Mid-terms have come and gone and we're happy to say that all the kids are doing GREAT in college, high school and middle school! Taryn and Mariah both brought home straight A's; Gib has an even split of A's and B's; and Indie is doing very well - not sure what the final gpa is yet. Well done everyone!
I love that Taryn is getting a 97 in her Honors Physics and a 92 in AP Calculus - that will help in her college application process to science & tech universities. She is very strong in English too with a 100 in Creative Writing and a 95 in English Honors, which should make her an attractive well-rounded applicant to any school. Waiting to hear back on the dreaded ACT from last weekend. It would be nice if it went up a bit, but at this point that's just a little more icing on the cake. She's in her #1 choice university and everything else just gives us some options and financial aid strategy.
Gib has high B's in Geometry (which I'm tempted to just say it's an A, but our county calls 90's B's), and English (89) - so both really close to A's. There's time to bring these up, and he should make a serious effort to do so since we've learned that even a Freshmen B can affect the gpa in the college application process. But, Mike and I both gave some grace since he is learning the high school ropes on his own and has all Honors classes. To us, what and how he is learning is more important than the letter grade. Also, he is getting a 100 in Spanish Honors and if you'll remember we had to jump through several hoops just to get him in the class they didn't think he was capable of! Oh, and let's not forget the 100 in Lifetime Wellness (P.E.)!!! His other A is in Biology. Good Job Gib!
Mariah has two 100's! In 6th Grade Reading and in General Music - her first semester elective, which isn't elective at all, but rather assigned. She's got a 97 in Language Arts, and that's before the super long scary essay gets turned in today, which I'm sure she'll get a high score on, even if she did kill off her mother in the first sentence. In math, she is working ahead of the class along with 2 other students at their own pace in an advanced math book. She's getting a 92 there, but since they are learning harder stuff, pretty much teaching themselves, I think this is a well earned A. Sure, she could have a 100 doing what everyone else is 3 chapters behind what she finished 3 weeks ago, but how boring is that?! Mariah is also teaching herself French since 6th graders can't take a Foreign Language, in preparation for 7th grade. She knows someone at school who has been teaching her some words and pronunciation. She has about 20 or so in her repertoire. Haha.
Mike and I are so proud of the kids. It's good to see Indie handling college so well. And Taryn has successfully added a part-time job to her highschool workload and early morning seminary. That is nothing to brush off lightly - it makes for a very long day!! There are so many choices competing for your attention, so many demands for your time. It takes serious organization and time management skills, not to mention maturity to succeed at the levels our kids today must succeed at.
Our parenting style is different from what I sense is the popular trend of the time; helicopter parenting where every aspect of a child's life is accompanied by an adult: Wake up, eat, homework, projects, studying, social life, go to bed, etc. We would rather they learn to be completely responsible at an early age, so we start backing off with the holding of the homework hand as early as 3rd grade unless our help is requested. By the time they hit middle school, they are flying mostly on their own. It takes some adjustment going from elementary to middle and then to high school - but there's satisfaction of knowing that grade is all yours and you know your stuff!!
We hope our wonderful, intelligent children are doing so well in part because we have been instilling personal responsibility at an early age. There is peace of mind knowing that your kids are as well prepared for as smooth a transition to college and independent living as possible, so they will enjoy the fun without the worry of losing scholarships and opportunities due to the fact that they weren't prepared to handle it by themselves.
2023
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Last One!
Whew! I am so glad I just took the last Tamiflu! I feel really good this morning. I didn't even sleep in. Amazing! Of course, I just took the Tamiflu, so that really good feeling might've only lasted 2 1/2 hrs, but maybe the tummy ache won't be quite as bad now that I'm feeling better?!
Speaking of the "The Last One"....Mariah is working on a grisly story for creative writing. The assignment was to write at least 5 pages typed, narrative, descriptive SCARY story. Mariah must be on page 8 or 9 so far and is giddily writing the ending in school today. I don't like the story much. The writing is GREAT, don't get me wrong....I just can't get over the fact that Mariah killed off her MOTHER in the first freaking sentence!!!! And stuffed her body in the trunk of a Volvo!!!! Yeah, yeah, and get this, whilst dying of the swine flu I overhear Mike reading it and remarking, "your mother isn't going to like this much" but I was too sick to even reach for a water bottle that day so I couldn't get up and find out what they were talking about! Do you know how frustrating that is?! Then I finally got to read it a couple days later. Of course Mariah's alter ego in the story is the sole survivor of a murderous ghost and her father and brother skate off scott free! But the mother?! Nooooo.....and the mother didn't even get to be knocked off by the mystery ghost; I bought it by two stupid robbers. Geez. And I don't even let her watch CSI with us! She watches that one with Mark Harmon in it though - what is it NCIS?! I'm telling you right now, if she doesn't come up with some little twist at the end, like it wasn't HER mother's body bumping around with her in the back of that Volvo after all, my sweet child will find her television viewing habits severely curtailed! Kill me off, will you?!?!
Speaking of the "The Last One"....Mariah is working on a grisly story for creative writing. The assignment was to write at least 5 pages typed, narrative, descriptive SCARY story. Mariah must be on page 8 or 9 so far and is giddily writing the ending in school today. I don't like the story much. The writing is GREAT, don't get me wrong....I just can't get over the fact that Mariah killed off her MOTHER in the first freaking sentence!!!! And stuffed her body in the trunk of a Volvo!!!! Yeah, yeah, and get this, whilst dying of the swine flu I overhear Mike reading it and remarking, "your mother isn't going to like this much" but I was too sick to even reach for a water bottle that day so I couldn't get up and find out what they were talking about! Do you know how frustrating that is?! Then I finally got to read it a couple days later. Of course Mariah's alter ego in the story is the sole survivor of a murderous ghost and her father and brother skate off scott free! But the mother?! Nooooo.....and the mother didn't even get to be knocked off by the mystery ghost; I bought it by two stupid robbers. Geez. And I don't even let her watch CSI with us! She watches that one with Mark Harmon in it though - what is it NCIS?! I'm telling you right now, if she doesn't come up with some little twist at the end, like it wasn't HER mother's body bumping around with her in the back of that Volvo after all, my sweet child will find her television viewing habits severely curtailed! Kill me off, will you?!?!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Tetanus X3 & More Pain
Well, the next day, Mariah had her check up...ON meds. A much calmer experience I must say. It helped greatly that I was not having a migraine at the time. And then she got the news that her tetanus had to be updated AND she had to get the meningitis vaccine too. She is officially 5' 1/2" tall, and since we are pretty sure she didn't grow 1/2 inch in a matter of days, her comment was that Dad must have made her wait longer than needed to proclaim herself a five footer. Unfair!
What I find really unfair is that I met my mom and Mariah at the doctors office after getting my H1N1 shot. I got to go into the county clinic and get it for free because they were offering it until supplies ran out to daycare/preschool workers and Emergency First Responders. So I was all happy about that. And then the next day I woke up with a headache and sometimes had the kind of cough that makes you say to yourself "no - I don't have time to get sick!". But it didn't seem like a big deal. I thought it might be a reaction to the shot. Out on the playground Ms. Chrissie excused herself from pushing the tire swing because the sun hurt my eyes. That was my first clue that all was not well. I would have never imagined that 3 hrs later I would be in bed with a raging headache, slight fever and constant cough. I dithered about whether or not it could be swine flu and decided in the end just to get answers for the sake of knowing whether or not I had exposed my preschoolers. Turns out I have it. The day after I got the vaccine, I come down with the swine flu. I am now doubly inoculated I guess.
I think Taryn may have it as well. She is lacking the fever and the misery factor goes up and down, but all the symptoms are there. I have to say, that after 2 doses of Tamiflu I am ALOT better. The first 24 hrs were truly horrible. So maybe we got a mild strain of it or are just healthy people. Whatever, I am glad I feel better already. A week of what I felt like yesterday would be a nightmare. Taryn is signed up to take the ACT tomorrow, so we really need to know if she has it or not. At any rate, even if she can take the test, going in sick is never good for bumping up the score. Big bummer.
We are hoping everyone doesn't start dropping like flies. If Mike doesn't get it, it'll be a miracle.
What I find really unfair is that I met my mom and Mariah at the doctors office after getting my H1N1 shot. I got to go into the county clinic and get it for free because they were offering it until supplies ran out to daycare/preschool workers and Emergency First Responders. So I was all happy about that. And then the next day I woke up with a headache and sometimes had the kind of cough that makes you say to yourself "no - I don't have time to get sick!". But it didn't seem like a big deal. I thought it might be a reaction to the shot. Out on the playground Ms. Chrissie excused herself from pushing the tire swing because the sun hurt my eyes. That was my first clue that all was not well. I would have never imagined that 3 hrs later I would be in bed with a raging headache, slight fever and constant cough. I dithered about whether or not it could be swine flu and decided in the end just to get answers for the sake of knowing whether or not I had exposed my preschoolers. Turns out I have it. The day after I got the vaccine, I come down with the swine flu. I am now doubly inoculated I guess.
I think Taryn may have it as well. She is lacking the fever and the misery factor goes up and down, but all the symptoms are there. I have to say, that after 2 doses of Tamiflu I am ALOT better. The first 24 hrs were truly horrible. So maybe we got a mild strain of it or are just healthy people. Whatever, I am glad I feel better already. A week of what I felt like yesterday would be a nightmare. Taryn is signed up to take the ACT tomorrow, so we really need to know if she has it or not. At any rate, even if she can take the test, going in sick is never good for bumping up the score. Big bummer.
We are hoping everyone doesn't start dropping like flies. If Mike doesn't get it, it'll be a miracle.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tetanus Times Two
Indie returned to campus with a miserable case of eczema all over her body. We aren't sure why but suspect somehow a load of bath towels might have accidentally been dried with scented fabric softener. Big Oops. I will make sure that never happens again! So, upon her return, she jumped into the shower to scald her skin because that is the only way to find a small measure of temporary relief until the next day when we hoped I could get her some Lipo cream called in. She had just barely gotten wet when she turned the knob, it came off, and her right thumb got sliced by the exposed metal pipe. 40 minutes later it was still bleeding and quite deep so a couple girlfriends took her to the ER. Before Indie left for college, I googled the nearest ER and Urgent Care clinics to the campus that accepted our insurance, map quested them, printed the directions and gave Indie a medical folder with all her shot records and stuff. I don't know if it helped, but she knew which hospital to go to - it is pretty close to the university. Her last Tetanus was in 2002, so I was pretty sure they would booster it. She was seen quickly and they were going to put in stitches, but Indie asked if it could be glued. They said it could and she said to do what they thought was best and she left with a Tetanus booster and a glued back together thumb. It still hurts ALOT though. Poor Indie!
Today I got in touch with her one of her allergy doctors. A little fancy footwork explaining why a patient they haven't seen in 2 years needs a prescription called in to Macon but it wasn't all that hard - polite and concise won the day; plus, I was ready with the long distance pharmacy phone number. It always helps to be prepared! Both the nurse and her doctor called me back personally to verify and I ended up having him call Indie directly after he gave me 3 choices of cream because no way did I want to make that decision and mess it up!
Then we had an appointment for Taryn's annual ADHD check up and physical with the pediatrician. It was rather amusing to see his reaction to an extra happy and bouncy 17 yr old on Fall Break and NOT on her ADHD meds. Whoooweeeee - and you thought 4 yr olds swing their legs on those tables like crazy?! You ain't seen nothing until you've seen someone who's 5' 2" swinging their legs on that exam table like they're on a swingset! I think I was starting to get a little seasick from it. So, yes! You read that right...Not that I expect anyone to realize it, but Taryn grew 1/2"!! And she weighed in at a perfect 100 lbs!! Taryn has consistently since she was an infant, grown in a perfect arc hitting the percentile range of 5% weight and 15% height (except for the early months up to age 2 or so when she was -% in weight!). The doctor remarked how amazingly perfect her growth arc and percentile range was to stay exactly in the same % for 17 years. No deviations at all - slow and steady in her little petite sort of way. Nevertheless, it was momentous to make the triple digits today!! We think it might have been the belt she was wearing adding a few ounces, but hey, we're taking it! She was uber-excited! The legs kicked even faster after the height & weigh in. Even the mention of having to update HER tetanus shot didn't diminish her joy. She just demanded (loudly I might mention) that she would be rewarded with a Sonic Sundae for her pain and suffering. I thought to myself "so will I, Taryn; so will I". Taryn got her tetanus with the pertussis vaccine and we were off to Sonic.
(I wonder if Indie's tetanus was the one with the pertussis protection or just a regular. I bet it's just the regular. Apparently, there's a return of whooping cough and the older kids didn't get that vaccine combo in their childhood vaccines. )
By then the migraine that had been building was pretty much in full explosion and I was done for the rest of the day. Even though I had taken some meds in the parking lot prior to T's appt, it just wouldn't let go. It's been a strong one. I dosed up on a Clint Cocktail and passed out at 3 pm hoping to get rid of it. I got up at 6 or so to eat a protein bar since I hadn't eaten anything except, oops, a protein bar for brunch and could that be part of the problem?! Yes it could. I also heard we have a warm front to replace all this freezing weather. Unfortunately, I still have the headache pounding away deep inside behind my left eye. It was kinda almost gone until we had to catch a difficult mouse. It took 4 of us. Gib and I both went for it at the same time - me with my preferred trash can, Gib with his square tupperware container. Mike was outfitted with his 32 oz cup and a flashlight. Mariah was on guard by the doors to the office ready to tap dance and scare the mouse back in our direction so we didn't have to tear the office apart to catch it. I am going to have to do something about the cat/mouse situation. This is getting beyond ridiculous.
By the time we caught the stupid critter, the darn migraine was back in force. If it wasn't for the large dose of daily Topamax I take, I can tell this would be the kind that would lay me out for 2 days. As is it, I can function, barely. I found what has to be the last Zomig and hope that Target has my $100 order of meds ready tomorrow morning. Yippee.
Today I got in touch with her one of her allergy doctors. A little fancy footwork explaining why a patient they haven't seen in 2 years needs a prescription called in to Macon but it wasn't all that hard - polite and concise won the day; plus, I was ready with the long distance pharmacy phone number. It always helps to be prepared! Both the nurse and her doctor called me back personally to verify and I ended up having him call Indie directly after he gave me 3 choices of cream because no way did I want to make that decision and mess it up!
Then we had an appointment for Taryn's annual ADHD check up and physical with the pediatrician. It was rather amusing to see his reaction to an extra happy and bouncy 17 yr old on Fall Break and NOT on her ADHD meds. Whoooweeeee - and you thought 4 yr olds swing their legs on those tables like crazy?! You ain't seen nothing until you've seen someone who's 5' 2" swinging their legs on that exam table like they're on a swingset! I think I was starting to get a little seasick from it. So, yes! You read that right...Not that I expect anyone to realize it, but Taryn grew 1/2"!! And she weighed in at a perfect 100 lbs!! Taryn has consistently since she was an infant, grown in a perfect arc hitting the percentile range of 5% weight and 15% height (except for the early months up to age 2 or so when she was -% in weight!). The doctor remarked how amazingly perfect her growth arc and percentile range was to stay exactly in the same % for 17 years. No deviations at all - slow and steady in her little petite sort of way. Nevertheless, it was momentous to make the triple digits today!! We think it might have been the belt she was wearing adding a few ounces, but hey, we're taking it! She was uber-excited! The legs kicked even faster after the height & weigh in. Even the mention of having to update HER tetanus shot didn't diminish her joy. She just demanded (loudly I might mention) that she would be rewarded with a Sonic Sundae for her pain and suffering. I thought to myself "so will I, Taryn; so will I". Taryn got her tetanus with the pertussis vaccine and we were off to Sonic.
(I wonder if Indie's tetanus was the one with the pertussis protection or just a regular. I bet it's just the regular. Apparently, there's a return of whooping cough and the older kids didn't get that vaccine combo in their childhood vaccines. )
By then the migraine that had been building was pretty much in full explosion and I was done for the rest of the day. Even though I had taken some meds in the parking lot prior to T's appt, it just wouldn't let go. It's been a strong one. I dosed up on a Clint Cocktail and passed out at 3 pm hoping to get rid of it. I got up at 6 or so to eat a protein bar since I hadn't eaten anything except, oops, a protein bar for brunch and could that be part of the problem?! Yes it could. I also heard we have a warm front to replace all this freezing weather. Unfortunately, I still have the headache pounding away deep inside behind my left eye. It was kinda almost gone until we had to catch a difficult mouse. It took 4 of us. Gib and I both went for it at the same time - me with my preferred trash can, Gib with his square tupperware container. Mike was outfitted with his 32 oz cup and a flashlight. Mariah was on guard by the doors to the office ready to tap dance and scare the mouse back in our direction so we didn't have to tear the office apart to catch it. I am going to have to do something about the cat/mouse situation. This is getting beyond ridiculous.
By the time we caught the stupid critter, the darn migraine was back in force. If it wasn't for the large dose of daily Topamax I take, I can tell this would be the kind that would lay me out for 2 days. As is it, I can function, barely. I found what has to be the last Zomig and hope that Target has my $100 order of meds ready tomorrow morning. Yippee.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Pumpkin Day at Hicklen Farms
So with Indie home for college break we squeezed in a family day, a birthday dinner, and our annual Fall pumpkin fest into one fantastic Saturday. I say fantastic in its usual sort of fantastic way, others may have been heard to utter it in the "other" way. Yeah, it was super freezing cold, but since when do we not brave the frozen tundra for the annual Pumpkin Day with a positive attitude?! It was an experience, that's for sure!
Have to say, I busted out laughing when I stepped out of the car and heard the old man band singing old country music tunes This is me trying to talk Indie into posing next to the band(Ooh, check out Minnie Pearl in the background! Isn't the ambiance great?!)
Indie thinks to make a quick pick and getaway! (Hah)
Checking out the first of many possibilities
Oh, but wait, there's quite a few over here too. And Taryn is saying, "I'm kinda done Mom"
Long-Suffering looks may surround me but I will not be rushed
Mariah's face says it all but I can't figure out why...looks like a nice pumpkin to me?
So this Red Hat Lady lives here. She's the Farmer's Wife. Mike & Indie insist the farmers were keeping warm with some "help". So, I thought she was explaining about the different pumpkin varieties and trying to get me to "adopt" one, but what what she was really doing was apparently an amazing sleight of hand that not even the camera could catch that involved a little swig of the ol' whiskey flask!
Whoa! There's more pumpkins than I thought! Good thing for everybody I know exactly which variety I want or I'd have to look in each and every row!!
Mariah hits the Jack-o-Pot!
Indy has found a winner!
"Don't worry...it won't hurt a bit when I use the big knife on ya"
Meanwhile....Back at the Prizewinner Pumpkin Patch
Chrissie: "Nope, this isn't it either. I'm just not feeling it!"
Mariah & Taryn: "Mom!! We're not feeling our fingers & toes!!"
Gib goes for El Calabaza Grande
Indie, ah Indie....I love your smile!
She has settled in for a sarcastic wait I had no idea this was happening I do remember a rousing Johnny Cash song while I was trying to find a pumpkin - I bet this was during that
Look at the poor freezing kids
"Mike! Quit hassling me!!
My pumpkin is in THIS pile...I KNOW it is! I just haven't found it yet!"
Indy to Gib: "We're gonna die of hypothermia with the sound of redneck singing ringing in our ears for eternity"
Gib: "Look! Mom can have them dance at our funeral too"
OMG 1
Even bigger OMG 2
Taryn: "Gib! Save me! I don't wanna die!"
Gib the human windbreaker wasn't interested in saving anyone other than himself. C'mon Gib! Now that you're taller than ALL of us, you are honor bound to save us first! (at least this year those two didn't end up in the dirt)
The stress is getting to me...or maybe it's the yodeling. I do NOT like being rushed to find my perfect pumpkin. But the kids playing in the weird squash gave me an idea. I went back for the funky pumpkin Taryn's been pushing on me for the past 20 minutes.
Taryn: "Look Mom! It's a NOSE!"
BACK AT HOME:
The kids are thawed out and Indie's in a better mood
See?! (yep, her sweet lil pumpkin didn't feel a thing)
Scooping & Sorting for roasted pumpkin seeds
What a great batch we made this year too!
Taryn enjoyed making faces & sound effects for us. The seeds were soooo cold by the way. Except for my Gentry's Farm pumpkin that was in the house all week. So I kept hitting warm spots in the goo which of course made for a good joke or two. (hey, I can't help it)
Indie is such a pro. We're still scooping and she's free forming it with a knife and everything.
"First one done.....SUCKAS!!!"
Is that not the cutest little guy you've ever seen?!?!
I'm surrounded by kids with knives and I laugh in the face of danger...HAH!
Mariah did her pumpkin all by herself this year for the first time! No adult help...hey, wait how did that happen?! She left the knife in for special effects. Look at the gleam in her eye. You can't see it in this photo, but the pumpkins get to eat the smaller pumpkins. It's becoming tradition.
Mwa-ha-ha
Dental floss anyone?!
The wait is over!
Chrissie's Alien Pumpkin!
I should have taken a profile so you can see the Mohawk better.
Gib's Pumpkin eating one of the babies.
Sick little kids - gotta love 'em.
Pretty sure they get that from Mike's side of the family.
Grammy joined us a little bit later. Here's the pumpkin I picked for her.
See?! I was multi-tasking people!! It's a Cinderella pumpkin.
Ummmm, Grammy didn't go princess on the carving.
More Halloween later - Mariah has her pumpkin to carve (she did my Gentry's and saved hers from today for Halloween) and we haven't lit them up yet. And, of course, after T's Explosives Camp who knows, we just may really light them up this year!!P.S. In case you are wondering Where's Mike?! There is a Where's Waldo picture of Mike in here somewhere. Go find him. He's a bit of a pumpkin patch scrooge, but I have to say he held it in real good this year and put a smile on his face, pulled out the wallet when appropriate and even scooped when Taryn requested some help! Thanks for all the photos too! Great job Mike!!
Have to say, I busted out laughing when I stepped out of the car and heard the old man band singing old country music tunes This is me trying to talk Indie into posing next to the band(Ooh, check out Minnie Pearl in the background! Isn't the ambiance great?!)
So this Red Hat Lady lives here. She's the Farmer's Wife. Mike & Indie insist the farmers were keeping warm with some "help". So, I thought she was explaining about the different pumpkin varieties and trying to get me to "adopt" one, but what what she was really doing was apparently an amazing sleight of hand that not even the camera could catch that involved a little swig of the ol' whiskey flask!
Whoa! There's more pumpkins than I thought! Good thing for everybody I know exactly which variety I want or I'd have to look in each and every row!!
Meanwhile....Back at the Prizewinner Pumpkin Patch
Chrissie: "Nope, this isn't it either. I'm just not feeling it!"
Mariah & Taryn: "Mom!! We're not feeling our fingers & toes!!"
Indie, ah Indie....I love your smile!
"Mike! Quit hassling me!!
My pumpkin is in THIS pile...I KNOW it is! I just haven't found it yet!"
Indy to Gib: "We're gonna die of hypothermia with the sound of redneck singing ringing in our ears for eternity"
Gib: "Look! Mom can have them dance at our funeral too"
Gib the human windbreaker wasn't interested in saving anyone other than himself. C'mon Gib! Now that you're taller than ALL of us, you are honor bound to save us first! (at least this year those two didn't end up in the dirt)
The stress is getting to me...or maybe it's the yodeling. I do NOT like being rushed to find my perfect pumpkin. But the kids playing in the weird squash gave me an idea. I went back for the funky pumpkin Taryn's been pushing on me for the past 20 minutes.
BACK AT HOME:
The kids are thawed out and Indie's in a better mood
See?! (yep, her sweet lil pumpkin didn't feel a thing)
Scooping & Sorting for roasted pumpkin seeds
What a great batch we made this year too!
Taryn enjoyed making faces & sound effects for us. The seeds were soooo cold by the way. Except for my Gentry's Farm pumpkin that was in the house all week. So I kept hitting warm spots in the goo which of course made for a good joke or two. (hey, I can't help it)
"First one done.....SUCKAS!!!"
Is that not the cutest little guy you've ever seen?!?!
Mariah did her pumpkin all by herself this year for the first time! No adult help...hey, wait how did that happen?! She left the knife in for special effects. Look at the gleam in her eye. You can't see it in this photo, but the pumpkins get to eat the smaller pumpkins. It's becoming tradition.
Gib's Pumpkin eating one of the babies.
Sick little kids - gotta love 'em.
Pretty sure they get that from Mike's side of the family.
Grammy joined us a little bit later. Here's the pumpkin I picked for her.
See?! I was multi-tasking people!! It's a Cinderella pumpkin.
Ummmm, Grammy didn't go princess on the carving.
More Halloween later - Mariah has her pumpkin to carve (she did my Gentry's and saved hers from today for Halloween) and we haven't lit them up yet. And, of course, after T's Explosives Camp who knows, we just may really light them up this year!!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Go Big or Go Home
Making up names for these posts is half the fun...
So, the small fry are growing and want to crow about it. Gib is blase about it now, but he's 5'7" for the record. Mariah, however, is through the roof about breaking the 5' ceiling. She's been marking every 1/16" along the way waiting for it to happen. I would say it was overnight, but just about once a week we measured, so it wasn't very surprising after all.
Taryn took out the gold Volvo. Bummer! But glad to say nobody was injured. It was a rainy day rear end collision and our insurance totalled the car. We've decided not to replace it at this time. The old van needs a repair so it will start every time you, hello, turn the key. We will get that done for the time being since we still have 3 cars for 3 drivers. Next summer will be the thing...4 drivers and a 15 yr old in the wings.
Taryn's other big news is the first two college applications have been sent! Let's hope for big scholarships!! Missouri Science & Tech and University of Alabama in Huntsville were the top 2 on her list. Next up is Southern Utah University, Tennessee Tech, and University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Colorado School of Mines is a possibility as well. BYU was on the list but I think it is off now. For her major (chemical engineering) and style of learning, BYU is just way too big, and can't match the internships and co-ops that the top tech schools she's most interested in offer.
Indie gets to come home this week! Yay! Mike leaves to go get her on Wednesday. It'll be the first time she's been home since she left for Mercer. We've been getting her new room ready for her. It will be sad for her not to have her old bedroom, I'm sure, but I hope that after living with 2 other girls, just having the privacy of a bedroom to yourself in the comfort of your family's home will feel really, really nice! It looks like Indie in there too. We've got her artwork up, her comforter on the bed, guitars in the room. And we put up new curtains under the sheers from her windows. In this room there are 3 windows, facing east, so the 2 sheers didn't quite work if you wanted privacy and, say, wanted to sleep past 6 am. Both of which, I'm sure Indie will want!
My big news is that I am going to be team teaching one of the Pre-K classes. One of our teachers is moving to Minnesota. Next week is her last week. I knew one of our subs really wanted to work for the school, and would be a wonderful teacher, but her daughter is in the 2 day program for another year or two. So I volunteered to teach on Wednesdays if our director wanted to hire her so she could accept the job. She accepted and now we will be teaching together. She has T/Th when her daughter is at our school and I have Wednesdays. Next year we will have the little kiddo, to quote one of our precocious cuties from a few years ago, "skip a grade" so her mom can teach all 3 days. She will be a tiny 3 yr old then in a giant 4 yr old world, but capable of both the work and probably of taking a few of the kids out if need be. I will look out for her too. I love that kid - I've been calling her Cate The Great for some time now. So we've been madly trying to get ready to become teachers. It takes alot of work to step in. The other teacher is taking alot of stuff out of the classroom that needs to be replaced, plus there is just alot that naturally, you want to make your own.
Mike is starting his annual big job of wreath sales for the scout troop. The guy he inherited the job from has a younger son coming into the troop just in time for Mike to pass the job back to him next year! Yay! They are both happy about that.
So, the small fry are growing and want to crow about it. Gib is blase about it now, but he's 5'7" for the record. Mariah, however, is through the roof about breaking the 5' ceiling. She's been marking every 1/16" along the way waiting for it to happen. I would say it was overnight, but just about once a week we measured, so it wasn't very surprising after all.
Taryn took out the gold Volvo. Bummer! But glad to say nobody was injured. It was a rainy day rear end collision and our insurance totalled the car. We've decided not to replace it at this time. The old van needs a repair so it will start every time you, hello, turn the key. We will get that done for the time being since we still have 3 cars for 3 drivers. Next summer will be the thing...4 drivers and a 15 yr old in the wings.
Taryn's other big news is the first two college applications have been sent! Let's hope for big scholarships!! Missouri Science & Tech and University of Alabama in Huntsville were the top 2 on her list. Next up is Southern Utah University, Tennessee Tech, and University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Colorado School of Mines is a possibility as well. BYU was on the list but I think it is off now. For her major (chemical engineering) and style of learning, BYU is just way too big, and can't match the internships and co-ops that the top tech schools she's most interested in offer.
Indie gets to come home this week! Yay! Mike leaves to go get her on Wednesday. It'll be the first time she's been home since she left for Mercer. We've been getting her new room ready for her. It will be sad for her not to have her old bedroom, I'm sure, but I hope that after living with 2 other girls, just having the privacy of a bedroom to yourself in the comfort of your family's home will feel really, really nice! It looks like Indie in there too. We've got her artwork up, her comforter on the bed, guitars in the room. And we put up new curtains under the sheers from her windows. In this room there are 3 windows, facing east, so the 2 sheers didn't quite work if you wanted privacy and, say, wanted to sleep past 6 am. Both of which, I'm sure Indie will want!
My big news is that I am going to be team teaching one of the Pre-K classes. One of our teachers is moving to Minnesota. Next week is her last week. I knew one of our subs really wanted to work for the school, and would be a wonderful teacher, but her daughter is in the 2 day program for another year or two. So I volunteered to teach on Wednesdays if our director wanted to hire her so she could accept the job. She accepted and now we will be teaching together. She has T/Th when her daughter is at our school and I have Wednesdays. Next year we will have the little kiddo, to quote one of our precocious cuties from a few years ago, "skip a grade" so her mom can teach all 3 days. She will be a tiny 3 yr old then in a giant 4 yr old world, but capable of both the work and probably of taking a few of the kids out if need be. I will look out for her too. I love that kid - I've been calling her Cate The Great for some time now. So we've been madly trying to get ready to become teachers. It takes alot of work to step in. The other teacher is taking alot of stuff out of the classroom that needs to be replaced, plus there is just alot that naturally, you want to make your own.
Mike is starting his annual big job of wreath sales for the scout troop. The guy he inherited the job from has a younger son coming into the troop just in time for Mike to pass the job back to him next year! Yay! They are both happy about that.
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