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.