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School, Yay!

September 4, 2012

I’ve been known to do a school rant or two…or twelve.

But here we are~ the first day of 8th grade AND 2nd grade. Now, we go full-force into happy, supportive, peppy mode. No more gripes now. Nope, nope, nope.

6 AM came awfully early today for my teenager. She’s slept the summer mornings away, so it was a shock to her system to be up while it was still dark. She actually woke up around 5:30 because of the First Day of School jitters. Remember those? I came stumbling downstairs and she was already in the kitchen, dressed and ready to go…

My little girl.

Snurfle.

“This is what I look like at 6:40.“

Thanks for putting up with your photograph-obsessed mother.

Going where no 8th grader has gone before…

My little fashionista…red Snow White headband, Spiderman shirt, red skinny jeans and these FABULOUS boots…

Have the best day, love.

A little break and then it all starts over with my little man. Oh, how they would love to have their school times switched. He’s the early dude. She’s the late diva. But, alas, it is not to be.

Perky much?

And a little Perry the Platypus action going on the back side…

Yes, BEWARE…my little boy is about to bring sunshine into your classroom! Treat him with loving care, please.

Snurfle, take 2.

This picture is after a million and one faces…and me saying, “OKAY, I have plenty of face pictures now, can you do one normal?” And he wipes the grin off until his lips are teensy nubs, which is actually another face…but I’ll take it.

Have the best day, love.

I will just be here, wallowing ~~having a life~~ and whatnot, until you come home.

Snurfle. Take 3.

Posted in Heartwarming Events, Kids, School, Sept 2012 | 8 Comments »

Teachers Don’t Stink

August 23, 2012

For all my ranting about school suckage earlier in the week, I must now expound on how much I do love teachers. An excellent teacher can change the course of your whole life. Someone who sees your value and finds ways of cultivating your gifts~ that’s priceless. And when it comes to trusting other people to have significant input in my daughter and son’s life, well, it’s a HUGE deal.

I’ve considered the home schooling thing many times, especially when we used to travel more with music stuff…but I always come back around to the fact that I really don’t think I would be a good teacher. My husband, on the other hand, he is a teacher at heart. Everything he says with the kids is a teaching moment. So if we ever get that tour bus I’ve been coveting, maybe he’ll be the one who takes over home schooling responsibilities. You can imagine if I get aggravated shopping for school supplies, how I’d feel trying to teach Math on a daily basis. The thought makes my stomach twist, turn and drop just a wee bit.

So I’m thankful for teachers and their ability to:

*Still have sing-songy voices the whole livelong day…not just with my children, but all the other more rotten munchkins too.

*See through what I think is good or bad and determine what still needs work and what is stellar.

*Cover ALL the subjects thoroughly, not just the one I might be able to cover.

*Remember details about my child after the dozens and dozens that file in and out of their classes all day long. (middle school)

*Make learning fun and exciting~ this is especially fun to see if the teacher starts out the year “scary” and ends up being their favorite teacher because of how they can make the subject come alive.

*Put up with all the smells.

*Tolerate the rotten attitudes and naughtiness…

*Excuse the daydreaming~ this is one I have to be particularly grateful about~ I seem to be raising some heavyduty daydreamers.

*Challenge the shortcomings of kids day after day without bang their head against the wall…at least not in the presence of my kids.

And SO MUCH MORE…

I don’t take the job of a teacher lightly. I recognize it is not my gift and I am so grateful for every teacher (at school or otherwise) who has taken the time to nurture my children. Now, if you could just cut back on homework, I will kiss your feet and write you a song. XO

Posted in August 2012, Grateful Heart, Kids, Mama Musings, School | 5 Comments »

School Sucks and Then You Die…

August 21, 2012

Remember that old saying, “Life is hard and then you die?” Or was it, “Life is short and then you die?” Or was it, well…apparently I sort of adapted it to say whatever I wanted it to, whenever I wanted to. I have been known to do that with sayings and songs…

Well, that’s how I feel about school. Life is so short/hard. Why does school have to go and wreck all our fun?

Each year, I have to endure these feelings while maintaining the School is GOOD! face before my kids.

Sure, I LOVE to get up at 6:30 to get one child on the bus and do everything all over again for the other child to get on at 8:47.

It is my life’s pleasure to get (8) Crayola Markers, washable~ NOT (12), NOT (16)…they dare NOT be generic…no, I will hunt until I find those (8) Crayola Markers, washable, and rip them out of another angry mother’s hands if I have to. Seriously, why is she so angry?

It will be no problem for me to print two dozen forms on my measly printer. I didn’t need that paper…or ink…or time.

Yes, I will be glad to send Ziploc bags, Kleenex, antibacterial wipes, two flair pens, and two highlighters that my child won’t ever use. I’m a giver.

I don’t mind writing down the exact same information for the ninth year in a row! It was time I learned my emergency contact’s number by heart anyway. I want you to remember that my child can still take acetaminophen. And that I’m still okay if you decide to publish some genius work they produce with my child’s name included. I’m glad to give you our cell numbers yet again. This time you’ll call me maybe?

It’s no big DEAL if every sickness gets passed to us because so many parents send their kids to school sick. Who wants to be healthy anyway???

Homework is our friend! We didn’t need those four hours in the evenings after a 7 hour day at school. Pile it on!

*Laughing maniacally*

Mama’s okay. Don’t be frightened, children. We LOVE school. School is…well, it’s just GOOD, that’s what.

Why are you crying, Mama?

I’m just going to miss you…I mean…I’m crying because I’m…so excited about all the FREE TIME I WILL HAVE TO DO WHATEVER I WANT! These are happy tears of joy and freedom!

Maybe School IS Good!

Maybe I DO like green eggs & ham! And even if I don’t, I must make sure THEY do.

Sigh. I obviously still need to work on my game face.

Posted in August 2012, Confession is Good for the Soul, Kids, Mama Musings, School | 12 Comments »

Snaggle

February 29, 2012

My boy has a new look again. He’s had one top tooth that has been HANGING by a thread for the last month…yesterday at school, it finally bit the dust. Incidentally, this is a tooth that has been through it. It’s the one that got smashed when he was a baby and it was dead…however, it was about to drive him crazy. I’ve tried to pull it many times and it just would not let go on one side, while completely dangling on the other side.

So woohoo!

Now his thumb has complete access. Sigh.

My friend, Michelle, wrote on here that her daughter stopped sucking her thumb after seeing someone in head gear. We tried that and he shuddered at the thought…and needed his thumb for comfort after seeing such. Ha!

We’re enjoying 2 extra hours this morning. Both of the kids’ schools are starting 2 hours later due to the ice and delayed traffic. We didn’t get all the snow they were predicting, hardly any, really. All the teachers had been hoping for a snow day, but the weather has just not cooperated this year. It’s been WONDERFUL! That ice can be a bugger, though. So be safe out there today!

Now, I’m off to make pancakes. On February 29th, how about that! Enjoy your extra day! XO

Posted in Family, February 2012, Kids, School | 7 Comments »

We’re Up. We’re At ‘Em. We’re Slow As Slugs

September 9, 2011

Woohoo, we survived the first week of school!

It even went quite well, I think…

A few minor wrinkles to iron out~ we still have not managed to catch Greyley’s morning bus in time.

We’re up, we’re at ‘em. We’re slow as slugs.

That should be a jingle for something. What it would sell, I do not know. Never mind.

Our sleep is ALL messed up at the moment~ we did NOT do the five minutes earlier to bed every night drill and we’re paying for it. Overall, though, everyone is in good spirits.

Indigo likes school and his teacher. He has lots of friends in his class that he knows, so that has really helped. He comes home ready to veg, cuddle and pop his thumb in his mouth for good long stretch. His favorite part of the day is lunch. The boy is chowing down his lunch, let me tell you. I have been shocked by how empty the lunch bag is every day. His second favorite part of the day is “physical education.” That’s fancy talk for “playing.” When pressed, he said he does enjoy coloring and writing…a big step up from last year.

I’m so relieved, but confess that I’m still somewhat holding my breath. If you’re new to this blog, I’ll fill you in~ last year, my son cried every day for MONTHS about school. It was torturous.

Greyley’s having a lot of fun. We went to the Parent Open House last night and heard some of the teachers talk about what will be happening this year. It’s obvious that we’re moving into new territory with 7th grade. Eek.

It’s also obvious that 7th grade teachers are rare birds. Oh, how I could go on about this one. They have a HUGE undertaking, to say the least. Thankfully, there are a few comedians in the bunch.

As for me, I have managed to fill up the hours. I have really missed the kids this week, but think the timing is good. I have been ready to tackle projects and may finally pull it off. Mammoth item this week: I cleaned out the garage. Oh yes.

I didn’t get the job that I thought was mine, but not feeling sad about it. I had another opportunity that I missed when we were in Arkansas that might still work out in the long run, we’ll see. I’ve planned to get a job as soon as Indie went to school full time, but for now pausing a moment to breathe and take advantage of the quiet. I’m hoping creativity will happen in the spaces.

Have a glorious weekend. The weather is perfection in Minnesota.

Posted in Kids, School, Sept 2011 | 5 Comments »

Boooo, School!

September 6, 2011

Just one example of how I don’t fit in with the other moms at school…

Wait, there’s more…

It’s not that I have anything against light grey minivans, per SE…it just seems like they’re already covered, so why should I get one when there are already so many taking up space in the school parking lot?

By the way, this is just a small single class gathering~ Indigo’s class from last year got together…imagine when all the grey minivans from the entire school body get together.

We really stick out like a sore thumb then.

And have I mentioned that I don’t like school?

I don’t like school.

However, we will put our best foot forward and hope that this year will be exceptionally GREAT! School isn’t so BAD! We LOVE TO LEARN, oh YES, we DO! And all that…so on and so forth…

My adorables start school today…are you feeling the angst?

Greyley is beginning 7th grade…I can’t believe it…

My baby girl. It doesn’t help that she’s turning 13 in a week. It’s enough to get a mama downright EMOTIONAL.

And Indigo is beginning 1st grade…don’t even get me started. I started crying about it a day early and today hasn’t been much better. The tears, they have been a’rollin’…

It has been a glorious Summer. I will miss my children terribly and most likely will not know what to do with myself for the first few weeks.

However, I could use a little time to myself…maybe I need to think about the positives here…

1) I will be able to go to the bathroom without someone walking in…as long as it’s between 8 and 4.

2) I can bathe at a leisurely pace.

3) I can clean the house and it might stay clean for more than an hour!

4) I might get caught up on several projects…

OK, that’s enough for me, I think I might just be all right.

All kidding aside, please pray for me. And for the littles. Hoping for a fabulous school year.

Posted in Kids, Life, Mama Musings, School, Sept 2011 | 7 Comments »

Almost Summer 1st

June 3, 2011

Today my little man will graduate from Kindergarten. He is so excited. However…he’s “shy and doesn’t really want to sing with all those people watching.” Apparently, diplomas AND songs are on the schedule this morning. If I have to love school, I pick Kindergarten. It really is the best.

We’ve been doing the countdown for weeks now. (5 school days to go) Instead of naming the months, lately Indigo has been calling it Summer 1st and Summer 2nd…

Can (So and So) come over on Summer 1st?

Are we going on vacation during Winter 4th?

The scary thing is Nate and I are actually starting to answer back, “No, more like Winter 3rd.” Or, “Well, probably not Summer 1st, but maybe Summer 5th.”

It’s funny how many languages you can have in a family. You communicate through tone, a look, words, inside jokes, made-up words and their made-up definitions…it’s all understood for the most part, when you speak day in and day out.

You also know what not to say, what looks you can’t get away with and what you should and should not do to push or NOT push someone’s buttons.

We are working on communication a lot in my house. I have a so close to being a teen it’s not even “pre” any more. She will be 13 before I blink. She is trying humor, sarcasm, sweetness, aloofness, and sometimes all of the above in the same sentence.

We found video of my baby girl and watched it last week. It was heartbreaking and precious. She was another little person with her baby talk and adorable sing-songy voice. Oh, she was brilliant. She really, truly was. But this almost 13-year-old is new and improved with every passing minute…not that she needed to improve, I wanted her to stay like that forever…but with God, he does want us to grow in every way. We can only get better with him on our side.

My little man~ I do not think he could improve another inch or my heart would squeeze too tight from how much I love him and his sister~ but he’s going to. He’s going to get better and better, or another phrase for it is actually, GROW UP~ and when they are both adults, I will look at them with love and adoration and say that I knew them when.

For now, I will take as many pictures and videos as possible, I will be the one grinning from ear to ear as he sings with his class and I will laugh with glee when he proudly shows me his diploma. If there’s a standing ovation, I’m a goner. I might want to hug too hard and not let him go, but I will have to~ he’s got growing up to do.

Oh goodness, I have to go find a box of Kleenex.

Posted in Family, Heartwarming Events, June 2011, Kids, School | 6 Comments »

Let’s Save Art

February 11, 2011

Conferences went well this week. We had positive reports for each child and I am amazed once again at all the wonderful teachers out there. However, there was one significant drawback. After realizing her favorite things in life/subjects in school~ Reading and Art~ are suffering from severe budget cuts this year, my daughter came home and retreated to her room with something resembling quiet outrage.

I let her go and hoped that she would cheer up for the rest of the birthday celebrations that were to take place that evening. It wasn’t long before I heard clacking away on her antique typewriter. The typewriter deserves its own post~ it is a prized possession that our dear friend, Brenda, sent Greyley after going antique shopping with us and noticing that Greyley was drawn to every typewriter she saw.

Greyley came in my room a little bit later, handed me the note and said, “What’s the address to the White House?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s look it up.”

She was completely serious.

Here’s what the note says…

Dear President Obama,

My name is Greyley Sabin. I am 12 years old. I go to (School Name here) in Minnesota. My school is having budget cuts, so they are cutting back hours on some of the best classes…such as Art, Reading and English. Art may not be completely educational, but everyone loves Art. As for Reading and English, I would say they are pretty important, wouldn’t you? Please help out our school. Thank you.

From Greyley Sabin (6th Grader)

Well said. Now if you’ll pardon me, I have a letter to mail…

Posted in February 2011, Kids, School | 12 Comments »

You Know You Want To Say It

November 23, 2010

Things are looking up~ we have made it 4 whole school days with no tears from the Little Man. Thank the good Lord.

He has vacillated between not wanting to go to school at all (of course) to wanting to go back to his afternoon Kindergarten class (because of his great friends), but we are holding strong with both school attendance and morning class (because we are big, bad meanies).

Turns out he had a GREAT day at school yesterday. It was Fifties day. He had a root beer float, tied for blowing the biggest bubble with his gum, and got to take his choice of fifty things to class for counting.

We’ve been trying to tell him to hang in there and that it would get better…

The Girl has taken a disliking to her school planner, a nifty little calendar that I have wanted ever since I feasted my eyes on all 8 1/2 x 11 of that colorful paper…complete with inspiring sayings on each page. How could you not DESIRE to tote this from class to class, writing every single detail and then some in it, only departing from it to lie your head down on your pillow at night? I ask you, how?

Take it up with her. She’ll not be able to thoroughly explain it to your liking, but she’ll try her best. All I know is that at 10:30 night before last, it hit her how much she needed to like that planner when she thought she MIGHT have something due yesterday. Turns out it’s not due for another couple weeks.

These are the times as a parent that you desperately want to say, “I told you so…”

But you…

Well, yes…

You go ahead and say it.

Because you finally can.

And it feels good.

For at least 2.2 seconds…

Until you realize, oh yeah, it’s up to you to help them figure it all out.

Oh yeah…

Shoot.

Back to the drawing board.

Posted in Kids, Mama Musings, November 2010, School | 4 Comments »

New Schedule

November 9, 2010

Good news…

Last week at conferences, we talked to Indigo’s teacher and principal about changing him to morning Kindergarten and they agreed to it. It’s been weeks of him crying in the morning off and on…he wakes up raring to go and then by the time the afternoon rolls around, he’s talked himself out of it. In fact, usually by around 10 AM, he’s talked himself out of it. He also gets very sleepy since he’s taken an afternoon nap for years.

Even up to last week, he was crying as he got on the bus and I was practically dragging him…feeling horrible all the while.

So yesterday morning, he got on the bus at 8:41 AM for his first day of morning Kindergarten. For an early riser, this is way better! He has the same teacher, but all different classmates. He is completely done by 11:55 AM.

He was raring to get on the bus, a little nervous, but good. He DID cry at school, so we’re not out of the woods, BUT…Lord willing, once he gets used to his new class, he will like it more.

Please pray that he will like it more.

Posted in Kids, November 2010, School | 3 Comments »