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Monday, May 31, 2010

The first hurdle down.

So… I got a job. I’m the new one year old teacher for my church’s Parents’ Day Out program. It was a very last minute hire. I was told they needed teachers for the summer program and I’d previously applied, so I went up to the director and told her I wanted the job. Kind of upfront right? lol I couldn’t believe I did it, but I did. Saturday night the director called me and said if I wanted the job I needed to come in an hour early to church Sunday for an interview. I did, I got the job, and went in to set up my room, get my lessons plans, and roster today.

None of that was as scary or stressful as what I just did.

I called and introduced myself to the parents. ((gulp)) Some parents made it really easy, they were open, nice, and chatty. Others, eh, not so much. It was “uh huh”s and “ok”s leaving me with no idea if they got what I was telling them or what they thought of what I was saying. One parent came right out and asked if I was a new hire and she wasn’t sure if she felt comfortable leaving her child with a new teacher. Errr… huh? ((growl)) I have four years of college studying Early Childhood Education, with countless field hours, and two year experience teaching the one year old Sunday School. Ok, so the mom didn’t know, but geesh, rude much? I explained to her that I had two years of experience teaching one year olds, in my “oh-no-its-ok-I-won’t-hit-you-or-take-offense voice, and that seemed to appease her some, but she said she’ll still need to speak with the director about her concern. But really for the most part it went fine, much better than my minor panic attacked mind led me to think it would.

Tomorrow, hurdle number two, meeting my students. (That would be 12 one year olds by the way, and one assistant I’ve never met…)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

A Great Blog Post on Photo Editing

So, just for the record, I’m not saying the following blog post is great just because its on the Shabby Princess’ blog, I’m saying it’s great because it is really great.

Becky from the Shabby Princess’ team posted a great very detailed non-photographer friendly post on how to get the most from your camera while not using all your auto presets. She uses a dSLR, but I have a point and shoot and was able to use the principles she covered with mine. I mean this post is just great. Really. Trust me. (lol)

Here is her post on the Shabby Princess’ blog:
The Shabby Shoppe Blog: Focus on Photos

We had a nice lightly overcast day today, perfect for going out and taking cute pictures of adorable girls in precious dresses out in the grass to practice using the techniques Beckie mentioned in the blog post. I got 50+ photos of Miss Belly, 30 non-blurry usable ones, and 15ish that I just loved. And I thought I’d share my favorites from them. Now these have some editing, but not much.

belly530

Trust me, you really want to go check out that post. Even if you don’t consider yourself a photographer (which I don’t) You’ll love the improvement you see in your photos.

Sunday Sayings (5/30)

"son (sun) n. [ME ] 1. a collector of treasures and heroes 2. a source of found objects in laundry (e.g., rocks, twigs, etc.) 3. his father's pride and his mother's heart. SYN.-an adventure (ad ven'cher)"

Unknown

Friday, May 28, 2010

Ryan and the Tampon

Ryan (just coming out of the bathroom) "Mommy what's this?" (Holding an unopened tampon)
Me: "Um, that's mine."
Ryan "Ok, well what is it."
Me "Don't worry about it, it's mine."
Ryan "Its candy and you don't want to share!"
Me "Nooooo. Trust me its not candy."
Ryan "Yes it is. You're not being fair and you're telling stories, I'm going to wash your mouth out."
Me "I promise you Ryan, it's NOT candy."
Ryan "Is it a new toy?"
Me "No."
Ryan "Well, Mommy what is it?"
Me "Its mine, just leave it alone."
Ryan "No, tell me what it is now!"
Me "Ryan did you get into the cabinets?"
Ryan (looks down) "Um... no?"
Me "Ryan are you telling me stories?"
Ryan "Never mind Mommy you can have it." (and runs to his room)

Ryan’s ABCs

Note… he gets to C and from there on out it’s all Ryan and a few numbers. lol

Enjoy my boy’s silliness!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Her first real boo-boos.

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And that’s only just right after it happened. Already both areas where they are slightly blue now (and into the surrounding red) are all purple and bruise-y. She wouldn’t put up with any more picture taking though.

So what happened…

Zach left a folder on the table and on top of said folder was Belly’s Holy Grail. This sparkly pencil that she is constantly trying to get and eat. She went to pull herself up on the table grabbed the folder just got her head over the top when…

Bam! The folder shifted and she hit her head on the edge of the table (small boo-boo) and then…

Double bam! She then hits her head again on the leg of the table. (larger bruise)

Fun fun times in my house.

Belly’s screaming, Zach’s freaking out, and the dog is going nuts because she hates when Belly gets worked up to that degree. I scoop Belly up and hold her close and give her loves, while talking to Zach to calm him down, and scooting to the backdoor to open it and let the dog out.

Everyone’s calm and ok now though.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Out of the mouths of babes.

Some of the glorious things my boys have said over the past month:

  • "Mommy I need to eat all the food in the house so I can be Fat Albert." - Ryan
  • "Mommy I'll let you lick my face if you get me a drink." Ryan (And ewwww...)
  • So, I'm working on a request and Zach comes up to me and says "That looks like Bella." I say "But Bella doesn't wear glasses nor does she have black hair." To which Zach replies "Well, she COULD.
  • Ryan singing "Underpanties, underpanties, I'm going to color your underpanties."
  • Me "Ok, its my turn to pick the movie!" Zach "Just please don't pick something black and white." Me "Um, why would I?" Zach "Because you're old and Maumau's old and she ALWAYS picks black and white."
  • Ryan "Mommy I can't sleep." Me "Ryan you've been asleep for 3 1/2 hours now." Ryan "Oh, well I forgot how to sleep in my bed." Me "Well here, I'll tuck you back in and all you have to do is close your eyes." Ryan "Mommy, I lost Monkey in the bathroom." Me "No, he's in your hands." Ryan "No he's not!" Me (move covers)"See in your hands." Ryan "Oh well goodnight then."
  • Ryan "Mama look, sumun messed up migh caan." Could my son sound any more country?? That's supposed to be "Momma look, someone messed up my cane.”

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Sunday Sayings (5/23)

“Too many people grow up. That’s the trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won’t do that.”

- Walt Disney

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Awesome $40 Giveaway!

Treasured by Holly is giving you a chance to win a $40 gift certificate to her Etsy shop! Just stop by her blog to find out how to enter. (Linked)

Our Favorite Meal

So, this is Zach’s and mine’s favorite dish… its yumm-to the-y. It’s a ham, egg, and cheese casserole. Here are the directions and ingredients:

2 cups biscuit mix
1 cup water
6 eggs
1/2 medium onion (diced)
1 pound of ham (1/2 in cubes)
1/4 cup cheddar cheese

preheat oven to 400 degrees, mix biscuit mix and water, spray a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and spread the biscuit dough across the bottom as evenly as possible. Cook until dough is 1/2 way cooked (about 5ish minutes)

increase oven temperature to 450 degrees after you take the dough out. mix together the eggs and onions then pour into the dish on top of the dough. put ham into the eggs trying not to put any on top of each other. then sprinkle the cheese across the top of it. cook for about 20 minutes, or until the top starts to brown and is puffy. it’s done when you can stick a knife into it and it comes out clean.

Don’t worry if you see some liquid come out of the top when you check it. It's just juice from the ham and will absorb into the biscuit as it sits.

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Monday, May 17, 2010

An Awesome 1 Year Checkup!

I took Belly in for her one year check up this morning and it was wonderful!
She's 18 pounds even now and 27.5 inches long, and... in the 10%!!! Her doctor said that a jump like that is nothing short of miraculous since at her last checkup (2/22) she has gained 3 pounds and grown an inch and a half and was in like the 3%. And best of all he said he sees no reason at all for her to go back to the geneticist for more tests, and that he'll call the geneticist and say that since the previous tests showed nothing wrong, and she's improving so much that as her doctor he is advising us not to have more tests done.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sunday Sayings (5/16)

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Psalm 34:18

Friday, May 14, 2010

Saturday Snapshots (5/15)

A special early addition of the Saturday Snapshots. Please everyone take the time to light a candle and say a prayer for Brandi and Evan. Here is Brandi’s blog and here is a candle vigil type thing for her and Evan.

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You can read more with updates about Brandi here at Justmommies: Sept 09 DDC at JM: Brandi and Evan Updates

Sharing a little cuteness…

belly

I’ve been in a funk.

Hey blog readers, sorry I haven’t posted much this week, but as the post title says, I’ve been in a funk. I’m not even sure what brought it on. I woke up Monday in a good mood, and then I just sort of sank throughout the day, then the week. Things aren’t going bad or anything, they’ve just been bleh. I haven’t been in the mood to really post, or do much of anything.

Tuesday I went and registered Ryan for school, pre-k. Well, I mostly registered him. Apparently one of my proofs of residencies weren’t acceptable, and I didn’t have Bella and Zach’s socials for the income form. So I got all the major paperwork out of the way and have to go back again next Tuesday to give the rest of the info. Ryan was excited, then grew progressively bored while we were there. It didn’t help at all that there were two little girls (sisters) in line ahead of us who kept trying to mess with his glasses and him. And their mom was just standing there talking away on her cell phone. I kept trying to get her attention to have her get her girls to leave Ryan alone, but she kept ignoring me. Eventually, one of the school workers came by and told her she could not use her phone in the school and that she needed to be watching her kids.

Wednesday, I had a huge allergic reaction to something I ate. I’m not too sure what though. Up until I was 21 I never had any food allergies. Then when I was 21 I ate a whole thing of peanuts (don’t ask why, I don’t even know, I don’t even like peanuts) and had a moderate reaction. But man, Wednesday night’s was brutal. About five minutes or so after I finished eating I started getting these huge cramps, which I just sort of dismissed since I’ve been having light cramps all week. Less than 5 minutes after they started I was in the bathroom throwing up everything I had eaten. Then I started getting itchy, which at first I didn’t really notice, then I’m like uber-itchy all over my stomach, I go to the bathroom and look and I’m starting to break out in hives. By the time an hour was up I was completely covered in them. I had them all the way from my toes to my hair. I even had them on my ears and eyelids. It was not fun. These are from when it was at its worst (excuse the bit of crack you see, I had to remove my under garments due to itchiness):
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Yeah, imagine that covering your entire body with it being one huge solid melded mash of them in places where you bend like your armpits, elbows, ankles, wrists, and where your legs connect.

And today, well, its just been a little bleh too. I woke up this morning still with some, not a lot but some. My brother came and picked up the kids and took them to my mom’s for me so I could take some more Benadryl and hopefully get more sleep, cause I didn’t get a lot Wednesday night. I got some sleep, but not much, unless I’m really really sick I can’t get my body to nap once I’m awake. But hey, at least I got a quiet kid free day.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Welcome to poverty.

As someone who is very very poor it bothers me when reading about people who complain about having more money than me and saying there is just no way they can live on it. I’m sure all people can relate to a similar situation. People always tend to think that others have more than them and that its just not fair. I try not to have a viewpoint like that, because I really just see it as ungrateful for what we do have and been blessed with, but sometimes I just can’t help it. I hear people complaining about how much their bills are, but then they also have all these extras they feel are necessary, and since I don’t like to judge I’ll concede those extras might really be necessary, but it makes me so frustrated. Especially when they add in that they’re angry because they can’t afford to get their hair or nails done this week, or have to cut back on going out to eat or some other bit of silliness. Or even worse when its a stay at home wife who is angry because her husband says they just can’t afford something extra because they had an unexpected bill come up. I hate when people complain about how “poor” they are, and how its not fair that all these ungrateful people get assistance while they have to “scrape by,” or just “make do.” All the while I’m thinking I’d love for us to bring home that much money.

On average my husband works 45-50 hours a week and brings home, after taxes insurance and such, about $320 a week. Subtract the $110 we set out for our mortgage each week, plus about $60 to set aside for bills, and the $70-80 we use in gas, that leaves us with $80-70 a week to buy groceries and make it the rest of the week on. After groceries we’re generally left with maybe $30-20 depending on what we have to buy sometimes we’re lucky to be left with $10. On that we have to pray that none of our bills will be more than we expected and that no emergencies (such as a sick child) come up, and that somehow we can make it through the week with some of that left over so we can attempt to pay on all of Bella’s doctor bills and the credit card that got maxed out with more doctor bills when Bella was dropped from insurance. We have to pray John doesn’t get too sick to work because even just losing a 1/2 a day of pay throws us into a serious tail spin.

Can you see why I tend not to pity those complaining of money problems?

Monday, May 3, 2010

This is me being disgusted.

So since the national news media doesn’t care I’m not sure how many know, but several counties in Tennessee are under a state of emergency. Due to all the massive storms we had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday many areas in Tennessee are severely flooded. Including areas of the county I live in and the county Memphis is in, and at least 2 others I know about one of which is the county Nashville is in. We had tornadoes also during this storm, though I thank God none touched down by my house. There are 16 confirmed deaths due to the storm. The storms caused many levies to break, including one 15 minutes from where I live. The one near me broke during the first round of storms and then that area was hit again very hardly during the second round. Sunday, after all the storms ended that city was flooded and the water was rising a foot and hour. Nashville has also been horribly horribly hit. Last I heard there are 3 feet of standing water in the Opry Mills Hotel. Again in my county we have 27 bridges out because they just completely crumbled or partially destroyed. Part of the road leading to my mother’s house is GONE.

But, the national news doesn’t seem to care. I’ve heard views on this being because flooding is not unusual here and there are much more interesting and pressing matters going on in our country. Yeah, thousands of people being homeless due to their houses being flooded and people dying, nothing major about that all. And for the record, no, this type of flooding is not the least bit normal for here at all. I’m not sure where people are getting this from. Tornadoes – those are normal here. The people in Tennessee, especially my area know we are in tornado season, and its actually been a rather uneventful one up to now. But from what I gather it has been over 25 years since the area of Tennessee I live in has been hit this hard by a storm.

I’m sorry, but this is crap. Memphis is constantly in the news for violence, but for once we have had something happen to us that is beyond our control and the media doesn’t care. I understand yes there are however many gallons of oil spilled in the Gulf, that’s horrible but not exactly new news. There was a bomb scare in Times Square and yup, that’s scary too, but no one was hurt or injured. Plus all the stupid bull they use to fluff up their time slots. But we don’t matter.

Yeah, they can all go jump off a cliff, who knows, maybe that would be considered news worthy.