store to buy some fall holiday items for the house, and supplies for the school fall party I agreed to head for PN's class. I had a terrible time with a fall party, because I did not want to offend anyone. I thought trick or treat bags might be fun to make, probably not a good idea. I thought a couple of other things might be fun, and nixed them as well. I settled on some spider door candy thing...which ended up evolving today into an entirely different project.

How?

We had to run to the library to return books....

I decided since it is school, I should probably read a story, the Collective LOVE when we read nightly here.

SO I thought I should pick up a spider book.

I picked up this one.


So while shopping I decided to pick up pipe cleaners of different colors ( now called chenille stems I was TOLD, by the helpful but stern helper I needed to find all of my craft crap), different colored google eyes, different colors of tissue paper, paper plates,...tah dah! Spiders, that are not scary. I will let you know how they turn out, and if the kids had fun. WE are also pumpkin bowling.

DH is chaperoning the pumpkin trip (that got called off the other day because of weather) Monday! He has also said, if his day Friday goes well, he will help me Friday.

PN LOVED the craft store, probably because she creates all day. No joke. you folks have not seen the likes of this level of crafting from a child. If she is not painting, she is drawing, or making a book, or a bracelet.....I think she would move into Micheals.

It was off to the beauty salon to purchase hair care stuff, the grocery store....long day.

Watched the Huskers loose.

Ate dinner, and while dining, an impromptu meeting was called to order.

It was the "we need a dog meeting"....

Discussion time 1 hour.

The kids hilarious. They were serious as heart attacks. PN, and her Father on the Yea team. SR and I on the Nay. It was a long and serious debate. The kids soooo serious, DH and I had tears in our eyes from trying not to laugh. I wish i had it on video.....both children are soooo animated. I have no clue as to where they get it.

Looks like SR and I lost. Heck I had all kinds of animals growing up, and I loved them all. I had snakes, frogs, a mouse, turtles, fish, (in a jar, only for 3 days) cats, dogs....you name it. I loved them all, they made good friends when people did not. I did warn folks about this entire arrangement. I will not wake up in the middle of the night to take a dog out to pee or poop....not MY JOB. I woke for 3 years alone with infants...no thanks, the sleep deprivation almost drove me insane. No feeding the dog human food, the minute I see anyone feed the dog from the table, the dog will be gone.

SR and I lost the discussion......it is probably time......

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Come to Jesus meeting 6pm...

Ughhh.

work was fine today, busy, but fine...

I picked the kids up, both had coats, backpacks, smiling...ate spaghetti for lunch, all was ok...(well except for the fact that I needed to go home, and be greeted by a house that needs attention, which always seems to be the case. Even more pronounced, now that I am working)

SR says to me when he gets buckled in..."I did not have a good day, you will have an e-mail from my teacher."

SIGH

ughh....he has more good days than bad right now. But ughhhh, how a part of me wanted to pretend I did not hear this. Seriously I am just tired. Parenting this child takes 6 times the energy the energy it does to parent PN. No joke. It used to take 10 times the energy, and even though it is better, well there was little comfort in that today.

What did he do?

Nothing serious.

Tried to burp a girl like a baby in PE, spoke out of turn and off topic in class, having trouble keeping his hands to himself, and not completing his work.

All impulse control things.

I am considering tying his hands behind his back, but am afraid he would start using his feet to do these things (joking I would not seriously do this)

But ughhh...seriously, the kid is almost 8. He is doing algebra and studying the periodic table, and physics....but cannot figure out what is socially acceptable. So must jump up the parenting to a 7-10 again...which is exhausting. For him, for me, for Dad, for Sissy...it is really exhausting.

The only comfort I have in this, is there are other parents I know with similar issues. Some bloggers, some not, all good parents, with "the one kid" that is just challenging. It boggles my mind. Seriously.

I have no idea what to send back his teacher...seriously. How do I explain that this is normal behavior for him, a bit regressive and I have no clue as to what spurred it, but we do not approve of such things and will have a come to Jesus meeting tonight at 6:00 with DH, myself, and SR....

What have I learned from this...over time I have learned to more accepting of children who have similar issues. I do not immediately think "if I was that child's Mom, that would not be a problem."...I have learned that. I have learned better parenting skills. I have learned that OUR family has a lot to learn from him, and he us.

I have learned how to rephrase things.

On good days, I have learned to say, "THAT is my SR, that is the kind of person you are!"...he smiles proudly. Because part of me wants to say, "see what happens when you act decent, instead of jumping around like a crazy person?"....

I have tried to change how I phrase things, which sounds small, but it really has helped.

Pray for me tonight, I need energy, and wisdom, and patience.....pray for SR. He needs to learn that people will like him for himself, and not this silly behavior. We need him to put all of that energy into other things...

Monday, October 12, 2009

In the morning my Husband will be a year older..

I am getting ready to hit the sack. I am beat tonight.

I did mange to make it to work early today, and stayed later. Thanks to DH, who took the day off to spend Columbus Day with the collective. I guess the day went well for them.

I did manage to get to the YMCA, for part of SR's swim lesson. He is doing well, and PN's swim lesson, she is too!! DH, and SR went to Scouts, where SR earned his 1st badge. Must get either thread out, or some dual tape to iron this on ASAP!! He was excited!

Tomorrow DH is 41, and I must try and bake his cake after work and school tomorrow, and I think we are going out to eat to celebrate. I then must return home to make at least 2 dozen rice krispie treats for CREW at church.

Today I recieved 2 calls from PTO begging me to host Cora's fall party at school on the 23rd. I broke down and accepted the challenge. It is only an hour, I can come up with something for a room of kids to do for an hour can't I?

DH is chaperoning the pumpkin patch trip Wednesday.

My mechanic called today, he has been driving my car all week, and it is fine, diagnostics fine....

He has no idea why it did what it did...

So looks like I am in the market for a trade in, and soon....I have no idea what I will be doing, or where I will find the time to screw around with this....I love my car, but seriously do not need mysterious problems popping up.....

I have been with DH for half of his life now.

1/2. Frankly he deserves a medal, for that...

Go to bed, that is where i am headed..Sleeping hard lately, since i was ill, no insomnia to speak of. Everyone is sleeping good here through the night.

I have a small naggy list of things I need to get done ASAP. I hate that.

A case of the Mondays

Wow, what happened to the weekend?

Today is Columbus Day, which means neither of the children have school today. DH has managed to take the day off, so i did not have to pay someone to care for them today. He has also graciously volunteered to supervise a trip to the local pumpkin patch this Wednesday, because there were not enough adults! A peach.

I volunteered to go in early today, and stay later later than I normally do, as one of my coworkers had gall bladder surgery last week. I wonder what I was thinking when I volunteered to do that, because it feels terribly Monday.

The Collective were wild this weekend. Unsure of the root of this. My Sissy was here, so I suppose it could have been that. It seemed as though they had boundless energy, that could not be contained in their small bodies. That said, it might be a long winter. I must look into some physical classes for them, as swimming is over in 2 weeks. The weather will be bad, and time spent of out of doors will not be as much as i would like.

PN, has been great about entertaining herself. She is my artist, she spends hours (no joke) drawing, coloring, trying to write stories, making books, cutting things, taping things, gluing things, CREATING. Note to family, if you buy her anything for birthdays or holidays, make sure it is art related, as she will love it. Washable markers, stacks of plain white paper, paints, envelopes, beads, google eyes, craft kits...you get the picture.

SR on the other hand will be my tricky one. I must find him some science projects, etc, books of interest to keep him busy. Otherwise it will be a long winter. Of course he would play video games all day if I let him...however anything beyond 30 minutes a day , makes him act weird. So 30 minutes well it is what we try and limit it too. There is much gnashing of teeth etc. But he also knows 30 minutes is all he can handle.

I am already concerned about the Christmas break, and must arrange some sort of activity for them, day care or a day program while school is out on break....ughh dreading this. And school is actually out for an entire week the last of the month. Something called fall break. Seriously? DH had to be a peach and fit it into his schedule, as I sort of feel as though I was in no place to ask at work, since essentially they let me have the summer off....

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Just another first snow of the season.

I have figure out the mentality of Nebrakans after being one my entire life.

"Hurry, hurry no time to talk it is going to snow"

"Hurry, hurry get things done, we have a week before Spring"

Really that is it in a nutshell. With such a large agrarian based economy, it is hurry, hurry.

You get to chat when you are retired.

I woke this morning, to screaming, jumping, and shouting.

"It is a winter wonderland, it snowed, winter is here!!!!" Elation from The Collective. True excitement over the snow.

My first thought, OMG, I am trapped indoors with these people for the next 6 months. In my head I began making a mental list of crafts, science projects, supplies, etc to get us through the winter months.

Of course, I just ordered PN's new winter coat like 3 days ago, it is not yet here. Temps are well below 40 most of the coming week. I was planning on ordering snow boots on payday.....ughhh. Normally it blizzards on Halloween or around there so I was planning for that.

I did bundle up both kids, and sent them out. My Sissy is here, and we timed them, as it was about 32 and the wind was a bit harsh...they made it about 20 minutes before they were done. Not enough snow to sled. There was enough for them to scoop the deck, and throw in each others faces.

I threw some chicken, veggies, and rice in a pot and slow cooked it all day. I made popcorn and hot chocolate for the kids. I took My Sissy and The Collective to the YMCA and decided we should try our hands at basketball. I knew they had a kid's court and KNEW I wanted them to run. They had fun. PN a little frustrated, she made 12 baskets, SR actually can walk and dribble while chewing gum. He refused to shoot in the short hoops as a matter of principal. We had fun, even if my Sissy about died laughing when I did a lay up. (I did not think it was funny) Must have been though, it has been about 18 years since I have done one. I think this will be a fun thing for us to go and do, It was good exercise for me too. I can still dribble a ball run and not look down at the ball! (Also probably funny to watch)

We made a library run, and checked out a ton of books.

DH has to work all weekend AGAIN. I am beginning to hate the weekends. I would actually give anything to have a day ALONE in the house to CLEAN. It seriously needs some detailing, and it is driving me crazy. My Mother is rolling in her grave. (BTW my Mother would have been 68 on the 4th of this month, I was grumpy all day.)

Work is going well, I need to sit and do my nails at some point, they need to be filed, and painted with clear polish, cuticles are in dire need of attention.

Tonight SR told my Sister, "you know comedy is just tragedy happening to other people..." I am unsure who first said this quote, or where on Earth he picked it up. But I did try to explain, tragedy is not funny....small bumps in the road funny...tragedy never.

The reading of The New Testament is going well. We have spent 30 minutes each night starting in Matthew and Acts.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

huh

My mechanic here in town, says he does not think it is the transmission, he drove my car around yesterday, and said, holy heck it drove fine. so the puzzle continues...Hopefully it is a less expensive puzzle.

I ordered PN's winter coat last night, and 2 long sleeved blouses. I found a coupon code on line for Lands End and saved 10 plus in shipping. The coat was also on sale for 44$. Good enough. I will still need to get both kids snow boots, and PN needs snow pants.

It is freezing here this morning, literally. 30 degrees. PN coat is not here...oye. So I ill send her in a heavy sweatshirt, gloves, and a stocking cap. It is supposed to 68 by the end of the day.

Parent teacher conferences are tonight, we start with PN. Tomorrow is SR.

Veggie soup is in the crockpot, and ready to go for this evening. I heart veggie sou with cabbage.

Tonight is also CREW for the kids at church.

Things are busy, working outside of the home is quite busy. Even if I only work 30-40 hours a week. I do not know how folks do it with serious serious jobs.

School starts in January for me, and I have some loose ends to tie up.

all is well

Sunday, October 04, 2009

and the wildness continues...

Swim bag packed. 2 towels, 2 goggles, 2 swimsuits.

Lunch packed, so the kids can eat in the car on the way from the school to swim.

DH is in charge of scout uniform.

Lunchcards recharged for the next 2 weeks.

Backbacks gone through. SR got 100% on his math, and spelling this week.

Reading minutes cards filled out.

the 6th load of wash done, and there is still bedding I will not get to.

No way am I gonna get my ironing done tonight, maybe tomorrow. I will wear a skirt, and blouse tomorrow that is ready to go.

SR dinner was yummy, and he did a good job, although the kid that lets his head wander while he is doing stuff, makes me nervous at the stove. He even helped with dishes, and proclaimed there is a lot to do, that he wasn't aware of because he is just busy doing kids stuff.

Wild Sundays...

Sundays are prep day...

Now that I am back in the work force, time is even more precious than it was before.

So far, I have done 3 loads of wash, dishes, cleaned the kitchen, made piggy bricks for after school snacks, and carameld apples, cleaned a bathroom, and tried to dust.

Yesterday, DH took SR to get his Scout uniform, and for a haircut, I took PN to get hers, we went out for lunch, DH had to go to work. I took the kids to the park to shake the stink off of them, then it was off to the grocery store, and then we went looking for a winter coat for PN.

Not much in the grand scheme of things, which makes me sad. The list is never ending. I have never known what boredom is and I do not think I will any time soon.

We did manage to go to church this morning, and let the kids ride bikes to and from, hoping it would be good for little lungs, and legs. Soon there will be no bike riding. I have decided to read the New Testament before January 1, which will take 30 minutes a day.

The kids are not thrilled that I am making them keep selves entertained while I go to it around here..I have been told "you are not fun", several times today. Which, is the one bad thing about working again. Time has to be maximized and really used to benefit everyone in the week.

I am promising to take them out to play catch with the football this afternoon to make up for my lost time with them today.

SR has to set the table, prepare a meal, and do dishes tonight for Cub Scouts. He chose to prepare spaghetti, garlic bread and salad.

Tomorrow is our busiest day of the week. I was not aware Scouts would be Mondays, and signed the kids up for swim. (I will never sign up for Monday activities again.) Monday is wild enough without leaving the house early in the morning, only to return at 8pm. I guess it is known Mondays is a Scout night, I was not aware, but KNOW now. I will either have to pack a dinner for the kids and make sure to refridge @ work, or try and pick something up.

Tonight I must iron, otherwise I will look like McFrumpy at work all week.

My transmission gets replaced this next week, and I am waiting for a helicopter to dump a load of money in the back yard...

Friday, October 02, 2009

stuck in my head all day....

I never tire of this song...

Like Mary Poppins up in here..

It is windy. Windy, and has not let up for 2 1/2 days. like 40 mph wind all of the time, it is exhausting. There is no point to doing hair, or taking allergiy meds, because all of the shizz is flying about.

Current temp? 43 degrees, so I am freaking about my tomatoes, I went out and picked a bushel of them, washed them, and am in the process of blanching and freezing them, as I type this. I sooo wanted to can, but do not have the time this weekend. None. so blanching and freezing will do. I intend on using them for veggie soup and chilli, and they will taste much better than any store bought tomatoes can in January anyway.

Stupid weather....seriously, I am not prepared for this up in here.

SR weekend consists of selling popcorn for Boy Scouts, and preparing a menu, meal, setting table and cleaning up. PN needs a winter coat, so we are looking for one, and she wants a tierra for an existing dress for Halloween! (She is economical!)

I am coming off of the prednisone, and hate it. Down from 4 tabs to 1 tab, tomorrow is 1/2 tab....ick. Seriously tired from the adrenoline crash.

Still intending on taking the kids for a mega bike ride, and picnic if the weather is good. Pictures to ensue because the leaves are gorgeous awesome.

Enjoy your night!

Thursday, October 01, 2009