Life as a Leach

Call it an impulse buy, but I got a really cool new sprinkler a few weeks ago. It shoots balls out the top with a heavy stream of water, then squirts water out the sides in multiple directions too. It had been raining so much (and then not really warm) that we hadn't used it yet. Amy and I both had husbands who were MIA this week, so the kids and she came over for dinner and some sprinkler play time. They played in it for a long time. Anything that tires the kids out is good for me!

I totally forgot to start Wordless Wednesday this week! Let's call it...Flipping Funny Friday?!? :) Okay, so I can't do it...I have to offer an explanation! Caleb was FURIOUS that I was trying to wash his blankets. This was his form of protest--sitting stark naked in the basket on top of his precious blankets so that I couldn't get to them. LOL!

Matt has been in Maine all week, and because he is so close to Canada (100 yards away!), he is picking up a Canadian tower...so he's roaming. We've only talked to him for a few minutes all week, and it has been tough for both of us. He's on his way home now and should be arriving at the church around 1 p.m. tomorrow, so the end is near! For now, here are a few pictures of Caleb and Daddy...

On Wednesday, Caleb and I visited our local beach for a little fun in the sun. We were the only people there for quite a while, and then there was just one other family with young children as well. The sand on Caleb's feet didn't thrill him too much, so he basically stayed on the blanket the entire time--I did manage to get him to put his feet in the water for just a few minutes! Nevertheless, he had a marvelous time sitting on the edge of the blanket playing in the sand. He kept telling me, "I'm having fun at the beach, Mommy," "Thank you for bringing me here, Momma," and "I love it here!" He was so cute!! The fun at the beach inspired me to get some sand and make a little sandbox. Unfortunately, Walmart didn't have any regular sand...just pink, purple, and blue! Soooo, we got blue. Yes, it is quite messy! (Thankfully, it doesn't stain clothes--it just brushes right off!) Caleb seems to enjoy the sandbox though...anything fo...

Michael Jackson died today. In a weird way, I'm kind of sad. Yes, the man went weird later on in life. Yes, he was accused (was he ever convicted?) of child molestation. But he had some REALLY great music in the 80's and I love the Jackson Five. It's like the end of an era or something! So, in tribute to the King of Pop, here is a copy of one of my favorite songs of his. Hokey? Perhaps. But it's the song that my first principal played at the start of every school year to remind us that we can make a difference in a child's life by changing ourselves first. Ever since then, I've just really connected with this song. So here it is! "Man In The Mirror" I'm Gonna Make A Change, For Once In My Life It's Gonna Feel Real Good, Gonna Make A Difference Gonna Make It Right . . . As I, Turn Up The Collar On My Favourite Winter Coat This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind I See The Kids In The Street, With Not Enough To Eat Who Am I, To Be Blind? Preten...

----I tried to post this and it didn't work. I thought I'd lost it--thankfully, the draft was saved!!!! McMama hasn't posted hers yet and I'm not sure that she will (Stellan was in the hospital again this weekend and things were crazy...if you have no idea what I'm talking about, read her blog. It's one of the ones I post on the right side of my blog. WARNING: it is addictive!!) Anyway, I'm posting anyway! * I have not used an incredible amount of bribes this last week in order to get Caleb to go potty...or go to bed...or climb up the stairs...or sit the right way in his car seat. I have not resorted to such measures because I'm a much better mother than that. I have it all under control. * I did not cause myself a ridiculous amount of pain just by helping to put up a tent at Relay. I was not forced to turn to the TV babysitter (which I seriously NEVER do) yesterday because I couldn't get out of bed. * I did not hear about the John and Kat...

10. He takes Caleb to the pet store every Monday while I am tutoring, and actually seems to look forward to it! 9. He chimes in during our nightly singalongs, even when I start the song too low for him. 8. He never complained about changing diapers or getting up in the middle of the night to feed Caleb when he was an infant. 7. He calls every day when he is away on a trip just to talk to Caleb and say good night to him. (Don't worry, he calls to talk to me later in the evening!) 6. He enthusiastically celebrated Caleb's first poop in the potty and was even the one to suggest taking pictures of the deed! 5. He never gets tired of "hiding" under the sheets with Caleb and "scaring" me when I walk in. 4. He plays rough with Caleb so that I don't have to. 3. He endures endless Head Sit Manuevers for Caleb's own entertainment. 2. He teaches Caleb about Jesus. DRUMROLL PLEASE........... 1. He loves our boy unconditionally and isn't afraid to ...

I saw this on a friend's Facebook profile. I am especially fond of: lesson 3 (so true!!), lesson 4, lesson 10, and lesson 11! Lesson 1 1. Go to the grocery store. 2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. 3. Go home. 4. Pick up the paper. 5. Read it for the last time. Lesson 2 Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their... 1. Methods of discipline. 2. Lack of patience. 3. Appallingly low tolerance levels. 4. Allowing their children to run wild. 5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers. Lesson 3 A really good way to discover how the nights with a newborn might feel... 1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-1...

Because of my picture-loading situation (that I can't load them directly onto my computer because *somebody* ahem, Caleb, broke the USB port), I've been pretty negligent about putting pictures on here. Sooooo, I'm making up for it tonight. Enjoy picture overload!! :) PS: I'm pretty sure you'll be hearing from my more often now that school is out. Not that I time to sit on my computer all day or anything--a little boy sees to that--but I'm a lot less stressed out and not as tired at night to stay up and blog! Plus, my mind can drift to blogging topics during the day! :) My mom started Caleb on this new bath time toy. He loved it so much that after a few days of using my real strainer, I found him a child-sized orange one at Michaels for a whopping 70 cents! Wahoo! It's pretty much the best toy ever invented. Perhaps I should buy a few more to have on hand for gifts. Would that be weird? We went away for a belated five year anniversary getaway in Ma...

...got woken up by my sister, completely forgetting to pick up Caleb at her house! ...ate the 20th Almond Hershey bar in the last week...oh so good! ...gave Caleb two doses of Motrin in an effort to try to kick his fever (didn't work!) :( ...had Caleb drink pear juice to try to get him to go potty...it worked...a little too well... ...tea stained 50 Bible verses for VBS ...rolled said verses into scrolls and tied them with raffita ...painted and drew designs on rocks with Owen and Sara ...had two poop issues at the same time (with two different kids) ...put said poopy kids into the bath tub and scrubbed them down ...made homemade lemonade again (I'm addicted) ...ate homemade popsicles with three very sticky (but happy) children ...watched a Veggie Tales video that was modeled after Indiana Jones ...vacuumed the main floor of the house ...mopped the kitchen, foyer, and the bathrooms ...cleaned the 1/2 bathroom...only to do it again after the poop issues insued ...made signs for ...

Paul Harvey Writes: We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sist er wants to tag along,...

* I most certainly did not chase another teacher down the hallway trying to beat her to the sign-up list for checking out this morning! I'm not in such a hurry to get my summer started that I need to be first on the list. I was not extremely disappointed to see that my email sent on Friday asking to be checked out didn't allow me to be first on the list...even though she responded and said she'd see me at 10:30. Now I'm #8...but I'm not bitter! * Along those same lines, another teacher friend and I didn't have a huge (play) fight in the office about who was going to get her cumulative records into the file drawer first. I haven't always had mine in first for the last SIX YEARS so that I don't have to actually alphabetize them. She didn't make such a huge scene about getting hers in first that I didn't proceed to announce that she would be chairing all committees, Green School Coordinator, and Grade Book Coordinator! I also didn't sig...

I thought you might like to know! I am completely done in my room. All of my cabinets are quite clean and organized too, I might add. I had some really good helpers this year that I could trust to do those things. Today, I spent most of my time in our team storage closet cleaning it out and organizing it. We also worked in the pod for a while. How do I get everything done so quickly? My secret is that everytime I think of a "kid job," I write it on a list. When a kid has a little free time, I give them a job to do off the list! Of course, certain kids are approved for certain jobs, but it works really well! They love to help and are pretty self-sufficient with it. I even have a few kids put all of the 4th grade literacy folders in alphabetical order after everyone is done with them. They're good workers! Personally, I don't understand these people who wait until the last day of school to even begin taking stuff off the walls. Don't you want to start yo...

Summer is upon us! Tomorrow is my last day with students. Monday, I have a staff meeting, and then I just have to get my signatures so that I can leave! The end is so close I can taste it... Goals for the summer? * First on the list is POTTY TRAINING!! We're starting Saturday!! (Matt will be home with Caleb Monday morning) * We will be hiring someone to do some major painting around here. I want to get some color on these walls...focusing on blues and yellows! Depending on the price, I may be doing the painting upstairs. He will be coming soon to do the estimate. A professional will definitely be doing the areas that people see the most!! * We're doing VBS again at our church. This year, it's taking place in Rome. Matt is "Paul," and I am one of the group mothers. Caleb is still too little to participate, but they usually bring them out to the actiona few times during the week. * I will be taking a class July 6-10 on Leadership. Yippee... * Our...

Update 6/10/09: Caleb and Rebecca were playing hide and seek last night. She especially liked hiding in the closet, but Caleb kept slamming the doors in her face. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebecca is Caleb's imaginary friend. She started living with us over the weekend (just showed up on our doorstep and is apparently here to stay!) and Caleb and Rebecca had a grand old time! The first time I "met" her, she was sitting right next to Caleb at the kitchen table. I noticed Caleb talking to someone, and I asked who he was talking to. "Rebecca!" he replied. Of course, I asked who Rebecca was, to which is replied, "She's sitting right here, Mommy!" Silly me... So, here's a new addition to our family. I'm sure there will be many stories to come about the adventures they will have!

Confession is good for the soul. * At "Mini Relay" on Friday, I did not refrain from touching my face (or anything) until I could wash off all of the germs I received from slapping so many dirty little children "fives" as they walked through. I was not completely grossed out by this and was not left wondering why I didn't just put my hands behind my back! I did not scrub my hands an extra long time to get all of the germs off!! * I did not forget to grab both my soda and my frozen meal from the garage this morning on my way out. I will not be munching on leftover chips from Field Day as a result of forgetting my lunch! * I do not find myself looking forward to Sunday morning cartoons with Caleb so that I can watch "Little Einsteins" with him. I'm much too old for a preschool show like that, so it's not the least bit interesting and not at all enjoyable! * I did not dig up some of my basil for Barb to transplant to her garden only to find...

What is your current obsession? pomegranates my Ipod Touch blog stalking What's for dinner? um?? Possibly tacos, since I actually have tomatoes, tortillas AND cheese in the house at the same time! What's the last thing you bought? a Scrabble set at the thrift store = 80 more necklaces!! What are you listening to right now? "Boston" by Augustana If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Austria What's your favorite quote for now? "I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me 'Mommy.'" What's you favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe right now? my Crocs flip flops that are oh-so-comfy! What's your worst habit? I cry at the drop of a hat, and it is often embarrassing. Even when I don't feel like it is worth crying about, I cry anyway. I wish I could "grow out of it," but I don't know how. Do you admire anyone's style? I'm not really into style...

I am officially 13 days away from potty training! Mark your calendars, ladies and gentlemen! On June 16th, the potty training extravaganza will begin!!! Caleb is more than ready (as is evident by his pooping on the potty without coaxing--did I mention that he did it again today for my sister??), but I've been waiting until I got out of school so that I could be consistent. I would much rather wait a little longer than necessary and do it right than have to back-track and try to fix bad habits. I'm actually excited for this! I have looked forward to giving Caleb this kind of independence (and giving me freedom from diaper changing!) for a long time. I even brought home a bunch of paper cut-out trains that I found in my classroom. I think I'm going to make a mini-bulletin board in the play room that says something like "Chugging Away at Potty Training" or "All Aboard for the Potty!" (Trains are one of Caleb's interests, and he walks around calli...

I really enjoy this post and find myself actually mentally filing away events that I can include! Here are this week's ahem not-confessions! * I most definitely did not shamelessly bribe all three of my groups of kids with popsicles in exchange for their good behavior during Musical Theatre Club rehearsals and shows! It didn't work like a charm, either! * While at a graduation party, Caleb didn't hold my hand with one hand while poking his finger in the graduation cake with the other!! I'm a much more attentive parent than that, so I wasn't looking at photo albums instead of doting on my 2 year old. Of course, I didn't immediately grab him and walk away very quickly, pretending like we didn't just taint a beautiful cake with the graduate's picture on it! * Matt didn't decide to give Caleb his first real at-home hair cut, despite my strong objections. We didn't put him in the bath tub naked and attempt to hold him still. Caleb certainly ...