Last happy post

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today... September 28, 2009
Outside my window... windy but getting brighter.
I am thinking... seriously about withdrawing from the gymnastic program in Rochester.
From the learning rooms... fiscal responsibility, I don’t understand why when I send $ with my dd for lunch she still ends up with a negative balance.
I am thankful for... being able to keep up on the bills.
From the kitchen... homemade salsa, Nacho Fiesta last night.
I am wearing... kahki pants, Express sweatshirt (red), white low socks, black leather no back shoes.
I am reading... Danielle Steele “One Day at a Time” plus lots of cooking mags.
I've been watching... another Keifer flick, that starred Michael J. Fox, “Bright Lights, Big City.”
I am hoping... for regular stable income that more than meets our needs.
I am creating... another batch of tvondvd descriptions.
I am hearing... a quiet house except for my dh rumbling around in the bathroom.
Around the house... lots of decluttering to do, again, same areas always gets botched.
One of my favorite things... peace.
A few plans for the rest of the week... video work, gymnastics, Soccer game, chaperoning for the first day of 4th Grade Ecology Camp, periodontist consult with Alex, camping at Wagener County Park in Harbor Beach on Friday then seeing the cross-country races Saturday morning.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you.

Backpack? No silly, it's a shield!

Garçons heureux et chien

It was another pretty crazy week but overall good. Thursday worked at home then I went up to town a little early to pick up the boys and brought Jake so we could walk around, his favorite things to do. Friday I substituted in a 7th grade room. It went pretty well:

1st hour Boys Reading Club-they were working on Tom Saywer and had a quiz on Chapters 1-12, I went over a few things to get their minds going before I put up the questions on Elmo (the overhead projection system), they were told to use complete sentences in their answer and try to restate the questions, maybe a third actually did this.

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2nd-4th hours English-each class did the same thing, journaled for 5 minutes about a question on the board, then worked on creating a crossword puzzle with their vocabulary words. This got interesting but was fun to oversee, the productivity level certainly fell as the hours went on. The first class almost everyone got their puzzles finished by the third I don't think anyone did. After 4th hour is lunch, I stayed in the class and pulled some video entry info using the hi-speed and my handy-dandy flashdrive.

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5th hour SeminAR-this in my opinion is rather stupid, it's a half hour of reading. Right after lunch, they were charged up and I had a group of giggly girls that I actually threatened with detention if they didn't shut up and read.

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6th hour Social Studies-he left a packet to work on from Chapter 1 in their books. By now I laid down the law because I wasn't going to have a bunch of chattering and chaos: 'everyone better get to work and anyone who isn't finished by the end of class I will write down their names for Mr. Mitchell and you can serve detention.' That got 'em working, it was actually a more involved assignment than I thought and only four finished, each one that did I'd yell 'we have a winnaah!' The bell rang at the end of class and they all started to object about the detention, I put my hand up and yelled 'due Monday, take your books with you and get it done!' With relief they happily loaded up their stuff and took off for last class.

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7th hour Planning time, I stayed and worked some more on the computer since I had to wait for the kids to get done with school and pick them up anyway. Good Day.

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In one class I asked who was going to the football game tonight, it was the Lights Out Half Time Show, and a couple boys told me they like to beat people up under the bleachers when the lights go out, I was sort of taken off guard and just nodded dumbly and said, 'oh, sounds like a great plan' and moved on. As I thought about it later other responses came to me like 'thanks for the tip I'll be sure to alert the authorities.' What would you have said?

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Saturday soccer was rainy at first, then later overcast and misty, but thankfully not freezing cold. First time I ever saw a referee go barefoot during a game but I guess there's a first time for everything. He's lucky he didn't get a toe taken out by a cleat! The Blue Dragons played pretty well but Green was a tough team to beat. They had one guy I started referring to as 'the mosquito' he'd get on a somebody and just wouldn't back off. Ben has been a little cranky lately, maybe overstressed with school and soccer. During the last break he yelled over from the field, 'let's just go home' to which I lovingly responded 'get in there and finish the game' as the spectators all laughed.

But seriously he can be a real live-wire at times. Lately he's been super sensitive to loudness, which is ironic because he's my noisiest kid, even asking that I please pick him up from school so he doesn't have to ride the bus because it is soooo loud. No biggie for me since I go up to get Fox from practice at 4:30 anyway or I get them because of an afterschool activity. He has also complained that the classroom gets way to loud and then the teacher makes this constant shushing sound that drives him batty. Not sure what this is all about, I told him to keep me posted on the classroom situation in case we need to make a change, there's no reason for him to be stressed out and if it is consistently out of control then maybe the principal needs to come and back the teacher up dealing with the kids that are causing the most problems. Ben has taken serious issue with the classroom discipline policy, in his eyes "it just doesn't work and nobody ever learns their lesson." I'll find the policy and post it later.

Another fabulous and easy crockpot recipe. Cut up cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, I also threw in some red peppers I had just for color but not neccesary, pour in a mixture of chicken and beef broth until everything is covered (or stick to one if you prefer), I seasoned with minced garlic and onion (you can use fresh as well), some dry mustard, marjoram and a few dashes of pepper to taste. Simmered on low, all - night - long.

So looking forward to Sunday.......

Shhhaapppy

Yesterday I substituted in the Special Ed. room. Interesting, it was the first job I caught on the website and it sat there for a couple days before I finally took it. Figured I'd look at it as an opportunity for sociological observation. The classes were all very small, thankfully, the biggest having only 6 students. It went pretty well but it was sad to see in a way, many of these kids had pretty much given up, don't give a crud, and they'd been given up on. None of these students were actually learning disabled, they were all capable of doing the work, one boy did have some obvious impairment. Several just stated they didn't have anywhere else to put them. The last class I had was Life Lessons or something like that, they were learning how to fill out a job application, then she left a read and answer questions handout about tornadoes. One girl just blatantly slept, I woke her up once she did some of the application then back down again. The English and Math classes I actually did the worksheets with them so they got done, if you let them 'work on their own' they will do everything but. The advantage in this room is once they finish their work they can spend time on the computer so that prompts them to finish their work. They are not limited to educational sites as one might think (and hope), no, they pretty much can go to any bullshit (pardon my French) they want. The cross-country team left early to get to the meet in Marlette, I didn't have a 5th block since that is her planning hour so I went out and caught a snap of the group waiting for their bus. Check out the sign, it's been up for days like this, just noticed the misspelling when I edited the picture. Sad but not surprising after the papers I read today.

Up at the meet in Marlette they had an elementary team participate from Brown City. What a great program for young runners, I think there were a few other younger teams also. Some of these kids were bookin'! They're like little wind-up toys. It ended up to be a rather huge group of runners though (130-140 probably) and they realistically should have split the race up, either elementary running separately or boys and girls. They got totally messed up with the scoring at the end and didn't even hand out medals because it was taking so long to sort things out. Everything will be sent to the coaches later today. Fox ran the 1.5 miles in 14:11. He said it was challenging with the little kids just zooming around between everybody, and you really had to be on the lookout around the first loop. One boy on the North Branch team got barreled over around an early bend in the course. As you can see in this shot, Fox is still working on keeping his head up!

Substituting: Tomorrow I will be in for one of Fox's teachers: Mr. Mitchell, 7th Grade, Boys Reading, English, Social Studies and SeminAR. Should be a fun time.

Candle Sales: Ben was able to sell 11 candles toward Ecology Camp so he only had to pay $4. Cool and thanks to those who supported his efforts!

Crockpot 'o' Happiness

After talking about the challenge of meals w/o oven, my cousin sent me a crockpot recipe which sounded tasty and was simple. It called for canned and frozen items but magically enough I just happen to have all the items fresh! The black beans in the garden are dried so I pulled some to use. I put the beans only in the crockpot with water barely covering them, high temp for about an hour. Monday night I had the kids cut up some tomatoes, onions, red and green peppers for salsa, so there was a big bowl in the fridge. Seasoned just right. Sunday I had bought a rotissery chicken plus made corn on the cob and had leftover of both, we barely put a dent in the chicken since everyone went for the fried option which was also available. While the beans simmered and softened I pulled and cut the bird and knifed the corn off the cob. Added salsa, corn & chicken to beans and a little more water. Left it go on high about 5 hours. Served with rice &/or tortilla chips +grated cheese. Thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thanks Meg!

Not sure exactly how much I used of each ingredient but it was a full pot! And yummy!

Quickie version: 2 cans black beans, 2 jars salsa, 2-3 frozen chicken breasts, frozen corn (eyeball it), cook it on medium all day or high for a few hours.
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Before delving into the Fiesta Chicken project I took Jake for a walk at the water tower park, not a lot of people on the trail at all. Started out about 11 and got back to the car at 12:15p. He's getting better about walking on the leash we kept up a fairly good pace but I did have to put an end to the 'Sniff Game' a couple times, you know the one where they stop at every new smell and nearly pull your arm out of the socket cause you keep walking and the dog doesn't. Ah, good times. Took a few snaps, I'll post some others later.

Happy Rainy Monday!

The weekend sure seemed to fly by around here as nothing but the basics got taken care of, grocery shopping, meals, laundry, and I finished writing some video reviews. School and sports continue as usual, a little lighter this week, no games for Ben until Saturday, practice Tuesday. Fox has a meet in Marlette on Wednesday, they will get out of school an hour early to take the bus there. I'm going to pull Ben and Ethan a little early too so we can get there by the time Junior High runs. Fox expressed he'd like it if someone was there at all his meets for him, I said I'd do my best to make that happen. There was one so far I couldn't be at cause Ben had a soccer game at the same time, but Alex and some of her buddies were there to cheer him on.

Alex, unfortunately did not get the part that she was hoping for in the play....again. It's a dog eat dog business, acting. She is "an Egyptian woman" which has me shuddering as to what the costuming might entail for that. Second week of Intro Philosphy seemed to go well, she reported that the prof actually advocated drug experimentation....great. The kids thought is was hilarious; and apparently the North Branch Broncos girls made friends with some duel enrollments from Dryden High School. So, she's enjoying the class so far. We've already got a new boyfriend, this one really threw me at first, but after spending some time with him Friday night after he brought Alex home from having dinner at his house so she could meet his parents and sister, I think he's ok. He's a very honest, up front, fellow, which is refreshing, and I can honestly say I know more about this gentleman than anyone else Alex has ever 'dated.' He's really big into making sure she does what her mom says so that they'll be able to do things together, smart guy.

Recycling news: I was happy to find out that North Branch Elementaries are participating in the Capri Sun recycling program. They have a recepticle in the lunch room to collect packages, of which the school can get $.02 each on. Click here http://www.caprisun.com/terracycle for details on Be Green Earn Green: Earn $$$ for School.

Green Efforts: Now that I have a dryer it is more of a concious effort to hang clothes outside. I do most of the clothes out on the line except for socks. I also dry towels inside (crunch factor), but sheets and blankets outside. Someone suggested vinegar as a softener, tried it, seems to help somewhat on lighter materials, makes no difference on jeans or towels. Unless you have a really good warm breeze going, towels just don't dry soft outside.

Not having the oven working helps cut down on energy but is challenging to come up with stove-top only meals and I don't like to microwave too much and definately not entire meals. Still keeping our eyes and ears open for a cheap or free electric stove. Checked the ReStore but none there, I'm on the wish list, a few on Craiglist were already gone or too far to go get. I know I can find something decent for $50 or so, any leads let me know.

Shopping Bags: I don't know what it is but I never remember to put my bags back in the car after I shop and I forget to grab them when I leave to go shop. I hate that feeling of pulling up in the parking lot of the local mega mart and realizing I'm bagless, then I have to make a choice if I'm going to use the plastic, if I'm just grabbing a few things forego the bag entirly, or buy yet another reusable bag for the collection. Ugh.

I'll be running between the raindrops as I do a few errands this morning, of course it could be 75 and sunny by the time I leave to coach at GTC this afternoon. The other day I used reverse psychology Murphy's Law. It looked like rain and I had laundry to put on the line, I knew - "Murphy's Law" - if I put it out there it most definately would rain, so I decided I'd put the stuff in the dryer and cause it to be sunny instead, it worked!

Saturday was the end of their winning streak, I think those little brains were mushed up after a full week of school and two weekday games, they just weren't playing their best. Orange defeated them 3-0.

Ecstatic!

It's official, Alexandra has been accepted to Grand Valley State University. I got the letter when I returned home from helping at the Pastors Luncheon yesterday and promptly called her on her cell phone since the kids had just gotten out of school and caught her before she went in for call-backs. She was so thrilled she cried tears of joy. She has also gotten a sealed copy of her transcripts and will proceed with the free admission offer for UofM Flint next week but this is definitely her first choice. Now the fun will begin trying to procure funding, but I'm confident things will come together. She'll find out today if she got the part she wanted in the murder-mystery play and after school will be the first read-thru.

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Rob had a great week at work as well, selling three motors that were shipped in error. He figured before he just sent them back to Italy he'd try to sell them so he sent out an email and got a bite, I believe they are going to a shop in Venezuela. Next week Mr. Rob Goes to Washington for a service call, originally he wanted me to come with him and while I appreciate the offer and gesture it just isn't feasible for me to be gone while the kids are in school and have so many activities going on, maybe another time. Venezuela would be cool.

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I have another job possibility simmering, not going to give details at the moment, but please think good thoughts, send positive energy, pray, or whatever your fancy that developments unfold as they should. If Rob and I could both be receiving a regular weekly check we'd almost be living like real people! ;-)

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Ben had another great game yesterday and it looks like the Blue Dragons are a go to participate in the tournament October 10 & 11. Everybody, however, is ready for the weekend!

FRIDAY FILL-IN

1. My car is named Goldie, she’s not the prettiest in the lot but she still gets me where I need to go.

2. More amazing opportunities are coming up next.

3. Lately, things seem better.

4. My back deck is one of my favorite 'hiding' places.

5. What happened to excellence in customer service or just plain decency toward each other?

6. Having it all is not impossible! (just make sure you want it all)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to no games or meets or practices, tomorrow my plans include house chores and Sunday, I want to rehearse, relax & refresh!

Happy is the boy

Ben had his second soccer game last night and the Blue Dragons were smokin! They played the white team and the match was pretty equal, final score was 4-4! The didn't have any extra players so everyone was in the whole time but they did good trying to call out to each other and look for open players before kicking, so refreshing after several seasons of mobball on the other league. It's been great to see Ben's enthusiasm about the sport renewed and he is really improving technically as well. Coach Theressa is hoping all the players/parents will be interested in doing a tournament in October in Imlay City since the team is coming together so well. Below are some shots from the first two games. Ethan is learning what it's like to be there to support his brothers as they do their activities which is a switch from them always having to wait somewhere while he does gymnastics or baseball.

Monday after school North Branch hosted a middle school cross-country meet. The day was long, it was hot, and the course laid out had several hills. Fox held in there and finished 21st out of 24 runners (boys/there were 11 girls that ran) with a time of 23:11 and received his first medal. Seven teams participated. He was beaming. Tuesday, however was a different story. North Branch hosted the county meet for high school and middle school, again after a full day of classes, thankfully a cloud cover came in and it was a little cooler. He finished, admitted he walked some, but after 3 meets in 4 days I couldn't blame him a bit.

As our first week zooms right along, everyone has been diligent in getting their work done when they have the time, since gymnastics was waylaided for the meet on Monday we were home earlier than usual so Ben and Ethan got busy on their homework packets. Ethan is finished but didn't turn it in yet so we can quiz him on spelling words and Ben is almost done. Fox had a little confusion with his math assignment, not the material, but what was due, and did more than he had to so now he can kick back for a couple days because he's ahead of the game. One speed bump for him is .... cursive .... apparently their spelling tests need to be done in cursive, which he is not fluent in so he's a little slow taking the time with it; on a pretest even though he knew all the words he didn't get them written down in time because of the cursive requirement. I object! In my opinion this antiquated form should be dismissed, the future of these children is all about keyboarding, who uses cursive anyway other than for a signature. Have you ever had a potential employer say the application has to be filled out in cursive?

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I feel like Picaso in his blue period lately, it seems that 80% of the schools in Michigan have blue as one of their school colors plus many of the soccer uniforms are some shade of blue too. lol Oh well, it's supposed to be a calming, healing color, so that's cool. Seems like the days are flying by for me as I write, make calls, take care of domestic doings; I just hit a stride and look at the clock then its time to go pick everybody up. Happy to be busy with good things though.

el fin de semana era feliz

This weekend was amazingly full and in my opinion a great success. Benjamin had his first AYSO soccer game the Blue Dragons against Blue Steel. They won 9-2. My only blip was I got there and realized the batteries in my camera were kaput thankfully my in-laws attended and had a camera so I will post some pix once she loads them onto Facebook. After much contemplation about changing to AYSO from the North Branch Rec. League I am happy to say the switch has been a great improvement. I am tremendously impressed with the way coaches have been running practices, using a multitude of drills and skill-building games plus getting together with other teams to scrimage. Even though I only caught the beginning of Ben's game because I had to leave early to get Fox up to Bad Axe for a cross-country meet from what I witnessed it was one of the most technically executed games I've seen him participate in. Kudos to coach Teressa and her assistant Tammy.

Saturday was also Fox's first cross-country meet ever! He was nervous because he had never actually run then entire distance without a bit of a walk break. On the way there we talked about it a little and I encouraged him to make that his goal for this race, just to run the entire distance at a pace that he could manage. He did, starting out the last of the pack with his teammate Eric he looked pretty labored but he kept on and eventually moved ahead of his buddy a bit, and later passed another girl who cramped up and walked it. He made it into the shoot at 20:19, I'm so proud of him. Afterward he said there were several moments he just wanted to walk but he didn't. Today he has another meet, this time at North Branch, the goal he's setting is to try for an even 20 and to remember to keep his head up. The kids on the high school and middle school team are really a great bunch, they really encourage each other and even though we arrived later than the others as soon as they saw Fox there, they called him over to stretch with them and get him up to speed on the course, which I really appreciated not knowing at all how these events actually run yet.

Rob, Ben, Ethan, Gramma and Grandpa Parton arrived at the meet just as they were coming into the second mile since the soccer game ran a little behind schedule but they were there to see him finish and were all happy, proud and impressed. Gramma and Grandpa headed to their property in Cass City while Rob, the boys and I drove home, stopping at McDonald's in Marlette for a free ice cream cone. Back at the house Gramma Judi came to pick up the boys and take them to the Old Car Parade at Greenfield Village and spend the night. Some friends of hers have a Model T so the boys got to ride and wave to the crowd. I took a quick shower then headed to the church to run sound for a wedding. The service was very sweet and they had a great turnout of family and friends. Congratulations to Rich and Jessica may their union be forever blessed. Afterward I had a nice chat with Pastor Jeff and also with his wife Francine, as they get more into the groove of their new duties as head pastors I am really liking the changes they are implementing and the efforts they are making to up their game in the areas of administration and organization.

Returning home once again, to a quiet home (Alex had to work at BK), Rob and I decided to ride up to North Branch and rent a movie, we also loaded up Jake and took a walk around the neighborhood. Jake was sooooo happy he was jumping our of his fur to get to go somewhere. We rented Hamlet 2 which was surprisingly good, I really got a few belly busters out of it. Took a few pictures but none turned out that great. I'll just post one, this is a cute little building in town that always intruiged me. If I had a million dollars to blow on real estate this is one I'd invest in, I have several I've mentally noted in my head from various areas.

Sunday I attended church on my own, had a good rehearsal with the kids, heard a great message (and was even secretly referred to in it-in a good way-always be careful when you have discussions with your Pastor, anything is game for when they preach :-), gave my friend Marylou a ride home, chatted with her at her place for a bit then scooted down to Grosse Pointe to pick up the boys. All in all a very full but fullfilling weekend. I leave you with a quick snap I took of the sky at the cross-country meet (after I got new batteries obviously), it was so bright I really couldn't tell what I'd get I just like to snap clouds but when I looked at it later I saw a shape the clouds created, can you see it? Have a happy, bon, feliz, bueno, week one and all!

Dr. report brings happiness

Mom got the result from her scans and the happy report was 'nothing new and nothing grew' which shocked her but it is the good kind of shock. This is what we've been hoping and praying for to keep the 'C' at bay. The lumps....just fat. How many times in your life are you actually glad you've got fat! (; D)

The school week has been shaping up nicely, although is was a little rough getting the boys to wake up yesterday. Today they bounced back just fine. Alex had her first Intro to Philosphy class, hurt her brain a little, all the lecturing. She doesn't even need a book, he's working primarily from handouts and discussion. There will only be three exams and he drops the lowest grade so each score you keep is worth 50% of your grade, that's a little daunting. Only time will tell I suppose. One small bummer, in her Creative Writing class the teacher says they are going to be writing about themselves :::big raspberry::: give me a break, how creative is that!

Fox had some homework last night, making a poster charting the Scientific Method and writing a paper about a favorite hobby. The poster was actually a group project that they didn't get finished in class and he volunteered to do it at home for his group. Hope he gets extra points for the effort. The hobby he wrote about: Chess. In math class they took a prelinimary test so the teacher could get an idea of the topics the class was strong or weak in and apparently Fox got the highest score. Way to go! He's hanging in with CC and doesn't really even seem to be getting very sore anymore.

Ben and Ethan are fine except for the whole remembering what to bring home or turn in, lunchboxes, school/home folders, signed papers, etc. Nothing major, it's all good.

I had a very productive week myself, got a good deal of entries pulled and some written, attended the WillSub meeting, did errands, opened a new bank account thanks to a $100 incentive, and even took time to sit at Starbucks, have my Peppermint Mocha Grande in a real mug, and read. Finally finished the Michael J. Fox book "Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist" and was pretty much in tears, not of sadness but of admiration for him, his foundation work, his family, and amazing wife. He and Tracy are definately on my would-love-to-meet list. Talk about phenomenal people, I put them in the same category with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward who while being great talents managed to stay out of the paparazzi glare and make amazing efforts to give back to the world in abundance. Great book, I highly recommend it and "Lucky Man" as well.

FRIDAY FILL-INS

1. He was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater.

2. Changing colors, apple everything, and the occasional hayride is what I look forward to most this time of year.

3. My best friend needs to call me.

4. I really don’t understand all the fuss about Obama’s address to the students to be honest with you.

5. Appearances can be deceiving.

6. The last person I gave a hug to was Ethan & Ben at the bus stop.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to running sound for a wedding rehearsal, tomorrow my plans include Ben’s first soccer game, Fox’s first cross-country meet, running sound for the Barber/Winter wedding and Sunday, I want to have another great rehearsal with the SOJ Kids Choir!

Oh happy day!

Well, we're off! Everything went relatively smoothly getting everyone off to the bus. Unfortunately Alexandra, is starting her senior year off riding the yellow coach with Fox due to some rather bad decisions she made recently and is now working her way back into my good graces. Not going to expound on the details because its under the bridge now but let's just say having teenagers is a learn-as-you-go process. The younger boys were so excited they were up and dressed with backpacks on at 7:15am - their bus doesn't even come until 8:06am!

Even though she was reluctant to start the year by the end of the day Alex was pretty excited about her classes: Creative Writing, Environmental Science, Spanish III, and Painting. There are kids she knows and hangs with in every 'block' and 4th block is an open period because she is doing dual enrollment. Yesterday she hung out with Mr. Sorenson, the drama teacher during that time and picked his brain about how he got certified to teach being that he has a degree in Communications not Education directly. I consider that time well spent researching.

Fox had a little confusion about where he was supposed to be first hour since he forgot his schedule but with the help of a couple teachers and the office staff things were figured out. He also had cross-country practice after school so it was a long day for him. They didn't do much work but went over many rules, what will be expected of them in during the year, getting to know you exercises, etc. He has already dubbed Mr. Peplinski (Math) as one of his favorite teachers because he used a Three Stooges clip to demonstrate why you need to be able to calculate.

Ben and Ethan said they did some getting to know you games also and a little minute math and I think they both had Music for their special. Benjamin had soccer practice at 6:30pm too so it was a full day for him. They all chilled in the evening and watched 'Bolt' again then hit the hay. None of the schools played the president's address.

Today will be Ethan's first school plus gymnastics day, he was the last one up this morning already, we'll see how he is tomorrow. But at least he is happy to be going to school this year and says Mrs. Cappo is tremendously better than his teacher from last year.

I had a great day myself. After getting everyone on the bus I checked email and facebooked, did some yoga, corpse posed with the dog for a few moments, did some house chores, got some entries written, then had a crazy few hours of running Alex to an orthodontist appointment, picking up Fox from practice, Ethan and Ben didn't get off the bus until 5pm (typical for the first day), made some dinner, then took Benny to soccer. Full Day - Good Day - Happy Day.

Happiness is like...

So happy together!

Junior High Open House went well; Principal Cranick was kind enough to make the schedule change for us so Fox will have Art first trimester instead of Reading Club. His English/Social Studies/SeminAR teacher is Mr. Mitchell, the son of Mrs. Mitchell whom he had last year, and his wife is pregnant with twins. He seems like another excellent influence, just like his mother. Mr. Peplinski is his Math teacher, Fox really liked him, he’s got a sort of kooky humor (like many math teachers, huh dad), and is interested in getting some academic clubs going in the school again. Mrs. Parsons is his Science teacher, the mother of Fox’s art teacher, Mrs. Baksa, and also the mom to three grown triplet boys. God bless her! Fox is hanging in there with cross-country; they run about 4-6 miles each practice. The first meet will be Saturday, September 12th in Bad Axe, the same day as Benny’s first soccer game. Timing should work out that we can make it to both, Soccer 9am in Imlay City, head up M-53 from there to Bad Axe for the meet @ 11:15. Coach said the Junior High meets usually only last a half hour, then I should be able to make it back home, change and get over to the church to run sound for a wedding @ 3pm. Fun! But that’s next weekend.

Ben and Ethan both met their teachers last night. Ethan is with Mrs. Cappo, Ben had her last year for Science since she shares some subjects with Mrs. Bodnar. For fourth grade they are working in teams much like they do at the upper elementary, Benjamin has Mrs. Smielewski and Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smielewksi is his homeroom teacher; she is also pregnant with twins and due in March! They bumped into many buddies from last year’s class and sports, some in their classes, some they’ll just see out on the playground because they are on the ‘other side.’ The elementary is one building divided into two schools for those who hadn’t read my posts from last school year.

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Alex is trying to cram in as much social time as possible before school starts and she won’t really have time to hang out as much. I’ve lost track of the ‘birds’ break-ups and make-ups. I’m really just ready to move on from it. The kids’ family is probably moving to Holly so they are NEVER going to see each other. But yet we have to hang on to this sinking ship. Received a flyer in the mail from UofM Flint about some Preview Nights they are having at area libraries, if you bring your transcripts and ACT scores with you, you can apply that night and they will waive the admission fee. She’s going to the one at Marguerite deAngeli Branch Library on September 23. For more info go to www.umflint.edu/admissions/FallPreview . They will be in Owosso, Birch Run, Saginaw, St. Clair, Pontiac, Burton, and Grand Blanc as well as Lapeer. Rob and I are both encouraging her to apply to at least three schools, even though she’d like to go to Grand Valley ultimately.
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Me, I finished another batch of work, and am looking forward to having everyone out of the house during the day so I can keep it relatively cleaned-up. Plus I’m hoping to get some projects done perhaps with the help of some fabulous friends and family who have various areas of expertise and ample time, and I’d like to get myself on a regular work-out schedule. My father-in-law is going to bring my bike back up here next time he’s out and I’d like to start throwing it on the bike rack and going for a ride once or twice a week on my own at different places. Alternating that with walking, yoga and some workout tapes on occasion, maybe I could actually stop looking so round in the middle. I’m not that overweight, maybe 10-20lbs depending which list you check for my height, but it’s the really hard comfort cushion, stress padding pounds to loose. Recently a letter was sent out about the new computer system they will be using for Substitute Scheduling, willsub.com, an orientation will be held for it next week. That should be awesome once it gets in place, I’ll be able to go on and claim days I’d like to work ahead of time. Nice.
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Rob is going to start making moves toward getting the Jeep running again so Alex will be able to have a car regularly. Our car, mind you, we’re just letting her use it. This oughta be interesting. Hopefully he can get the last section of deck up before hunting season too.

What to do when you can't afford to buy paint and want to redecorate, use the remnants of all the color you have left and get funky with it!

Friday Fill-In

1. The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades!
2. I hate being called mommy.
3. Mosquito Coast is one of my favorite movies (a favorite book too!).
4. Paper plates and plastic glasses.
5. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
6. The scripture(s) I refer to most in troubled times is Psalm 23.
7. Tonight I’m looking forward to running around doing drops-off and pick-ups for practices & work schedules, tomorrow my plans include dropping off recycling then visiting w/ family, and Sunday I want to have a great first rehearsal with the Seeds of Jesus Kids’ Chorus.

Update on my mom Judi. She is going in for new scans today but won’t know results until the 9th. Apparently there are some new ‘lumps’ on her back and the pain is increasing as well. Not sure what will be next. Please keep her lifted up. Thanks.

Have a fabulous Labor Day everyone!

Happy September!

This weekend was the return of the “Weekly Walk” for a variety of reasons and situations over many weeks we did not get out and walk. But Rob brought it up that we should go out for a stroll Sunday (just us) so that is what we did. Since it had been raining and we didn’t want to encounter another bug attack we kept to the roads. It was challenging to walk on Kings Mill because they recently dropped massive amounts of gravel down. I started feeling muscles I forgot I had. For simplicity’s sake we just made a large loop: Kings Mill to Jefferson to Snoblin and back down Lake Pleasant to Kings Mill, probably about 3 miles total. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, but if you stopped for too long (like to get a picture) the mosquitoes were on you immediately. Rob munched on wild grapes, too sour for me, but I did have a delicious apple from a tree that was bursting with them along Snoblin Rd.; heard some odd animal noises and spied a group of herons in a field.

Last week I sat through the junior high orientation, although I appreciate the counselor trying to explain how the tween brain functions I felt like it was a lot of blah, blah, blah and my butt didn’t take kindly to sitting on those wooden bleachers for an hour and a half! Tonight we go back for the Open House where teachers will be around and the kids can find their classrooms. The only schedule amendment we’d like is to take him out of ‘Reading Club’ and put him in an Art class instead. The kid does plenty of reading, and has tested at the 12 grade level so I think he’ll be fine, and he’d rather have experience in an Art class since we haven’t been able to get him into one this year. Last year he did a Cartooning class at the Paint Creek Art Center in Rochester which was very good. He’s also taken homeschool art classes with Don West in the past. Yesterday was his first practice with the Cross Country team (although they actually started last week). Communication among school departments is not the best; I left a message with the athletic secretary at the end of last year about Fox wanting to be on team but apparently she didn’t pass the info along to the Coach. Fox said it was pretty grueling but he hung in there and was glad that he had been running throughout the summer to prepare. Thursday is Fox’s 12th Birthday! I can hardly believe it!

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Ben and Ethan have their school Open House on Thursday evening and we are working on pulling together school supplies. I have an abundance of pencils, markers, crayons, etc here at the house already so I am determined not to go out and buy new stuff when we already have items that are still perfectly usable. I will have to invest in some more glue stix and a couple binders though.

From the Kitchen: Veggie Sautee, Zucchini, peppers, & red onions all home grown, with a few tablespoons of butter some dill and garlic salt. Yum!

Alex turned in a request at Burger King for her back-to-school hours, looks as though she’ll be staying on Fridays and Saturdays 4-8 until the play goes into rehearsals then she’ll switch over to Saturday and Sundays. She also had an opportunity to earn some dough watching the kids during Membership Class at church, which met three times this month, so she banked $45 for that. In relationship news the ‘birds’ are off again. He was kinda acting jerk-ish which started her not liking him as much, they still talk but really just as friends at this point, which is fine by me. Nuff said.

Sunday while Alex was kid-sitting I worked on getting my new bulletin board finished. It wasn’t exactly how I planned it originally but I think it nicely overviews our ‘Heaven on Earth’ VBS. I also spoke with Pastor Jeff and Pastor Bethany about coming in to work on a new choir song with the kids starting next Sunday and got the go-ahead from both. This one is a little meatier musically than the pieces we’ve done in the past so I want to have some time to work on it properly before we minister it sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s called ‘God Will Be Exalted’ by Joseph M. Martin adapted from Psalm 46:10. Other musical updates: apparently Mr. S has decided not to do ‘Grease’ for the fall play so that is off the table for now.

The Parton schedule will be pretty crazy through mid-October.

Monday: Cross Country (Fox) - Gymnastics (Ethan) - Play Practice (Alex)

Tuesday: Cross Country (Fox) - Soccer (Ben) - Play Practice (Alex)

Wednesday: Cross Country (Fox) - Gymnastics (Ethan) - Play Practice (Alex)

Thursday: Cross Country (Fox) - Play Practice + Intro Philosophy class (Alex)

Friday: Cross Country (Fox) - Gymnastics (Ethan) - Burger King (Alex)

Saturday: Cross Country Meets (Fox) - Soccer Games (Ben) - Burger King (Alex)

Sunday: Kids Choir @ church (Robyn) everyone else, passing out, priceless.

The title theme for September will be happiness or some form of it.

Hope everyone's back to school situation, whatever it may be is shaping up to be a joy and a benefit to all involved.

This blog is making me nutso with its spacing of text and pictures

so I better go before I get happy all over it,

til next time!