black-eyed

Behold, my daughter's black eye.

stories

One night not too long ago we were eating dinner and I can't even remember what it was we were eating.  I just remember saying everything I could to encourage my turned-a-lot-pickier-than-she-used-to-be eater to get some chicken down.  She looked at us and plainly refused saying, "I'm just not a spicy eating girl."


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At a baby shower the other day for my cousin Julianna wouldn't come inside my mom's house to talk to everyone.  She was in a pretty foul mood and just played outside for the first few minutes.  When mom went out there to tell her that there were a lot of people inside who wanted to see her she said, "Well, you can tell them to come out here."


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Jules: Mama, I've got the best joke to tell you.
Me: Okay. what is it?
Jules: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
Jules: Cow
Me: Cow who?
Jules: Why did the cow cross the road?
Me: Why?
Jules: To get to the other side.

-----

Julianna has become rather taken with Adam Sandler's movie Bedtime Stories and she'll request we put it on Netflix on demand pretty regularly.  One night at dinner Jonathan asked her, "Jules, do you think I look like the kids' uncle in Bedtime Stories? Some people say I do."  She thought about it for a minute and then she said, "No. He doesn't have a beard."  Mind you, it had only been about a day and a half since Jonathan had shaved so we got a good kick out of her response.

bloggity blog blog blogggggg

I just realized that in October I will have been blogging for five years.  Go me!

I think that calls for some sort of celebration soon.  I don't know that I've kept anything up this long EVER.  Also, I should probably thank you for sticking around as well.

More to come...

did somebody lose a French fry?

because Joshua found it

donations?

We may be crazy, but we are considering paying $230 for a plane ticket just so that Jules can fly on an airplane with her Daddy.  She's been dying to fly for a while now and Jonathan has to go out of town for a day trip for work.  It is just to a trade show so it is something that she could tag along to if she wanted.  The only problem is that the tickets are $230.  Donations anyone?

I am also walking in the CROP Hunger walk in a couple of weeks and I'm raising money for that.  If you would like to help end hunger at home and around the world, I would appreciate your donation no matter how small.  Just click here to donate.  Thank you!

up to

Finally.  A weekend at home.

reading: Finishing the Dragon Tattoo series.  Finishing the Hunger Games series.  Starting The Help. 

anxiously awaiting: The iPads for my classroom.  Yes.  iPads.

laughing: At my husband who was talking to a friend who shared his baby-on-the-way news.  My husband said something along the lines of, "Oh so you guys are going to hire a medoula?"  I am not even kidding.

excited about: The Dixie Classic Fair.  Countdown is on.  Six days.

avoiding: completing progress reports for my students that need to go out on Monday

making: Halloween crafts and monkey bread


What are you up to?

craft of the day

eleven months

Dear Joshua,

It is a pure feat of amazement that I've even gotten this letter to you written this month.  It has been nothing short of a tornado around here as school started back and I've had to figure out how to find care for you and your sister while I adjust to working full-time.  But time marches on and you're now eleven months old whether I have time to enjoy it or not.

You have NOT appreciated the fact that I leave you Monday through Friday now.  You walk from room to room looking for me when I'm not around and you fuss most of the times when I leave.  Your sister never really did this and while it breaks my heart to know that you notice that I'm not there, it also makes me feel so special to be so important to someone.  You will cling to my legs many, many minutes of the day begging me to pick you up and therefore you spend a lot of time riding around on my hip while I do various things around the house one-handed. 

You've finally mastered waving bye-bye.  You won't do it but about half of the times we ask you to, but you can.  You will also clap and smile when you enjoy something and give high fives on demand.  Very rarely you will communicate with a sign or two.  Julianna was a master of baby sign language by your age and you are just not really interested.  You want your milk when you want it and you don't want to waste time making hand signals to get it when it's so much easier just to whine until we give it to you.  Stubborn boy.

The other day I watched as you saw a pair of your socks sitting on the kitchen floor where I had dumped them when we walked in the house one evening. You took one of the socks and made like your were trying to get it on your foot. Then you picked up one of your shoes and tried it as well. Unfortunately, you didn't have any luck but it was apparent that you knew where they went and when you finally gave up you just carried one sock and one shoe around the house for a while.  You may not sign but you do know a few things!


One of your favorite games is definitely still peek-a-boo.  You will hold your shorts up over your face as I change your diaper and then jerk them down really quickly and smile like nobody's business.  That chubby-cheeked smile of yours can melt anybody's heart.

Your hair has gotten a lot longer this month.  It curls gently at the nape of your neck.  It's the prettiest dark caramel brown color in the sunlight and it matches your beautiful dark eyes.  I'm still not quite sure which way it parts yet or if it even does, but I'll figure it out.

I'm sorry that we haven't been that consistent with a nap schedule with you, Buddy.  It's so hard to do that when there's a big sister around who needs to be taken here and there and when there are multiple caregivers providing you different places to sleep.  I'm thankful that the adjustment to you taking only one nap each day hasn't been worse than it has and that you've learned to sleep at least a little in different places.  And usually when you wake up at night now you'll go right back to sleep on your own, so thanks are in order for that too.

Remember how I mentioned earlier that you are stubborn?  Well, that also applies to your refusal to drink milk out of anything besides a bottle.  You will drink water or watered-down juice froma  sippy cup but for a long, long time we'd try to give you milk in a cup and you wouldn't drink but a sip or two.  Finally, Daddy figured out to put it in a cup with a straw and you'll drink it happily.  Why didn't you just say so?!  We should have you completely off the bottle by the next week or two.

The last week or two you have filled with jabbers.  You still only seem to intentionally say Dada when you're looking for Daddy.  You've said Mama before but I'm not sure it was connected to me.  You've also said what sounded like Hey, but I'm still just not sure.  What I am sure of, however, is that you are certainly developing rapidly with your verbal abilities.  You've been babbling like crazy for a week or so.

Right now I'm sitting here watching your sister tickle your face with Wonder Woman's hair and you're giggling like a seven year old girl.  There's simply nothing sweeter.

I love you, boy.
Love,
Mama

whew

This week Jonathan has been in Chicago for work and I have had the kids by myself.  I do not stop until the kids are in bed at 9 pm and then I sit down to grade and do lesson plans.  Here's what we've been doing.

Monday Jules had her first gymnastics class.  She seemed to enjoy it.  Josh and I stayed the whole hour to watch but unfortunately they took the little kids all the way to the other side fo the gym so we really couldn't see much.  Josh really enjoyed watching all of the big kids flip around near up on the uneven bars and rings and Julianna was dissappointed when she found out that she didn't go back until next week.

Tuesday I had a staff meeting after school that seemed like it would never end.  It went on for hours and I found out the day before that I had won tickets to the championship Dash baseball game that night.  So after I picked up the kids we headed out to the ballpark after grabbing a quick drivethrough dinner.  We had a lot of fun watching the players and the entertainment between innings. 

Wednesday we made a quick Target run to get some Halloween candy for a project Jules and I have been working on.  I'll show you pictures later.  It's so cute.  After that we headed straight to the school stadium to watch part of our Middle School football game.  I don't know about you but we've had beautiful football weather.

Today I have an appointment to get a physical exam right after school.  We've never had a family doctor/general practicioner since we've been married and with Jonathan's new job and new insurance and all we figured it would be a good time to get one.  I have to have a TB test for school and I am pushing it to get the paperwork done on time.  Fortunately they were able to work me in this week.

Tonight I have to meet with some family for dinner to do some baby shower planning for this weekend.  I'll have to go straight after the doctor's office.  Luckily, Jonathan gets home sometime tonight.  I'm counting the hours.

What have you been up to?

more interested in drumming on the bleachers than watching the football game

waiting on big sister to finish gymnastics

Look Mom! There are girls out there!

yawn

This is what happens when you go to preschool for the first time ever and get too excited watching everyone to take a nap.  Then if you decide to skip your afternoon nap because you're having too much fun with the babysitter (he he heeee) you end up falling asleep in your dinner.

Also, for the record let me just state that I've seen these types of videos plenty of times before on shows like America's Funniest Home Videos and thought, "Never my child. No never" 

But yep.  My child. 

That's why you should never say never.

September Summit Serve

For the second year in a row, Julianna has chosen an owl for her Build-a-Bear project for Brenner's Children's Hospital.  The year before she made a monkey she named Congo.  Last year she made an owl named Hedwig in a fireman's suit.  This year's owl she called Princess Peach (yes, from Mario) and dressed her in a wedding gown.  I hope it will bring a special child some joy.  It sure was fun for Julianna to do.

thank you

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me over the last two years.  As you know, I quit teaching when Julianna was a baby and have been wanting as well as needing to get back to work for some time now.

I've considered many job opportunities and nothing was exactly what I wanted or ever panned out.  I've spent countless hours considering my options and for the last two school years I always went back to the flexibility of being a substitute teacher instead of settling for a position teaching part-time or teaching in a subject area/school that I didn't want. 

Last year I had a couple of interviews at schools that ended up filling the positions with surplus employees from elsewhere in the county (thanks NC, for your wonderful budget cuts).  This year I had two interviews just before school began and when I hadn't heard anything back from either school before the teacher work days started then I just assumed that I hadn't gotten either job.  Then, around lunch time the day before school started I got a call offering me one of the positions - a position as the full-time technology teacher in the magnet program at a science and technology middle school.  I accepted and started work the very next day.  Fortunately, the county did have a substitute to helpe me out the first couple of days of school.

Anyway, the only way I can describe the way the last two weeks have been is like a whirlwind.  I had to scramble to come up with childcare for both kids.  Julianna already went to preschool five mornings a week but now I had to find somewhere for her to go each afternoon and I didn't want to consider daycare.  I also had to figure out what to do with Josh.  It's not ideal, but he's going to the same preschool as Jules and then one of the preschool teachers will spend the afternoon with them both at home until I get out of school. 

I feel overwhelmed.  I feel lucky.  Most of all I feel happy.  Thank you for praying.  God is good!

hi mom!

all boy

 

 

 

come and get me!

and look what I found!

Daddy says I need a haircut.

I think he must not have seen the dog lately.

bye bye Betta fish

My daughter's dear fish, Purple-y died the other day.  I'm pretty sure it was a result of over feeding.  Ever since we added the "Taking Care of Pets" magnet to the chore chart he'd been getting more than his fair share of fish food.  Fortunately, she's not too torn up about it.  We asked her if she saw him and knew that he was dead and she said nonchalantly, "Yeah, I saw him.  He hasn't moved an ankle all day."

last weekend I became a triathlete

I could not be more proud of myself.  I certainly didn't break any records.  I most definitely didn't finish in the top half of the competitors.  In fact, only about ten people were slower than me in the biking part.  But I did finish.  And without much training and preparation prior to the event, that was my only goal.

It was a lot of fun.  I will definitely do it again.

My place overall was 426 out of 587.  I placed # in the swim, # in the bike, and # in the run.  The whole time I wasn't in a big hurry, I just kept thinking that I wanted to finish.  I had to walk up several hills with my bike because I couldn't make it up them.  My bike seat was too low and I didn't know how to raise it.  Jonathan told me it was before I went to the race but I didn't listen.  He was right. 

It also would have helped if I understood how to change the gears on my bike.  Heh.  Oh well. 

Surprisingly, I was only minorly sore the next day.  Mostly it was just my arms that hurt.
One of the best parts about the whole thing was seeing my friends and family as I traveled by them on my way out of the pool, on my bike the first time around and then again on the second loop, and finally at the end of the run down by the finish line.  I kept thinking about how Julianna might want to do the whole thing with me one day.  I would see a bottlecap on the ground as I pedaled by and I would think of her and the bottlecap table she wants to create.  I could see Josh as he finally recognized me coming by and smile at him. 

It was a women's only race and everyone so was encouraging.  No matter where I went there were people cheering me on, either by number or by name.  We had to get body marked which was kind of neat in and of itself.  Our names were on one arm and our numbers were on the other arm plus both legs.  Then they put each woman's age on the back of her right leg.  At first I thought that would be embarrassing for some people and I didn't like that they did that but then as I completed each event and started noticing how old some of the people were that were racing I became more and more amazed.  If a woman in her seventies can do triathlons then surely I can. 

I found a nice lady to run the second mile with.  We jogged the whole way talking all along.  She was twice my age and a total inspiration.  Her daughter and granddaughter were competing for the first time as well.  There was another woman I saw that had an artificial leg.  Completely inspiring, I tell ya.

I would highly recommend the Ramblin' Rose for any woman living in North Carolina.  I have participated in numerous races around our city and this was by far one of the best that I have ever completed.  All sorts of people participate and not everyone there would have considered themselves an athlete before it started.  I'll guarantee that they did after they finished and that feeling of accomplishment is one that is hard to match.

And eating pink lemonade cake square from Dewey's bakery after it was all said and done.

nervous

beginning to wait

Mom, these things are cool.

waiting in the pool

getting ready to bike

Whit finishes up

getting on the bike

pulling back in the transition area

all done

Josh, happy to finally get some attention

pink lemonade cake reward

Suemo, Whitter, and I at the finish line