An early Easter...sort of

Our local community park puts on this big Easter "Eggstravaganza" every year around this time. It was today, and we were really looking forward to it. Mason's never met the Easter Bunny or hunted for eggs. And this "Eggstravaganza" promised both. I even managed to get to Target this morning to get Mason an Easter basket (which was really an Easter bucket), so he could carry around his prized eggs that he discovered.

When we arrived, it was really neat--tons of kids, lots of game booths, two jumping castles, a petting zoo and the infamous Easter bunny. We weren't exactly sure how Mason was going to react to a ginormous white bunny that doesn't talk and wants to hug him, but he did pretty well. He went up and got his picture taken with not much problem, as long as I was right there.

We knew the Easter egg hunt was soon approaching, so we made our way to the big playground and saw kids lined up all around the sand, getting ready. Then, we got word that the little guys were having their own hunt at the little playground. So, we started to walk over there, and noticed that there weren't any eggs, and kids were already leaving. Come to find out, some little kid ran out onto the playground for the eggs a little too early, and that caused the release of all the other little ones around. So, needless to say, Mason didn't get to find a single egg. He did, at least get to meet the Easter bunny, pet a sheep, watch other farm animals and climb around on the playground for a little bit.

Then, there was a scary moment, but not with our child, thank God. Mason was headed across the climbing structure on the playground, when I saw Mason's Daddy leap across the sand and there was some commotion. Apparently this kid of about 5 or 6 stepped off the edge of ladder part of the playground and took a nosedive for the sand, about 8 feet down. My hubby tried to catch him, but missed. Where was the mom, you ask? She was on her cell, I guess talking to the Dad. When her son fell, she ran over, and before she had even examined him, she yelled into the phone, "He fell! Oh my God, he fell!! Leave work right now and meet us at the ER!!" Now, granted, as a mom, I'm familiar with PANIC MODE. You're not sure how to react, so you let panic take over. But, I think I would at least check out my son before ordering my husband to meet us at the Emergency Room. Yeah, the kid fell, but he fell on sand, didn't hit anything on his way down, and nothing made a cracking noise and I didn't see any blood. I bet he just brusied his arm or head. It's amazing how Nonchalant Mom can turn into Hysterical Mom in a millisecond. And sadly, often Hysterical Mom morphs into I'm-Sueing-the-Pants-Off-You Mom. I should hope this lady didn't immediately phone her lawyer and hear a cash register in her head. The playground wasn't poorly maintained or dangerous. The kid just walked off an area that shouldn't be walked off. Too bad more and more people these days see every accident (or someone breathing on them the wrong way) as a payout. Sigh...

Getting off my soapbox, it ended up being a pleasant hour of our day and Mason seemed to enjoy himself. He didn't even comprehend the whole egg hunting thing, so no loss. Besides, we're gonna do our own hunt in our backyard next Sunday.

Mixed Messages

Our PTSO has been really great to us--they leave little goodies in our boxes from time to time, they come up with all kinds of FUN fundraisers for the kids, they organize and decorate our school dances, they coordinate the annual Jog-a-Thon that raises thousands of dollars for our classrooms, and the list goes on. The latest is that for Teacher Appreciation Week (I think in May?), they always leave little gifts in the teachers' boxes every day and on the actual Teacher Appreciation Day, they provide a catered lunch, often from places like Outback or a local Mexican restaurant. They aim to please. Most of the time.

Case in point. They run a little store during all 3 lunches everyday, to raise some extra money. The store has fun pencils and erasers, calculators, bookmarks, etc. Those are great and fun for all ages. What I don't like is the rest of the merchandise: bouncy balls, sticky hands (those irritating little hands that stick to crap when you throw them) and Whoopee Cushions. Who's idea was this? I guess Friday during 7th grade lunch, there were bouncy balls ricocheting all over Commons. The teachers on duty were losing their minds. And the Whoopee Cushions make me crazy. I know they're funny and reminiscent of our younger days, but they are a pain in a teacher's behind. I took 2 away during 8th grade lunch. I began talking with a couple of teachers after lunch, and I mentioned how I didn't think it was right that PTSO sold crap like that. It's just setting the kids up to get in trouble. One of the other teachers approached a couple of the PTSO ladies later and one of their responses was, "Everything we sell has been approved by administration, and the kids should be allowed to have a little fun!" I like fun. Fun is good. I am not against kids having fun. I am, however, against watching little bouncy balls fly across my classroom, hearing Whoopee Cushions farting in kids's seats and finding those stupid sticky hands everywhere.

The PTSO is helpful and well appreciated by the entire school staff, I am sure. They just don't see what we see.

...and it draws to a close

Spring Break is over. And in about another hour, I will be in bed, falling asleep and dreaming about the next break: SUMMER!!!

Here are a few pics from this past week.


Playing outside. Again. All the time. All week.



I think Max enjoyed me being home all day, too...



Mason and I walking, with Daddy ahead, towing Maxie.

More than you wanted to know

I saw this on someone's blog one time and have been meaning to do it on mine, but kept putting it off. And now, being Spring Break and Mason's asleep, I thought I'd get off my lazy bum and actually do it (even though I didn't have to actually get off my lazy bum, since I'm sitting at the computer...):

Here's just about anything and everything you didn't know, maybe already knew and didn't want to know about me:

I know that God has already planned out my life and I need to just let him have control.

I believe the children are our future…and that’s a little scary sometimes.

I fought for the right to paaartay…JK.

I am angered by people who sue for lame reasons. And win.

I love everyday miracles and blessings.

I need my hubby more than he needs me sometimes, I think.

I take vitamins everyday, and yet I get sick waaay more than the average person.

I hear the hum of the computer and the lovely silence of Mason napping.

I drink very rarely, so I’m a cheap date.

I hate cleaning the bathroom.

I use gel pens when I grade papers.

I want to be financially worry-free.

I decided to be a teacher and sometimes I still wonder if I made the right decision.

I like TV.

I am a Christian, wife, mother, friend, daughter, teacher.

I feel old sometimes.

I left home when I was 17. But I moved back in 3 months later.

I do the bare minimum when it comes to house cleaning.

I hope that I’ve impacted my students.

I dream of having another baby.

I drive only when my hubby’s not around.

I listen to a lot more Christian music than I used to.

I type fast but not the right way.

I think and it hurts my brain.

I wish weekends were longer.

I compensate for my insecurities by using humor.

I regret very little.

I care about my friends and family.

I should exercise more and drink more water.

I am not always able to see what God has planned for me.

I said “Don’t you just love the Terrible Two’s?” to the cashier at Target today.

I wonder what the future holds.

I changed 4 diapers already today.

I cry more than the average female.

I am indecisive.

I am not as open minded about things as some might think I should be.

I lose my phone when Mason’s been playing with it.

I leave dishes in the sink even though we have a dishwasher.

If you feel ambitious, feel free to use the template and let people know more than they ever wanted to know about you. And pass it back to me, so I can get a good laugh. Or cry. Or run away screaming. :)

Not my average Wednesday

I haven't really even thought about school today. Well, I know I still have seating charts to reconfigure, but I'm putting them off (big surprise!). Today's been nice. Mason didn't wake up until after 7, we had a relaxing morning of playing with his tractor and farm animals, playing outside, going to the mall (and finding loads of clearance clothes for him--3T, which is at least a year away, but heck, for $1.49 for sweaters, I couldn't resist!), eating grilled cheese for lunch, MASON POOPED IN THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!, Mason napping, watching "Muppet Treasure Island" and playing outside some more. No work. It's been joyous.

Tomorrow we have a playdate with a lady from work and her little girl who's Mason's age. Should be fun. I'm trying to expose Mason to as many kids his age as possible, as next year he will be in preschool. (which the preschool shopping was productive, by the way. We have one in mind, but it means he'd have to be fully potty trained and be able to drink out of a regular cup by August. We'll see)

The weather is beautiful. I have a half a week of Spring Break left. And I'm wasting the day typing a blog! I'm outta here!

All is well

I'm not sick anymore. I started feeling better around Wednesday or so, which helped me get through the last bit of the week. Things were just a tad bit crazy in the few days leading up to Spring Break. Grades were due Wednesday, which put me in a bit of a tizzy but very relieved when it was over. Friday was a strange day at school, being that it was the Jog-a-Thon (which is a huge school fundrasier led by the PTSO where the students get pledges and they run around in the gym) and an Early Release, AND we basically had our Homeroom kids all day. That was interesting. Luckily the day was broken down into small increments in the classroom: we did the jogging thing until after 10 and then went to our rooms where I had them read and color (amazingly, middle schoolers still like to do that). Then it was lunch. (No prep time Friday. I am so spoiled...) Then I had them for another hour and a half, in which I showed "Napoleon Dynamite". And then they left. It was a chaotic mess to figure out prior to Friday, but once the day came, it went off without much incident. I was glad to have a day free of some of my 8th grade boys, to be honest.

Yesterday I spent most of the day cleaning since my parents were coming. My standards are sadly higher when I know we're having visitors. Why do I feel the need to impress my parents? Who knows. It's just reality. Anyways, it needed to be done. Last night we went to a friend's house and watched "Flushed Away". They have a home theater room which was awesome (my hubby was salivating). Between the three families there last night, there were 10 kids!! That was a little noisy, a little crazy, but a lot of fun. Made watching the movie interesting, since the kids' age ranges are from 1 month to 10 years...

Today, we went to church and then not long after we got home, my parents and aunt and brother showed up. It was nice to visit (even though we had an argument about which color our house is: grey or blue? It's greyish blue, alright!!) and we went to lunch. My brother was heading back to the Yukon, so it was nice to chat with him for awhile even after my parents and aunt left. He's a good guy, but struggles with my dad and no one's getting any younger.

Anyhow, an overall nice weekend. And I am soooo glad it's not over. I've got the whole week ahead of me and not many plans. However, tomorrow we're going to check out preschools in the area for little Mason monkey for next year. Scary. I'm sure I'll let you know all about it after we run around town and feel overwhelmed by the choices.

Maybe it was worse than Spring Fever...

So my weekend was pretty rough. Friday during school, my back started hurting and I had a slight headache. Friday night, we are our friends' house and I started shivering like I was in a walk-in freezer. Saturday morning I woke up and was sure I had been in a car accident or someone had taken a baseball bat to my entire body (my hubby swears he didn't do it!). I could barely move. Then the congestion set in. And the fever spiked up and down. Lovely. Sunday, I didn't go to church but spent the morning in a snotty fog. I spent most of the weekend either in bed or on the couch, which in turn caused a crink in my neck. Nice. Yesterday around 4:30 in the morning, I decided that I wasn't going to drag my sick, pathetic self to work. But, I did drag my sick, pathetic self to work to prepare for the sub. I had planned something for the 7th graders that I happened to work on over the weekend, so I had to bring it in and set it up. And amazingly, no staff member looked at me twice, when I was drudging down the hallways in a sweatshirt and flannel pants looking like Death. Shouldn't someone wonder if I was alright? Whatever. After that, I went back home and took up residence on the couch for the majority of the day.

Today, I feel better. Not completely better, but better still the same. And I'm back to work. And there was a sub yesterday. That makes me happy. Hopefully the next 3 days of school go smooth sailing and then it's time for ("ahhhhh...") Spring Break.