Keeping Up...

We've been plugging away at the usual this past week.  Notice the title of this post is Keeping Up. So brace yourself for a long update. And know that I really enjoy themes. Especially color coded themes!

Keeping Up with Gib is a challenge:

• He's gone as often as possible - playing Ultimate, working out at the Y, heading to a friend's to play xbox.... then there is Scouts and youth group as well. 
• We make the most of those moments passing in the kitchen, saying hello/goodbye again, and wake up. It's all good.

Keeping Up with Mariah's life takes a little more effort.  (Note the length of hers vs Gib's)

• Baby Project - you remember there was the wedding hulabaloo - well now it's baby time in Family & Consumer Science. They have to name babies, including twins and future celebrities. OK I made up the part about celebrities. Beside all the usual good reasons high-schoolers should not get pregnant I bet nobody has put much thought into the NAMING REPERCUSSIONS of such an event.  I ran across a paper with some gawd awful baby names on it. It might have been homework due the next day, but no matter, this future grandma needed to be heard! So I wrote: NO, NEVER, ABSOLUTELY NOT, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! next to all the ones that I hated - which was 99% of them. Oh, I just crack myself up. I waited a couple days for the outburst but it never came. So I had to ask and turned out she didn't see it because it was just notes their group suggested during class. We had a good chuckle at the inability of people her age to name infants. I might have scarred Mariah just a tad because she texted me some other names from class and I responded they were fine for romance novel dudes. So now she won't tell me the name she ended up with for the scrapbook. I suppose I could sneak over and read the announcement but she will FREAK now that she knows I'm blogging about it. I deserve a little fun here since Mariah is taking up two tables with this project and her stuff, all while the top of her desk is relatively barren.

• Allergy shots! Boo!!!! We missed a couple due to the flu and all of a sudden we are back to 3 freakin' times a week!  Sometimes we enjoy it and the special mother daughter time we squeeze in (like when I get her out of PE to go to the allergist and she misses the pacer test or the mile run). But alot of the time it is just plain TIRING! (like after working at preschool all day or when other people are in the waiting room annoying us. ESPECIALLY the sniffing lady, anyone talking on a cell phone like we want to hear all that? the super obnoxious middle school student, and I'm sorry-but really any homeschooling family coming in with all their school work. Which also reminds me of how much we detest the after school crowd because invariably there's a spelling test that must practiced for loudly enough for us to play along. Ugh!!! ). We are thinking of revisiting the Monday 10:30 time slot (next month so as not to arouse suspicion with the PE teacher) because there's NOBODY in the waiting room and we get in & out without being annoyed by PEOPLE. And then our fun mommy-daughter time is all icing!
• Mariah will be inducted into Mu Alpha Theta on Monday night. http://www.mualphatheta.org/About_Us/Purpose.aspx  So proud of her! She has an opportunity to jump right in for an evening at an elementary school's Family Math Night. They need 15-20 volunteers to play games with the kids for a couple hours. Can't wait to hear about it. There will be lots of sports-themed games but no athletic ability is required (whew! math geeks and sports; not always a winning combo).
• We stopped by Smoothie King to inquire about hiring an amazing 15 yr old, but the timing was bad (new hires being trained) and she was told they don't hire until you are a Sophomore. We decided to try another time with the nice manager - if at first you don't succeed.... and this time when she's asked what grade she is in, instead of how old she is, her answer will be "I'm a rising Sophomore!".  Disappointing, but we enjoyed pretend interview answers about why it would be better to hire her now since she's got a goal of living on Smoothies for the rest of her life and alternative jobs for 15 yr olds support UNHEALTHY eating such as Dunkin' Donuts, Sweet Cici's, etc.  If we are stymied again, she will look into getting a job at Publix grocery store. She really wants a job!

Keeping Up with Mike via cell phone conversations this week! 

• I'm glad he had the chance to visit family, meet up with old Novell guys, and enjoy some time away from the office. He was able to get alot done on Friday working out there vs in the office being pulled in several directions at once.  I'm sure everyone is looking forward to his return same as we are!

• Mike had some time so he visited the Salt Lake cemetery and got to search for the snow covered headstone for baby Emily. Luckily, the EL in grandma Elva's was showing as he was looking in the general vicinity so he brushed them off and placed some lovely decorations there. It's been so long since I've been there so I really appreciate the tie-in when someone else can go. 

Keeping Up with my life - (I get a life?!):

• preschool service hour credit needs to start becoming a priority for me. Must have 20 by July. I had none until last Thursday when I attended a session about helping children who suffer from anxiety.  The presenter was AMAZING and I kept thinking this will Indie in a few years!  So that made it even better for me. I was telling Indie about it, and put up the link to the presenter's website here for her. The session I attended is offered free through a K-12 school for children with learning differences. Every session is interesting whether you think it applies to your life or not. Some even provide a free super delicious lunch (from the onsite CHEF). I would suggest anyone wanting to enrich their knowledge of child development look into whether a similar type school is near you and get on their community outreach mail list. I wish I had known when my kids were young many of the things I have learned since working at preschool. But I also know that a lot of what I do know, came from experience. However, I want my kids to know that not only will I be happy to help them NAME their child - I will be a GREAT grandma... in about a decade. This training takes time.
  

Paris Goodyear-Brown, LCSW, RPT
(Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Registered Play Therapist)

.http://www.parisandme.com/bio.html

Keeping Up with Indie - some more good news! 

• I mentioned the acceptance from University of Texas a few days ago, and now she has a part time job at Ann Taylor The Loft. Congratulations and welcome to paychecks in the form of clothing!!!

Keeping Up with Taryn requires a computer for facebook stalking and a cell phone for texting. Theoretically, that cell could be used for actual conversations (I like to give her a hard time!)  So, let's piece together the past week or so of T's life:

• I know she's attended classes: "Today in Met 121 I learned the if iron was given a gender, it would be a female because it changes it mind all the time."  
• And I know she is studying: "If I wasn't in the library, I'd be throwing my DiffEq book against the wall"  
• And I know Taryn has smarts and a good attitude! "If you could choose one characteristic that could get you through life, choose a sense of humor" 

It's actually rather fun trying to keep up with Taryn, isn't it?!

I tend to think it's fun to keep up with all of us, but I'm sure I'm biased.

One Down

I heard from Indie last night - she is super excited that her first graduate school acceptance letter arrived!  University of Texas - Austin. https://www.utexas.edu/

She said that now one place has accepted her she has a plan! I think she will have choices but it is nice to know one of those choices is solid.

Before he left for Utah, Mike filed the FAFSA for Indie, Taryn and Gib. Everyone is waiting to hear back about the financial aid options at their prospective schools.

Congratulations Indie! I hope it's the first of several great choices and is followed up with a fantastic financial aid award!

It's Been Awhile

Taryn complained I hadn't updated the blog in FOREVER.  Well she's right! (Neither has her dad but we'll just let that one go!)  In fact, I didn't blog the entire month of January.  I'm pretty sure we've lost our readership anyways.

Today is a SNOW DAY! Finally. First one of the winter. Patches of ice on the roads do it every time. Recently, Gib spoke of high school students organizing a bucket brigade to create an icy patch big enough to cancel school. They didn't do it and we only had a 2 hr delayed start with the ice storm just barely missing us last week. With the tornado outbreak on Wednesday we all lost a couple hours of sleep from 2-4 A.M. when we had to retire to our tornado shelters (aka the downstairs couch until Mom says run for the closet). We had no cable but we had power so between fb, twitter, and live feed on the computer we stayed informed. My head said it was OK and I really wished I had just gone back to sleep. I think the final tally was 12 tornados in TN - in every county around ours. Everyone say it with me "the bubble of no trouble".  However, the kids' high school had a roof on one wing torn off from straight line winds and there was ALOT of water damage in Upper D and Lower D halls. And yet school still was NOT cancelled, much to the entire county's dismay. C'mon what does it take?! Well, last night Gib said he was with his Ultimate team at a high school event to introduce the sport to freshmen and get them to sign up to be on the team. He was gone longer than I thought he would be and returned in a really good mood. Around midnight, the snowfall of 1" expected started and temps dropped to the teens. And today - school cancelled due to icy roads - coincidence?! You decide.

Taryn is back in the swing of things at MS&T. She had a super long break and was off for well over a month. Knowing her, she is REALLY glad to be back on campus! I am glad she likes it so much and pray for her continued success there. In case anyone was wondering, there is no apparent age limit on blanket forts. I'm sure it is a wonderful place to study.

When I saw the picture on the left, on my teeny tiny iphone screen, I had to look twice to see if it was Mariah or Taryn. The girls were not happy with me at all. Taryn's eyes look really brown - but the real clue is the signature tongue face - that's all Taryn.  It's really kind of strange because sometimes they really do look alot alike and other times not so much. Mariah just exclaimed "WE DO NOT!!!" and I am sure Taryn said the same upon reading this.

  Gib was leaving for backpacking trip and Taryn for college.

Mariah just got over Influenza Flu type A. A slew of OTC meds cost less than tamiflu. I came down with symptoms a few hours later but mine weren't severe and I decided I didn't need the tamiflu (or the expense). It took me a couple days longer to recover than Mariah so there you go - it does just what is says it will. Gib had an even shorter version of it from Friday-Sunday. While the flu shots we all got may not have prevented illness, I do think they helped us not be too too sick during our bout with the flu and since we were miserable enough, I'm glad we get vaccinated every year.

When Mariah returned to school she had 3 days of work waiting for her. One is a big assignment she missed two days of intro for -a research project for an English paper. I suggested something about fashion and she ended up choosing to compare 1920's to 1930's fashion trends and influences. We set off yesterday to
the real bookstore - the one where you can browse in person, turn real pages... anyway, we found this awesome history of fashion book. Within each decade are several chapters devoted to trends of the time, with pictures, sketches, & descriptions of outfits, details about how events shaped fashion and why, and notations next to illustrations to bring your attention to particular details of that design.  It's actually pretty interesting stuff.  She will have everything she needs to get started on her research and hopefully this book will be a resource for the next 3 years in Fashion & Design classes too. An inside look at 3,000 years of Women's Wear:

 One of Mariah's recent sketches. She hasn't had classes in sketching fashion design but she is really good at it naturally.

Mariah received an invitation to join Mu Alpha Theta - an academic honor society for math students in high school & 2 yr colleges. I have to laugh because she keeps insisting she doesn't really like math and I keep insisting it really is her best subject. She is at the age where it isn't cool to be really good at it. She took a phone call last night from a friend and was tutoring her for over half an hour. That should tell her something! Mariah is patient and good at explaining. I almost understood it - well haha not really, I had no idea what they were talking about nor do I want to know. I am just so thankful that my math dyslexia didn't pass to the kids and Mike's math ability gene prevailed. I hope Mariah enjoys Mu Alpha Theta or else I will hear for the rest of my life how much she didn't like math after all.

I am enjoying watching Mariah develop into a beautiful, kind and smart young woman. I'm going to emphasize the YOUNG here and restate that the dating age requirement has been changed to 20. It keeps going up... understandably. She is going to try to talk her way into a job when she turns 15 at Smoothie King. For some reason, she really wants to drive and have a job. If she gets hired, she will save her money for a mission trip with Good Shepherd to Ecuador this summer. She and Gib both hope to go, and whether we can afford it will depend heavily on fundraising success and how the next couple months go for us.






Gib is getting in backpacking shape for another run at Philmont this summer. I am so happy he gets to go again; he has had many great adventures with his Troop, but I think Philmont ranks at the top of the list. These pictures are from the Savage Gulf trip on Martin Luther King weekend.

Other than that, Gib is working really hard at Senioritis - whether it is to overcome it or make the most of it is an open debate. He plays Ultimate every chance he gets and is going to the Y with a friend after school almost every day. Even after a semester of weights, the workout they have started has him grinning in pain at how much his triceps hurt.

As far as the college search goes, we should be hearing soon from Samford with their scholarship award offer. He's been accepted into all the colleges applied to, and final decision time is approaching!  The FAFSA is in and financial aid offers will be sent out probably late Feb/early March. We are going to a preview at UT Martin mid-March and I anticipate that visit will be one in which Gib compares that campus feel/lowest cost of attendance to the next best offer and decides what he wants. In the event that he chooses the cheaper of his options I wanted him to at least get what he wanted in dorm life so I put in a housing deposit at UTM and accepted the scholarship. Well, actually GIB did all this, I was just the vehicle by which it happened. We needn't have worried - he doesn't want the posh University Village apartments I would have chosen for him - he wants the low rent, dorm roomie experience. Taryn helped Gib make his choice as to which hall he wanted. It's good to be Gib and have all us women helping him identify these things. Gib is thinking of majoring in Economics. He's getting an A in that class and finds it interesting, so we say GO FOR IT! I will die laughing if he ever has to read Richest Man In Babylon after all.

Indie is in her final semester at Mercer. Looking back and seeing how much she has grown, experienced, and succeeded there makes us happy and proud. She finally has an easy semester, which she worked really hard to make happen, and will enjoy the last few months until graduation.  However, she hasn't quite perfected the art of total relaxation (Gib could give her a few pointers) because she is applying for a part time job and was accepted to present her research in psychology at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research (2013) in April.  Her abstract is on how moral identity is changed through international service aid experiences. She is excited and honored to be chosen as one of the presenters from among 3500 applications of undergraduate students across the country. Wisconsin in April should be lovely! I imagine she is just about done applying to graduate schools. A couple weeks ago she only had 2 left to finish.  

Mike will be Utah bound tomorrow! I know he is looking forward to seeing family and people he knows from Novell as he attends the BrainShare convention. Wonder what it will be like to go as an employee of CHS vs a Novell guy. Once a Novell guy always a Novell guy is my guess.

We will have to do the Superbowl without him here - but I know he is going to love watching it and cheering on SF 49ers with the clan.

Happy December

Today is Polar Express & Pajama Day at preschool. There is nothing cuter than a bunch of 5 yr olds in their jammies. Unless it's their teacher in her jammies. It is a comfy, cozy day!  Too bad it is 25 degrees outside right now. Brrrrrr. It will certainly feel like the Polar Express.

Polar Express Day also means our winter break is right around the corner! We are busy elves in the classroom making parent presents and lots of Christmas art. Glitter everywhere! Apparently, my tolerance for glitter art is very high, and when a parent present plan fell through yesterday I stopped at Michael's to see what we could do to salvage Christmas for that class. I have such a great job! Who doesn't love snow confetti glitter ornaments?!  I came home and came up with a cute idea to decorate both sides of a paper mache snowman ornament. The front will be all snowy with a cute face and square sequins for buttons, and the other side will have the kids photo and this poem I found on the internet modge podged on:

The funniest face
looked out at me
From an ornament on
the Christmas Tree!
At first I thought it was Santa's elf,
But I looked again and
it was just myself!

Our Christmas program is on Tuesday, followed by a short class party, a longer staff lunch and gift exchange, and then we are off until January 8th!

Mid-terms are next week for Gib and Mariah. Indie comes home on Monday the 17th, and we will see Taryn on the 20th (she is flying in from Kansas City after visiting a friend's family). Sadly, Indie has to have gum surgery on the 18th but we will be ready with tons of yummy smoothies and drinks for the liquid diet that follows. We are praying she will sail through the recovery! Good thing Smoothie King is on our corner!

And on a completely different topic: We have all new windows. Yay! The ones in the back have no panes, so we can really enjoy the view. The dining room now has one giant picture window instead of the grouping of 3 that was there before. The best part is no more draftiness! I hope the heating and AC bills reflect the improvement. Maybe, just maybe, I will venture beyond the radius of my heater.

It's the hap-happiest season of all!!!

NEW Christmas List

Some of our teachers got to leave for a lunch presentation which counts towards our service hours we need each year. I can't wait for my turn! It was one of those out of control afternoons. I knew it was going to be ugly when a kid on my left made a mountain of glitter instead of shaking it lightly as I turned for a split second to check the kid on my right. I look over just as some puffed up cheeks blew it across the table. Another helpful child came over and immersed both hands and spread it far and wide. Okie Dokie. At lunch, I thought we could talk about what they wanted on their Christmas wish list because I was hoping to be all super knowledgeable about Doc McStuffins this time around. Not a single kid mentioned her.

There is such a HUGE difference between our younger class and the older ones. It still amazes me sometimes. Our list had heelies, 2 angel costumes, 4 green ninja costumes, dream light, and a castle that lights up. I had absolutely no problem understanding any of that.

Since the list making didn't take long enough, I asked them what should be on my list. It made my day :) Note: the answers above correspond to the answers that child provided for me:

1. Princess costume (given with a "how would I know?!" face)
2. A diamond necklace (love that girl)
3. A rope to lasso cows - it has a star and sparkles on it. And you have to have a horse too.
4. Ninja costume  (so I can play along I think)
5. Candy
6. A beautiful dress
7. PEACE sign necklace that lights up and changes colors
8. A Flashlight

It's My Birthday!

At preschool we have staff meeting every Thursday before the start of the school day. We have 8 classroom teachers and 5 "others" - teacher assistants, music teacher, asst. director and director. So to make our meetings extra happy we pretty much have a birthday once a month, whether or not it is your actual birthday. For us summer people, it's a chance to experience what life is like to have a birthday during the school year.

Today is MY DAY!!  We will have bfast goodies and funny cards. I think we all must stalk on card displays all over town looking for the funniest and best cards out there. We are all really good at it. It's a rare day that a birthday card is repeated during the year. I saw a great birthday card stand at a boutique that I will have to check out another time. The only problem is it's right next to the preschool and I think the chances are pretty high that one of my coworkers would stop in there too.  Oh, the horror if we gave the same card!!!

I got another early birthday present yesterday - Mike was at a business lunch thing with about 130 people and his name was pulled in a drawing for a $50 restaurant gift card!! We will be going out for a special night to celebrate OUR birthdays next weekend. 

I subbed on Tuesday for one of the Pre-K teachers - both were out because one gave a stomach bug to the other! so we had nothing but subs in Pre-K that day! anyways, the journal prompt was What is on Your Christmas Wish List?  Kid after kid kept saying the same thing. They are at the point where they will draw something and attempt to spell a word but like to have help sounding it out.  I could not for the life of me figure out what they were saying. I thought maybe it was Ninjago, but no... disgusted looks from the girls ruled that out.  I asked just about every kid in the class to say it, hoping somebody had better pronunciation so I could spell it.  

Me: Dog Mix Stuffing????!!

Kid 1: Yes - Dox Mix Stuffin

ask around the table - listening intently to every syllable

Me: Okaaaay. D--O-G.....M-I-X 

Kid 2: Docmixstuffins

Me: (oh geez not again) ask a couple different kids. Still hearing the same thing but I KNOW it can't be right.  I decide they are saying Mc, not MIX... D-O-G.....Mc-S-T-U-F-F-I-N-S

Kid 3: Dogmixstuffins

Me: (seriously?! what is this thing?!)  Spying a kid under a blanket and the backpacks waiting to surprise Santa  Hey - do you know DOG MC STUFFINS?  

Kid 4: Yeah!!!!   Doc Mc Stuffins!  

Me: Wait a minute - did you say DOC with a hard C sound like our letter of the week?

Kid 4: Yeah - Doc!

Me: DOC (cuh-cuh) not DOG (guh guh)????

Kid 4: Yeah - DOC Mc Suffins

Me to Kid 3: So it's Doc Mc Stuffins? Is that it? (thinking Oh, dear....)  So tell me, what does Doc Mc Stuffins do?????

Kid 1, 2, and 3 all start staying stuff like: She fixes things. She fixes things that are alive.  (mind you I have been writing stuff down as fast as I can to capture their words they say they said them - in each child's journal for their "reflection" thoughts)

Me to Kid 4: Time for extreme measures - let's use our technology resource. (iPhone!) Why do you want a Doc Mc Stuffins?

Kid 4: That's her!!! Because she is a doctor like my dad  (total DUH face)

Why didn't I ask that question first?!! Dog Mix Stuffing indeed.  Yum.  I was telling that story yesterday to our teachers and director, and reminded them of my really great idea that we have an in-service day with a bunch of Nick Jr shows on the DVR so we can get a few credit hours and be up on the latest trends.... Blues Clues is becoming a relic, Barney has been out longer than he was in, and Dora is about all I got left.  I need some jaunty new tunes anyway. 

Ready for Santa!

We are ready to celebrate here!  Mariah and I did the Christmas lights while Mike was picking up Taryn. When they arrived, they both exclaimed "that's just WRONG".  However, I'd like to point out doing lights in a balmy 70-something in short sleeves, is soooo much better than in coat, hat and mittens! Mariah was my helper in all things Christmas this year. I think it will be her lot in life - to be my helper - what a lucky gal.  Good thing I'm, I mean SHE, is so talented with decorating, shopping, wrapping, and fun to hang out with!

We are hoping to celebrate soon with Gib choosing a college! I don't know if it will happen before Christmas, but I expect by February we may close to deciding. He has been accepted at all 7 of the colleges we applied to with 5 so far offering basically 1/2 tuition scholarships. Two of our top choice schools award their scholarships later this month. Gib talked to the admissions counselor for our area from BSC last night for an interview. We exchanged emails and met him at the campus visit, but an interview is where you have the chance to get your name closer to the top of the list. He handed Gib his admission acceptance packet and they talked for 45 minutes. Gib had an awesome looking student resume, and we are hoping that this meeting helps Gib secure a leadership scholarship on top of merit award. The admissions guy was impressed with Gib's Eagle project portfolio and said he'd never had someone bring one to him before. He liked that and they discussed a tree fort he was planning on building. Male bonding - gotta love it.

My big adventure for Black Friday this year was to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. It was a little farther away than anticipated. I thought it was in Huntsville, which is closer.  By the time I figured out it was farther away I felt committed to going. I have wanted to see what it was like for years after seeing it on TV once, so finally, I decided to humor me and go. Let's just say I was completely underwhelmed. We did find some good deals and in the end we were happy, but in the moment.... well:

"It's Goodwill 2.0" (to Mike on the phone who burst out laughing)

"I found the unclaimed baggage from a Drag Queen"

"$239 dollars!!!!! For an ugly pair of shoes?!"

"If I was a bride and lost that dress, I'd be happy"

Mariah and I shopped together, Taryn flowed between us and Indie, or was off doing her own thing. She wasn't a happy camper - and I didn't blame her. If we liked something, it was ridiculously expensive.  If a place is basically a department sized Goodwill, c'mon, you can't charge $65 for a purse! Indie, meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, was bebopping around finding all sorts of stuff.  I was dreading the moment I saw her face and was anticipating that her expression would be along the lines of appalled and disgusted that we drove 2.5 hrs to get HERE.  So imagine my shock, when she came up with a buggy FULL of stuff and a big smile on her face. She hit a goldmine - finding some very cute clothes and 2 pair of jeans that were like made for her! They are amazing, she looks super in them, and they were only $3 each!  She says when you're a poor college student who hasn't bought new clothes in a year, you develop superior bargain hunting skills.  We did find a few things that made the trip worthwhile, but I wouldn't go again. I googled ebay for the items and costs to see how well we did - and we saved $513 on 6 items.  So in the end, I was pleased. Still not going back. But if I did, seeing the nuclear power reactors off in the distance (who knew?) and hearing Taryn going "aren't they beautiful!" in a voice one would expect to hear when viewing the Grand Canyon would make me smile. It's all in the eye of the beholder!

So to cap off our Black Friday we couldn't get to the outdoor mall on our way home soon enough. There we shopped like mad, making up for lost time, and knocking out our Christmas gifts to everyone in one fell swoop. Well, almost - you know it's always "one or two more presents and them I'm done" with me.

The next weekend, Mariah and I wrapped everything! It took us like 5 hours, but we did. Then the next day we put up the tree, and then put all the presents under it, and then we put on the ornaments. Which we should have done before putting presents under the tree, because we couldn't reach the top from where we were standing. We finished the house decorations, going for super simple.