August went right on by. And I didn't write one single blog post. How did that happen? Me? Quiet? Hahaha! I've actually had things to say, but I wasn't feeling like anything I had to say was something anyone wanted to hear.
I finished chemo. Thank goodness! No more chemo! I still have to have Herceptin, which is just like chemo but not as bad. It's kind of hard to explain, let me try: Chemo is like Stone Arrogant Bastard and Herceptin is like Bud Light. I'm happy to get away from the harsh stuff. It's not only hard physically, but mentally it is rough. Guess that's why I haven't really been blogging about it. There just isn't anything nice to say.
School started up again and I'm super excited about that. I really thought about putting Gracie in the public school in our neighborhood so that she would have a more traditional experience and go to school five days a week instead of three. She would also have more kids to socialize with. But, she would probably still have the same amount of homework since the public school seems to dish out lots of that, so that wouldn't solve anything as far as homework is concerned. I do think the traditional school structure would be good for her though. I finally decided to just leave her in the Montessori Charter School for several reasons. The most important is that she's stressed enough and I don't want to introduce a whole new school and new friends and new structure to her. Her teacher at her school now is very loving and caring and has Gracie's best interests at at heart, so I am keeping her where she is already established and has a good support system. Also, I love that the two girls are in the same class! How awesome is that! The flexible attendance thing swayed me to keep her in Montessori too. I don't want to worry about how many days she attends or misses. If she's sick, she stays home, why is that so hard?
With the girls back in school, Gracie in 3rd and Libby in 1st grades, they are together in the same classroom. I think this will be easier on me to only deal with one teacher. I'm glad they have each other every day too. It's only three days a week, but those three days that they are in school are so nice! Peace at last!
Charlie started preschool in August; he's on a different schedule than the girls but twice a week we have all three kids in school at the same time!
Speaking of Charlie: He's four now. He had a really fun birthday party. I wasn't so sure how well it was going to go, but it was fabulous! He wanted a movie night birthday party, which means a movie in the driveway, in the dark. Do you know what time dark is? It's kind of late for a birthday party! Charlie is probably the only four year old to ever have an 8pm birthday party, but it actually worked out well. His little friends stayed up way past their bedtimes and ate cake and pizza and popcorn. We ended up with ten kids in the driveway and several adults. It amazed me that such a late party was such a big hit! And now he's four. Hard to believe, but he's sure growing up fast!
We had a fun day with Katie and the boys recently. We went to the Safari Park and just spent half a day but it was fun to be together. Katie is doing well. She's 21 weeks pregnant now, so she's passed the halfway point! Can't wait until this baby comes along. I will be stealing as many new baby snuggles as I can! Andrew deployed in August and I think he'll be back in 9 or 10 months. We'll see I guess.
I'm planning a roadtrip in September. Hopefully it will work out just right! I have to time it between Herceptin treatments and pull the kids from school for a week, but if all goes well and the weather cooperates and nobody gets sick, and my brother can come along to help drive.... We are going to Wyoming to see my mom and grandma! So excited! Planning this roadtrip has been my motivation to feel better and stay positive. I'm really ready to take a break from all of this cancer and stress and just hit the road!
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Happy Birthday to my Blog!
I started my blog 7 years ago! July 12, 2007. Technically, almost 7 years ago since today is the 6th, but I noticed it today and there's no telling if I will remember by the 12th... so I'm saying Happy Birthday to my blog while I'm thinking of it.
Happy Birthday, Blog!
Here is a link to my very first blog post: Dipping My Toes in the Great Blog Sea
I started by calling my blog Momathon, but then one day I decided that name wasn't right. Some people thought it was a blog about a mom who runs. Sure, I run, but only in the house.
Then, I changed the name to Rufflebutts. It was cute! And I thought it sort of said that I raised girls, which is accurate. But, after a while I got tired of that name since it implies that my girls are babies who wear ruffled bloomers, and they don't. They all grew out of the baby stage. Darn kids.
Finally, I changed the blog name to Schuworld. This was the name of our web page that we had for years. We used to post family updates and photos on it to keep everyone updated. It wasn't a blog, but it was a good way of reaching out to family and friends. Of course, now we have Facebook. I think this name will stick!
I also started a blog recently called Mary Made It. It's just a sewing blog. I felt like my family blog was full of boring sewing posts and the sewing people who only want to read about sewing were also seeing my family updates, so I separated my sewing from the rest of the blog worthy stuff. There isn't a lot on it, but enough. And I can update it with my sewing stories and pictures as time goes on.
I also set up a blog, and I'll get around to writing it someday, that is a memoir sort of blog since it'll be written about the past. I want to document our Disneyland memories in it. I have a lot of pictures and lots of memories about taking the kids to Disneyland. Someday I will find the time to get it going and get all of those thoughts out of head and onto the blog, if I don't forget. I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of it already. I probably should have done a Disneyland blog all along, but I didn't think of it. We had some really good times and I want to keep a separate place to ramble on about the good times we had. It was great going to Disneyland time after time! The kids are kind of Disney'd out now, but we really had a great time going.
Speaking of "Blogworthy" - pretty much anything is blog worthy! I've written about the kids mostly, but also about our vehichles, dogs, food, and poop. I've covered a lot of topics over the years. Nothing is off limits it seems. It's my blog and I write whatever I want to.
Happy Blog Birthday! Thanks for reading all these years!
Happy Birthday, Blog!
Here is a link to my very first blog post: Dipping My Toes in the Great Blog Sea
I started by calling my blog Momathon, but then one day I decided that name wasn't right. Some people thought it was a blog about a mom who runs. Sure, I run, but only in the house.
Then, I changed the name to Rufflebutts. It was cute! And I thought it sort of said that I raised girls, which is accurate. But, after a while I got tired of that name since it implies that my girls are babies who wear ruffled bloomers, and they don't. They all grew out of the baby stage. Darn kids.
Finally, I changed the blog name to Schuworld. This was the name of our web page that we had for years. We used to post family updates and photos on it to keep everyone updated. It wasn't a blog, but it was a good way of reaching out to family and friends. Of course, now we have Facebook. I think this name will stick!
I also started a blog recently called Mary Made It. It's just a sewing blog. I felt like my family blog was full of boring sewing posts and the sewing people who only want to read about sewing were also seeing my family updates, so I separated my sewing from the rest of the blog worthy stuff. There isn't a lot on it, but enough. And I can update it with my sewing stories and pictures as time goes on.
I also set up a blog, and I'll get around to writing it someday, that is a memoir sort of blog since it'll be written about the past. I want to document our Disneyland memories in it. I have a lot of pictures and lots of memories about taking the kids to Disneyland. Someday I will find the time to get it going and get all of those thoughts out of head and onto the blog, if I don't forget. I'm sure I've forgotten a lot of it already. I probably should have done a Disneyland blog all along, but I didn't think of it. We had some really good times and I want to keep a separate place to ramble on about the good times we had. It was great going to Disneyland time after time! The kids are kind of Disney'd out now, but we really had a great time going.
Speaking of "Blogworthy" - pretty much anything is blog worthy! I've written about the kids mostly, but also about our vehichles, dogs, food, and poop. I've covered a lot of topics over the years. Nothing is off limits it seems. It's my blog and I write whatever I want to.
Happy Blog Birthday! Thanks for reading all these years!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Just an update
This post is about nothing in particular, just an update:
Libby lost a tooth last night. I think it's her third tooth, but it might be the forth one. I've lost track! She was pretty excited about it, and quite frankly, so am I. It's been loose for over a month and her breath has been terrible! I'm pretty sure the tooth was rotting in it's socket and stinking up her breath, but she has been too anxious about it coming out to pull it. And it hasn't been super dooper wiggly, so maybe it wasn't really ready to fall out. Finally, it came out! She was eating corn on the cob and it sort of got stuck in the cob and really loosened up. The next bite she took, it fell right out. It fell into her mouth and didn't get stuck in the cob so it didn't get lost. She was super excited and ran to her room and put it in her tooth pillow right away. Before she went to bed, she checked to make sure it was all set up for the tooth fairy. We hoped that the tooth fairy wouldn't be too afraid of the fireworks to fly around. This morning, Libby found four quarters and one Sacajawea dollar coin in her tooth pillow! So exciting!
Bugs have been biting the kids at night and we are completely perplexed about what is going on. Gracie, Libby and Lexie are all waking up covered in big red welts. Nobody else seems to be getting them. The girls itch like crazy and look like they were quite the bug buffet. They don't have bedbugs and we don't have mosquitoes here, but something is eating my girls! I'm thinking we'll have to buy a can of Off and spray the girls before they go to bed.
Charlie and Libby took a Funk dance class. They had so much fun! Dance class is nicely structured. Every kid in the class is participating at the same time, there isn't much in the way of waiting for your turn. Most of the class is participation time. And it's fun! Charlie did well in his first dance class. He listened, learned, and participated nicely. Such a well behaved boy! We're all very proud of his behavior. He might enroll in a weekly dance class this fall. Libby certainly will, she loves dance class and she's very good at it! The dance teacher wants her to move up to the classes for 6-9 year olds instead of the 3-5 year olds. She's close enough to age 6 I guess.
Gracie is healed up from her bike wreck! We think; we really don't know how her skull fracture is doing but assume it is healing and doing fine. There is still a small bump on her forehead and slight bruising under her eye, so she has a little healing to do yet. She seems just fine though. The fracture in her wrist healed and she got her cast off. She enjoyed wearing her cast since it was comfortable and it brought her a lot of extra special attention, but she was pretty happy to get it off too. We still haven't fixed her bike because she wants to ride it again and I want her to heal up completely before she plows up the road with her face again.
All three kids are in swimming lessons this session. Libby and Charlie took swimming lessons while Gracie was still in her cast so they are on their second session now. They took "Level T" last session which is the Toddler class. It is set up for four students between the ages of 3 - 5. That was nice that they could be in the same class and they both did really well! This round, I put them both in Level I. The child must be 5 years old to be in Level I, and Charlie is still three years old but there was no room in any of the Toddler classes for him by the time I registered. I called the City and requested that he be allowed to be in Level I since it is basically the same skill level, just with bigger kids. The lady who heard my plea transferred my phone call to the pool and I spoke with a lifeguard there. The guy I spoke with remembered Charlie and asked when his birthday is and I told him it's in August and he said that was ok to put Charlie in Level I. So I told him, well, he'll be 4 in August, he's still 3 for another month. The guy was surprised but said that is still ok since Charlie did really well in Toddler class and looks like he is 5 years old already. Sure enough, he's doing great! He might even pass the class! Libby is doing great too! They are both very brave little swimmers. Gracie is loving her class, she is in Level II. This year she is tall enough to stand up easily in the 4' part of the pool with her head above the water. That seems to make a big difference for her. She might actually pass to the next level too!
I've been sewing up a storm. Not anything special, just trying to use up my fabric stash with little projects. The small simple projects have been fun. I'm running low on zippers now, but I made a bunch of snack bags and larger wet bags. The wet bags are great for cloth diapers and trips to the beach and so forth, really anything wet can be tossed in them. And I've been making hats for myself. I finally figured out how to wear a scarf so that it doesn't slip and slide and fall off: wear a cotton hat underneath. I made a bunch of them so that I can refresh my hat and match the colors to the scarves. I haven't been embroidering much, but I want to. My embroidery machine is giving me a headache. The colored thread goes on top and the bobbin thread is white, but the bobbin thread is showing on the top of the fabric more than the colored thread! So my embroidery machine is obviously having tension issues and I have not figured out how to fix it yet. I'm trying!
Keith has had shoulder problems for quite some time now, literally, months! It's called Frozen Shoulder. It's very painful and limits his movement. Poor guy is having a hard time with it and so he went to the doctor and got a cortizone shot deep into the joint. It helped for a few hours and then he was back to having a lot of pain. So much for that! He's been going to physical therapy weekly too, and it's helping but not much. The doctor then told him that he's an older guy now, over 50, and so he needs a colonoscopy. He's scheduled for that sometime later in the month, but I find it funny that because his shoulder hurts, he's having a colonoscopy. I don't think it'll help his shoulder much but I'm not a doctor.
One of our frankenputer laptops died. The other one is not doing as well as it should, so I expect it could die any day too. Who knows! But that is why there has been such a big slow down with the blog posts and posting of photos. I am hoping that Keith will get the kids a computer, an actual computer, not a laptop or a tablet, but a real sit at a desk computer. They need it for their homework for school; they can't use these half-baked frankenputers! And then I'll be able to use the desktop for blogging and whatnot. Just have to talk Keith into buying or building one.
We all had the stomach flu. It wasn't pretty. It was awful! Libby and Gracie started it, and then I joined in. Keith had a terrible belly ache but he was able to contain himself. It lasted a few days for each of us and we were a mess! Lexie and Charlie survived the ordeal, but they had to take care of the rest of us and do all of the cleaning and nursing and all. Lexie was exhausted after a few days of providing night and day care. We're all better now and Lexie and Charlie never did get it, whew!
I ended up in the hospital for a day because of it. If I get a fever over 100 degrees, I have to go to the ER. So, I did. I hit 100.9 and couldn't get it under 100.5 so I conceded and did as I'm supposed to. I was terribly dehydrated anyway and they admitted me. I received 4 bags of IV fluid and lots of medicine of various sorts. I sure felt better when I was discharged, but I needed to still rest and hydrate when I got home for a few days. I'm really not a fan of being in the hospital! But, they took good care of me and I thank them for that.
I did find out that my port needs to be adjusted. Which is another way of saying I have to be sliced open and poked around in again. The doctor has to fix my port because a stitch holding it in place is now poking out of me and bacteria could get in and infect the whole thing. According to the doctor, the problem is that I am too skinny. Well... in that one spot maybe! I'm not exactly happy about this, but I have to keep the port in until next May so I guess I better get it fixed. I don't know when the surgery will be, the surgery schedule lady that does a terrible job is the one arranging it, so I don't expect that it will be any time soon.
I'm doing ok. I am going for all of my chemo and herceptin treatments. I'm dealing well with the side effects and my family is very supportive of all of my naps and lack of energy. They are all pitching in and helping me get through it day by day. I just take it one day at a time, that seems to be the easiest way to cope with the cancer and treatments and side effects. I'm getting a lot of the expected side effects, but not all of them. I have a plentiful supply of pharmaceuticals to keep the side effects from getting the best of me, which really helps. I'm halfway through chemo, only three more to go! My last chemo will be at the end of August, after that I'll only have to get herceptin infusions once a month to finish out the year and then I will start taking Tamoxifin (pills) for five years.
Lexie and Charlie's custody court date was moved to August. We really hoped the case would be closed in June, but they extended it for no apparent reason. She has full custody, but she is receiving "services" which are a giant pain in the ass. At her next court date, we hope she is awarded full custody and an end of services. She's so sick of having to take parenting classes and having the social worker "visit" all the time. I am sick of them inspecting our house and constantly telling me that it isn't good enough. I googled this health and safety program that they have Lexie doing, which is the home inspection protocol that they use too. I found a training page for it and it says that the social worker is supposed to find safety infractions so that the parent can improve and learn, and then the social worker can mark those items off as improved. They had stats and all sorts of information about how many parents they've helped improve the health and safety of their homes. The page I found listed some examples of infractions that could be pointed out including that bathtubs and sinks are drowning hazards. Well, no wonder our infraction list is ridiculous and impossible to fix! That's what their goal is! We don't have enough real hazards in our home, so they have to find something, even if it is the most basic things. Now that I have a better understanding of what they are doing, I feel better about my home. Anyway, we're sure hoping that in August it is all over and we can go back to normal and stop worrying about what they will say next or when they will just pop in and inspect. It's nerve wracking!
Keith has arranged for a little get-away for the family. We're all going up to the mountains and stay in a cabin that belongs to a teacher friend of his. We get to get away and have a "camping" experience in the pine trees while still having all the comforts of a house! So nice! I'm excited to do something fun and not too taxing on my depleted energy supply. The kids can run around and collect pine cones or chase squirrels or something. It'll be fun! And it'll be something to break up the boredom that the kids are experiencing. They are like caged squirrels right now; we must set them free in the woods!
I saved the best news for last: Katie and Andrew are expecting baby #3!!! We're super excited for them! And for us, we just love them and their boys so much. Can't get enough of the little guys! I told Katie that I can't help her in many ways, so I will help by naming her baby for her and then she won't have to worry about that task. I told her to have a boy and I shall name him Winston. I love it! She doesn't, in fact, I'm having a hard time selling her on the name. It's the least I can do to help her out though, right? I've chosen the gender and the name, all she has to do is have the baby! I might have to wait and see if the baby is a boy or a girl and let them choose the name. I'm not much help so far. I'll have to see what the baby needs and sew something adorable for little Winston (or whatever they name #3).
That's about it for the updates. In general, we're all doing ok and hanging in there but we all have issues. This isn't turning out to be a great summer, but there is enough good stuff in it to save it. I think we'll all welcome the fall though. It'll be nice to have this summer behind us and move on to better times.
Libby lost a tooth last night. I think it's her third tooth, but it might be the forth one. I've lost track! She was pretty excited about it, and quite frankly, so am I. It's been loose for over a month and her breath has been terrible! I'm pretty sure the tooth was rotting in it's socket and stinking up her breath, but she has been too anxious about it coming out to pull it. And it hasn't been super dooper wiggly, so maybe it wasn't really ready to fall out. Finally, it came out! She was eating corn on the cob and it sort of got stuck in the cob and really loosened up. The next bite she took, it fell right out. It fell into her mouth and didn't get stuck in the cob so it didn't get lost. She was super excited and ran to her room and put it in her tooth pillow right away. Before she went to bed, she checked to make sure it was all set up for the tooth fairy. We hoped that the tooth fairy wouldn't be too afraid of the fireworks to fly around. This morning, Libby found four quarters and one Sacajawea dollar coin in her tooth pillow! So exciting!
Bugs have been biting the kids at night and we are completely perplexed about what is going on. Gracie, Libby and Lexie are all waking up covered in big red welts. Nobody else seems to be getting them. The girls itch like crazy and look like they were quite the bug buffet. They don't have bedbugs and we don't have mosquitoes here, but something is eating my girls! I'm thinking we'll have to buy a can of Off and spray the girls before they go to bed.
Charlie and Libby took a Funk dance class. They had so much fun! Dance class is nicely structured. Every kid in the class is participating at the same time, there isn't much in the way of waiting for your turn. Most of the class is participation time. And it's fun! Charlie did well in his first dance class. He listened, learned, and participated nicely. Such a well behaved boy! We're all very proud of his behavior. He might enroll in a weekly dance class this fall. Libby certainly will, she loves dance class and she's very good at it! The dance teacher wants her to move up to the classes for 6-9 year olds instead of the 3-5 year olds. She's close enough to age 6 I guess.
Gracie is healed up from her bike wreck! We think; we really don't know how her skull fracture is doing but assume it is healing and doing fine. There is still a small bump on her forehead and slight bruising under her eye, so she has a little healing to do yet. She seems just fine though. The fracture in her wrist healed and she got her cast off. She enjoyed wearing her cast since it was comfortable and it brought her a lot of extra special attention, but she was pretty happy to get it off too. We still haven't fixed her bike because she wants to ride it again and I want her to heal up completely before she plows up the road with her face again.
All three kids are in swimming lessons this session. Libby and Charlie took swimming lessons while Gracie was still in her cast so they are on their second session now. They took "Level T" last session which is the Toddler class. It is set up for four students between the ages of 3 - 5. That was nice that they could be in the same class and they both did really well! This round, I put them both in Level I. The child must be 5 years old to be in Level I, and Charlie is still three years old but there was no room in any of the Toddler classes for him by the time I registered. I called the City and requested that he be allowed to be in Level I since it is basically the same skill level, just with bigger kids. The lady who heard my plea transferred my phone call to the pool and I spoke with a lifeguard there. The guy I spoke with remembered Charlie and asked when his birthday is and I told him it's in August and he said that was ok to put Charlie in Level I. So I told him, well, he'll be 4 in August, he's still 3 for another month. The guy was surprised but said that is still ok since Charlie did really well in Toddler class and looks like he is 5 years old already. Sure enough, he's doing great! He might even pass the class! Libby is doing great too! They are both very brave little swimmers. Gracie is loving her class, she is in Level II. This year she is tall enough to stand up easily in the 4' part of the pool with her head above the water. That seems to make a big difference for her. She might actually pass to the next level too!
I've been sewing up a storm. Not anything special, just trying to use up my fabric stash with little projects. The small simple projects have been fun. I'm running low on zippers now, but I made a bunch of snack bags and larger wet bags. The wet bags are great for cloth diapers and trips to the beach and so forth, really anything wet can be tossed in them. And I've been making hats for myself. I finally figured out how to wear a scarf so that it doesn't slip and slide and fall off: wear a cotton hat underneath. I made a bunch of them so that I can refresh my hat and match the colors to the scarves. I haven't been embroidering much, but I want to. My embroidery machine is giving me a headache. The colored thread goes on top and the bobbin thread is white, but the bobbin thread is showing on the top of the fabric more than the colored thread! So my embroidery machine is obviously having tension issues and I have not figured out how to fix it yet. I'm trying!
Keith has had shoulder problems for quite some time now, literally, months! It's called Frozen Shoulder. It's very painful and limits his movement. Poor guy is having a hard time with it and so he went to the doctor and got a cortizone shot deep into the joint. It helped for a few hours and then he was back to having a lot of pain. So much for that! He's been going to physical therapy weekly too, and it's helping but not much. The doctor then told him that he's an older guy now, over 50, and so he needs a colonoscopy. He's scheduled for that sometime later in the month, but I find it funny that because his shoulder hurts, he's having a colonoscopy. I don't think it'll help his shoulder much but I'm not a doctor.
One of our frankenputer laptops died. The other one is not doing as well as it should, so I expect it could die any day too. Who knows! But that is why there has been such a big slow down with the blog posts and posting of photos. I am hoping that Keith will get the kids a computer, an actual computer, not a laptop or a tablet, but a real sit at a desk computer. They need it for their homework for school; they can't use these half-baked frankenputers! And then I'll be able to use the desktop for blogging and whatnot. Just have to talk Keith into buying or building one.
We all had the stomach flu. It wasn't pretty. It was awful! Libby and Gracie started it, and then I joined in. Keith had a terrible belly ache but he was able to contain himself. It lasted a few days for each of us and we were a mess! Lexie and Charlie survived the ordeal, but they had to take care of the rest of us and do all of the cleaning and nursing and all. Lexie was exhausted after a few days of providing night and day care. We're all better now and Lexie and Charlie never did get it, whew!
I ended up in the hospital for a day because of it. If I get a fever over 100 degrees, I have to go to the ER. So, I did. I hit 100.9 and couldn't get it under 100.5 so I conceded and did as I'm supposed to. I was terribly dehydrated anyway and they admitted me. I received 4 bags of IV fluid and lots of medicine of various sorts. I sure felt better when I was discharged, but I needed to still rest and hydrate when I got home for a few days. I'm really not a fan of being in the hospital! But, they took good care of me and I thank them for that.
I did find out that my port needs to be adjusted. Which is another way of saying I have to be sliced open and poked around in again. The doctor has to fix my port because a stitch holding it in place is now poking out of me and bacteria could get in and infect the whole thing. According to the doctor, the problem is that I am too skinny. Well... in that one spot maybe! I'm not exactly happy about this, but I have to keep the port in until next May so I guess I better get it fixed. I don't know when the surgery will be, the surgery schedule lady that does a terrible job is the one arranging it, so I don't expect that it will be any time soon.
I'm doing ok. I am going for all of my chemo and herceptin treatments. I'm dealing well with the side effects and my family is very supportive of all of my naps and lack of energy. They are all pitching in and helping me get through it day by day. I just take it one day at a time, that seems to be the easiest way to cope with the cancer and treatments and side effects. I'm getting a lot of the expected side effects, but not all of them. I have a plentiful supply of pharmaceuticals to keep the side effects from getting the best of me, which really helps. I'm halfway through chemo, only three more to go! My last chemo will be at the end of August, after that I'll only have to get herceptin infusions once a month to finish out the year and then I will start taking Tamoxifin (pills) for five years.
Lexie and Charlie's custody court date was moved to August. We really hoped the case would be closed in June, but they extended it for no apparent reason. She has full custody, but she is receiving "services" which are a giant pain in the ass. At her next court date, we hope she is awarded full custody and an end of services. She's so sick of having to take parenting classes and having the social worker "visit" all the time. I am sick of them inspecting our house and constantly telling me that it isn't good enough. I googled this health and safety program that they have Lexie doing, which is the home inspection protocol that they use too. I found a training page for it and it says that the social worker is supposed to find safety infractions so that the parent can improve and learn, and then the social worker can mark those items off as improved. They had stats and all sorts of information about how many parents they've helped improve the health and safety of their homes. The page I found listed some examples of infractions that could be pointed out including that bathtubs and sinks are drowning hazards. Well, no wonder our infraction list is ridiculous and impossible to fix! That's what their goal is! We don't have enough real hazards in our home, so they have to find something, even if it is the most basic things. Now that I have a better understanding of what they are doing, I feel better about my home. Anyway, we're sure hoping that in August it is all over and we can go back to normal and stop worrying about what they will say next or when they will just pop in and inspect. It's nerve wracking!
Keith has arranged for a little get-away for the family. We're all going up to the mountains and stay in a cabin that belongs to a teacher friend of his. We get to get away and have a "camping" experience in the pine trees while still having all the comforts of a house! So nice! I'm excited to do something fun and not too taxing on my depleted energy supply. The kids can run around and collect pine cones or chase squirrels or something. It'll be fun! And it'll be something to break up the boredom that the kids are experiencing. They are like caged squirrels right now; we must set them free in the woods!
I saved the best news for last: Katie and Andrew are expecting baby #3!!! We're super excited for them! And for us, we just love them and their boys so much. Can't get enough of the little guys! I told Katie that I can't help her in many ways, so I will help by naming her baby for her and then she won't have to worry about that task. I told her to have a boy and I shall name him Winston. I love it! She doesn't, in fact, I'm having a hard time selling her on the name. It's the least I can do to help her out though, right? I've chosen the gender and the name, all she has to do is have the baby! I might have to wait and see if the baby is a boy or a girl and let them choose the name. I'm not much help so far. I'll have to see what the baby needs and sew something adorable for little Winston (or whatever they name #3).
That's about it for the updates. In general, we're all doing ok and hanging in there but we all have issues. This isn't turning out to be a great summer, but there is enough good stuff in it to save it. I think we'll all welcome the fall though. It'll be nice to have this summer behind us and move on to better times.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Gutzon Borglum Art History Project
Second Grade Art History: It's intense!
We knew this monthly project was coming up, because I like to look ahead at the school curriculum like that. And back in December I said to Gracie, "What artist do you want to study?" She said, "Who made Mount Rushmore?" Gutzon Borglum. Done.
Smart kid, right? I'm a proud mama!
The assignment is: Choose a famous artist or musician, research that person's life as an artist and replicate a work from that person's portfolio. This can be a big project or a small one, depending on how much work the child wants to put into it. Like all of their monthly projects, the effort and the lesson is up to the family and the interest of the child. My kid happens to like art and history.
She also likes South Dakota and knows Mount Rushmore is gem of the state. I'm proud that she recognized it as a work of art, not just a thing. It's not a painting, and when I was a kid I'm pretty sure my limited little head only thought of art as drawings and paintings rather than sculptures or monuments.
Luckily, there was a documentary on TV about Gutzon Borglum and I recorded it. This sure came in handy, as it was the main source of her research. I'm pretty sure we could have found all of the pertinent information online or in some of our South Dakota books, but it was easy to just watch the program and pause it as the narrator said interesting things. Gracie wrote notes as we watched. She noted his birth and death dates, places, where he studied, other works he did and some other information about his life. I didn't have her write about his lack of finances because that seemed a bit out of the scope of her project at a second grade level anyway.
The replica was the hard part of the project. I'm sure Gutzon didn't have it easy when he was sculpting Mount Rushmore neither, but he was older and wiser. He wasn't eight.
I did have the forsight to think ahead and have her build her mountain over a ceramic bowl though. Then we wouldn't have a 50 pound lump of dried sculputre to lug around, but a hollow one that would dry nicely and evenly. Score one for mommy thinking!
I cannot stand Playdough. Gross. That stuff stinks! I'm not having her build a Playdough mountain. We will make our own non-smelly stuff. I used pinterest and found lots of recipes for salt dough. According to a thousand web sites, it's easy, doesn't smell, dries nicely, and lasts forever. Perfect.
So, not perfect! It is easy to mix, but a mess and a half! And it doesn't dry nicely. You have to bake it. You have to bake it flat! It's great for rolled out flat Christmas ornaments and the like, not for mounds of mountainous granite with heads. Salt dough was a complete no-go!
Look what happened when we baked it! Those poor Great Faces!
I bought some modeling clay. It said on the package that it would air dry nicely. Great. Just right for us!
Wrong again. It dries all right. But it crumbled into bits! How is that drying nicely? It's drying and cracking and completely falling apart! We piled more clay onto it to make it thicker, but that just made more pieces to break off. Failure number two. Ugh.
Gracie was disappointed and the deadline was looming. We'd been working on this project for a long time thinking we had plenty of time and suddenly, it's almost due. And it's a catastrophe!
Replica numero tres: Or, number three since it's not Spanish or anything....
This time, we decided not to let it dry! That should solve the drying problems! Take it to school freshly molded! It doesn't need to be dry like a rock, it just needs to look like Mount Rushmore. Sort of. Her details were less and less pronounced with each version of the heads. They lack noses now.
She made her third and final (it was due in the morning) replica and we covered it with saran wrap. This must work! She put her report in a binder to make a booklet out of it and added some photos of Borglum's other works. She put in a couple of photos of sculptures and one of a painting that he did. No explanation about them, just printed pictures and put them in her binder. I'm sure her teacher will guess that they are examples of his other works.
At school, they set up a little art museum. I wish I could have gone to see it, but I hear it was fantastic. Each kid presented their project and all of them were set out for display. I'm glad she put her report in a binder because a poster or just a piece of paper would not have displayed as well. And her sculpture was just fine! Another girl did a sculpture too, The Statue of Liberty. I'll have to ask her mom about it and see what they used for their sculpting medium.
Next year, I hope she chooses a painting!
We knew this monthly project was coming up, because I like to look ahead at the school curriculum like that. And back in December I said to Gracie, "What artist do you want to study?" She said, "Who made Mount Rushmore?" Gutzon Borglum. Done.
Smart kid, right? I'm a proud mama!
The assignment is: Choose a famous artist or musician, research that person's life as an artist and replicate a work from that person's portfolio. This can be a big project or a small one, depending on how much work the child wants to put into it. Like all of their monthly projects, the effort and the lesson is up to the family and the interest of the child. My kid happens to like art and history.
She also likes South Dakota and knows Mount Rushmore is gem of the state. I'm proud that she recognized it as a work of art, not just a thing. It's not a painting, and when I was a kid I'm pretty sure my limited little head only thought of art as drawings and paintings rather than sculptures or monuments.
Luckily, there was a documentary on TV about Gutzon Borglum and I recorded it. This sure came in handy, as it was the main source of her research. I'm pretty sure we could have found all of the pertinent information online or in some of our South Dakota books, but it was easy to just watch the program and pause it as the narrator said interesting things. Gracie wrote notes as we watched. She noted his birth and death dates, places, where he studied, other works he did and some other information about his life. I didn't have her write about his lack of finances because that seemed a bit out of the scope of her project at a second grade level anyway.
The replica was the hard part of the project. I'm sure Gutzon didn't have it easy when he was sculpting Mount Rushmore neither, but he was older and wiser. He wasn't eight.
I did have the forsight to think ahead and have her build her mountain over a ceramic bowl though. Then we wouldn't have a 50 pound lump of dried sculputre to lug around, but a hollow one that would dry nicely and evenly. Score one for mommy thinking!
I cannot stand Playdough. Gross. That stuff stinks! I'm not having her build a Playdough mountain. We will make our own non-smelly stuff. I used pinterest and found lots of recipes for salt dough. According to a thousand web sites, it's easy, doesn't smell, dries nicely, and lasts forever. Perfect.
So, not perfect! It is easy to mix, but a mess and a half! And it doesn't dry nicely. You have to bake it. You have to bake it flat! It's great for rolled out flat Christmas ornaments and the like, not for mounds of mountainous granite with heads. Salt dough was a complete no-go!
Look what happened when we baked it! Those poor Great Faces!
I bought some modeling clay. It said on the package that it would air dry nicely. Great. Just right for us!
Wrong again. It dries all right. But it crumbled into bits! How is that drying nicely? It's drying and cracking and completely falling apart! We piled more clay onto it to make it thicker, but that just made more pieces to break off. Failure number two. Ugh.
Gracie was disappointed and the deadline was looming. We'd been working on this project for a long time thinking we had plenty of time and suddenly, it's almost due. And it's a catastrophe!
Replica numero tres: Or, number three since it's not Spanish or anything....
This time, we decided not to let it dry! That should solve the drying problems! Take it to school freshly molded! It doesn't need to be dry like a rock, it just needs to look like Mount Rushmore. Sort of. Her details were less and less pronounced with each version of the heads. They lack noses now.
She made her third and final (it was due in the morning) replica and we covered it with saran wrap. This must work! She put her report in a binder to make a booklet out of it and added some photos of Borglum's other works. She put in a couple of photos of sculptures and one of a painting that he did. No explanation about them, just printed pictures and put them in her binder. I'm sure her teacher will guess that they are examples of his other works.
At school, they set up a little art museum. I wish I could have gone to see it, but I hear it was fantastic. Each kid presented their project and all of them were set out for display. I'm glad she put her report in a binder because a poster or just a piece of paper would not have displayed as well. And her sculpture was just fine! Another girl did a sculpture too, The Statue of Liberty. I'll have to ask her mom about it and see what they used for their sculpting medium.
Next year, I hope she chooses a painting!
Wigs
For fun and for reason - I went wig shopping again! I'm so glad my sister took me wig shopping when she did. We didn't buy anything that day, but we found a shop and we found where some listed shops weren't, saving me time now that the time has come.
My hair has mostly fallen out by now, and it's been a strain to adjust, but it isn't the worst thing in the world. Scarves and hats are fine, but awkward.It is hard to feel normal in something that never has been normal to you. And I need to look normal once in a while - like a school function! So, I took my little buddy Charlie and we went to a wig shop. I went to one that I didn't go to before, but it has good reviews. Charlie and I found it ok, so we went in. It was kind of a classy joint, might be good!
First thing Charlie saw was a small dish of peppermint candies by the cash register. Next thing you know he had peppermint drool all over his face and neck, his hands were covered in sticky drips all the way up to his elbows! We had to leave the store and go to the car to wash him off with baby wipes. No more candies.
Back in we went. He wanted his shoes off; he was actually wearing Libby's flip flops and they were hurting his toes. I tried on a couple of wigs. They were nice, but highly priced. The lady helping me was a complainer too! She said "oh, a chemo patient. I have to clean the wigs after you try them on because you are a chemo patient. I have to spray them and shake them off." Well, do what you have to do. I don't mind.
Then Charlie had to go potty. He told the lady, "When I hold my weenie like dis, it means I haffta go potty right now!" She offered to take him and I told her he can do it by himself he just needs to know where the bathroom is. He did just fine on his own. Whew! He's so funny! I really liked one wig that I had tried on. She had already sprayed and shaken it and put it back and I asked her to bring it out again and she was a little annoyed, but I ignored that. I'm bothering her with my chemo head and my little grandson, but this is wig shopping and this is her job to help me.
I loved one wig! It was $279 though. That's a lot of money and it was synthetic hair, like a Barbie doll, so I don't think that's a good price. Maybe it is, but that's a lot of money! I told her I love it and I'll think about it. She wasn't too happy that I left without making a purchase but she let me know that she wouldn't hold it for me unless I put down a deposit. No thanks, no deposit. Thank you.
Then I needed to take Charlie back and get the girls instead. Time to swap kids. The girls had a ride home from school, so I went home to make sure all was well and swap kids. Pretty sure Charlie had enough of my wig shopping anyway.
The girls and I went to the same shop where Pat took me. Easy to find and it had several wigs, that really weren't all that different in style than the expensive shop. I don't remember this shop being over $200 per wig neither. Seems they were more reasonable. And, they were. I tried on lots of wigs here! The lady was so nice and very helpful. She just said not to put the wigs back by myself because I'm a chemo patient, so she has to spray the wig before she puts it back. Ah, ok. At least she wasn't a jerk about it.
I tried on the wig that I liked when I went in with my sister. It looked much better on the manikin! I tried on a bunch of wigs. Gracie really wanted me to get a clown wig, but I nixed that idea pretty fast. Libby wanted hair clips for herself, she didn't care about wigs at all. I finally narrowed it down to a natural looking one that was similar to the $279 wig in the other shop and a blondish one that looked light and summery, but was a nice length. The brown one was a wee bit shorter than I really liked. So, length won over color and I purchased the blondy wig for $52. Pictured in the lower right. That's a lot better than the other shop and now I have hair!
I was loving it! The girls thought it was great too! Lexie thought it looked really good on me. And then Keith got home and immediately snubbed it. He didn't like it at all! He said it looked funny and fake and really not me. Now normally, I wouldn't care too much what he thinks, but he's an honest guy and if he thinks it looks fake and funny, then I'm pretty sure others will too. Lexie thought it looked great, but I don't know. Now I was confused and upset.
Hair loss is a lot more emotional than I anticipated. I really didn't think it would bother me so very much! I already purchased it so it's mine. Maybe I'll go back and get the brown wig too, not the expensive one but the one from this same shop. It was $135. I decided that's what I will do. Then I could be happy wearing my blond hair to the park and the beach and wear the brown one when Keith takes me out to dinner. That will work. Two sets of hair. Yes!
The next day I took the girls to school wearing my blond wig and it all went well. They had a school function in the afternoon that I needed to attend, so I wore the wig to that. I think it went well. A couple of people noticed my new cut and color. I don't know if they really knew it was a wig or not, but that's ok. I felt normal enough. Although, I felt very self conscious about it too. At least I could walk around and visit with people without feeling like a banner for chemo. It's this or a slippery scarf or a hat, very obvious!
After the school party, I took the girls and we went to Michelle's Place for a wig. I didn't think I would be able to do that this week since I was told to only go on Thursday afternoons for a wig and I wasn't going to have time. Luckily, we had time and so we went.
Wouldn't you know it, I could go anytime to get a wig there! And the lady was very helpful! She didn't shake and spray off the wigs, just had me wear a wig cap before putting any on and I kept the little cap. It's just a nylon, like a ankle sock that I squeezed onto my head instead of wearing on my foot. No biggie. I'm not contagious. Then I tried on wigs!
The girls went to the kids' room to play with toys and I went into the salon room to try on wigs. They have scads of them, all folded up in drawers though, so it's hard to see what's what. You just have to pull them out and look at them. They are sorted by color and I had already decided no blond wigs, but I wanted to try on a white one just to send Keith a photo and scare him a bit. I did. It was hilarious! And I looked a lot like my mother. Whoa!
I did try on one blonde one because it was a nice longer length and I wanted to feel how that would be. While I tried that one on, the lady helping me tried to find a brown one like it. I didn't like it and she didn't find one except in jet black, so that was out.
She had me try on a cute short one with a couple of red streaks down the side. It was really cute and young looking but I really felt like I'd have to learn to play guitar in a rock band if I wore it much longer. It's the one pictured on the lower left. The middle left, that was supposed to look pretty good according to the tag on it, but I just look like a drunk! I could wear it out and about, but I'd look like I'd been out and about a lot!
And then we found the one pictured in the lower right. Perfect! The color is great, the length is perfect and I loved it! Even better than the $279 wig at the other shop! I went to show the girls and Gracie said, "Mom, you look like you!" Done. That's the wig for me! I walked out wearing it and feeling great!
Since the girls were so good, I took them to the park to run off some energy and I could sit and feel my new wig on my head. The park was crazy crowded though, and by chance, my friend sent me a text and said she was at a different park. I grabbed up the girls and met her there. I wanted to show her my new hair. We got to the park and I immediately felt weird about it. Mostly because my friend knows me very well and she'll surely see that it's a wig, but that's good because I trust her and she'll be wonderfully honest, but she was hanging out with someone I didn't really know and so we wouldn't be able to talk about it openly. I told Gracie and Libby not to say anything, because wearing a wig is a secret. Of course, they did! Little stinkers! I don't think the other lady noticed that it was a wig, but I'm sure my good friend did. I was holding it down like a hat and adjusting it like a tight cap, of course she noticed! It felt like it might pop off if I made facial expressions that wrinkled up my forehead. Eeek! Guess I should tape it down like the lady in the wig shop offered to do yesterday. The park was a good first try out in the new hair. I'll get better at this, I'm sure.
When I walked in the house, Lexie didn't look twice at me. And then it dawned on her, and she said "Wow. I forgot when you first walked in." That's the best!
When Keith got home, he didn't even notice. After a few minutes, he looked at me and said, "What are you wearing on your head?" And I said "A wig" and he said, "I just noticed. And not because of how it looks, I just remembered that you don't have hair. You look exactly like you." Highest compliment! He forgot and had to remember that I shouldn't have hair! This thing looks good! He didn't even mind when he thought it was the $279 wig, but he loved that it was a free one! Awesome!
I think I'm gonna be just fine with the hair loss now that I have two wigs and several scarves and hats for those times when I just want to be more comfortable. I can be inconspicuous, or fashionable. This might be fun! Or anonymous, my choice now. But I'm comfortable and that's really all that matters.
My hair has mostly fallen out by now, and it's been a strain to adjust, but it isn't the worst thing in the world. Scarves and hats are fine, but awkward.It is hard to feel normal in something that never has been normal to you. And I need to look normal once in a while - like a school function! So, I took my little buddy Charlie and we went to a wig shop. I went to one that I didn't go to before, but it has good reviews. Charlie and I found it ok, so we went in. It was kind of a classy joint, might be good!
First thing Charlie saw was a small dish of peppermint candies by the cash register. Next thing you know he had peppermint drool all over his face and neck, his hands were covered in sticky drips all the way up to his elbows! We had to leave the store and go to the car to wash him off with baby wipes. No more candies.
Back in we went. He wanted his shoes off; he was actually wearing Libby's flip flops and they were hurting his toes. I tried on a couple of wigs. They were nice, but highly priced. The lady helping me was a complainer too! She said "oh, a chemo patient. I have to clean the wigs after you try them on because you are a chemo patient. I have to spray them and shake them off." Well, do what you have to do. I don't mind.
Then Charlie had to go potty. He told the lady, "When I hold my weenie like dis, it means I haffta go potty right now!" She offered to take him and I told her he can do it by himself he just needs to know where the bathroom is. He did just fine on his own. Whew! He's so funny! I really liked one wig that I had tried on. She had already sprayed and shaken it and put it back and I asked her to bring it out again and she was a little annoyed, but I ignored that. I'm bothering her with my chemo head and my little grandson, but this is wig shopping and this is her job to help me.
I loved one wig! It was $279 though. That's a lot of money and it was synthetic hair, like a Barbie doll, so I don't think that's a good price. Maybe it is, but that's a lot of money! I told her I love it and I'll think about it. She wasn't too happy that I left without making a purchase but she let me know that she wouldn't hold it for me unless I put down a deposit. No thanks, no deposit. Thank you.
Then I needed to take Charlie back and get the girls instead. Time to swap kids. The girls had a ride home from school, so I went home to make sure all was well and swap kids. Pretty sure Charlie had enough of my wig shopping anyway.
The girls and I went to the same shop where Pat took me. Easy to find and it had several wigs, that really weren't all that different in style than the expensive shop. I don't remember this shop being over $200 per wig neither. Seems they were more reasonable. And, they were. I tried on lots of wigs here! The lady was so nice and very helpful. She just said not to put the wigs back by myself because I'm a chemo patient, so she has to spray the wig before she puts it back. Ah, ok. At least she wasn't a jerk about it.
I tried on the wig that I liked when I went in with my sister. It looked much better on the manikin! I tried on a bunch of wigs. Gracie really wanted me to get a clown wig, but I nixed that idea pretty fast. Libby wanted hair clips for herself, she didn't care about wigs at all. I finally narrowed it down to a natural looking one that was similar to the $279 wig in the other shop and a blondish one that looked light and summery, but was a nice length. The brown one was a wee bit shorter than I really liked. So, length won over color and I purchased the blondy wig for $52. Pictured in the lower right. That's a lot better than the other shop and now I have hair!
I was loving it! The girls thought it was great too! Lexie thought it looked really good on me. And then Keith got home and immediately snubbed it. He didn't like it at all! He said it looked funny and fake and really not me. Now normally, I wouldn't care too much what he thinks, but he's an honest guy and if he thinks it looks fake and funny, then I'm pretty sure others will too. Lexie thought it looked great, but I don't know. Now I was confused and upset.
Hair loss is a lot more emotional than I anticipated. I really didn't think it would bother me so very much! I already purchased it so it's mine. Maybe I'll go back and get the brown wig too, not the expensive one but the one from this same shop. It was $135. I decided that's what I will do. Then I could be happy wearing my blond hair to the park and the beach and wear the brown one when Keith takes me out to dinner. That will work. Two sets of hair. Yes!
The next day I took the girls to school wearing my blond wig and it all went well. They had a school function in the afternoon that I needed to attend, so I wore the wig to that. I think it went well. A couple of people noticed my new cut and color. I don't know if they really knew it was a wig or not, but that's ok. I felt normal enough. Although, I felt very self conscious about it too. At least I could walk around and visit with people without feeling like a banner for chemo. It's this or a slippery scarf or a hat, very obvious!
After the school party, I took the girls and we went to Michelle's Place for a wig. I didn't think I would be able to do that this week since I was told to only go on Thursday afternoons for a wig and I wasn't going to have time. Luckily, we had time and so we went.
Wouldn't you know it, I could go anytime to get a wig there! And the lady was very helpful! She didn't shake and spray off the wigs, just had me wear a wig cap before putting any on and I kept the little cap. It's just a nylon, like a ankle sock that I squeezed onto my head instead of wearing on my foot. No biggie. I'm not contagious. Then I tried on wigs!
The girls went to the kids' room to play with toys and I went into the salon room to try on wigs. They have scads of them, all folded up in drawers though, so it's hard to see what's what. You just have to pull them out and look at them. They are sorted by color and I had already decided no blond wigs, but I wanted to try on a white one just to send Keith a photo and scare him a bit. I did. It was hilarious! And I looked a lot like my mother. Whoa!
She had me try on a cute short one with a couple of red streaks down the side. It was really cute and young looking but I really felt like I'd have to learn to play guitar in a rock band if I wore it much longer. It's the one pictured on the lower left. The middle left, that was supposed to look pretty good according to the tag on it, but I just look like a drunk! I could wear it out and about, but I'd look like I'd been out and about a lot!
And then we found the one pictured in the lower right. Perfect! The color is great, the length is perfect and I loved it! Even better than the $279 wig at the other shop! I went to show the girls and Gracie said, "Mom, you look like you!" Done. That's the wig for me! I walked out wearing it and feeling great!
Since the girls were so good, I took them to the park to run off some energy and I could sit and feel my new wig on my head. The park was crazy crowded though, and by chance, my friend sent me a text and said she was at a different park. I grabbed up the girls and met her there. I wanted to show her my new hair. We got to the park and I immediately felt weird about it. Mostly because my friend knows me very well and she'll surely see that it's a wig, but that's good because I trust her and she'll be wonderfully honest, but she was hanging out with someone I didn't really know and so we wouldn't be able to talk about it openly. I told Gracie and Libby not to say anything, because wearing a wig is a secret. Of course, they did! Little stinkers! I don't think the other lady noticed that it was a wig, but I'm sure my good friend did. I was holding it down like a hat and adjusting it like a tight cap, of course she noticed! It felt like it might pop off if I made facial expressions that wrinkled up my forehead. Eeek! Guess I should tape it down like the lady in the wig shop offered to do yesterday. The park was a good first try out in the new hair. I'll get better at this, I'm sure.
When I walked in the house, Lexie didn't look twice at me. And then it dawned on her, and she said "Wow. I forgot when you first walked in." That's the best!
When Keith got home, he didn't even notice. After a few minutes, he looked at me and said, "What are you wearing on your head?" And I said "A wig" and he said, "I just noticed. And not because of how it looks, I just remembered that you don't have hair. You look exactly like you." Highest compliment! He forgot and had to remember that I shouldn't have hair! This thing looks good! He didn't even mind when he thought it was the $279 wig, but he loved that it was a free one! Awesome!
I think I'm gonna be just fine with the hair loss now that I have two wigs and several scarves and hats for those times when I just want to be more comfortable. I can be inconspicuous, or fashionable. This might be fun! Or anonymous, my choice now. But I'm comfortable and that's really all that matters.
Kindergarten Graduation
Libby finished the kindergarten curriculum back in November, but had a few skills to master rather than just sit on them as proficient. Her teacher put her on the first grade track of materials in class, but she stayed in Kindergarten. Honestly, I didn't notice a difference. We just hoped to keep her from being bored. She spent most of the year bored, but who knows, that's just what she told me. She was probably having a great time in school every day!
This is her graduating class. Aren't they all adorable!
Libby was all excited for her Kindergarten "Coronation". She would get a crown and be the Queen of Kindergarten! I think she's seen "Frozen" a few too many times. The queen's coronation scene was all that she had in mind when her teacher mentioned graduation. I can see how those two ceremonies could be confused.
By the time the graduation ceremony began, it appears that Libby figured out the difference between coronation and graduation. Thank goodness! I feared a great meltdown! A diploma rather than a tiara! The drama that could have caused! Thank goodness for Miss Laura !
The kids recited a poem and sang a song. The teacher told the parents how wonderful their year was and how they've grown and learned so very much. It's true. Libby can read, add, subtract, understand a lot of science concepts, tell you that a seahorse's eyes can go in two directions at once, explain recycling, name the President of the United States, and all sorts of things! Every day there's something new coming out of this kid!
After the graduation ceremony, she was ready to report to first grade. Of course, she knows who her teacher will be because that's how her school works. The kids find out who their next teacher is long before the next school year begins. And she will have the same teacher for 1st - 3rd grades! No worrying about whose class she will be assigned to. I love that! Plus, since the grades are mixed in 1st - 3rd, she will be in class with her older sister. They are so excited!
But, it was Friday afternoon with two weeks left of school. Not exactly the right time to jump right into the first grade class. I had to break the bad news: she has to wait until August 27th. She nearly cried! She said "But mom, Kindergarten is so boring!" I told her that her entire class is in the first grade now. She has to keep going to Miss Laura's class with the other kids but they are all in first grade. Then in August, they all move to their 1st grade classes. She was ok with that.
I think she was a little disappointed with the graduation as a whole. It wasn't a coronation and she didn't get to go to the next classroom just yet. She did get a diploma and a cookie. Then it was over.
Friday, May 9, 2014
White Chocolate French Toast
Oh baby! I accidentally discovered something amazing!
We ran out of milk and I wanted french toast. Problem! Not a problem for long because I found a package of instant white hot chocolate left over from a variety pack that we got at Christmastime. I made the hot chocolate in a cup and stirred it up. Smelled great! Looked like milk! This could work!
I cracked the eggs and whisked them up, then added half of the cup of white hot chocolate. There was my french toast wash.
It turned out terrific! See how my little food critic gives it the biggest widest open mouth. Yes! Score one for me! I actually made something yummy in the kitchen! Accidentally!
We ran out of milk and I wanted french toast. Problem! Not a problem for long because I found a package of instant white hot chocolate left over from a variety pack that we got at Christmastime. I made the hot chocolate in a cup and stirred it up. Smelled great! Looked like milk! This could work!
I cracked the eggs and whisked them up, then added half of the cup of white hot chocolate. There was my french toast wash.
It turned out terrific! See how my little food critic gives it the biggest widest open mouth. Yes! Score one for me! I actually made something yummy in the kitchen! Accidentally!
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