first full week of school in review

So it went like this-

• starting with last Friday night...Zach played football, Dianna and the boys stayed the night, and I worked my last night at my second job
• Zach's team won, a sweet victory against a team they had not beaten before. Zach had ample playing time...YES! 

Zach is number 99 in the blue:

ready for the tackle, I'm loving that the picture is so crisp that I can see his eyes





#17 is going down!  I didn't purchase the last photo in this sequence where 17 is actually down.  I just had to get these though.  We have this amazing parent who photographs the games.  His son is a senior, so I am hoping that Derrick still loves the school enough to continue to take pictures for the next few years.  I wish I had his talent and could afford his camera.  I'd be willing to do it myself.

• Saturday-conference for Andy and me at church from 8-1:30
• We had a speaker explain better than anyone I have ever heard the humaness (is this a word?) of Jesus.  I need to write it down what I learned before I forget.
• On our return from the conference, we both crashed for hours, exhausted from our week.
• Sunday -visit to the fair.  Savannah's art did not win any awards this year, but we had a good time checking out the arts and crafts and animals.

• Monday-Zach plays football out of town. Andy goes to the game.  I hold down the fort.
• Tuesday -Savannah played her first field hockey game of the season.  Her team kept the score at a tie with a tough opponent...high hopes here for this season.

Savannah is number 9 in the back (white and blue).  Hopefully, I will get some better action shots as the season progresses.

• Wednesday-open house night for both middle and high school. We divide and conquer with Andy tackling high school.  I knew we should have done the opposite when I was sitting in one of Savannah's classrooms listening to her teacher explain expectations, and Andy peeks in the door and sticks his tongue out at me...yep, he belongs in middle school.
• Thursday-typically the day that I get my second wind and stuff gets done around the house.  Not so this week, I struggled to do anything besides fall in bed, and I did get a brief nap in the afternoon.
• Friday- I see my first varsity game of the year and watch our team go down in the last 9 seconds of the game.  :(

It is Saturday night now. I am tired but awake and should be either sleeping or watching this football game on TV.  I really need to learn something about this sport so that I don't have to ask Andy if Zach did his job after every play when he is on the field. So the school year insanity has started.  Did I mention that my workday has been an hour or more longer than it should be since the first day of school? How did I work two jobs last year?

Savannah's art for the fair revealed

Savannah has kept this a secret for a couple of months and forbid me to post it on the blog.  The fair is now running, so I now have permission to share the piece she chose to submit this year.  

Remember that clicking on the picture will open it bigger so that you can see the detail better.

and third grade starts - finally

After two weather days delayed the start of school, Wyatt finally started third grade today.  He is not very excited about third grade as he is very worried about homework.  I truly can't say that today was the best start.  Wyatt appeared ready for school with a hole in his uniform pants, and we could not locate another pair.  I thought I had all the uniforms under control, but clearly I will return to shopping for school...GRR!  I really can't complain as Wyatt's uniforms cost me less than the other kids.  He just doesn't grow as fast.  It is not unusual to have a knee worn out before the pants are too small.

Can you even get over this cuteness?

and there he goes!

When I picked Wyatt up I got a taste of the third grade humor that just kind of annoys me.  His first comment was that he did not like school because he kept getting in trouble today.  I asked why he was in trouble.  His response was that he was singing in class.  I told him that singing in class is not appropriate and asked why he did that.  Wyatt said he was bored.  He then announced that he was just fooling and that he only got in trouble once.  He had me going.  This happens daily. 


Wyatt arrived at home hungry which is quite normal for him.  I told him to eat an apple, and he was more than halfway through it when he complained that he couldn't eat an apple because it bothered his loose tooth.  Wyatt then promptly went to the bathroom and pulled that tooth, and so that is how the year began for him.




The kids at my school returned as well today.  The library was closed, so I did not get a full orientation to how busy we will be, but I am guessing that not much will be different from my old school.  I raced out the door and still did not get there as early as hoped, so maybe tomorrow will be better.  It usually takes a couple of days for me to adjust to that 5:15a.m. wake up call...there is just something so wrong with being up that early.

the funny story of the day...

I've seen interesting things on the first day of school in my years in high school education. The one to beat was the kid who crossed my path several years ago and did not know his address or phone number and could not register. Today, however, I actually had a student looking for his schedule in what he believed was his middle school, but alas it was the high school.

He rode a bus, so I am not sure if he rode the wrong bus or if the bus actually stops at both schools.  Hopefully, he'll be able to laugh over this someday...like tomorrow.

back to school, field hockey, football, and the zoo...oh my!

School started last Wednesday for four out of five of us, and the sports already kicked into high gear with a field hockey scrimmage on Thursday and a football scrimmage on Friday.  I did not attend the field hockey scrimmage because I opted for some much needed girl time with my friend Phyllis. We went out to dinner and had a splendid time chatting.  I hear that Savannah looked remarkable, so my hopes are rising for this season.  I did attend Friday's football scrimmage, but I know nothing about football (actually I don't know much more than nothing about field hockey).  The boys did a great job, and I again enjoyed some great girl time chatting with my friend Mary Jo.

While Zach played football, the rest of the kids were at the pool with my dad.  He dropped them off at the game, and Julia got goofy with my camera.  She loves to take pictures.

The weather was cool on Sunday, so we enjoyed an afternoon at the zoo with my Dad, Tiffany and her boys. 

I just had to share this picture so that you can see the kind of attire Julia comes up with for the zoo...sequined hat and purse.

We love our new bear exhibit and are always excited about zoo babies.  We are looking forward to the cutest new polar bear baby who is gradually making his debut.  We missed him yesterday.

Today was to be our first day of school for Wyatt, and I was to start meeting my new students, but alas we have our first weather day of the year.  A freak, fierce, and fast storm blew through our area on Saturday evening leaving too much damage to our county in its wake.  We could not start school because of closed roads and schools without power.  Even Julia is home today because her campus has not had power restored yet.  Now that is unprecedented in our area!

My second job is going away this week. After some wrestling with God on what to do about it, I felt that it was time to leave.  I submitted my notice almost three weeks ago, and I work tonight.  I may work on Friday as well for another girl who needs that night off, but Andy really doesn't want me to as it will be Zach's first official varsity football game of the season. I really want to attend but want to help others out as well, so I will learn tonight which I will be doing.  I just can't say no, so I am guessing that Friday will be my last night instead of tonight.

We are starting this school year with hopes of recovery.  Last year was brutal on many fronts, and we are calling this our "clean up" year.  Andy has split the major cleaning areas of the house into four categories, and the kids will rotate through them every four weeks.  Everyday, they have a job in their own rooms and in the area of the house for which they are responsible.  Andy and I will cover the rest and help Wyatt and Julia as some of the chores are above their ability (and heads, such as unloading the dishwasher).  Hopefully, our year will be much improved on every level.

Have you seen this blog?

Andy has a  blog now and is putting up some really cool stuff.  He's a natural writer, and we invite you to take a look.

Back to School

Summer break officially ended for Zach, Savannah, Julia and me yesterday.  We had great plans, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.  They do often go awry.  The plan was to spend the morning at the pool before taking off to football, tumbling, field hockey and Bible study.  Unfortunately, I was wiped out by a cold and only accomplished a trip to the credit union to settle some financial stuff for the school year.  Julia and I did actually sneak in 1 and half hour at the pool where I sat poolside and finished my last summer novel while Julia played in the water.  We left too late for the others to join us.

Zach (10th grade)  had to be at football at 7:00a.m.  At my new school, I lose my pay for the set-up day if I am not signed in by 7:30 a.m., so I dropped Zach off and headed for work.  I did not see the girls off.

School came much too early this summer, and this has actually been the longest summer I have had in a while.  I needed it. 

I did help Julia with her hair this morning, so she did have her hair combed for one school day this year.  We also changed her earrings for the first time in weeks, and to our dismay we found that one of her ears is infected.  It was a bloody mess of a way to start the first day of school.  (Savannah-8th grade, Julia-2nd grade).

Savannah was very concerned about whether she would have any of her good friends in her classes because she did not have any last year.  Fortunately, she has a good friend in every class and likes her teachers so far.

I had a very good day at my new school and am excited but still nervous about the coming year.

Andy and Wyatt spent the day at home trying to get the house in spic n' span order for the new year.  Andy did snap a picture of Wyatt this morning.  Wyatt was barely awake, and it is one of those pictures for which I will be in BIG trouble some day if I post it.  Sorry folks, that one goes in the top secret, family only picture vault.

Why? Because we can't afford it

I hate politics and just about everything about them, but sometimes a political situation weighs so much on my mind that I just have to get it out.  With that in mind I offer this allegory to our current economic situation.

There are good things that need to be done for our home and our family.  Some would even argue that they are necessary.  Replacing some broken furniture comes to mind.  All of the kids want shelves for their bedrooms.  We have nails poking through our living room carpet at one of the entrances, and Wyatt and I forget regularly and cut our feet on them. (yes, I should update our tetanus shots...ick!)  The most pressing situation, however, is the strong water smell in the kids's bathroom.  We have checked all the fixtures and found no leaks.  Ironically, this bathroom sits above part of our kitchen, and when it rains, we have a ceiling leak in the kitchen.  Hmmm, I suspect that we have a leak from the roof that is behind the shower wall where the shower faucet is installed.  That faucet really needs to be replaced, but it would require tearing out the wall and replacing the surround for the bathtub- a repair that we have been warned will be incredibly expensive.  Now we are not going to just let this go.  At some point (hopefully very soon) Andy will climb on the roof and see if he can find the leak, and we will get that fixed if that is even the problem.  The damaged wall, however, will have to wait along with the leak in the basement and the electrical work that needs to be done.  I do not point all this out to whine or to indicate that we are living in some dire situation.  Our home is warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and mostly dry and comfortable.

Our credit is good enough to fix all of this right now, but doing so would be doing so on credit.  Instead, we will wait for the funds to make these repairs because we do not want to borrow against our future.  We do not want to reach our "debt ceiling" or risk defaulting on loans because of a future we cannot see. (Andy and I work on salary, so we don't expect an increase in revenue.)  Nor do we want to saddle our children with debt as they reach their adult years.  We know that these issues will not resolve themselves, but we also know that other emergencies will arise.  Our cars come to mind as Andy's vehicle is particularly old.

Would fixing our home issues be a good thing? Of course.  Is it necessary?  Many would argue that it is. Which is the better path, spending money we don't have to fix this stuff, or waiting until we have the money?  We choose to wait.

My point is this:  there are many good and even necessary government programs.  However, they are no good if the entire nation is crippled under the expense of these things.  Does this mean that I don't care about people's needs?  Of course not.  I just know that some things can wait even if they make some of us uncomfortable for a while.  Believe me, I care about my children, both their present and future, but sometimes we just can't afford things even when they appear to be necessary.

So our national budget has been cut, but we are still spending more than we are taking in. When will this stop?  I mean, really folks, I do think there is some waste in the national budget.  Honestly, there is some waste in my own budget, but I am not approaching my debt ceiling.

Dave Ramsey's comparison of national debt to a household debt

While I am not a huge Dave Ramsey fan, he is right on this count.  It is mind boggling.  I know the real problem here is popularity.  Congress does not want to lose their popularity by admitting that there are some things that have to go.  I understand that.  It is hard to do that when you are a parent, but it has to be done.

Our Last Summer Hurrah

When this summer started, it was my goal to get the family to an amusement park.  Wyatt and Julia have never really been to a good amusement park.  We used to belong to a local park that was fun but very small.  The last time the rest of us visited an amusement park was on vacation five years ago.  Julia was two at the time and also went with us, but she has no recollection of that.


I used to jokingly say that wedding vows to my side of the family should include a devotion to amusement parks.  The closest we ever came to taking a vacation when I was a kid was camping near an amusement park where we had season passes.  Mom and Dad were big kids themselves, and we would open and close that park while staying in the campground.  


When Zachary and Savannah were little, we spent at least one day at an amusement park a year.  What changed?  The size of our family and our budget.  We really no longer desired to wear ourselves out on one day of our vacation to visit the nearest amusement park, and our budget no longer allowed for it.  So this was my only goal this summer.  The budget wasn't better, so I planned to pick up a couple of extra days a week at my second job to make this happen.  Then, as you know, tragedy struck at the end of the school year, and I never pursued those extra hours.  I just felt strongly a need to rest this summer.  


I made good on my promise to the kids yesterday.  We had a nice, tiring day, and I hope to return to our annual tradition.  The park we chose was really good.  However, it was also really crowded, and there really wasn't time to do it all.  I think June is a better month for this sort of thing, so hopefully, we will have some better planning this year and be able to make it happen earlier next year.  Julia was our leader as she got a preview of the park when a friend invited her there earlier this summer.  


As expected Zach and Julia will ride just about anything.  Julia declined the biggest coaster but loved the other two.  I love to ride with Julia.  She just laughs and laughs on the rides.  Savannah opened up to more rides and rode everything.  Wyatt hated everything he set foot on.  He wanted to shop.  Really?  Shop in an amusement park?  I have to admit that they had one really cool shop that I actually enjoyed.


The park also has a water park, and I never saw Zach and Savannah during the hours we were there...so much for a "family" time together.  They took off with Austin and Logan, and I don't think I rode a single thing with my big kids.  Teenagers...sigh.


You can probably tell from the pics that I really missed my regular camera.

This was to be our "before" picture on the ride guaranteed to get us wet...only the adults got wet, and the kids - not so much.  This was also probably the only ride that Wyatt sort of enjoyed.

My big mistake....Wyatt and I rode this while waiting for the others to ride a roller coaster.  Sickening for me, and downright terrifying for Wyatt.  He may never recover.

These three, however, loved it.

Wyatt preferred the wave pool.  Other than shopping, he was very content to spend his day right here.

I missed any chance to ride the lazy river, always one of my favorites.

Oh Happiness!

I can't imagine any ride that she would not find to be fun.

good day!

Thumbs up if the day was a good one.  

Today I have back to school with the girls.  We go and drop off their school supplies.  Julia met her teacher and saw who is in class with her this morning.  14 kids and only 5 girls...apparently, there are only 10 girls in the whole second grade!  I don't know what to make of that.  Zach had two years in elementary school where he was one of only a handful of boys in the class.  Those years were pretty miserable for him, and in hindsight, I really wish I had withdrawn him one of those years.  Savannah will get her schedule this afternoon.  She had a less than great year on a social level last year.  I really hope she has some friends in class with her this year.  We have less than a week before Zach, Savannah, Julia and I return to school.  It will be a new location for me, and I have lots to learn. This summer was too short, and the healing is not even close to complete.  So it starts already...sigh.

Gotcha gifts revealed

You might recall that Gotcha day for both Wyatt and Julia occurs in June.  While we bought several gifts while in China to give to the kids over the years, I did not get them out this year. In June we were struggling to recover from a rough school year and a recent family tragedy so rooting through those boxes just was not a high priority.

Wyatt and Julia decided last night to campaign for their gifts, so I obliged.  It is funny how these things work out.  While in China I had the specific years in mind and written out for the gifts purchased for Julia.  I have no idea where that list is now, and I probably would stray from it anyway.  I want her to treasure and take good care of these trinkets from her homeland, and she is just not at all responsible about her stuff.  That factored in this year's decision in mighty way.

Because of his fascination with gems, rocks and minerals that has not waned a bit since I posted about it several months ago, we gave Wyatt the small jade horse given to him by his orphanage.  While in China we also bought him a larger jade horse, but that responsibility thing came to mind when I found it in the box.  The piece we gave him has a string, and he wants to wear it -not sure that is such a good idea.  We told him we would consider letting him wear it on special occasions and possibly to church.  You might remember that in his first year with us, he snuck approximately $100 worth of bakugan balls to school over the course of the year and gave them away.  We later determined that he had been bullied, but still Wyatt holds onto innocence about sharing his special stuff and then often loses it.

Julia received the Barbie dress that we bought in China.  She is probably at the end of her Barbie years and has never played with them on a daily or even weekly basis, so this was probably our last opportunity to share this with her, and almost everything else in the box will require some special care.  An interesting note about the Barbie dress - just as most American women could never fit into Chinese clothing, getting that unforgiving dress on an American size Barbie was quite the ordeal!

Precious!

I was on the phone today, Wyatt waited politely to talk with me.  He shared that he wants to give his life to Jesus.  I asked him what that means, and he smiled that super-cute grin and said, "I forgot."  


He is not yet ready, but he is working in the right direction, and I am savoring this date as the first that he asked this question.

It's her passion!

Since our return from vacation, Savannah had some of my pictures printed, and she has been using them to draw her own versions.  I'm lovin' it!

Savannah also has worked on her geometric art prints.  She decided earlier this year to try and produce as many as she could to sell at our school's Christmas bazaar.  To have enough to justify renting a booth is a daunting task as these take a long time to produce.  We then have the task of pricing her work.  We are leaning toward $10-$15 as she plans to sell original work rather than copies. The tools she uses are pricey, and I have to admit that these prints make for a striking look when matted and framed and hung on the wall.  We have one in our living room.  Savannah is not planning to just line her pockets with the money.  We want to send Zach, Savannah, and Austin on our church's annual high school trip next summer.  The price tag is $400 per person, and we really have no way of raising that money unless we get creative.  Savannah and Zach both have pricey school trips that we have to cover this year, so I am hopeful that Savannah's talent will bring in some money for this trip that I think would be especially great for my grieving nephew.

Savannah has 23 pictures so far and just keeps going and going.

This is a sample of the type of work, she will be selling at the bazaar.