stuff about stuff

Summer has arrived. I now have two weeks away from students, but still very much present at school. It's good to have planning time....doing grades, getting ready for summer school, cleaning, organizing. All those things that I can't do on a regualr basis because I don't have planning time each day (that's a big con for working at Pace). I get 1 one hour planning period each week, on Friday. Needless to say, I'll keep myself busy at work for the next two days.

Addison is killing me lately with funny things. Last week she said to Robert that her "booty is making bubbles in the bath water." And she continues to have phone conversations with Princess Aurora and Ariel, but doesn't ever use her phones, just her hand! She is - knock on wood - totally potty trained for day time. She had one accident today in front of everyone - gross - and cleared the room really quickly.

Looking forward to our trip out West in July! Two weeks of driving with a 2 1/2 year old is going to be AWESOME!

middle school stinks

This week was tough on me at work. Monday was a great day, but Tuesday was rough all the way through. Two of the biggest highlights from the day were: 1) a student balling up a huge wad of wet paper towels, throwing it at my wall clock, and the clock shattering on the floor into one million and one pieces and 2) my Ipod being stolen. I got over the clock thing and thought the day was going to end on a positive note, but I was wrong. Three of my sixth graders decided that while I was busy working with another student, it would be a terrific idea to take my Ipod off my desk and hide it in their pants (GROSS!). Then one of the kids involved (who is one of my most beloved students) quietly asked to go chat with another teacher, knowing that I would allow it since it was the end of the day. Really, he just wanted to hide my Ipod for collection later. Now, let me back up for a minute, because I'm sure a lot of people want to know why on earth I would've had my Ipod out where these little buggers could reach it. The story is this: we are ending the year with a project called "Music & Me". It's all about where the kids are a music-afficianados at this point in their lives and documenting that for purposes of later reflection. It includes lyrical analysis, lyrical composition, superstar reseach questions, and a musical-themed internet scavenger hunt. Since they were working so nicely that day, I decided to play some music (from my Ipod) to get them in the right frame of mind for the project. This turned out to be a huge mistake. So, fast forward again to the kid asking to leave class. While he was gone, one of the other kids involved decided to narc, and told my I.A. what was going on, basically placing all the blame on this usually good kid. Very clever, but not clever enough. My I.A. immediately called the office for a review of the last 45 minutes of class video (yes, all our buildings have continual video monitoring). We didn't get to the right segment of video before the buses left, so I was pretty sure my Ipod had gone home with one of those kids and would never be seen again by my eyes. I resigned to searching all over my classroom, while a few of my co-workers kindly offered to search around outside. Amazingly, (and stupidly of my kids), the Ipod had been dropped off in the bushes way across campus from my room. My co-worker returned it to me just about the time we identified the initial criminal and his accomplices on the video tape. We decided not to tell the kids it had been recovered, and to watch carefully to see if any of the guilty parties would return to the bushes to reclaim the Ipod in the morning. So, watch we did - four sets of eyes plastered through various windows on campus - for these kids to return to the scene of the crime. And boy did they ever. All three of them. Walked to their class, then ever so cautiously snuck over to the area where they'd left my Ipod. I was amazed at their brazenness. In the end, the Deputy lectured all of them, but couldn't arrest them because the one who actually took my Ipod confessed before he'd been read his Miranda rights. The most they were able to do was suspend that kid. The other two were innocent based on the lack of video evidence showing their involvement.

I was (and still am) so violated, enfuriated, offended, and disappointed by this that I don't think I'll ever forgive them. The next day, that whole class got a 15 minute lecture and none of them were allowed free time on computers or Play Station. They could draw or read. The group contingency is a very powerful tool, so while it was hard to give such harsh consequences to kids I knew were uninvolved, it was important to do. Peer pressure can go a long way. By this afternoon, we were all on speaking terms again and they had moved on, but I still feel hurt. I cannot believe the lack of respect they showed me. I am glad this happened at the end of the school year, so that I can have some time to regroup. I need some time away.

4 days left of school, including Tuesday's trip to Wakulla Springs and three early release days. Thank goodness!

the new background

So, I'm not particularly in love with this background theme...

I only picked it because it was called "Pookie"! I couldn't resist. :-)

robert rocks

Tonight I was shopping online for a new entry table. I found one I really liked, so I decided to go ahead and order it. I got all the way to the final review of the order stage before I thought about if the table would even fit in our entry way. Robert went to measure and found that the table would stick waaaaaaaay out into the hallway. Points for Robert. Reason #362 that he rocks: saving us from wasting money on furniture that's too big for our house.

Yeah for Andrew & Evelyn - they have a contract on a house! Very exciting!

Addison is the sweetest little child ever. She always responds to questions with polite answers. If you call her name, you'll hear, "Yes, Mom?" or "Yes, Dad?". When she asks us questions, she always begins by saying, "My mommy, can I __________?". She melts me. I dread this time of day when she goes to bed. (Which, by the way, when we told her it was bedtime tonight, she got a pacifier, grabbed her two kitties, said "night night guys" and went straight to her bed, on her own! She doesn't need us anymore!) I wish I could spend all my time with her. She's growing up far too fast for my liking.

Currently debating the "need" for a 1/2 birthday party this year. She certainly knows what birthdays are, but I'm afraid she would think that she's turning 3. Decisions, decisions.

8 days of school left. I cannot wait! Though, I realized today that out of 10 days "off" between end of regular school year and extended school year (read: summer school), I really only have 5 days off. June 1 & 2 are mandatory teacher planning days; June 3, 4 & 8 I have a training so I can supervise interns; June 11 is another mandatory planning day for extended school year. So that leaves me with free time on June 5, 9, 10 & 12. I am really looking forward to those days off. I'm going to plan some fun stuff for me & Addy to do!

Happy Birthday to my baby bro, Hoyt! He turns 17 tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day has come & gone. It was wonderful!! Robert & Addison let me do whatever I wanted...it was great! Then we had a yummy dinner with my family. It was an awesome day!

kids' parties

We went to Zoinks this morning for Thatcher's 3rd birthday party. (Thatcher is one of Addison's classmates). She was extremely overwhelmed by the huge inflatable bounce houses and slides, but once Thatcher took her around and showed her how it all worked, she hung in there with the toughest of the tough boys. She liked the Disney Princess bounce house the best, but tried almost all of them in the end. We are hoping that she may know how to jump now, after so much practice this morning. We'll cross our fingers....

I failed to take my camera to the party (boo), but luckily Thatcher's parents are professional photographers, so there were plenty of cameras around. Linda (Thatcher's mommy) says they will post pics from the party on their blog soon.

Busy weekend for us: visiting with Trevor & Jen & Yoshi, Mother's Day dinner with Robert's family (and "MY cousin David"), Mother's Day dinner on Sunday with my family. Plus, last night we had to get 4 new tires for my car (yes, i assumed one of my kids slashed my tire, but no, they did not. It was a screw. Since the tires were almost down to the wear bar, we got a whole new set instead of just patching the flat). Luckily for us, Costco is open unti l 8:30 on weeknights AND they had a $70 off four new tires discount! The Browns sure do know how to party on a Friday night. :-)

my lovely husband

Why do I love Robert so much? One reason is because he never stops working to make life better for Addison & me. Today, his last work day before he heads out for a long weekend in Vegas, he spent much of the late morning and will spend much of the late afternoon dealing with our dead refrigerator problem. (Our fridge died sometime yesterday. Do not buy Hotpoint appliances - this one was only 4 years old!). He asked what I wanted, found it, priced it, went to two stores to see if one would outbid the other on price (they did) and he's going to leave work early to meet my dad and get the fridge installed today. And he somehow found time to get his real work done, too. He's amazing! Things like this - all his hard work today - is why he so very much deserves this trip to Vegas! We love our Daddy!!