It's an all girl weekend here! Mike and Gib are working on the Nuclear Science merit badge at Oak Ridge Nuclear Power Plant and then camping at the Lost Sea Caverns. It sounds like a fun trip. I heard something about how they get to camp inside the caverns and there's a lake in there they take a boat across and everything. Pretty cool.
Meanwhile, we ladies are just hanging out at the house. It's a cold, gray, rainy weekend. I would have been happy to sleep in, and then just stay in front of my heater the entire day but Taryn had to get up early for the ACT prep class, and Mariah and I had some prep work of our own to do to fill an assignment she was given from her Girl Scout leader. Mariah is in charge of organizing a donation drive for our local animal shelter. She's left a message with them to call her back, emailed, and will check back with a carpet store on Monday to see if they have any carpet squares to donate. Then she will put a together the list of supply items the shelter needs and pass it along to the leader to give out to the troop on Tuesday. She was so excited about the project that we just had to go to the pet store and buy squeaky Kong dog toys, a giant fuzzy football with arms and legs, and even squeakier tennis balls. We got Chino's favorite Cosmic catnip burlap bag toy, 2 of Pixie's favorite catnip dynamite, and 2 feathered catnip mice from our cats to donate to the shelter. We also got the kind of cat litter that the shelter uses.
This evening Mariah made sure we celebrated Pi Day by making Chocolate pudding pie and two Loganberry/Blueberry pies. I'm taking one to Jo Ann tomorrow. Brace yourself girlfriend, because they look goooooood!!!!
2023
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Just Because
I simply have to put up a blog today:
- just because I can't stand to look at Mike's Elephant Man Face in the one from yesterday!
- just because I gotta tell you about a Minor Miracle! I am NO LONGER drinking diet coke! I know!!!! I gave it up for Lent, and quite possibly beyond. I am not completely caffeine free however, as I discovered Crystal Light comes enhanced. I have several boxes of varying degrees of caffeine from Zero to Holy Smack!!! I do cut off the good stuff at 3pm though in case you were wondering.
- just because it's better than playing on Webkinz. I had to do a little (ahem) research and am having a hard time not going back to check on my little furry friends to make sure they are still smiling. They had been sorely neglected and were all sad and hungry when I found them. It was pitiful and the mommy in me just couldn't stand it! I played games for an undisclosed amount of time to earn the Kinzcash to feed the poor babies. You see, my preschool is having a silent auction fundraiser and we teachers were encouraged to donate "teacher time" that could be up for bids. For example, a teacher will be bringing cookies & milk and reading a bedtime story to the winning bid family. I am doing a day called Webkinz Camp from 10 am to 2 pm for 15 kids. Two other teachers are helping me. It will be like Mariah's birthday party last year only for 4-6 yr olds. The fundraiser committee decided to sell my donation at $50 a head! I would have charged less; I sure hope all 15 spots get filled! It will be alot of fun.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Mike's Dentist Adventure
Wondering why only half of his face works? Here's the story:
It's hard to tell in the video, but trust me, if you look closely you can see one side of his face is incapable of movement. Very disturbing.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
There's a Frog in My Throat
Uck. I am coming down with something. I don't have time for this!!!
We are already down teachers at preschool today; tomorrow is the rescheduled field trip that I am chaperoning to Andrew Jackson's house at The Hermitage with Mariah's 5th grade class - which may be my last field trip ever so it's got to be fun! And Saturday, I hoped to torture myself with Gib on another early morning hike; and on Monday, two of my friends and I put out an invitation in the ward bulletin to our annual memorial luncheon for mothers who have lost babies (miscarriage, stillborn or live birth).
And by the way, the predicted forecast for Saturday? 72 and sunny. Then chance of rain from Sunday to Thursday and it clears up again. Pray harder people!!! Taryn and her soccer team need the rain!
We are already down teachers at preschool today; tomorrow is the rescheduled field trip that I am chaperoning to Andrew Jackson's house at The Hermitage with Mariah's 5th grade class - which may be my last field trip ever so it's got to be fun! And Saturday, I hoped to torture myself with Gib on another early morning hike; and on Monday, two of my friends and I put out an invitation in the ward bulletin to our annual memorial luncheon for mothers who have lost babies (miscarriage, stillborn or live birth).
And by the way, the predicted forecast for Saturday? 72 and sunny. Then chance of rain from Sunday to Thursday and it clears up again. Pray harder people!!! Taryn and her soccer team need the rain!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Por Favor
Yesterday during Mike's lunch hour we went to Gib's school to meet with him and one of the high school guidance counselors to sign him up for his 4 yr track of classes. Gib and Mariah will go to a different high school than Indy and Taryn did, so things are done a little differently, plus our county has this new thing this year where you have to choose a track, which determines pretty much all of your electives for all of high school. I kinda think that stinks. I mean, how are you supposed to know if you have an interest in a subject as a possible college major in the 9th grade?! And how are you going to find out what you like when you don't get to take any "fun" classes?
Gib chose the Math/Science track. I didn't like the electives in the other choices so much, and this one seemed to fit the kid, provided he continues to do well in math, kind of a big what if, right?! Now that I know what colleges are looking for, it was also the best track to choose should Gib decide he wants to be in a Pre-Professional degree or Engineering. Now if he decides he wants Business then we should have made another decision, but based on his absolute refusal to read "The Richest Man in Babylon" and earn allowance, that won't happen. But what I don't like is that if you are artistic, you have to jump through all sorts of hoops and sign a contract to take 4 years of Art. Holy Schmoly. These kids are 13/14 - they are still promising to play their guitar every day if their parents will just get them that cool Electric one with a whammy bar, and never mind what happens if you get them a puppy! A four year contract to take art classes - geez.
So, after all the core classes are met, pretty much all of Gib's other electives looked like they would be filled meeting the required Foreign Language (why call it an elective?) and Math/Science. We thought he'd get like maybe 1 freebie class in 4 yrs to go wild and take an Art or Photography class. It was a little stressful the night before weighing the pros and cons of each track. Mike was pulling for Discreet Math/Stats in the 10th grade saying it was "fun and interesting math " and privately I was thinking "Yeah Right. My poor baby!" Finally we called Indy down for an expert consultation on what classes he should take and the order it was best to take them in. Indy has a great way of logically explaining things. And she made sure Gib had a "brain drain" class during the hardest year so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. Since she has most recently done the whole high school thing, we took her advice.
What we didn't know was whether or not his current teachers had recommended him for Honors classes or not. We hoped so, he has mostly A's, but sometimes lets things slip to a high B, especially in Spanish. What we also didn't know, because at the Parent Night at high school it was not explained clearly, was that two of Gib's current classes count in his Math/Science track so he's now freed up 2 more electives, so he can really go wild with 3 elective classes in 4 yrs! Will this kid have fun or what?!?! Wow, maybe he can squeeze in a Business class after all!
It was great to see that all his teachers recommended him for Honors classes, except for his Spanish teacher. Especially when we found out what we have to do to override the recommendation and try to get him into Spanish II Honors for the 9th grade. Gib has to ask his teacher to fill out the front side of a form that explains why she didn't recommend him, such as bad homework habits, low test scores, etc., and her opinion of whether or not he's up for the challenge, and then Gib has to fill out the back of the form explaining why he wants to be in Spanish II Honors AND THEN we have to call the high school and request a meeting with the assigned official, in our case the VP where we will all sit down and have a little chat about it. We ran into him at the Parent Night. I hadn't met him before, but Taryn knows his son (you've seen him in the Power Ranger photos) and Mike sees him at EQ on Sundays. We think Gib's chances are pretty good, but to make them even better, with just a little bit of help, he wrote down a couple sentences that he's going to try to memorize so he can ask his teacher in Spanish to recommend him for Honors II. She gave him extra credit bonus points for going as the Frito Bandito for Halloween, so I think his chances of getting her to sign off on it will be pretty good if he approaches her in Spanish with the request. Plus, we had some great guest speakers come in earlier this year. And then there's those big brown puppy dog eyes. I wonder if Gib uses them to get his way on anyone but me?!
Gib chose the Math/Science track. I didn't like the electives in the other choices so much, and this one seemed to fit the kid, provided he continues to do well in math, kind of a big what if, right?! Now that I know what colleges are looking for, it was also the best track to choose should Gib decide he wants to be in a Pre-Professional degree or Engineering. Now if he decides he wants Business then we should have made another decision, but based on his absolute refusal to read "The Richest Man in Babylon" and earn allowance, that won't happen. But what I don't like is that if you are artistic, you have to jump through all sorts of hoops and sign a contract to take 4 years of Art. Holy Schmoly. These kids are 13/14 - they are still promising to play their guitar every day if their parents will just get them that cool Electric one with a whammy bar, and never mind what happens if you get them a puppy! A four year contract to take art classes - geez.
So, after all the core classes are met, pretty much all of Gib's other electives looked like they would be filled meeting the required Foreign Language (why call it an elective?) and Math/Science. We thought he'd get like maybe 1 freebie class in 4 yrs to go wild and take an Art or Photography class. It was a little stressful the night before weighing the pros and cons of each track. Mike was pulling for Discreet Math/Stats in the 10th grade saying it was "fun and interesting math " and privately I was thinking "Yeah Right. My poor baby!" Finally we called Indy down for an expert consultation on what classes he should take and the order it was best to take them in. Indy has a great way of logically explaining things. And she made sure Gib had a "brain drain" class during the hardest year so he wouldn't be overwhelmed. Since she has most recently done the whole high school thing, we took her advice.
What we didn't know was whether or not his current teachers had recommended him for Honors classes or not. We hoped so, he has mostly A's, but sometimes lets things slip to a high B, especially in Spanish. What we also didn't know, because at the Parent Night at high school it was not explained clearly, was that two of Gib's current classes count in his Math/Science track so he's now freed up 2 more electives, so he can really go wild with 3 elective classes in 4 yrs! Will this kid have fun or what?!?! Wow, maybe he can squeeze in a Business class after all!
It was great to see that all his teachers recommended him for Honors classes, except for his Spanish teacher. Especially when we found out what we have to do to override the recommendation and try to get him into Spanish II Honors for the 9th grade. Gib has to ask his teacher to fill out the front side of a form that explains why she didn't recommend him, such as bad homework habits, low test scores, etc., and her opinion of whether or not he's up for the challenge, and then Gib has to fill out the back of the form explaining why he wants to be in Spanish II Honors AND THEN we have to call the high school and request a meeting with the assigned official, in our case the VP where we will all sit down and have a little chat about it. We ran into him at the Parent Night. I hadn't met him before, but Taryn knows his son (you've seen him in the Power Ranger photos) and Mike sees him at EQ on Sundays. We think Gib's chances are pretty good, but to make them even better, with just a little bit of help, he wrote down a couple sentences that he's going to try to memorize so he can ask his teacher in Spanish to recommend him for Honors II. She gave him extra credit bonus points for going as the Frito Bandito for Halloween, so I think his chances of getting her to sign off on it will be pretty good if he approaches her in Spanish with the request. Plus, we had some great guest speakers come in earlier this year. And then there's those big brown puppy dog eyes. I wonder if Gib uses them to get his way on anyone but me?!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Can We Have a Repeat?
Remember "The Year That Never Was" soccer season last year? It rained out every Saturday like 6 times in a row and the season was a wash...hahaha.
Well, Taryn needs a repeat! We need four Saturday's of rain or she will miss her first four games because of the ACT classes. We did not have the soccer schedule when we signed up for the prep class, and likely couldn't have done anything other than not play this season, but I hate to do this to her team. So pray, sing, put your hands together now - "Rain, Baby, Rain!!! C'mon, join in, you know you want to, "Rain, Baby, Rain!"
Well, Taryn needs a repeat! We need four Saturday's of rain or she will miss her first four games because of the ACT classes. We did not have the soccer schedule when we signed up for the prep class, and likely couldn't have done anything other than not play this season, but I hate to do this to her team. So pray, sing, put your hands together now - "Rain, Baby, Rain!!! C'mon, join in, you know you want to, "Rain, Baby, Rain!"
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Birthday Pics ... Finally
Ok... So here they are. Mariah's 11th birthday. I do believe she was happy with the birthday loot. Not shown is a very fashionable (ornamented) piggy bank and a diffuser (makes the room smell good).
The digital photo frame.
The digital camera!!!
And the memory card.
No birthday is complete without the fancy (ice cream) cake and candles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)