A Literacy Blog Project

Hello to you!

I am beginning my second week of school today. No actual-school, as today is Martin Luther King, Jr day, but I have been online working with my online class. It's an Early Childhood Education class on Literacy. We have to do a semester long project and I was scared spit-less at first. I even thought about dropping the class, because this was supposed to be the semester where I eeeeeased on back into school... No. No ease. I'm jumping in and I'm jumping in big-time.

One of the possible project ideas was to start a literacy blog. Well, that's the one for me. I made some notes on what I'd like to do (Make reading more fun for kids, share ideas that will help parents make reading more fun for their kids, etc) and now I'm working on a name for the blog.

Any ideas??

Father & Mother

Yesterday was Bay's birthday. She is now 19. It is the first time we have not spent her birthday together. I guess that's how it goes when your kids grow up and become mommies and you move away and get married to your best pal.

Bay wrote something on her Facebook wall about her stepdad remembering her birthday and her father forgetting. That man continues to be a disappointment to our children. I usually say he has good intentions and poor follow-through, but to be honest, as time goes by even I realize that may no longer be the case. What is wrong with him? Does he forget? How do you forget something like that?

I remember growing up with a single mom. My dad didn't forget my birthday, but I didn't get to spend very many of them with him. Mom used to say things like, "I try to be both a mother and a father to you." We all laughed when we heard George Carlin use the same line in his act, but a single parent really does have to play both roles. I'm not sure I was ever good at the dad-part, but once I got a Father's Day card from Sarah that said, "You are the top pop," and I'm saving that thing forever.

8/10/2010

School starts for Sarah tomorrow. She will be in the 7th grade. Bay starts at her new job. I really hope the day goes well for both girls. They deserve a good day.

I keep thinking about Max's class and how I'm sure it will be tough for all the ladies who work in there. He went to the same school for 17 years. His teacher, Jill, brought us dinner last night and the school psychiatrist brought dinner tonight. I keep looking at the place where he naps and he's not there. I hear a noise that sounds like a Max-noise and I look up, but it's not him. I miss my son so much. I keep holding on to that feeling and I don't want to let go. There's some crazy part of my brain that still hopes I'll wake up and the whole thing will have just been a nightmare.

A Family Reunion

I'm in the midst of an extended family reunion. I don't know if I've made this clear before, but I LOVE family and I LOVE family time. I have 6 nieces and nephews and anytime I can be with all of them at once, it's corny, I know, but it's truly bliss for me. They are all so cute and sweet in their individual ways. This Summer I get to spend time with an extra cute and sweet kid - my cousin Tristan. He's here with his mom, also my cousin, Teri, and our Grandma Artie.

Tristan and the kids are really hitting it off. Sarah loves hanging out with him - they enjoy a lot of the same things and she's enjoying getting to know someone who shares those interests (for example Greek Gods, she loves that stuff).

I've been taking some photos and not getting a whole lot of work done, but we've been eating pretty well. My brother made 3 differently marinated smoked tri tips last night. I can begin to explain how incredible they were. I have got to get a smoker.

In other news, I have a weekend trip planned. Next weekend I am going to see a man. Out of town. Without my kids. A grown up getaway. Yeah, I'm shocked, too.

Bliss at the Beach

How is your Summer going so far? Lots of fun around here. Max started Summer school, the weather has warmed up a bit, although still oddly cool for this time of year.

My sister's kids have been visiting this week. We are at the tale end of their visit - my sister arrives tomorrow and they are heading home at 5am on Sunday.

While they were here we did some really fun things - creek floating (my favorite), a visit to the National Yoyo Museum, a visit to the Bee and Honey exhibit at the local Chico Museum (not sure official name), a picnic at Wildwood Park, a walk through the California State University Chico campus, and lots and lots of time at the pool. Tonight the kids went with Grandma and Aunt Shawna to the Observatory.

When the kids are here, I usually get to see my brother's kids, too. The other day, I sat at the creek, surrounded by little people that I love. It was truly a moment of bliss. :)

Sarah Graduated!!!

Sarah graduated from the 6th grade today. WooHoo!!

She also won a special academic award. It came with a little pin. She has worn the pin all day. :)

Okay, going to cut this short. I just had a breathing treatment and I think I'm going to lay down. Have a great day/evening.

Home Again

I am back home after spending the weekend with my sister's family in Southern California. I had a fun, but super-short trip. While I was there, I ran a 5K with my sister, well I walked part of it, I had the hardest time running and I shot some photos of the kids. Chance, above, is the boy walking along the creek in my header photo. He's about 3 and a half years older now.

I sat out back with Trinity and Casey for awhile. Casey used the camera to shoot the plants and later the dogs. It was fun to explain my limited knowledge of the camera to him. Casey had a basketball game and a baseball practice while I was there. That kid's body has changed so much since the Summer. He's grown solid and muscular.

I love his freckles.

Trin was climbing around the outdoor bar when I took this one. She had a bunch of those candy Valentines, the type with the packets of sugary candy and you stick a candle stick into them. Her eyes are the same color as Mom, Robin, Sarah, and me. We have Grandpa Harold's eyes. I miss my Grandpa.

I've got so much to do - work to catch up on, brunch to cook, unpacking...... I just want to be lazy and read my book, watch my Supernatural rerun. I need to get to the grocery store and stock up on vegetables, because we ate so much junk food while spending 12+ hours in the car. Chips, cornuts, Diet Coke, Diet Coke, Diet Coke.....ugh. I think I'm going to rest for just a little bit longer.

The End of A Long Day 365:8

Long, long day. I'm exhausted and my stomach is upset. I can't wait to get into bed with my book.

Bailey and I spent about 3 hours at the Dr. She has bronchitis. Poor kid. Her temperature was 104 and it hurt when she breathed, so she was given a pain shot. When a kid will voluntarily accept a shot, you know they feel horrible.

Basketball officially starts tomorrow. I sure hope I'm better in the morning.

Kids and Cameras

I'm watching Max sleep right now. He keeps jumping slightly, as if startled. It's like he's dreaming that he's falling, but he doesn't walk, so what would he be falling from? I carry him, but I've never dropped him. It's perplexing me. I walked over and looked at him. He seemed peaceful, then it started over again.

I got a call from school today. They wanted me to come look at him, because his coloring was off. I changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, and called them back. He was fine. His color is always off right atfter a seizure - he looks very pale, but he recovers quickly.

Every year, when school restarts, he scares them all over again. He has gone to the same school since he was 3, almost 16 years, and it's always the same. I love his school and I love that they care about him, but he's the same kid he's always been. He is scary, but not scarier.

Sarah started volleyball today. She was loving her practice. It's set up a bit differently from the basketball league - the girls were all mixed around, the terms were shuffled. In basketball, all but a few girls had been playing together for years and they attended the same school. It was hard for Sarah to mesh, but she still had fun. This time, at volleyball, she made a friend during the very first practice. It occurred to me that it was like she was playing with a group of girls who were just like her - an entire team of Sarahs. If you knew Sarah, then you'd get how cool that is. She's frequently the unique kid. Volleyball is wonderful.

Bay and I went out to lunch today. At the Tin Roof Bakery and Cafe. I loved it. All that bread. Beautiful. Bay and I do enjoy lunching out. I told her about working at Denny's when I was 18. I used to look at the ladies in the restaurant and think, someday I'd like to be a lady who lunched. She laughed, but I could tell that she knew what I meant. She's a lady who appreciates lunching, as well.

Mom sent me an email today saying that one of her friends wants me to photograph her family. I am so excited!! I love doing families. Also, I'm going to be shooting some of the group home kids for their Senior Portraits. Also fun. She asked about pet photos, would I be interested in taking them. Yes, of course. I shoot kitty whenever possible. And here's one last thing, my beautiful sister-in-law, Shawna, has agreed to let me take her photo for the Pin Up shots. So much good news.

I need to do some shots with both cameras to figure out which one will work best. I'm so much more comfortable with the Nikon. It fits in my hand perfectly, I love the lens, how smooth it feels when I adjust it. I wish I wasn't so resistant to the Canon. It's a great camera, too. It's just not my beautiful Nikon. I don't think I'll ever love a camera the way that I love that one. (Wow, I'm really a dork about that camera.)

That is all. Happy day to you!

Unrelated Thoughts

I got a shipment of EO products today. The box was heeaaavvy. I love my job. I haven't bought any body wash for months. Max got to try the stuff out first. He took a vanilla/lavender bubble bath and washed up with Citrus body wash. I think he felt very refreshed. They make this shave cream that works really well. They have great fragrance combos like grapefruit mint and their chocolate really smells like chocolate.

I wrote this piece up today about ingredients to avoid. Parabens. Synthetic Colors. Phthlates (hard to spell). There's so many possible carcinogens out there. It's scary. If I think about it too much, it makes me scared to breathe. EO products are natural. No scary stuff.

Sarah said that she had trouble sleeping last night. Apparently Max had funny dreams and spent part of the night laughing in his sleep. I am so sorry that I missed it. He has the very best laugh ever. It goes a bit like this..... uh HUH, HUH, HUH, HUH, Huuuuhhh. Trust me, it's a good one.

I liked having him home all week. It's important that he goes to school, but having him close, where I can see him and control his environment, I feel that he's safest that way. Right now he's going, "Ohhh.........uuhhhh." I think he's playing with his voice. He is so adorable. I talked to the bus driver about the increase in his allergies since returning to school. She said that one of the other moms said the same thing. It's an old building.

Bay has a new boyfriend, but she's staying home with us tonight. She went to bed at about 6 pm yesterday. She was still sleepy when I woke her at 7am. Could she be going through a growth spurt? She's 17 now. I can't remember how old I was when I quit growing.

Her friend called me from work today and said, "Hello, Michelle, this is _____ qui qui...." I have no idea how to pronounce the first part and I'm totally guessing on the second. I said, "Huh? What? Could you repeat that? " and they repeated it again and maybe if I hadn't spent 3 years working in a school cafeteria I'd have had some idea what they were saying.

At one point, I heard, "Can I sing you a song?" and I said, "No. I'm busy. Bye." I assumed Bay had something to do with it. I was not wrong. When I picked her up, her friend wanted to sing me the song.

She told me that there were a couple of fights at her school today. One involved students and a boy was stabbed with a pencil. The other involved some men who just happened to be walking down the street. They fought in the parking lot. I'd really, really like to get her out of that school.

Just reread this. What a bunch of unrelated thoughts.

Wednesday and An Update

I'm craving one of these right now. A black tea/frozen peach smoothie type drink with mint. I have to take Bay to school in a few minutes, then I'm going by the Farmer's Market (smaller version on Wednesdays), so I might swing by and pick one up. I need to figure out how to reproduce them at home. Hhmm, it would be research, after all......... I haven't updated in awhile. I used to update everyday before blogging became my job. I will try to be more regular with the updates. My life is just not that exciting and for awhile it was very sad. I don't want to be a downer for anybody.

While I was gone, I had a birthday. Here's a picture of my lovely mom at the Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant at my birthday lunch. We go there and sit on the patio every year. And every year we say, "This was the best one yet." This year was the best for beer - we tried a couple of new ones and I have new favorite - but the year before was the best for the food. That year we split a smoked salmon salad and a smoked salmon pasta dish. Oh my. Heaven.

The kids are all back in school. I wanted to go back, but instead I'm teaching myself. I want to get a degree or even some sort of Photography certificate (my jc offers one), but the classes are all full and there is the expense. I don't have to have it to do my work, so I'm teaching myself. I looked up the books the teachers are using and I ordered them used - total was around $25 for 3 books.

I got the first book and it's in pretty good shape. It's Art History. Have you ever noticed how Van Gogh's paintings look like they pulsate? Do you think that is how the world appeared to him? Even the air was active and moving?

Time to get busy. One last thing..... I'm doing a giveway at Splendicity fragrance. If you'd be interested in winning a Anne of Green Gables bag and fragrance, then please click here.

Quick Saturday Catch-Up

It's been so long since I updated! I'm sorry. A lot has been going on. I'll start with yesterday and work my way back to last weekend...........

The Jogathon. Yesterday was the Jogathon at LCC. Look at those kids running! Sarah is in the pink t-shirt. I got a lot of fun photos. I usually volunteer, but this time I wandered around with my camera. Sarah enjoyed the event so much this year. She ran quite a bit of it, which was exciting to see. When she walked, she walked with her friend Karli. She had a big smile the whole time. Yay!

Sarah's birthday was Thursday. She is now 11. Her she is jumping for joy - WooHoo!! Cousins Ashlee, Brad, Hayden, Aunt Shawna, and Grandma came by and we did bubbles, played on the playground. Good day.

Check out this bubble. It's a good one.

The teenagers had prom last weekend. They had a wonderful time and spent a whole lot of money. Prom is complicated these days. There's so much they have to buy. I remember when I went, I borrowed a dress, we borrowed a car. The kids were so stressed out.

Bay wore a cute short dress and tall heels. She was almost as tall as Greg with her updo and her heels and he's 6 ft. Very glamorous. Greg seemed very comfortable in his tux. I like he liked the fanciness of it all. I drove him over to meet the other couples at his friend Deborah's house. I got this shot as they were walking out into the backyard for pictures.

The sun was so bright and they were squinting in every shot. I wish I had not been so shy in front of all the other parents, that I had pulled them off to the side, because with the expense of all the extras, they didn't end up with enough to buy pictures at the event.

Don't you think that they look pretty? Bay's hair looked just as great the next morning. It was set up with about 55 bobby pins. It was lovely.

Okay, that's it for now. I've got something very exciting to write about later in the week. My boyfriend is coming for a visit. I cannot tell you how excited I am. I'm afraid that I'm going to drive that boy crazy with my camera. Watch out, honey!

A Quick Update

I have found that my world changes in leaps and jumps. It goes along and no big deal, then all of a sudden something huge (for me) will happen. I try to keep things fairly boring, because, well I feel comfortable that way. I like peace and a certain amount of order.



Sometimes, well sometimes I jump. An example? Here's an extreme case - I married my ex-husband onthe 5th day that I knew him. Crazy, don't you think? This new thing is not as crazy, but it does involve a new man. I've got a new boyfriend. And he's a good one. In fact I talked about him not very long ago, right here. He is sweet and funny and nice and I've never met anyone who didn't love him.



Max and I have been other-kid-less since Friday morning, when everyone else left for Pismo. I hear that they are having fun and I hope to join them next time.

Kitty is missing the kids and she follows me all over the house. Her meow is loud and dramatic and very oh-poor-me! as she darts up and down the hallway. I'm not sure if she's confused or waiting for them. Today, I tripped over her as I carried Max from the bath. Now that sucked. For all of us.



Okay, all of a sudden I'm really tired and have nothing of interest to write. Darn. How did the end of the day sneak up so suddenly? It does have a habit of doing that.



G'night.

Amelia On the Prowl

Amelia on the prowl..... I love this picture of her with her little tongue sticking out. We are all so crazy about her. Today, I heard Bay greet her with, "Hello, Lovely Lady," which cracked me up because that's what I call her.

I said, "We sure are a family of nicknamers." I used to have a ton for the kids, but now it's down to the following:
Max - Handsome Man (well, okay Max still has a lot of them. I call him Sweet Baby a lot, Handsome Prince, Honey-bunny)
Bailey - Sweets, Beautiful
Greg - Honey (and it's funny because if I call anyone else "honey" he says, "What?" He's used to his nickname already)
Sarah - Cookie, Sarie, Sugar, Sug

My niece, Ashlee, came over for a sleepover last night. We celebrated her birthday earlier in the day, so it was an honor to have her over - she picked us over new toys. She spent a lot of the time she was here doing art. She is very creative. I need to scan some of her artwork to share.

Well, I have to cut this one short. It's the tale end of Sunday evening and I've still got stuff to do.

The Stress Is Getting To the Kids

I've noticed a real difference with the kids at school this week. They are mean.

I spoke with a co-worker about it and he mentioned that maybe the kids are picking up on the stress we adults are feeling these days. That made so much sense, but in my own stress of the day - brought on by the children's stress of the day - I forgot. After school, I mentioned the bad behavior to my principal and she started saying the same thing, "Children are so intuitive......."

Today, there were 3 different football to the face (resulting in blood) situations. 3!!! Before today this happened.......never. I'm sure during other recesses, but in the almost 6 months that I've been out of the cafeteria and on recess duty, it hasn't come up. In fact, I've only had 2 other bloody noses all year.

And another thing, Logan, who had the shoes that did not fit last year, well he's still wearing the same pair this year and they still do not fit. His sister is also wearing too-big shoes. Nevah, has cried two days in a row and needs lots of hugs. These kids, they've got tricky stuff to deal with, too.

Sometimes I have to slow down and look at the big picture. Of course the children are stressed. Who has it easy anymore? No one. They aren't mean, they are acting out, and they need calm understanding more than ever.

I can do that.

Surviving the Week

Hello. I haven't written in a week. I'm sorry. It's been kind of a tough week.

Our guinea pig got sick all of a sudden. He wouldn't eat and I fed him with a syringe - water and applesauce (he likes apples). The next morning he seemed a bit better, but still very subdued. I made him up a box and he sat next to me all day while I did my work on the computer.

Well, it ends up that he wasn't better and that afternoon he died. It was so sad. I could tell when it was time to go, he leaned to the side and it looked like he was trying to squeak. Sarah and I petted him and told him that he was a brave boy and a good friend. We told him that he was strong and handsome and sweet. He looked pretty peaceful, but it was heart-breaking. I wouldn't want him to hang on just for us if he was hurting, but it's so quiet here without his squeaking. I miss that little guy.

The whole thing happened so quickly. I think he just got to be an old guy - he always seemed like a youngster, all hyper and super-fast romaine chomping. The romaine would give him a green beard. So cute.

I still feel so out of sorts. Bay was gone when it happened and Whoobie was officially her pet. He slept in her room for years. When she came home, she cried, but then she seemed okay. That is until she and my mom got into an argument last night and she slammed into her room. She has messed her doorway up over the years and it's all loose. The frame moves back and forth. This time, she slammed it so that I couldn't get it open at first. Darn kid.

This morning the kids enjoyed their Christmas, I think. Sarah and I looked outside and all the reindeer food was gone. Do you make reindeer food? They like to eat oats and glitter. It's so pretty when you toss it out, sparkles in the lights. Reindeer get pretty hungry with all that flying. Sarah slept in until 10:30. Can you believe that? She and I were up until midnight tracking Santa on NORAD. So hard to go to sleep when you know that he is coming.

I better get busy now. Happy holidays to you!!

Sometimes They Break An Arm

First let me say that these photos are not of the kids at school. They are of Owen and some neighbor boys.

Today, at school, a little boy broke his arm.

It was during the third and final recess of lunch - we break the kids into 3 seperate groups. Every recess was busy and I gave out a lot of passes to the nurse when kids, mostly boys, would do things like get hit in the head with a ball or tun into pole. I've noticed that boys are very hard on their heads.

I noticed that the kids were all grouped around a boy, lying on his back, under the bars. As I approached the bars - at a run - another student reached me and said that the boy had hurt his arm. I could see immediately that it was broken. It hang noodle-like just past his left wrist. It was terrifying to find him broken in that way. He is such a little guy - a second grader, 7 years old - and he was not crying, but moaning and saying, no, no, not again. I cannot express how hard it was to hold back the tears. I stayed beside him, radioed for help, and waited with the boy. My partner, he tried to move the kids away, to give the boy room, but they were curious and concerned. I heard him snap at the children, something that I have very rarely heard before, so I knew that he was very concerned.

The bell rang and the boy's teacher, she had the class line up along the edge of the playground and I could see some of the girls crying. I asked him about sports, what his favorite color was, what color his last cast was, what color he would like this time, what movied he'd like to watch this weekend, pretty much anything I could think of in an attempt to distract him. At first, he kept trying to move his hand, with the other hand, sort of testing it's brokeness. I said, honey leave it alone, leave it be. It scared me the way he'd do that and he'd say, it burns, it stings. I tried to support the elbow of the broken arm, so that he could hold it in a neutral position, across his chest, and I held the hand of the unbroken arm. I was worried about him making it somehow worse.
When his mom arrived, she was shaking. Apparently, she was working in the class all morning and had only returned home for lunch. I tried to reassure her, said, you are doing good, Mom, but she just looked at me blankly. It's hard to know what to do first or next in a situation like that. Your child is in agony, looking to you to fix it, and you need professional help, no bandaid is going to fix a noodle-arm. Oh man.

Bay has broken two bones, neither this bad, but Max, that boy has scared the crap out of me more times that I can remember with his seizures and turning blue. Children, they are so fragile.

I know that working during recess or in the cafeteria might seem like a simple job, but I take caring for other people's children very seriously. This little boy, he was so brave and so scared at the same time. I feel as if I'm going to hold a picture of him in my head forever now. I know that I'm going to be watching him very closely on the playground, afraid that he will break again.

I hope he's resting quietly now and that his mom is better able to relax. Poor little guy. He's going to miss playing with his soccer team, The Half-Pints tomorrow. He told me that they had a game. :(

I Want To Be Like Trinity When I Grow Up

Trinity is the star of my blog today. She is a bold, charismatic, confident, talented, beautiful, young lady, and I miss her.

I'm not sure if I've shared these photos of her before. Here's something funny, when my friend, Leah, arrived to take me out to dinner last Saturday, she said, "Hi Trinity!" and Trin was so shocked. How did this new lady know her name?? Well, Leah has been patient enough to view many (many!!) of my family photos, so Trin was very familiar to her. We spent a lot of time swimming or getting wet in the sprinkler this Summer, so when I think of her, it's in this little swimsuit. It was so big on her back at Easter time, but she's grown a lot since that time.
This face - it cracks me up. She's got such a strong posture here, sitting in the little purple chair, hands gripping the arms, and then she's got the something-stinks! look on her face. She laughed immediately following this. She seems so self-aware when I have the camera pointed at her. She "models," changing poses and making faces. It's so much fun. She moves quicker than me and many don't turn out, but every "session" is a blast.
Here's an example. Rob, my sister, took this of Trin with her phone. I wrote back saying, "this is a girl who knows her own power."

I think that we all start out that way, but somewhere along the way, many of us lose that sense of power. I know that every once in awhile I glimpse it in myself, but then I make the mistake of listening to that nagging voice of doubt in my head. That voice that tells me that I'm not enough - not smart enough, pretty enough, strong enough, or lovable enough. I need to shut that bitch up.

At work today, I was outside with the kids and I had my little mister going and the kids were telling me stories and I feel like I was exactly where I belonged. I was giving these kids some attention, cooling them off, making sure that they were safe as they played tetherball or chased each other around the playground. It was a good feeling and a great day at work and I was grateful to feel that way.

Back To School

It's been an eventful Summer.

Okay, where did that darn underline come from? I swear, sometimes I think that this darn box is possessed.

Anyway...............

No more trips to the creek with cousins.
No more floating on the raft with Grandma.
No more lazy days and sleep in mornings. Tomorrow it's the first day of school.
I am so excited!! I can't to see the students! I bet they've grown and will have lots of stories to tell me at recess. I will be on playground duty, from now on, and I picked up a fancy new mister/fan bottle to keep cool, 50 SPF sunblock to protect my skin, and broken in flip flops so as to avoid those pesky first day of school blisters. :D

To quote Spongebob Squarepants, "I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!"

Friday at the Fountain

This evening, Mom and I took the kids - Sarah, Trinity, Chance, and Casey - down to the concert in the park. A country band was playing and I thought that there were very good, but for some reason, the kids didn't really get into it. I kept trying to get them to go into the fountain. Finally, the girls and Case tried it. Trin had the funniest look on her face, I kept trying to catch it, but she was tricky. Her dimples, always her dimples show. So sweet.
The City Plaza used to look very different. It had tall trees and a diamond-pattern walkway. It would be packed for the friday concerts. This time, the park was not even a quarter full. You can see a bit of what the park used to look like here http://www.homeschico.com/Chico/park%20downtown%202.jpg
This little guy looks like he's boxing the water.
Sarah looks so funny here - very Sarah-like expression here. :D Casey looks like he's freezing.

I took some photos of the Chico State Campus, too, but I'll post them another time.