Life as a Leach

I don't have any pictures to post yet because I still can't load pictures directly to my computer. Once I get enough pictures to make a CD, I will go to Walmart again. For now, here are the highlights: The school Halloween party was craziness, as usual. I'm glad that this is the last year of the parade, although I'm kind of frustrated that we won't be able to do any kind of celebration next year. There is lots more to tell, but nothing I can post on the internet! :) As you all know, Caleb was a turtle. Amy had him paint a little turtle picture frame to put his Halloween picture in, which was very cute. I picked him up from Amy's and we ate some dinner. Then I got him dressed in his turtle costume and tried to get a few pictures, but he wasn't overly cooperative. We walked next door to Wally's house (the guy with all of the old VWs who Caleb adores) but he wasn't there. His wife Fran took a picture of Caleb to show Wally, since he missed him....

I have been heading up a fundraiser for the ALS Foundation at Johns Hopkins University Hospital . As you've read in past posts, one of my sweet girls just lost her dad to ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease.) This disease attacks the nervous system and can basically go one of two directions: it can reach your throat first and cause you not to be able to talk or eat, or it can attack your hands and feet and cause you not to be able to walk. Eventually, all ALS patients will have all of these systems, but it goes one of the two directions very quickly. M's dad lost his ability to talk very early on and had to communicate by writing on a dry erase board. Of course, by the end he was wheelchair bound and had almost no use of his hands, but the talking and eating was affected much quicker. It really is a horrible disease and I have to believe it is extremely difficult to watch a loved one suffer. Anyway, to show love to M and her family and to promote awareness about the disease, m...

Big Bang Theory : This show absolutely cracks me up! I love the high brow intellect (even though I sometimes have a delayed reaction...) and Sheldon just makes me laugh every time. I love his blanket statements about life. Here's a quote: "Is it because I'm Jewish? Because I'd kill my rabbi with a pork chop if I could be with your sister!" It is hard to explain, but it is incredibly funny. Give it a try! Honda : I have a 2002 Honda Civic that Matt is driving these days. It has somewhere around 115k miles on it, and we have never had any issues with it. (Yes, I'm knocking on wood right now!) I have only had to get new tires once, and it still has the original brakes. We are probably needing to replace these in the near future, but I still think that's pretty good! Honestly, the only time it has ever been in the shop is when I have (cough cough) done a little damage to it.... it is a good little car!! Rent : I know, I know, some of you might ...

You know how in baby books it asks for favorite foods, toys, songs, etc.? I thought that those of you who don't know Caleb very well or who don't see him very often might like to get to know a bit of his personality. He's pretty likeable! :) What is Caleb's favorite.... Food: hot dogs, grapes, and raisins Drink: water and real milk Toy: cars and trucks, and his ride-on tractor Song: "Bumping Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon" by Raffi Chore: giving Becky water Movie: Raffi in Concert Animal: turtle Character: Elmo Superhero: Batman Stuffed Toy: Tina the Llama, Brownie Bear Game: "Momma? Where's Daddy?" in the car, and the "no" game Playground equipment: swings Activity: playing outside Playmates: Owen and Sara

Hiding behind his red balloon. Sweet little face. Playing on the couch before bed. Big smiles! I love close ups. Caleb puts his turtle costume on almost every day. He's obsessed! This is his "nature" pumpkin made out of items we found outside. He LOVES it! So proud of his pumpkin! Digging out pumpkin goo. This was a little pumpkin he found that he absolutely adored. Unfortunately, it was rotten...but Caleb didn't understand that! We distracted him and made it "disappear!" Peekaboo! Jumping in the hay pit with Daddy Going on a barrel ride with Momma. Popping up behind Momma Reading Daddy's favorite children's book If you are on Facebook, I loaded over 100 pictures today! Since Caleb broke our USB port and we would have to replace the entire Motherboard in order to fix it, we are now having to take our memory card to Walmart to get CDs made. I just got the CD done today and immediately started loading them as soon as Caleb took a nap! You can check...

I forgot to tell you about the jersey saga! Matt wanted a Cooley jersey (Redskins) for Christmas. We found one on Ebay for just $25 + $20 shipping (I found it with just 2 minutes left and made a quick bid so that no one else had time to at the end....great tactic if you are an Ebayer!) It was a hand-stitched Reebok jersey that looked really nice. I couldn't believe my good luck....I should have known better! Now, I get quite a few things off of Ebay. We've gotten baseball tickets, CDs, clothes, our Ipod, etc., and never had a problem. I pay close attention to the fine print and look carefully at the feedback percentage and number of sales. This guy has sold a TON of stuff (all sports jerseys) and has 100% feedback, so I figured it was pretty safe. It came in the mail the other day and I opened it in eager anticipation. Well....you know how Redskin colors are maroon, gold, and white? The stripes on the arms of this jersey are maroon, gold, and pink ! As much as I tried...

Between Caleb's unusual crying spells, Becky's disgusting clear-the-room gas, Matt's invasion of my side of the bed, and my mind filling with thoughts of Caleb's birthday party (yes, I know it is 3 months away!), I am really not sleeping tonight. This is sad, because we have a big day tomorrow (well, later on today...) and I want to be alert and ready for some fun! We are going to the pumpkin patch at Bowles' Farm. They have hay rides, barrel rides (a train made of barrels), a corn maze, a petting zoo, and a hay-jumping pit. We chose this day a while ago based on Matt's schedule, but it is a great day to go! They will be having an antique tractor pull, and we all know how much Caleb loves tractors!!! We also just found out last night that there is a BOGO pumpkin sale this weekend too! If Caleb isn't completely worn out, we will also be stopping by the police barricks for their open house so that he can get a tour of the helicopter--another favorite! ...

I realized yesterday that I have very strong affections toward certain cleaning products. I guess it's my general analness reaching toward every aspect of my life, but I do love to clean! There is a sense of satisfaction that goes along with the smell of a clean bathroom, and nothing puts a smile on my face like a freshly scrubbed toilet!! (I wish I were joking...) So, here are a few of my favorite cleaning products: The Magic Sponge --Seriously, this is my favorite cleaning tool! I have about 8 boxes right now because I go through them so quickly. Mr. Clean is the original maker, but the Walmart brand seems to work just fine! This little diddy gets those black marks off of walls, takes of crayon, can be used as a pretreater for clothes, and I even use it to wipe down the porch railings! Yesterday, Caleb lovingly drew with Sharpie marker all over the kitchen table...yikes! My Magic Sponge didn't fail me though. Permanent marker was no match for it!! Carbona's Laund...

Seriously, I am going to work at the library. Seriously, how fun and STRESS-FREE would storytime be?! I could totally run those kid programs and do all kinds of things to support VSC indicators! My principal said that I would miss seeing the "Ah-ha" moments, but my quick reply was that I haven't had any of those this year anyway! All my kids did today was talk and not do work. It did not appear that any real work or learning was done. I was constantly on them today and spent most of my time fussing at them instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing. (teaching, in case you weren't sure) To top it ALL off, I was running late from a conference and was late getting home so that Matt could be back up at church by 5:45. I called him and apologized profusely before telling him that I was on my way. Well....someone had parked illegally on the curb behind me and I backed right into her! I then had to go back in and (tearfully) ask my principal to make an announcemen...

On Sunday, Pastor Wagner talked about a Jewish custom where they would make a remembrance pile of differently shaped rocks to help them remember the blessings in their lives. Each rock stood for a specific memory or blessing. Matt and I decided to adapt this idea--especially when I was in an I-hate-my-job mood thanks to last week's conference. We decided to gather rocks and actually write short phrases on them to help us remember! I'm thinking that I will shalack them as well to protect them from the elements. Caleb and I gathered some of the many rocks that are all over our yard. Some are pretty big, but all of them are bigger than your average small rock. We dunked them in water to wash them off (Caleb REALLY liked this part and we both ended up soaked!) and then lined them up on the deck railing to let them dry. We will probably spend a little family time writing some blessings on the rocks tomorrow. Right now, it's pretty much just going to look like a big rock...

What would you do with just 16 minutes? Would you eat your favorite gooey snack take a quick snooze read a chapter of your current romance novel order a new pair of jeans online watch a scene from your favorite movie Or would you carve a pumpkin on the porch have a tickle fight on the bed build a fort with chairs and blankets float a sailboat in the bathtub read Brown Bear, Brown Bear for the third time today Maybe you would try to squeeze a lifetime of love into that 16 minutes. For Stacy, Spencer, and Isaac.

Isaac Timothy Delisle was with his parents for just 16 minutes before he passed away. Although they knew that this was most likely going to happen (barring a miracle from God), it doesn't make it any easier. At least you could cling to a string of hope before. Now it just seems so final. Please pray for Stacy and Spencer...

As you know, my friend Spencer and his wife are having major complications with their pregnancy. They are scheduled for a C-section tomorrow morning and Stacy is very nervous, to say the least. She really shares her heart on her blog "He Will Carry Me" (see my blog roll) but still has such faith in God. Please pray for them--especially that their baby Isaac will stay with them long enough for Stacy and Spencer to spend time with him. I just can't imagine what they are going through. I do know that she has more love for her unborn child than I have ever heard described!! They are a beautiful couple...just pray!

Here's a synopsis of our weekend: Friday: Caleb stays with my sister on Wednesdays and Fridays. I brought him and was just getting ready to leave when O got sick all over the living room! Of course, I couldn't keep Caleb there, so Matt watched him in the morning (he hadn't left for work yet), but I had to take a 1/2 day to watch him in the afternoon. Let me tell you that trying to write sub plans for the p.m. while you're teaching in the a.m. is very difficult! I got them done though and enjoyed an afternoon with Caleb rolling acorns down the driveway! Unexpected days off are kind of nice when no one is sick! :) Friday night: I met Matt at the church so that he could take Caleb while I went to the viewing for my student's dad. It was seriously the place to be--the mom works for the school system and the dad worked at the power plant, so 1/2 of the county was there! They had his favorite country music playing and pictures everywhere. It had a very celebrat...

I had a very frustrating day today, thanks to a parent conference. I can't go into too much detail because of confidentiality, but I can tell you this: basically every aspect of my teaching style was challenged. What upset me the most was how the person kept saying that my lack of structure and classroom management was what caused the child to misbehave. Now, if you know me, you know that I CRAVE structure and management! To describe my class as unstructured is just ridiculous! If anything, I go overboard with the micromanaging. Nevertheless, it upset me that the person would even consider that. It was also said that I was the meanest teacher in 4th grade. I guess you should fill in all of the kids from my very first class that still keep in touch with me even though they are in 8th grade now! You might also want to tell that to the 5th graders who hug me and tell me they miss me whenever they see me in the hallway. I have 3 students who come during bus dismissal to tutor...