What a Fantastic Friday!!

Probably more so for the kids, but it was a pretty good day for me too. It was our monthly Fantastic Friday (kids get out of class early, and the good ones get to participate in some sort of activity), and this Friday was one all the kids (that got to go) seemed to enjoy. The PTSO organized a carnival of sorts, and sold wristbands for $5, for unlimited play on inflatable stuff like a slide and a bungee race thing. The kids could also purchase tickets for carnival style games like ring toss and the ping pong ball in the fish bowl game. But the kicker--and the big money maker--was the dunktank. And what's more, Mrs. Assistant Principal sat in the dunktank. I would be interested to know how much money was raised on that alone. The tickets were 25 cents a piece, and it cost 4 tickets for three balls. Let's just say, a lot of kids had no qualms about whacking balls at a trigger that tossed an adminstrator into a tank of cool water. They were laughing. They were screaming. They were applauding. And the best part, they were buying tickets for it like it was going out of style. The PTSO also sold snacks like soda and popcorn and there was face painting and inflatable hammers and bats that could be won. A good time for all, I think. It was quite toasty after 2 hours of being outside, but I was enjoying watching my kids out of their classroom element and running around like they hadn't seen grass in ages. A game of football got started on the side field and that seemed to attract a lot of my 8th grade boys. With food to snack on, an assistant principal to watch getting drenched and loads of other activities to choose from, I didn't see a single kid wandering around looking unhappy or slumping down in the grass looking bored. They were happy to be outside and able to be free from work. And it made the teachers happy too.

Happy Friend Day!

I don't know if it's anything official or national or whatever, but the local news said something about today being Friend Day. The newscasters had their long, lost friends on the show, and reminisced about their high school days and whatnot.

It just reminded me of how thankful I am for my true friends that have been more than I could ever ask for and have been a blessing in my life. I also feel sad and sorry that I have lost touch and/or lost the bond with certain friends, partially by my own fault. It's a little disheartening, when you really think about it. When you have a history with someone, and for a certain period of time you were close and had such great memories together. And then something happens. Life happens, I guess. Whatever it is, things change. You move on. You grow up. You have different priorities. You forget about that time in your life when you were connected at the hip. I guess it doesn't have to be a sad thing, since life just does that. We're grownups. We're not always going to enjoy the company of the same people we would have 5 or 10 years ago.

Maybe we're supposed to just remember those times in life fondly and move on. Maybe we're supposed to try to make it work with that person and try to get to know who they are now. I don't know. I don't have the answers. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if I've neglected a friendship with you, it was not at all with ill intent, and I am still deeply grateful for what you have meant to me.

So, take a moment and really think about those people in your life. I know it's cliche', but think about how they've changed you, inspired you, made you laugh, helped you cry, hugged when you needed it, listened to you gripe about crap. And even if you don't talk to them anymore, or it's awkward when you do, remember how your life was affected by them, and if you can't tell them personally, just keep it in your heart that they were placed in your life for a reason and it has forever changed you.

Warning: This entry is girly and a bit materialistic

I bought these shoes today at Payless! Aren't they fun? I was there looking for dress shoes for the 8th grade dance (last day of school), and of course, they were having Buy One Get One Half Off, and I saw these. They're fun, a little girly (that's leopard print) and they don't have to be tied (great for when I'm pregnant again)!! I love new shoes!

The natives are restless

I'm too tired and worn out to say much (plus it's Results Night on American Idol!), so let's just say that the kids are chomping at the bit. They're ready for summer. We're ready for summer. It's getting ugly. In my classes alone, I wanted to strangle a good dozen of them (but instead, I took the Christain approach and took a deep breath and said a little prayer in my head). But at least that was the extent of my antics. Somewhere else on campus (I'm not sure where, as I heard it secondhand from the vice principal), a kid bit another student. Yeah, BIT them. You don't hear about that much in grade school, not to mention MIDDLE SCHOOL. Oh yeah, and two other students were hauled off to Juvie today. 5 more weeks...

...And now I can breathe a sigh of relief

The BIG FAT STANDARDIZED TESTS are over!! What a relief. We took them Tuesday through Friday and it felt like longer. The test schedule was broken down into 2 hour segments (the first day being the writing assessment and the other 3 days were an hour of reading comprehension and an hour of math), which isn't so bad. I tried to tell the kids that I remember when I was in school that the state tests were all day. You tested all day, with just lunch and recess as a break. Could you imagine this generation (ones with an attention span of a gnat), sitting in a desk all day long taking a test? Yikes! I think the 2 hour segment is long enough.

I tried to peek at some of their tests (especially the writing one), and check out how they were doing. Most seemed to do pretty well. That test is so hard to analyze as a teacher though, since some just want it to be over, so they just rush. And others get stressed out at the end (which was like me as a student) and kinda give up. You hope that most of them care enough about it to try their best. It at least looked like the majority did. I guess we'll see when the scores come back, right?

I'm also glad testing week is over so we can get back to our regular schedule. I guess because of lunches, the day was broken down by taking test with 8th period class from 9-11 and then going to 3rd period and continuing from there and having 1st and 2nd period at the end of the day. I don't know who was more out of whack by the switch: the students or the teachers! We had this same schedule about a month ago, when we did a little version of the state test, but it was only for the day. This was 4 days!! I'll be glad to have my 1st/2nd period kids back in the morning. When they're still half asleep. At the end of the day is apparently their prime. And it just about made me crazy.

Needless to say, we are all able to relax a little and pray that the next 6 weeks go by without much incident. Once the BIG TEST is over, some of the kids sort of check out. They figure the school year is over already. Not so. And how do you keep them motivated to keep working and keep caring? That's the magic question!!

Happy Easter

MySpace Graphic Codes

Hope everyone has a peaceful day with family and it is a happy, joyful day for all.

P.S. Eat lots of candy!!

God Rocks!!

I'm gonna make this short and sweet, since the last 2 days have been non-stop. Yesterday, we left home right after I got off work and hurried down to my parents' house. We gave a few last minute instructions, kissed Mason goodbye and headed off to the concert. What a show. Stellar Kart opened (think Green Day with Christian lyrics), which we weren't familiar with, but they were high energy and a lot fun, and then came Kutless (the band we knew best--medium hardrock) and the headliner was the Newsboys (kinda U2-esque). They put on a great show. My throat still hurts from singing so loud. We're really glad we went.

We returned home this afternoon. I took a nap, but Mason decided he didn't need one, so Daddy entertained him for awhile. Then, we went to church for Good Friday service. And now we're home. Tomorrow we're going to our friends' house to color eggs with Sesame Street and Star Wars decorations (which one do you think Daddy picked out?)

The Spirit is alive and well in us lately. And just in time for Easter. :)

Long weekend, here we come!!!

Today I was at an Inservice at the District, which was pretty interesting. I learned some new things and felt refreshed about some old concepts. It was pretty worthwhile. Tomorrow my classes will just be doing last minute review for the BIG FAT STANDARDIZED TESTS that are next week. They're going to take a Practice Test and we're gonna grade it. And that's it. Tuesday begins the testing and I figure if they don't know it by now, oh well. I'm not going to cram or stress. Some kids aren't going to try on it anyways...

Tomorrow right after school, we're heading down south to go see Kutless and Newsboys (Christian rock) in concert, while Nana and Papa watch Mason. We're really looking forward to it. We haven't been to a concert in awhile, and we really like Kutless.

And did I mention NO SCHOOL Friday? Yeah!! We get it off for Good Friday, but the school calendar labels it as "Spring Recess". Don't get me started...

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend and if you're Christian, keeps Christ in mind and remembers why He died and what that means to us. God Bless.

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.

Better check my temp, I think I've got Spring Fever...

I am sooooo ready for Spring Break. One more week (and a couple of days, but close enough!) A few of my kids are driving me up the wall and back down. For example, Hormone Boy has said some pretty moronic and thoughtless and tactless things lately. Let me see which ones I can recall...

1. "I hear all my teachers complaining and crying all the time 'cuz they've got headaches at school, and my thought is, they wanted to be teachers!"
Let's just say, it took all I had to take the High Road. He wanted me to banter and get flustered with him. I chose to glare at him (trying to send lasers out of my eyes, to be honest) and I didn't give him the satisfaction of stopping the class and putting the attention on him.

2. "Mrs. Lionhead, have you ever seen anyone have a seizure?"
"Yes I have."
"Did you laugh?"
"No, I was pretty scared, because it was my friend and I was alone with her."
"Did she look funny?"
"No Hormone Boy, she didn't. It was pretty serious. In fact, not long after, she actually died having a seizure."
He didn't say much to that, but didn't seem like he felt like his foot was in his mouth either, which is what I wanted.

3. "Mrs. Lionhead, did you know YOU have written ME up 8 times since I moved into your class?"
"Are you proud of that?"
"I don't know. I'm just saying you write me up a lot."
Well, duh!

4. While I was in the middle of teaching, Hormone Boy blurts out, "Hey Mrs. Lionhead, did you know I'm going to see Monster Trucks this weekend?"

5. "There's yogurt in the trash. Are you on a diet, Mrs. Lionhead?"

And these are just in the past week or so! And just the ones I can remember off hand! And he's just one of a handful of students with something smart to say. There are some of my kids I love to pieces and honestly wouldn't mind taking home to claim as mine; they are respectful, funny, good students and just generally good kids. But others make my life unbearable at times. I know every student that crosses my path is put there by God. I just have a hard time understanding why sometimes.

At least next Friday is an Early Release and then it's one whole week of reprieve. Maybe we'll all come back with a refreshed perspective on the last quarter of the school year. It's possible, right?

Maybe it's time to expand our little family...or not

So, Mason was talking to the babysitter the other day about babies (since they have the new baby in their house), and she asked him, "Mason, do you want a little baby sister or brother?", to which he replied, "Yeah...or a duck."

:)


That reminds me of something I heard on a comedian's routine recently. He and his 5 year old son were talking and his son said, "I want to be a doctor," and his dad was so proud. And then his son added, "or a dinosaur."


Isn't it funny how a child's mine works?

Just popping in

The weekend was really enjoyable with the In-Laws, except that Mason was down with the yucky, snotty, sinusy, coughy, sneezy junk. Daddy took him to the doctor today and it looks like the beginnings of a sinus and/or ear infection. It's so sad when he's miserable. Not to mention we don't get much sleep either. I'll drop by here again soon, when I am no longer employed by the Infirmary.

The dust has settled

Valentine's Day came and went without much evidence of dramatics. I was expecting tears, confused boys and girls whispering and conspiring. Nothing really to speak of. There were, however, lots of presents. Presents from friends to friends. Presents to kids from their parents (and they had the balloons and candy and flowers delivered to the school!). Presents from significant others to their love interest. So many flowers. Not to mention that student council sold Valentines with a carnation that were delivered around the school 8th hour. A lot of distraction, but not much drama. I guess that's good. But drama makes for a better story...

Tomorrow's an Early Release, so us teachers can conference with parents and tell them that little Jimmy or Susie will be a frequent flyer for 7th grade (or 8th grade)and apparently liked it so much that they want to do it again next year. Oh yippee. I'm really not sure which conferences I'm supposed to go to, since I technically have kids on 4 different teams (two teams for 7th and two for 8th). I guess I'll just see what happens.

And tomorrow night my hubby and I are going on a double date with a couple to a hockey game. We're really looking forward to that, as it is a surprise for the husband and we really enjoyed the other hockey game we went to.

Saturday we are headed to Mason's Grandma and Grandpa's who live four hours away. They need assistance with a new computer and my hubby knows a thing or two about them. And we haven't been down there in a long time. Should be restful and fun.

As the week winds down, let's just say I am SO ready for our date and to get out of town for the weekend.

Update on Confused Boy

Let's just say we could rename Confused Boy Oh-Crap-I-Got-Caught-Being-High-At-School Boy. My suspicions were right. He was high on something on Wednesday. He has been on Home Suspension since Thursday. And word's getting around with the students. And they seem to be laughing at him. That's a good thing. Not a smart move for a kid that was in Honors English. It just proves that booksmart and common sense don't always go hand in hand...

Never a boring moment

Wednesday was an interesting day. First off all, this was Spirit Week (each day they had different perks--like Pajama Day, Disco Day, etc.) and Wednesday was Hat Day. What a distraction. There weren't just baseball caps and cowboy hats. There were light-up hats, Dr. Suess hats, squishy hats, etc. I wasn't feeling very much "in the Spirit" of Spirit week by the time we had our little Assembly at the end of the day. Student Council had asked each team to elect 4 students to participate in little funny stunts. That was kinda fun. There was a relay race involving running to the end and blowing up a balloon, pouncing on it until it popped, and then crawling back with a little beanie baby in your mouth. Pretty funny. There were two other stunts and it was entertaining. As we are herding the students back to classes to get their stuff, I round the corner to my classroom and see one of my boys doubled over, with a beat-red face and looking like he was going to cry. I hear, "Ahhh!! She just kicked me in the balls!" Great. After much questioning and deducting, I come to the conclusion that a little princess from the class next door to mine got fed up with my student messing with her pink hat during the assembly and the walk back to class. I guess she got pissed and decided that kicking him hard in the groin would solve the problem. It certainly stopped him in his tracks. I let my students into my room to get their stuff and escorted the two students in question down to the office. As Mrs. Principal is jotting down their names and shaking her head, she mumbles to me, "This is what happens when we give them things like Hat Day. And they want Co-ed lunch!! I don't think so!" So true.

Oh, and earlier that day, during 7/8 hour, I notice something weird about one of my students. One of my students that had come to me from the Honors class just a month or so prior. He's looking really confused and disoriented. Apparently earlier in the day he even walked into the wrong class and sat down and swore it was his class. Twice. Also, when I saw him walking back from lunch, he was being teased because he swore his grandmother had walked into their class and handed him a paper. During my class, he's sitting in his desk while I'm reading aloud, when all of a sudden, he gets up out of his seat and goes to give me his copy of the book I'm reading to them. He mutters, "I'm done, I mean, no I'm not," and he sits back down. The class kind of chuckles and we go on reading. Later, he gets up again, and throws a perfectly good SHARPENED wooden pencil in the trash. Huh? Plus, when it's time to turn in the questions they were working on, he says loudly, "What should I do with this?" and holds up some worksheet. "I don't know what that is," I reply. He says, "Well, you gave it to me." I argued that no, I did not and I have no idea what it is. He says again that SOMEONE gave it to him. I tell him that it wasn't me, to which another student says, "Remember? That's the study guide for science! Remember being in class and I gave it to you?" Weird. After that, I walk around to see how students are progressing on the questions and Confused Boy says that he's done. I look down. There should be 4 questions and he only has 3. And one isn't even in English. Or any other language for that matter. It's complete garble. I try to tell him that, and he starts saying something under his breath. I don't know what the heck was going on with him, but it struck me as a little odd and sent up a red flag. When I was down at the Assembly, I spotted Mr. Police Officer and told him a few of the odd things that I knew about Confused Boy from that day. He said that he'd just pull him into his office and talk to him for a minute, and it wouldn't take but just a few minutes to determine if he was on something. The Assembly was 40 minutes long. Mr. Police Officer and Confused Boy never came back. And Confused Boy was absent yesterday. Coincidence? Who knows...

Last but not least, I go to pick up Mason at his babysitter's, and find out that they are getting a new baby. The mom of the two they recently adopted just gave birth to a baby boy and was in a lot of trouble for not reporting to CPS. So, the baby was removed and given to them, that night, right now for a temporary basis. Pretty surreal but definitely a blessing. We hope they are able to keep the baby, since that would keep 3 of the 4 siblings together and that baby would for sure be loved. And raised right. We'll see.

That was my Wednesday (not quite up to par with Mrs. Bluebird's "A Day in the Life of a Middle School", but close).

Oh, and yesterday I discovered that one of my 8th grade boys has been vandalizing one of my desks. He for sure wrote his phone number all the way across it (he admits to that), but other days it was found that someone had scribbled on the desk in pen, and the back of the chair in front of it has ghetto writing in permanent marker. Couldn't prove he did those two things, but the phone number was enough for an ASD, which as Mrs. Asst. Principal put it, "He won't show up, and I'll just suspend him." We considered having him scrub tables at lunch (I'm all for punishments that fit the crime), but knowing this boy, he would just swing the rag around and make his peers laugh and nothing would get cleaned. And I don't have time at lunch to get him to clean my room, since I have recess duty, and he'd never come after school. So, unfortunately this was our only choice.

I guess I can never say my life is boring.

What a pleasant young man

So, I was at Lunch Duty today, which has proved to be pretty uneventful. Until today. I am dismissing the boys one table at a time to go outside, when I notice a few tall boys hovering over a boy that is still seated at one of the tables. I walk over, thinking they're just waiting for him to finish so they can go outside, and I get a rude awakening. I ask one of the tall boys what's going on, and these are his words, "I'm telling this punk ass bitch that if he wants to pick fights with littler kids, then he can fight me right now." WHAT?!? I just stand there awestruck for a moment. I then decided that they should go to the office and explain to administration what's going on. I tell him this, and he says, "Screw that!" and walks away. I call him to come back, that I wasn't done talking to him, and he keeps walking. "I'm still talking to you!" I say, in a stern voice. Now, most kids eventually stop, even if they think they're rebellious. Not this kid. He just keeps walking, turns around and says, "So?" and heads outside. The other teacher on duty blows her whistle and shouts for him to stop right where he is. Nope. Keeps walking. Well, it just happens that Mrs. Assistant Principal is outside with the boys, getting ready to give them a talking-to about treating the equipments (sports balls, mainly) appropriately. Good timing. I walk out there, explain what just happened, and out comes our Mr. Police Officer that works on campus. He begins to escort Bully Boy back into the building, when his little cronies try to follow. Mrs. Asst. Principal tells them to stay put. One says, "I've got his back, though." Mrs. Asst. Principal says, "I don't really care! You aren't going anywhere!" What an ordeal. Good news is, I later found out that Bully Boy got suspended for 3 days, for disrespecting two teachers, inciting a fight and bullying the kid. Hallelujah! I just hope his little underlings got some sort of punishment too. Even if they weren't the ones actually bullying the poor kid, being a follower is almost as bad, right?

Arrrgh

So here's what happened Friday. I left school on Thursday very fed up with my last class. We had such a wonderfully terrific day on Wednesday (refer to my last entry), so you can imagine how flustered I was when things were back to normal on Thursday--rudeness and loud mouths and all. As soon as the last student walked out, I was in tears. I prayed that God would help me find the strength to come up with some surefire punishment. The last time they were this bad, I just had questions on the board for them to reflect on and we talked about how they were supposed to act. Too touchy-feely for this bunch, I think, looking back. So, after thinking about it, I stormed into the copy room and ran off a packet of worksheets on Character Counts--specifically on Respect and Accountability. I wrote about 10 directions the board before they came in to class on Friday, describing every last detail of their assignments and my expectations of them for the day. There was plenty to do, because not only did they have the Character Counts assignment, but also the assignment I had already planned. I had written on the top of the board "You talk: ASD". That got their attention. They sat in their desks and wrote. And wrote. And wrote. For two periods. Without so much as a peep. It was glorious. I got stuff done to prepare for this week. I organized my desk (as it often resembles a tornado disaster) and generally felt good about the whole Silent Block. At the end, I told them that I knew they were capable of being quiet and getting work done. I was pleased.

Today, it was like Friday never happened. In they walked with their mouths open and crap flowing out. With no restraint. I wanted to ram my head into the brick wall. Did Friday mean nothing to them? Perhaps I need to be the Classroom Nazi all the time. They seemed to respond better to that. How sad is that? I don't know what I'm going to do. Some don't care about ASD or being kicked out of class. My job shouldn't be this exhausting everyday...

A pleasant (and unpleasant) surprise

I'll start with the pleasant surprise first. I took my 7th/8th period students to the library today, and expected that I would need to write a few kids Lunch Detentions or at least reprimand them for noise while there. They are infamous for acting like complete dinguses in the library and often causes me some frustration and embarassment towards the librarian. Today, however, was different. There was another class in there doing research on the other side of the library and they actually shocked my class. That class was so rowdy and noisy that I could barely hear a student I was speaking face-to-face with. My students mainly remained at the tables, looking at books and just sitting with their friends. When we returned to class, a few students made the observation that the other class was so rowdy. I took the time to thank my class for being well behaved and I appreciated their respect while in the library. I was proud of them. Maybe for an average class it's not that big of a deal that they are good in the library, but for this group of students, it was a very big deal. I even awarded them 7 stickers on the chart (normally a maximum of 5), because I was so impressed. It seemed to make them happy and proud...

The unpleasant surprise was when I walked outside after school. No snow. None. Not even remnants. Three hours earlier, it was coming down like some kind of mad snowstorm. I thought maybe I had hallucinated the whole thing, but others were disappointed at the lack of white fluffy stuff on the ground. So much for a Late Start tomorrow. But at least my rowdy kids were good. That's even better than having a Snow Day...

..and the snow snow snow came down down down

I'm ecstatic. It's snowing here. And it's been coming down in bucketsful for about an hour. It's beautiful. And it ups the chances that we might have a Late Start Day tomorrow or even (anxious gasp)...A SNOW DAY. Well, I won't bank on that, but a Late Start would be nice. That means the classes are all shortened and we don't come in until 10:45. How glorious. We haven't had a day like that yet this school year, but we had quite a few last year, and as I recall, a few in a row. But last year I didn't like it, because it meant the Spec. Ed. resource stuff was cancelled and I went directly into the 3rd grade class. This year, it means I have the same schedule, but less time with the little angels!

I have 8th grade boys Lunch and Recess duty today (I said that I would help them out 3 days a week, since they're short-handed and I get paid extra for it). Don't think we'll be going outside. And although it would be kinda fun to go out and build snowmen and make snowangels with 13 year old boys (sarcasm), it's probably best that we don't go. I could just see some kid tripping on a sheet of ice on the sidewalk or a couple of boys getting a hold of some snowballs and pelting them at the weakest of the pack. Not good. Plus, I didn't bring a snowjacket or even a real jacket for that matter today! I wore a sweater and assumed it would be fine by lunchtime. So, it's for the best.

I may let Mason frolick in it when we get home though. It takes a lot of work to get him stuffed into 80 layers of clothes (think: the movie A Christmas Story..."I can't put my arms down!"), but it's worth it when I see his eyes light up and he does a little joggy dance over the snow. His little nose and cheeks turn crimson and you can see his breath. It's hard to get him back inside after that, but oh, the fun he has...

Happy Birthday, Elmo!

I'm not sure how old he is, but his birthday is coming up and he's Mason's favorite!!

Hormone Boy's at it again

I'm starting to think "Hormone Boy" is not the most accurate name for him. For the first time I mentioned him, it was appropriate--kissing on a girl and getting caught for it. But, if I could go back, I would call him Complacent Boy. Case in point. Every time I've written him a Lunch Detention or After School Detention or sent him out of my room, he has just shrugged his shoulders and acted like I just told him to go read in the library for the rest of the period. Today was no exception. So, he's in the back of the class, talking away with a female student (big surprise) and the "s word" slips out. Oops. I could have written him a Lunch Detention right then and there, but I decided since it was an accident, I'd just warn him. Then, not but 20 or so minutes later, the same sneaky "s word" slips out of his mouth, yet again. This time, I can't let it go. Two of my boys hop up and see on the Discipline Matrix that the second time Profanity is used is an ASD. So, I begin to write out the form. Meanwhile, Hormone Boy hasn't changed his attitude or even turned his head. He just sits there, staring into space. I am still in the process of filling out the ASD form when I realize he's now not at all working. He doesn't even have the book open or a piece of paper on his desk (they were supposed to read over a story we read yesterday and then answer questions at the end). I calmly ask him what he's doing, to which he replies that he's doing nothing. I tell him to get to work, and I leave it at that for the time being, thinking that maybe he's just peeved that I wrote him up for cussing. I turn my attention to other students and hope Hormone Boy makes the right decision on his own. He doesn't. I tell him again that it would be a good choice if he would get his work started. He just shrugs and still sits there. I wait again, and tend to some other kids. A few minutes have passed and I tell Hormone Boy, "Look, you either start working or you can go sit in the office." And he asks why. Oh, how "why?" is such a pleasant question...I tell him that he's refusing to work and I'll have to write him up. He argues that he's just not working, he's not refusing to work. I choose not to ask him what he thinks the difference is and just suggest for the last time that he gets to work. He nonchalantly gets out of his seat to put a book away. So, I tell him to go to the office. I'm not going to beg an 8th grade boy to work. He says, "okay," and heads out the door. I write ANOTHER ASD for him (this one for being Insubordinate) and send the two forms down with a trusty student. The vice principal originally just assigns him 2 ASDS: one for each offense. But after school, I decided to speak with her. ASD doesn't phase Hormone Boy. He doesn't care, and in fact there's a common consensus among his teachers that he must enjoy being in there two days a week, because he's pretty much in ASD every day it's held. She wasn't aware of that, and asked for suggestions. I said that Hormone Boy's mom and I had discussed him helping around the school. The vice principal liked that idea. So, instead of sitting in ASD the two days she assigned, he will be working with the custodial staff, cleaning walls, scrubbing floors, whatever they want and need him to do. Maybe after two days of that, he'll realize that acting up will eventually have consequences that he doesn't like. And maybe the school will get clean along the way...

Gluttony always makes me feel better

After my encounter with Mouthy Boy 3/4 period, my day just kept getting better (read with sarcasm). My last block just about drove me up the wall. They had plenty to do and not a lot of time to do it in, but still felt entitled to be morons. I admit, about half a dozen of them do what they're supposed to do, when they are supposed to do it, and they don't complain or make smart remarks. But the others, well, that's a different story. It's like sitting in a room chock full of overrated stand-up comedians. I got so tired of their incessant laughing and lame anecdotes. I just sat at my desk and stared with an erupting loathesome feeling. The last 10 minutes of class, I made a blunt statement that I was going to write some ASDs for those who had been noisy the whole time. Amazingly, the whole room got shockingly silent. I said, "isn't it funny how you don't get quiet until you think I'm writing you up?" No response. So, away I went, writing 3 ASDs for the Top 3 Comedians (one being The Charmer). I kept them after class for a moment after everyone else left, and notified them of their write-up. They were of course surprised. I explained why I was writing them up and how I was tired of it. And then they left and I called home. I only got a hold of 1 out of 3 parents, but she was in agreeance that her son The Charmer was great without his friends, but with them, he was just about out of control. I left messages at the other two houses. We'll see if I get any calls from parents. Probably not.

So, when I got home from work, after taking a relaxing shower, I told my hubby that I wanted to eat greasy, bad-for-me food and we went to Jack-in-the-Box. And then Dairy Queen for dessert. I feel better...

Ah, the 8th grade mastermind...

So, I'm sitting in the front of my 3/4 hour class and I look back at Mouthy Boy (very disrespectful to his fellow peers and always has to have the last word with me) and I notice something sticking out of his ear--headphone buds. I open my hand and make eye contact with him. "What?" he asks. "Give it to me," I say, trying not to disrupt the whole class. But, since he's in the back, and everyone heard me, just about every student whips around to look at what he's got. "Why is everyone looking at me?" he asks, as he fiddles with the headphones. "Because you're disrupting class, and you have something you're not supposed to have," I say. He messes around in his pocket and walks over and hands me the headphones. "And I want what they were attached to," I say, glaring at him. Like I wouldn't know that they went to some sort of musical device! He fishes into his pocket, and Voila! out comes an IPod. Dumb. Like I wouldn't see him with the headphones. Did his other teachers not see this earlier? I just shake my head and inform him that his mommy will have to come to school to pick it up in the office. He grumbles back to his seat. Do they really think they're that slick? I mean, come on!

Oh, the weather outside was frightful...

This was our backyard last night. We woke up this morning, very excited at how white everything was!!











Mason took high steps through the front yard and kept saying, "no! no!(which means snow!!)"










Too bad it was all melted by this afternoon. It was fun while it lasted.

Jellyfish

I am at work (I just wrote the entry before this) and don't really feel like doing any actual work at the moment, so I started messing around with my blog. And I found this background template. It's called Jellyfish. I guess I feel like a Jellyfish at the moment. Blah.

Ouchie, Ouchie, Ouchie

My head hurts. It's pounding. It's like someone just kicked me really hard with a golf shoe, in the right side of my head. This is the third day. At the same time. And it's really getting aggravating!! I drink lots of water and I eat breakfast. Right as 4th period is ending and I'm getting ready for my lunch and prep. period, my head starts screaming at me. I don't know what to do, besides chugging aspirin or Tylenol. I haven't been doing anything different lately. No added stress or different perfume or a different schedule or eating something new. I don't get it. So, even though my hubby and I have banned soda (unless it's Diet and we're eating out), I got a Dr. Pepper from the coke machine in the lounge, hoping that will knock it out. We'll see.

In the meantime, let me tell you a little story about Hormone Boy. Grrrr...He's more than a little chatty at times (which is most of the time)and he's had so many warnings about it that it's getting ridiculous. I've moved his seat (twice), I've given him Lunch Detention, and yesterday was the second day that I've sent him to someone else's classroom, because he was disrupting our Anne Frank movie. So, I decided after I sent him on to another teacher yesterday, that it was darned time I wrote him an ASD. So, the protocol is to call home. Mom was very supportive and is seeing the same crap at home. I talked to her for 15 minutes and suggested that maybe it will need to come to him helping out around the school and helping out in his school community. Mom was all for it. And Hormone Boy's math teacher agrees. We'll see.

So, he passes my class today and says, "Hey Mrs. Lionhead, why'd you write me an ASD?" I promptly explain that it was because of his behavior and he had been warned many times. To this, he says, "Oh okay. And my mom wants me to tell you that it takes two to tango." Huh? He didn't seem to know why she said that or what she meant by it. Maybe her message got lost in translation. I don't know. I just hope that she's not supporting me on the phone one minute, and then turning around and siding with him afterwards. You never can tell with parents.

Oh, a little brilliant tidbit for your day: While watching "The Diary of Anne Frank" yesterday (after spending all last week reading half of the play and discussing the turmoil of the Jews in Germany during that time, mind you), one of my students asks, "Why are those people in hiding?" I look at him with a "are you serious?" look on my face and say, "Because of the Holocaust" and he says, "What's the Holocaust?" Oh dear. This worries me. I know it shouldn't surprise me, but sometimes I just want to bang my head against the wall...Hey, maybe that would help my headache!!

Procrastination

Would you believe that I am opting to mop the kitchen floor over grading papers? Well, not exactly. I can't get any grading done when Mason's asleep anyhow, but I could have graded these papers, say, Saturday or Sunday, but noooooo, it's Monday and they're still sitting patiently in my "To Be Graded" folder. But I have been productive, nevertheless today. I've started putting away laundry (Mason doesn't tolerate that for too long, and there's a lot to put away), ran the dishes and like I said, mopped the floor. I gotta do it again though, because Daddy is out changing the oil in his car and I failed to warn him that the floor was clean, so now there are dirty footprints all over it. That's okay, it could use an extra mopping. Well, enough wasting time. I have things to do!!

Thank you, Jesus, Lord in Heaven

So, my friend calls me up this morning and tells me to turn to the Discovery Channel--they are doing a story on a girl from our high school. That's kinda cool in itself. I went to a small town high school. Not a lot of celebrities or even people that make the newspaper from there. But there she was. We weren't friends with her, and in fact the friend that called me had to look her name up in the yearbook, but she for sure attended our high school. You wanna know what the story was about? She had QUINTUPLETS!!! Yes, 5 babies. Holy Mother of God!! That is just unfathomable! I know you hear of women giving birth to more babies than that, but when you see a face on TV that you actually know, having five, that's just crazy! And she had two before that!! That totals 7, ladies and gentlemen! No thank you. I know it's a blessing and you do what you gotta do, but if I (and my hubby) have anything to do with it, we will be done at two. Two's good. Then you're not outnumbered. There's two of us. And I have two hands. And you can find strollers to carry two children. And two kids can ride in the same grocery cart. It just makes sense. Five doesn't. So that was the exciting moment in my day...

Update on Kissy Girl

Her Daddy pulled her and her younger brother out of the school. I guess he wasn't satisfied with chasing Hormone Boy and scaring him into a fit of sobs in front of his peers...

Not your average teenage angst

I have a student we will call Hormone Boy (better than what he calls himself--Inside Out Oreo because apparently he is convinced that he's black, even though he's quite caucasion). He has had a problem with PDA (public displays of affection, aka kissy kissy with his girlie friend) lately. Three different teachers have caught him in the hall, swapping spit with her. Well, last Friday, Mrs. Red (another 8th grade L.A. teacher) decided to nail him on it. She wrote him up an ASD and pulled the girl aside later. Mrs. Red told the Kissy Girl that her mother would be called and that she could choose her kissing partners more wisely. Mom and Dad were called. And Dad was livid. At his daughter. And worse, at Hormone Boy. Yesterday, Kissy Girl's dad came to school to discuss the matter with administration, and who does he see walking down the halls? Yep, Hormone Boy. This is where it gets hilarious--I mean, sad. Kissy Girl's dad went after him. He yelled at him and started chasing him. Hormone Boy raced back to P.E. and was in hysterics. He was bawling so hard they actually called his mom and he was sent home early. Kissy Girl's dad was banned from campus (as is fair, since it was very much inappropriate for him to attempt to attack a student--but a little funny) and Kissy Girl's schedule was completely rearranged so that she is nowhere near Hormone Boy during the duration of her school day.

Mrs. Red tells me this story today, as we are at Bus Duty. She said that she thought I'd appreciate hearing why he wasn't in my class yesterday afternoon. She asked if Hormone Boy had told me anything about it, and of course he hadn't. I don't know any 8th grade boy that would want that to get out. I'm just surprised another student didn't come blabbing it to me as soon as it happened. I mean, come on, let's face it: middle schoolers have big mouths, they can't keep secrets, and it's just a downright funny anecdote. You know that you at least cracked a smile...

Not much to say...

I suppose I should save entries for when I actually have something meaningful or inciteful or humorous or frustrating to share. Oh well. THIS IS MY BLOG!! :) Anyways, the weekend has passed me by, yet again. It was a nice one, though. Friday, we ordered pizza and watched "Mean Girls" (Hubby gave it to me for Christmas. It's kinda a teeny bopper movie, but with some sarcastic, smart humor mixed in). Yesterday, Hubby worked, so Mason and I hung out at Target and the mall. I found a bunch of stuff on clearance at both places. I found those long tank tops you see everywhere (that work great for me, to cover my dairy aire) for 97 cents at Gap! Pretty awesome. Last night we went over to Miss Cindy's house and played Turbo Yahtzee (our game--it's Yahtzee but faster, and without all the math). Fun. Today, was church, grading papers while Mason napped and Hubby worked on the computer, then lunch with friends, then Kmart for an ottoman for the living room, then hanging out at the house for the rest of the evening. Good weekend, but as always, it goes fast. At least this Friday is an Early Release and the next Monday is MLK Jr. Day, so no school. January is almost over. :)

There's something wrong with this picture...

We have a new student at our school. Not in my class, but in the Language Arts class next door to mine...Well, he's not new exactly. This is his 3rd time in our school. He's turning 16. Apparently he attended here in 6th grade like normal, then got in some "judicial trouble", left for awhile, then he came back as a 7th grader. The Language Arts teacher that just got him in her class, had him the year he was in 7th grade the first time. That was four years ago. I guess he got in some more "judicial trouble" and then came to our school in August this school year and spent the last semester in our Alternative Learning classroom. And for some reason, they exited him out of that, and back into regular classes. So, now he's turning 16 and he's in the 7th grade. Granted, I am sad for him, as he has had a very horrible life thus far and needs a lot of guidance and a positive role model. But I'm not sure it's exactly fair (or safe) for this boy (almost a young man) to be in a class full of 12 year olds. He not only has 4 years on them, but he's done time. And a lot of the kids (especially the boys) think that's pretty darn cool. How is a teacher supposed to handle that? He's in a different place develepmentally, physically, emotionally and maturity wise (or at least you hope so). A couple of us teachers were joking yesterday that he might ask, "where's the student parking?" here soon. There's no student parking! This is middle school! I don't have the answer, as I think he should be in school and hopefully he will finish and graduate or at least get his GED. But, I don't know if the best place for a troubled 16 year old is in a class of 7th graders. Anyone have any ideas?

Unlucky Charms

I'm back to school. And it took me all day to get used to it. This morning, before school, my hubby came by and helped me rearrange my classroom (mainly because I get bored of looking at it the same way and also because I needed to move some desks closer to mine), and I just felt like I couldn't get back into the swing of things. I felt almost like a sub in someone else's classroom, or like it was my very first day of school. It took the entire first block (1st/2nd period) to get a handle on things.

That being said, by 7th/8th period, I remembered right where I had left off last semester--with a class that tried my patience and exhausted me. I have been praying for a few days prior to today, that I would have renewed strength and a new perspective with these kids. They aren't out of control or real bad, it's just a little chatter and boys that are constant comedians. It's tiring and gets old.

And then there's The Charmer. He's a sweet boy with good intentions, but let's just say that I'm sure at home, he smiles at his mom the right way and gets pretty much anything he wants. Or gets out of trouble. Like at school. In the past, The Charmer has talked his way out of an lunch detention for chewing gum in my class, because he promised with-all-his-heart-hope-to-die-stick-a-needle-in-his-eye that he wouldn't ever have gum in my class again, and if ever he did chew gum again, he said that I could just write him an ASD (After School Detention). We had a deal. Why, I don't know. Teachers shouldn't make deals with students. It means that he's won. But I felt like giving him a break that day, because I really believed he would never ever chew gum in my class again. And really, so far, he hasn't.

But his charm has worn off. I am not making deals anymore with him or any other student for that matter. They take advantage and get away with stuff that they shouldn't. Today, The Charmer and his crew decided they'd rather chit-chat than get their work done. I moved him and two other boys to isolation desks and warned them to stop talking. Well, they didn't. So, I decided not to waste my time hounding them about talking and babying them over it. They know what the consequence is if they choose to be noisy. So I waited. I waited until the very end of class and handed them all lunch detentions. You should have seen the shocked and astonished looks on their faces. I explained calmly that they had already been moved and that I wasn't going to keep warning them. I heard a "whatever" under The Charmer's breath, but I chose not to pursue that. He knows now that I am not falling for the sweet smile and puppy dog eyes. So he's mad at me for a day or two, and then he'll get over it. And hopefully learn that his charms aren't that lucky afterall...

6 Hours, 38 Minutes and Counting...

It's almost the New Year. Almost 2007. This year has whizzed by and it feels like so much has changed since this time last year. We're in a nice home instead of the tin can we called an apartment, I'm teaching middle school again, Mason just turned 2, we're much more active in our church and I'm a year closer to 30. Yikes.

I think that since we made the early New Year's Resolution for Mason to quit the binky, I think it's only fair that I stop chewing on my fingernails and the skin around them. We'll see how that goes.

Happy New Year, everyone! Don't party too hard tonight! And let tomorrow be a restful, happy day before returning to the new adventures that await you in the year to come. Ta ta for now.

The shirt says it all

Look at it closely. Around here, we agree that it fits Mason. But maybe we're just playing favorites. :)

Bye Bye, Christmas

Christmas is over. And there's no signs that was even here, at least not at our house. We took down all the decorations yesterday, including the outdoor lights and the Christmas tree and all the greeting cards. I even organized the wrapping paper bin and put all the Christmas stuff at the bottom (got some 50% off at Kmart and Target yesterday, for next year!). It was time. And I just threw away all the Christmas dinner leftovers, from when the in-laws were here. We went to Fry's and bought a bunch of healthy food like fruits and veggies and Lean Gourmet dinners. No more crap. We've been eating out a lot and eating a lot of sweets, and it has got to stop. Let's just say, it was tempting to pull out the maternity pants, cuz my regular ones have been getting a little snug lately. Time to do something about it.

And I put away Mason's Gap shirt with a Santa hat on it, since I'm positive it won't fit next year and I probably won't dress him in it anymore this year.

Finally, this is the last weekend before school starts back up again. At least we also get Monday off. That makes next week short, which helps with the transition back to the academic world, for all of us. I'm sure I'll be dragging my feet on Tuesday morning, since I've been enjoying sleeping in, lounging around the house, getting some reading and movie watching done, and most importantly spending lots of quality time with Mason, but I'm ready to return to work. There's been times during the break where I've been bored out of my mind. I'm used to working. I haven't always liked it, but it's what I'm used to. Now granted, I am already excited about taking next summer off to be with Mason at home, I'm ready to return for the second half of this school year. The sooner we start, the sooner summer will come, right?

So, goodbye Christmas, hello New Year! We plan to start fresh and try our best to be healthy and put effort into being good people. I wish everyone out there in the cyberworld a Happy New Year and hope you all have a renewed perspective and high hopes for this upcoming year!

This is a Binky Free Zone!!

Goodbye binkies. You were well loved and will be missed, but it was time for you to go. Mason called you "gingy" and needed you for naptime, nighttime and any other time he felt he needed extra comfort over the past 2 years. But the last of your kind was thrown away on Wednesday and we haven't looked back since.

Mason's had a little trouble settling down and going to sleep, but there haven't been a lot of tears. No tears at all, really. He just wants to lay or sit in his crib and play and sing and look at books, instead of sleeping. We have to keep going in there and telling him to go to sleep and eventually he does. I can deal with him playing in his crib when he's supposed to be sleeping, because at least he's not screaming like a Banshee. And at least we're still getting a full night's sleep.

I think this is pretty accurate

Quite Empathic You are 80% empathic!

You are definitely empathic a lot of the time. You may not always get it right, but you're pretty good at telling what someone's feeling. You make an effort whenever possible. You don't necessarily want others to know how you're feeling yourself though. You're the kind of person who cares a lot about those around you, and don't necessarily have to know someone to worry about them.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: http://www.okcupid.com/"> alt="free online dating" src="http://is3.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" border=0> You scored higher than 99% on empathy

Link: The Empathy Test written by Audryn on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Our big boy

Our son is two now. Wow. I can't believe it. It seems like I was saying, "He'll be 2 the day after Christmas" for so long, that it kind of just crept up on me. We took him to his 2 year check up at the doc today, and he's 27 pounds, 35 inches tall. He's healthy and right on track, thank the Lord. I just can't believe he's not a baby anymore. It's a blessing and it's part of life, but this is one of those moments where you realize that time slips away so quickly...

Anyways, here's our big boy at Nana and Papa's house on Christmas Day (with his new Elmo music player), and the awesome cake that Grandma made for Mason's birthday:

Christmas, Part 3 and Mason's Birthday, Part 2

We are enjoying our visit with my parents. We arrived yesterday and had a nice Christmas. We opened presents and then had a pleasant dinner. Of course, we all made out with awesome gifts. I got cozy jammy pants, fuzzy socks and a warm robe (I should be nice and toasty during the winter!) and together we got a Target giftcard and a Barnes and Noble giftcard and a wicker ottoman. My hubby got the two Pirates of the Carribbean movies. Mason is set for toys and clothes and books for awhile, between Christmas and his birthday. Today, my sister, her husband, their two kids and my nephew's girlfriend came over, and there were more gifts. And more cake eating. Let's just say, we've decided to be gluttonous until the New Year. There's no sense in fighting the temptation, and besides, there's just too much good food around to resist!

Anyways, it's been a good one and we are thankful of how well we've been taken care of by both families. And I think I'm ready for Christmas to be over. It's my very very favorite Holiday and time of year, and I look forward to it starting right after Halloween, but I'm done. We've had 3 Christmases and 2 birthdays for Mason. That's enough. I'm sure we'll still keep the lights and decorations up until New Years, but after that, it's all going away. And we're moving on.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable one and remembered the reason for the season. Lots of love to my dedicated readers (there are maybe 3 or 4), and I will write again when we get home.

Christmas, Part 1 of 3

So, yesterday my hubby's family (sisters, their hubbies, kids and his parents) all came up. It was a little stressful getting the house ready, but after everyone was here, it was nice. It's that warm and fuzzy feeling of having family together, with the laughter of children and people snuggling together on the couch. We had the fireplace going, the Christmas tree on, candles lit (but sitting way up high), presents covering the floor and people everywhere. We ate and ate. And ate some more. And my mother-in-law always makes cookies, rice krispy treats and fudge (chocolate and peanut butter) every year. Oh my lordy, did I eat a lot. I just kept grazing! And of course she gave us a platter of the goodies to keep.

And then there was Mason's little birthday party yesterday afternoon. His grandma made him a Veggietales cake (our son's obsession) AND we had pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie. Yikes. The party was fun though, because his Miss Cindy and her family came over and he got all kinds of neat toys. He's set for awhile, that's for sure. I think after we are completely finished with Christmas, I will put half of his toys away and trade them out later. No sense in taking up the whole living room, especially when he doesn't play with that many at a time. It's like having brand new toys every couple of weeks!!

So, Part 2 of Christmas will be tomorrow. Just us three. We'll wake Mason up early, do Christmas with just our little family. I think Darth Tater will be his favorite, since loves Potato Heads.

And Part 3 will be later tomorrow, when we head down to see my family. My brother is in town and my aunt will be there and possibly one of my sisters and her family. We'll see. I was kind of sad that we had to split up the Holiday, but now I realize it's better this way. It splits up the gift-giving, which is less stress on Mason (and myself), and we get to spend a little more quality time with both families. Should be fun.

Hope everyone is having a pleasant Holiday so far, and that the next couple of days will bless you and make you feel warm and fuzzy. Merry Christmas!

Have a great one, everyone!!

Merry Christmas Comment Graphics

This one's for you, Mrs. Bluebird!!

Merry Christmas Comment Graphics
I don't know about you, but we've tried putting Charlie in a sweater, and she just glares at us and runs away. I don't know what her problem is! :)

Things My Students Have Said Part One or Teenagers are Common Sense Deficient

If I had thought of this 5 years ago, I could probably write a book. And even if I had thought to do this from Day One of this school year, I'd still have a hefty list. But I didn't. So, here's what I came up with for most of this semester. Enjoy.

Top 13 (couldn't narrow it down to 10) Things My Students Have Said:
13. Do you have to pay to vote?
12. Can you vote more than once?
11. (When I asked what my student that was assigned Cupid knew about the topic) Cupid was a baby or something, right?
10. Is it a law about wearing white after Labor Day?
9. The difference between a crocodile and an alligator is one's female and the other's male.
8. (In October) Isn't it St. Patrick's Day? I'm not wearing any green!
7. (In November, the week before Thanksgiving) Isn't next week Christmas?
6. All the Presidents have been assassinated, right?
5. (One of my students, talking to me) Did they call you Mrs. Lionhead when you were in school?
4. Who's Saddam Hussein?
3. (While watching a story on Apache Indians in Arizona) What country are those people from?
2. (While watching a news story on U.S. Soldiers playing with Iraqi children) Isn't it dangerous for the kids to play with the soldiers? What if they shoot them?

And the number one quote out of one my ACTUAL student's mouth (who said quite a few of the above genius phrases), is:

1. There are women in the Army??

And how are you doing?

Thought I'd let you all know that although I'm already running out of things to do, I am enjoying Christmas Break immensely. It's been really nice not to rush in the morning to get Mason to the babysitter and to attempt to fill teenagers' heads with information they don't always want or care about. I've even slept in a little! (FYI: being a mother of a toddler, sleeping in is now any time after 6:30!) I've been to the mall, Target (a couple of times), to the movies (when we saw "The Pursuit of Happyness") and finished Christmas and Mason's birthday shopping. We've visited with friends, and I even met with a former colleague from the school I worked at last year and we chatted and ate at Olive Garden. It was nice.

The plan for the rest of this week is to clean and get the house ready for family, and then Saturday my husband's family is coming up to celebrate Christmas. I'm excited to have guests, but a little anxious about having 13 people here!! It'll be a nice time though, getting to visit with family and know that we don't have to pack up and try to cram Christmas AND Mason's birthday presents into our car, like last year. We're going to have the fireplace going, and it will be nice and cozy...

Christmas Eve, it will just be us, and we will go to church. Christmas Day, we're heading down to see my family, as my dad can't really travel yet. We'll stay there, have Mason's birthday on his actual birthday the next day, and then we'll return home on the 27th. After that, no real plans. And that's okay. I like being bored. It means I'm not working. And although I do miss some of my students a little, I like being home on a weekday.

Hope all is well with everyone out there. I will write again soon. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the time to post the "Things My Students Have Said" entry.

Tis the season...

...for talking to friends and family...

...and reaching for presents.

It's a Blizzard, people!!

Get prepared to be snowed in for days!! Hope you have supplies and warm blankets!! Good gracious, man! Get off the computer and get ready!!

Okay, just kidding. The first attempt at snowfall is going on outside right now. It's very sporadic. And slow. And not sticking. I just get excited when it snows. No snowmen or even snowballs today. Probably not until February, like always...

Don we now are gay apparel

"Now we are wearing happy clothes?" Is that what that song lyric means? Does anyone know?

The Pursuit of Happyness

Go see this movie. It's incredible. I liked Will Smith's acting before, but you'll be blown away by this one. If you know nothing about it, the main idea is that it's based on a true story about a guy who struggles to make ends meet, his wife leaves him and he has to take care of his son (which is played by Will Smith's real son), while trying to get a job and pay the bills. Go see the movie. Run, don't walk. It makes you realize that if you really want to do something in life, you can do it. No one can stop you. You'll leave with a warm feeling in your heart. But ladies, don't wear mascara. Unless it's waterproof.

Two more days...

At this time on Friday, school will be a half an hour from being over for two whole weeks!! Yippee!! I am so ready. I know the kids are too. We're all sick of each other. There's definitely an advantage to having kids for two periods for Language Arts, but there are days where I just count down the minutes. I've been doing that for the last two weeks. I swear, the kids (and myself!) check out after Thanksgiving. I just want to be home, snuggling with my hubby and little man Mason under a cozy blanket, watching a Christmas movie, and maybe even having the fireplace going, with only the glow of the Christmas tree in the background. Doesn't that sound nice? Forget about Spring Fever, I'm having Christmas Fever!! Luckily, tomorrow in all my classes, I'm showing movies of the books we've read (7th grade is watching "Hoot", and 8th is watching the 1953 version of "War of the Worlds"--the new one's a little too violent), and Friday is an Early Release. I just have to get my 7th/8th hour out of here today, and the next day and a half will be a breeze. At least I hope so.

I apologize to those of you who don't have a school-related job, and have to work next week and the week after. That sucks. I've been there. But for the sake of my sanity, and the sanity of my little angels, I'm glad I get a break.

I see Christmas lights

I can see colored lights in the frame of the window in here. I can see lights through the blinds, 2 houses down (and boy, do they have a lot of them, and one of those inflatable snowing thingies) and I can see the lights from our Christmas tree shining in the living room. Ahhh. I love this time of year...

Hope the season is warming your heart, like it is mine...

Bear with me...

I know, I know!! You don't need to start yelling at me or nagging me or ranting and raving about how nonexistent I've been in the past two weeks! Sheesh! School's been crazy, with Christmas Break approaching in one week (yeah, baby!), grades due soon, and all sorts of whatnots, that I just haven't had time on here to share my day. Sorry. I promise you'll most likely get a daily entry, starting a week from Monday. I'll be off for two weeks, with not much to do. So, I'm sure I'll get on here at least once before that, but you just need to be patient. I'm a teacher and mother with not a lot of spare time! We are having 3 Christmases and 2 birthdays for Mason this year, so it's a little hectic, with planning and coordinating. I hope everyone's able to enjoy the season thus far, and I will be back soon!

Kickball, Basketball, and...a Language Arts teacher?

I got to cover 6th/7th grade Girls P.E. today. That was interesting. I got a call during 1st period that I needed to cover the class during my planning, 6th period. I actually laughed. I laughed and said, "Are you kidding?" And the office lady kindly said, "No." Oh, man. So I nervously marched down to the gym a few minutes before the kids were to arrive, to figure out what the heck I was gonna do with them. Luckily I located the Boys' P.E. coach, and he told me what to do with them. They were to play this Kickball/Basketball combination game. They had played it before. It wasn't that bad at all. I just stood on the sidelines and watched. Actually, it ended up being easier than covering a Math class, since the P.E. class is predictable and pretty independent. No biggie.

A fun little anecdote: my pregnant girl (I really don't want to officially give her that nickname, since I'm still not absolutely sure she is) blew my mind today. She handed me her Author Report, since she was suspended when it was due. That in itself was a mind blower, since I honestly didn't think she'd have it. But she did. But there was one teensy weensy problem: I was reading the Final Draft of her report, and something looked funny. Not funny haha, funny strange. Her first paragraph was in different font than the rest of the paper, and it was in bold. And it was worded in collegiate terminology. I have a feeling she doesn't know what half of those words even mean. I sighed, and gently went over and asked her, "Did you really write this?", to which she replied without hesitation, "Yeah, I did. I remembered what you told me when I was writing the Rough Draft that I shouldn't copy word for word, so I didn't", to which I said, "but this looks like you copied and pasted from a website." She nodded and said, "I did, but I moved the sentences around, so they're in a different order." Oh my gracious. I smiled and said as calmly as I could, "Hon, that's still copying." My hubby thinks I should start a blog of just things kids have said to me, or at least in my presence. I'm working on that. For now, I'm gonna have her re-write the paper IN HER OWN WORDS, and tell her that next time it's a zero and a Referral for cheating. I'll let you know how that goes over.

Oh Baby!!

One of my students might be pregnant. Isn't that nice? She's an 8th grader, but still. This is not that much of a surprise for this particular student though, trust me. Among her offenses, she has been suspended twice for fighting (once at school and once on the bus) and yesterday she was suspended for trying to "stab" another student with a filed down piece of wood from WoodShop class. She's always been nice to me, but she scares the bejeesus out of most of our kids. She has the stereotypical "Latina" girl look--shaved off, penciled-in eyebrows, dark makeup and a bit slutty clothes. Her chin is pierced and she just looks tough. I've never been intimidated or even worried by her, but I see why the kids are. Anyways, her tummy is a bit round and I always just sluffed it off as she was a bit pudgy around the middle. But it's getting bigger. And kids are talking. (Perhaps that's why she tried to "stab" a kid in the hall?) I talked to the vice principal, and they'll look into it. I'm sure not going to go up to a girl and say, "Are you pregnant?" because we all know that if you're wrong, you look like an ass. I just hope I'm wrong. I know it happens in middle school, but you never are prepared for it, as a teacher. I don't know how to deal with that. She's absent enough as it is!! I just pray that if she is, no girls admire her or aspire to be like her. That's all we need.

There's nothing like a good fistfight!

I bet you're thinking, "Oh no! Some students must have gotten into a fight at her school!" Nope. Sorry. Although that does happen around here on occassion, that's not what I was going to tell you.

My hubby and I went to a hockey game last night. What an awesome show.

It all happened very quickly. Not the fight--well, yes the fight, but I meant how we ended up going to the game. I have a 7th grader who's father is the coach of the Minor League hockey team that just came to our town. Yesterday during 1st period, an envelope came for him. He opened it, and brought me a ticket for last night's game. I was surprised and appreciative, but with only one ticket, I didn't think I'd go. I figured I'd just give my ticket to one of his other teachers, so they'd have two. Then my student Hockey Boy's science teacher came up with the idea of one of us buying two tickets in another section and giving their single ticket to someone else so they can go as a couple and so could the other person, and we could all split the price of the two purchased tickets. So that's exactly what we did. And so I emailed my hubby at work yesterday and told him we were going to the new arena (just opened last Wednesday!!). I started getting really excited, because I've never been to a hockey game and I wanted to see the new arena and it was a chance for my hubby and I to have a date night, doing something we never do.

It was a blast. Our seats were over near the corner, but near our team's goal. The arena is pretty small, so everyone has good seats. I'd have to say that even though I'm not really a sports fan at all, I really enjoyed hockey. It's easy to understand and it's always exciting. I found myself cheering like a crazy person when our team scored.

And the fights, oh, the fights. There were a few of them on the ice, but one was really awesome. About half of both teams got involved, and there were hockey sticks and fists flying every direction. It ended up with a player from each team duking it out without their facegear on. Wow. No other game lets that happen. Probably not very Christian of me to enjoy fighting, but when you're at a hockey game, it's just expected. What fun.

It was a blast. Oh, and Hockey Boy is also the Stick Boy for the team, so he was on the ice before the game started, helping prep the rink. And he gets to sit with the players. We sat in front of a row of the player's wives. That's interesting. They're all very pretty and very high maintenance. I can't imagine the players make that much, since it's Minor League, but they sure look like they're well taken care of. It's just funny to see someone wearing leopard print spiked heels to a hockey game.

Anyways, that was my evening. Very crazy and unexpected. Not my usual thing, but I enjoyed it. A lot.

'Tis the Season...

I know, I know there's still like 6 weeks until Christmas. And I know that there's a conspiracy surrounding the insaneness of stores shoving out Halloween and pushing Christmas down everyone's throat in October. But I can't help it! I love Christmas time!! And I can't wait for it to actually be Christmas! This year is already fun, with a toddler that actually comprehends what he's seeing in the stores. He gets so excited when we walk through Fry's or Target or Sears or Walmart and he sees the big inflatable snowing displays and the light-up snowmen and the sparkly colored present displays and the singing santas and snowmen. He wants to push all the buttons (and I'm sure the store clerks love us for it!) and watch them all dance and wiggle. We can't wait to take him to the local light display at the park. He'll "ooh" and "ahhh" and say "Mommy, lights!" I can't wait!! And it'll be so fun to get out the tree and the ornaments and house decorations so he can gasp at every last one...I think God gave me a child the day after Christmas on purpose. It just gives me another reason to love this time of year, how ever determined the commercialism is trying to ruin it...

And my new love this season: Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos! I had one today at the mall. Yum!!

I haven't had time for you...

Sorry for being a negligent blogger. This past week has been filled with the regular antics of working with teenagers, caring for our soon-to-be-two year old and attempting a home existence. But on top of those things that keep me busy as it is, I was attacked with some kind of nasty virus that acted like Strep, but with a cough. I was miserable this time last week. I took off that Wednesday and Thursday, because I could barely swallow, speak or breathe. My throat was so raw that I was in tears a few times whenever I coughed so hard I almost threw up. It was glorious. I went to the doctor last Friday and he gave me some meds, but they didn't help. He even gave me a nighttime cough medicine with Codeine and I still spent all night hacking and coughing and feeling feverish. Good times. Needless to say, I really haven't started feeling better until yesterday. I still cough a little, but nothing compared to what it was, and at least my throat has healed.

So, being off two days last week pretty much put my whole swing of things off for a week after. I hate being out. It's stressful and frustrating. At least I had a real sub (and the same sub!) those two days, instead of teachers covering during their Prep period.

My kids have been my kids. Yesterday, my 7/8 Period kids really pissed me off. I took them to the library to research authors for a report, and they were so clueless. I told them where the Biography section was, and how to find their author. I walk over to a group of my kids and question why they're just standing around. One says, "I can't find my author. He's not in here!" I sigh and say, "You look up Edgar Allen Poe by P, not E." Grrrr.. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with those kids. Hormones shrivel brains, I am convinced. Plus, they preferred to goof around with their friends and talk about whatever they darned well felt like talking about, instead of getting their work done. Anyways, long story short, I told them if they act up this way again, I will have them do all the research and work for the report on their own, without class time. I don't have to give them time in class. Besides, they're 8th graders, they need to learn how to navigate the library, without me holding their hands. I mean, really.

Good news is we get tomorrow off, for Veteran's Day. So today felt like Friday and tomorrow will feel like Saturday. That always weirds me out, but it's a good thing. Daddy still has to work, so Mason and I will probably go over to The Babysitter's house and hang with her and her kids for the day. Nothing else to do. We'll see.

So that's it. Sorry I've been slacking, but hopefully reading my explanation causes you to forgive me. :) Have a good weekend and Happy Veteran's Day everyone!