As summer draws to a close, I am forced to think more and more about the start of school whether I like it or not. I don't want to think about coming home and grading papers, writing lesson plans, or just passing out at 8 pm because I'm so tired. However, the more I think about the start of this year, the more excited I get. Yes, I'm actually excited about this school year. There are several things I love about teaching besides having the summers off.

1) Being a self-contained teacher, I can probably count on my hands the number of minutes I have to (oh, I mean, get to) see my coworkers.  This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Considering that most people can't stand their co-workers and that's all they gripe about, I'd say it's a good thing. I don't have to put up with gossip unless I want to.
2) I get to enjoy a quiet picnic lunch outside any day I want. And if I hurry, I can zoom to Dairy Queen, grab a burger, and be back in time to pick up the kids. I've even been known to drive to Momma Mary's and enjoy lunch with her (and her sisters sometimes). However, I don't know if I can drive as fast as Suzy could to pull that off by myself! : )
3) What other job gets to start fresh each year? I get a new group of kids that I get to be "mom" to for 178 days every year.
4) If that's not cool enough, I get to see those kids grow and mature during fifth grade, and then leave for bigger and better things in junior high. I love seeing my kids around town and having them tell me hi!  I don't hang out in Baytown often, so it's even more special when I do see them.
5) And best of all, I love seeing a smile on a kid's face when they realize they are awesome at something or finally "get it!"

This summer has been great! I've finally been able to enjoy a few weeks of doing absolutely nothing. Although I could get used to this, I know life must go on. There are many exciting things to look forward to this year, even though it's more than half way over.

I decided yesterday to do a Dr. Seuss theme in my classroom, instead of a Lego one, to better fit our school theme. I was trying to find an inspirational quote to end with, but I found this one first and this better fits my life and family (I have no idea what book it's from...I just googled Dr. Seuss quotes. It may not even be from him but I like it!):

“In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!” -Dr. Seuss

Is it summer yet? Oh wait, yes it is. Conor says I “got myself into this” so not to complain. But I'm not really complaining. It's been busy – but anyone who knows me knows I find things to keep me busy. Yes, just like my mom does. I'm working a summer program at NASA that is great! There's no complaining there. Trevor's in daycare to keep his schedule (he needs a schedule more than a penny on the ground needs to be picked up- again, if you know me, this is absoluetly necessary to pick up any coin and not be discrimatory towards the value of it. Money is money). Jack, however, is not in “daycare” this summer. He actually really wanted to go and talked about it way ahead of summer. But it was $5 less than what I pay for Trevor and couldn't bring myself to pay that all summer. So he is staying with me in the mornings and will be going to various places in the afternoons when I leave, like Nana's or Aunt Jessica's. Or course, he's already complaining about wanting to do things. I can't blame him much. We've been running errands and cleaning a lot. I've been promising to take him to Pirate's Bay and have yet to do so. I feel awful about that. But hopefully next week, it will work out. I think it was a sign to not buy a season pass to there like I had originally thought about since we haven't gone yet this summer. Needless to say, he was so excited about our trip to Hilton Head, SC for my sister-in-law's wedding that he was apparently counting down the hours at Nana's house until the plane took off. He didn't express his excitedness to me, but I knew he would have a blast. And he did. I hardly saw him the entire time we were there. He was either down the hall with whoever was in Stephie's room at the time, in Nanny's room with baby Stephanie, at the pool, at the beach, or geo caching and walking around the town. I'm still not sure what all he did, but I know it was way more than I did. I'm thankful for all you guys who hung out with him. He was in Heaven! So much so, that the day of the wedding, he didn't show up until about 20 minutes before we were scheduled to leave for the wedding. He finally walked in, soaking wet and sunburnt while I was in my dress ready to go. I haven't mentioned Trevor yet....

It was interesting. I have to say he was pretty well behaved, although certain folks (like our flight attendant on our second flight of the day and the waitress at the restaurant one morning) might be shocked at this statement. I can probably count the number of fits he had on my hands. Which is amazing. The flights were much better than I had imagined in my head for the entire week before we actually left. He requested to use the restroom on every plane we rode (4 total – one being the kind with the propellers...if you think a restroom on a regular plane is small, think again, and then laugh at the thought of me AND Trevor in it, trying to change his pull-up. Yes, it was finally accomplished.)! The highlights of the flight include the flight attendant pausing when she got to our row, after the seat belt sign came on to land, and I'm trying to strap him in. She asked if I needed help and assisted in holding him down while he screamed and squirmed because he didn't want to be strapped in. Together, he got strapped in. Next would be when the gentleman behind Conor asked how old Trevor was. When he replied, “Two,” and guy said, “Oh the terrible twos....” and probably thought to himself, “Thank goodness I'm not that guy in front of that kid.” (Who by the way, was obnoxious. Not only did he lean his seat back while I had my head down trying to get into my bag, he also put it back down after the flight attendant walked away after telling him to put it up – I didn't feel too sorry for him.). If that wasn't enough – on the way home, he was FULL of energy. He is still fascinated with firetrucks, police cars, trains and buses. So when we saw a bus, someone said, “Beep beep bus,” and he started saying that. After about the fourth time, he'd change it up to trick us and then laugh his head off about it (warning if you watch the video...it gets really loud when he laughs). His laughs are more like happy screams. But at least they are happy. He was this crazy the entire 30-40 minute ride home. Once home, he wanted to watch “Cars.” It took a while to get him calmed down and into bed. I feel sorry for the daycare teacher the next morning.

Of course, Jack always has crazy ideas that he comes up with. I think he has too much time to think. In the car yesterday, he asked me how many days were in a year. When I asked him why he needed to know, he replied, “I need to know how many clothes to pack.” Long pause.... “For what, Jack?” His reply, “So I can live with Nana and ride my bike to school next year. You would get to see me on the weekends, except for maybe during school hours (that is, if I'm in your class). “ Although I wanted to say, “Did you run that by Nana yet?” I'm at the point now where I just reply back, “Ok, Jack.”

He also was planning his birthday party for tomorrow all day yesterday, when Jessica and I had already planned a surprise party for him at the last minute, for Saturday. So the day of the surprise party, I listened to everything he had planned. He actually wrote it all out on about three sheets of paper...the invite list, the planning, and his birthday list. Pretty impressive. He had three scenes from Back to the Future planned. The living room was going to be the scene from the “Enchantment under the sea” scene, the dining room was Marty's house, and the driveway/street was the scene where Marty got hit by the car. We had already decided last week that it would be a lot of work to decorate the house like that, so we had decided no decorations. I reminded him of this hoping he'd still agree. I made him a cake that was supposed to look like the license plate from the DeLorean. It says “OUTATIME.” By the time we got to Jessica's, the decorative icing had all run together. It's the thought that counts, since we couldn't rent a real DeLorean for the party.

Needless to say, it's been an interesting month so far. Can't wait for July and beach trips!

May already!

The past month has been busy and interesting!
I have learned several things lately:

First of all, I learned tomorrow is Wednesday. It's pretty bad when it's Tuesday and I don't even realize what day it is. It felt like Monday again. So in a 7:15 a.m. meeting this morning, when we realized we weren't going to be done by 8, it was suggested that we meet again Wednesday morning. I think I was the only one who verbally objected. Then they said, okay, tomorrow afternoon. My response was, "Tomorrow afternoon, or Wednesday afternoon." Usually when I say something stupid I catch it right away. Not so much this time. I should've know at this point it was not going to be a good day. I think my AP will make fun of me for that one in the days to come.

Secondly - well, I already knew this one, but there ARE such things as stupid questions. When asked how many questions are on a test, I always think, "Who cares? Just take it." But instead I just ignore the question - especially today, when the test was on the student's desk, available to be opened... and already open! Again, I just ignored the question and tried not to have a "are you serious?" expression on my face.

Next, Trevor does NOT like the plastic training pants cover. I thought it was because the 2T size was way too "fluffy" looking on him, but he didn't care for the smaller size either. They are trying to potty train them at daycare and wanted several pairs of underwear and plastic covers. I had fun finding Mickey Mouse and Thomas underwear and he LOVES those! But sooo much, that he doesn't want to cover them up. That, or he doesn't want to sound like he's wearing a garbage bag over his underwear. I can't blame him. So, I was going to send the underwear and plastic pants today, but decided against it. Apparently, they tried anyways at daycare (still not sure whose he was wearing since I didn't take any). I told them when I picked him up that he threw a fit when I put them on. We've tried drawing Mickey on them and calling them "Fireman Pants" (Conor came up with that one - and it worked a for a few times). Still no luck for long periods of time. I was hoping they'd say, "oh he doesn't do that here" like they usually do, but his teacher said, "Oh, I know. He told me to throw them away today."

Apparently, Jack is "persuasive" and not persistent like I thought.  He's been bugging me to take a library book to school. I gave several valid reasons why he couldn't.  He kept coming up with different solutions or scenarios to the situation. For instance, he said he just takes it to lunch with him. So I said no because it might get food on it or a drink might spill on it. His first solution was that he sits at the end of the table so it's okay. No Jack it's not okay. Next solution: I'll just put it in my lap.  I told him it's okay to be persistent at some things, but it can get annoying. His response: "I'm just being persuasive." It's like a never ending discussion with him. He doesn't take no for an answer.

If you get invited to a kid's bday party from daycare or school, you can bet no one else from that class will show up. I have three parties to back up my theory. No one from daycare came to Jack's party when he was little. We went to a party for a kid from Jack's kindergarten class and were the only ones from there and I think the only ones that weren't neighbors. And lastly, we went to a party of Trevor's buddy from daycare. Again, we were the only ones there from daycare. I try to go to the ones we are invited to, and I know other people are busy, but I hope they at least RSVP and say yes or no to those parties. I've been there before and you always want to plan for more than too little at a bday party. Trevor and his buddy had a blast laughing their heads off (once Trevor warmed up to everyone). Unfortunately, I left my phone at home so I have no cute pictures to share of that. Two days later at daycare, the little boy kept saying, "Trevor, come to my house!" It was so cute!

Lastly, I still love the stage kids are in at 2 1/2 and up, well until about 5.  Trevor is talking up a storm. I think everyday I tell Conor something new that he said. He's talking in longer sentences. Sometimes it amazes me at what he says. He's also started singing along to Jack's new favorite cd, CAKE. But, the moment you catch him singing and laugh or smile or comment to him about it, he yells and stops singing. He definitely has his moments that we did not experience with Jack. He's learned to say sorry much faster and even without being told lately. After he calms down, he has the cutest, sweetest voice when he says, "Sorry, Mommy."


Of course, there's always something hilarious that one of the boys in the house says. Today it was Jack saying (about cheese sticks), "This tastes like Heaven. I don't know what Heaven tastes like, but it's really good." I don't know where he gets these things from, but I'm glad they aren't inappropriate things from tv like other kids come up with.

Pictures below: Yes, Trevor was in the bathtub, too. That's him behind Jack's hand. Then there's Jack before his First Communion last weekend. He was looking handsome for his First Confession the week before that too. We didn't know if he was supposed to dress up for that too, so I made him anyway. There were kids there in their baseball uniforms.     Next we have Jack's crazy faces. Just like his dad, he can't take a normal smiling picture. Then there's Spunky hogging the remote. We have grown to love him and are glad he's back safe at home. Next is Trevor playing t-ball, which I think, sadly enough, was a first for him. He's almost a pro, though.

April so far...

The first two days of Easter break were awesome!
Friday was spent deciding when to go to the beach. Pretty much everything these days is dependent on when Trevor takes his nap. After that, we headed down to Surfside for beautiful, but windy weather. I assumed the water was too cold, so I didn't bring Trevor's swimsuit, just extra changes of clothes this time. The water was actually nice! To my surprise, Trevor didn't mind the water and sand after I got him used to it. Then, I couldn't get him or Jack out of it! We went back to the house when we saw Jessica and the crew arrive. After another trip to the beach which involved all of us getting our pants wet in the waves, we headed back for quick, but loud (from the screaming) baths with the babies and Trevor...then dinner from The Purple Cow. Yum!  Jack and I decided to stay the night. He got up early (as early as he could) with Grandpa to go fishing. They left Trevor and me with him screaming, "I wanna go BEACH!" So I packed up, covered him in sunscreen, or tanning lotion - spf 8 since Jessica took our sunscreen home with her, and neglected to cover me with it. Then, I tried to lock the door. This is where the rusty old key got stuck in the lock. Trevor was a bit upset. I still believe everything happens for a reason. This one was two-fold. One - Trevor had a very dirty diaper within the hour that would NOT have been pleasant while playing in the sand, and Two - I would be even more burnt than I am now and in horrible pain from my sunburn if I had gone to the beach at 9am. I didn't want to call Grandpa and make them come home from fishing sooner than expected, and I knew that as soon as he got home, he'd pull out the key like it was nothing (which is exactly what he did before I even knew it). But like I said...everything happens for a reason. We had a blast at the beach, playing in the bubbles the waves made and with sticks that washed up on shore. Then Trevor enjoyed his nap to recharge for a third beach trip with the babies! I can't wait for summer to come. I hope Trevor doesn't forget how much fun he had this weekend! It was just a few weeks ago that he freaked out when his feet touched the sand! Yesterday and  today were lazy days...Jack is watching "Back to the Future." We looked at Blockbuster for it with no luck but found it at the library. It made his day! He is set on having a "Back to the Future" birthday party. I'm not so sure about it...

I'm glad my family (and Deborah) was around this weekend to keep me preoccupied. It's been a year since Suzy passed away.  I've never had to deal with the loss of someone so close to me and never knew it would be this hard. This year has been full of the silliest or smallest things reminding me of her. Almost everything -  like how driving in the rain reminds me of how she used to try to not use her windshield wipers and how her driveway became "Lake Gregory." Seeing a motorcycle parked far up in a parking spot makes me think of time she told me her scooter almost got run over by someone trying to park in the same spot at school. She was told not to pull up so far in the spots in the parking lot! Going through the stuff from her classroom had to be the hardest thing. I had to do it during the end of the year and at the beginning of summer last year. I still find things I haven't seen with her handwriting on it.  I love seeing her handwriting even if it sounds crazy.
She loved going to the beach, even though she hated the sand that would stay on her even after a shower. We used to stop at Tookie's on the way home, with her burnt to a crisp. I think she used to see how burnt she could get even though she would always say how mad her mom was going to be about it. I wasn't trying to get burnt this time, though.  I remember one time, on the "short cut road" to the beach, she said she saw an alligator.  Ever since then, I had looked for one every time we went down that road but had been unsuccessful. Last summer, we FINALLY saw one. I couldn't believe it. I always thought she was just seeing things. I still look for them every time!
Even a kid walking down the street who had stepped on some glass yesterday made me think about how she used to walk around barefoot everywhere. I used to always try to get her to wear shoes. One time she sang along to Margaritaville saying something besides: "Blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top." I can't remember what she said, but it was funny because several times she had blown out her flip flop! I used to make fun of her until it happened to me too one time!

Last week, when I heard this song, even though I've heard it many times, this time, Suzy came to mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy3yov4u70c (warning for those who don't like country...this is a George Strait song! )

"I believe it's a half full, not a half empty glass....Folks are always dreaming about what they'd like to do, but I like to do just what I like."    -   So Suzy! : )

Boys will be boys

I was constantly reminded this weekend that I am outnumbered in this household. Trevor wanted to make sure I know that his personality is completely different from Jack's. Although, they are still boys, and therefore both love to talk about poop. Besides that, they don't have much in common.

There were times this weekend when I felt as if I were in a commercial or parenting video. Of course, it'd be the ones where they highlight the "problem child."

It started Friday night, when we went to Barnes and Noble. I promised Jack a book. While searching for other interesting books (one being something about "Fart Powder"), Trevor is laughing and screaming and jumping/galloping around the small kids stage they have in the children's section. He even climbed on the small benches and jumped off. Then climbed up on the rails and hopped off. He was definitely entertaining himself. But that's not the best part. When we were ready to go, Trevor was having too much fun and continued to hop around the stage. I tried the "Bye, Trevor. We're leaving," thing (that ALWAYS worked with Jack). Didn't work. His response - "Bye, Mommy!" with a huge smile on his face. So I had to pick him up kicking and screaming and carry him to the line. He's learned to calm down much faster so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been.

Today, he took a 20 minute nap. I tried a second time and left him in his room where I assumed he had fallen asleep. About 30 minutes later, Jack says, "Mom, look." Trevor had come in the room, sat down, and started playing with his toys. He's usually grumpy/fussy when he gets up, so that was my clue that maybe it wasn't a nap after all.

You would think that going all day with such a short nap I'd end up with a moody two year old. Not the case.

While waiting in line at Walgreens, he went NUTS. He started running around Jack and me in circles -  LITERALLY - laughing hysterically the whole time. I think he did at least ten laps, then I tried to calm him down, but he did it again. And again. I can't imagine what the people behind me were thinking. I tried not to make eye contact. They gave us, or Trevor at least, plenty of space though.

That's the end of the craziness. Then there's Jack. He's had pretty much a constant fever since Tuesday night. It's been five days now. The only other symptoms he's had was a sore throat. No vomitting, headaches, nothing else. The doctor said it was just a virus. So he's missed three days of school and it's looking like it might be four. Thankfully I've only had to miss one so far (Thanks Mom!). I think it's Conor's turn tomorrow although I'd love to stay home one more day, too! I think Trevor has been sick so much lately that he is temporarily immune to illness (fingers crossed and knocking on wood as I type this). And, I think moms are immune because if we got sick, who'd take care of them? (again, knocking on wood and yes, Conor, I know you'd take good care of us)

On a brighter note, only 5 days until Spring Break!! Nothing extravagant happening as far as vacations go. But we will be celebrating my twin nieces' first birthdays. I've been busy making the invites and a birthday banner for it. I love making that stuff. I wish Jessica wanted me to make more. I'd do that any day over grading papers and typing lesson plans (which I still have to do tonight - but the banner is one step away from being completed)!  The last Saturday of the break will be spent in Surfside Beach for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. It gets bigger and better every year. In the past, we got an undershirt (I think it was new?), a whole bundle of beads that they forgot to undo, and coupons for free beer at the local bar. I'm looking forward to what this year will bring. Sadly, Jessica and Dusty's promise to have a float in it has again been broken. They will be out of town yet again. Yes, I know Jessica, "Next year." All this hopefully topped off with some green beer at Tookie's. Can't wait!

He'll be talking non-stop pretty soon.

Trevor is FINALLY saying sentences like, "Wanna go Mommy's car," "Watch Choo-Choo train," "Again, Jack-Jack," and "I get you, Mommy!" When we were in Tampa, every night on the way back to the hotel, he'd say something that sounded like "I'm serious." We could NOT figure out why he was saying this or what he was trying to say. It took a few days until we decided it was, "I see it." He loves to point out buses, trucks, firetrucks, ambulances, Nana's work, and Dana's car (the lady at daycare) every time we drive by or see them.
Last week, one morning he said "Spunky." It sounds more like Funky most of the time. He is also counting like crazy. He can count to 10, but of course still doesn't understand why. His favorite number to say is 5! We are practicing pointing to things as we count and saying them in the right order.

Christmas 2011

We have had a GREAT Christmas break! It all started with a "surprise" visit (well, for everyone but me!) from Conor's best friend, his sister, and his niece starting Thursday night! His best bud Stephie drove all the way from Tennessee and showed up at around midnight. We decided we should wake Conor up by tapping him lightly on the shoulder. I should've know better, because he's done it to me before, but he awoke in a defensive stance about to karate chop/punch us in the face. He must've been dreaming about jui-jit-su.  They got to hang out Friday while Jack and I went to one more day of school! As soon as I could, I left school and headed straight to the airport to get Kerry and Stephanie, Conor's sister and niece. Jack still didn't know, because he was reading his book the whole time. He didn't even know until we were about 5 minutes away from the airport. He asked why we were driving around Houston. I just kept saying that I just wanted to drive around. Then we went pulled into the airport, he was really curious. I went into this speech about how it's the holidays and we should be in the giving spirit and help people in need. So I said we should look for people who might need a ride somewhere. Maybe I went too far, but I hadn't really planned anything to say so this is what I came up with. As soon as we pulled in, he said, "Those old people look like they might need help." I had to keep making up excuses, like, "They probably already called someone," or "That guy is on the phone calling for a ride right now." Kerry was at the very end. When I stopped, I said, "Those people might need help." It was pretty funny. Stephanie is one year younger than Trevor. Jack kept her entertained the whole way home. We had a good time hanging out, eventhough Trevor wasn't a fan of sharing with her.
Saturday was Conor's graduation from UHCL. Two out of the three children would NOT sit still, so it was interesting. But we managed to get back to the seats in time to see him walk and then again as he exited! We are all super proud of him for getting his Masters degree!
Wednesday, Jack and I went to Space Center Houston! They had a super cool mind bender exhibit. (Thanks Jess for the free tickets) Jack figured out how to cheat the system and only did half the puzzles to get on the wall of fame. Some of those puzzles were really tough!
Friday, we left for Tampa to see Conor's grandpa. Trevor had a good time playing with everyone, even his great grandpa, who he called "papa." When he says Nanny, it sounds more like Ninny. He did "okay" on the plane. His temper is getting a little out of hand. Otherwise, when he's happy, we have tons of fun! Jack loved climbing the tree in Grandpa's backyard. He said he wasn't going to come down at one point. He said, "The grass is my bathroom, this stick is my pillow, and I don't need a blanket because it's too hot out here!" It was unseasonably warm (almost 80 degrees I think) up until we went to Universal Studios. We were seriously considering buying swimsuits for the hotel pool. A cold front came through the day after Christmas though. It was really chilly when we were in Orlando. We left Tampa at 6:30 (which was 5:30 our time!) to get there when they opened at 8. It's a good thing we did, because it was so packed, that when I left Conor and Jack in line at the Harry Potter ride to go to Seuss Landing, I couldn't get back in without a ticket (which wasn't for a few hours later)!! But Trevor and I had fun on the Dr. Seuss rides for a few times before the lines got too long. Afterwards, we went to the Orlando mall, which was also packed, for a bit of shopping. We got to go in the M&M store, which was really cool!
We have had such a good time! It's going to stink to go back to school next week. I would have to say Jack is a bit spoiled at times....he still gets to go shopping with his Uncle Jeremy, while I still have lesson plans to do. : (
Pictures below:
The boys having a serious discussion.
Jack  the Chef cooking dinner, with a little help from Nanny.
Trevor giving Spiderman lots of hugs.
Trevor loving the Butterbeer so much, he would NOT give it up.
Riding on the carousel
Trevor cooking in his new kitchen
and the rest are pretty self-explanatory.