Going Buggy

Tonight Tanner had baseball practice. When we were leaving he started yelling and crying. He screamed. "There's a bug in my ear." He was crying and screaming and slapping at his ear. I tried to pour water from my water bottle into his ear, but he kept screaming. We used a water hose and tried to flush it out. He looked relieved and said it was out. We gathered our things and went to the car. Right when we got there he started screaming again and hitting his ear. We drove straight to the ER and found out there were 15 people in front of us. The receptionist at the ER suggested we go to Katy Urgent Care, but it closed in 15 minutes. We ran to the car and drove as fast as we could. Tanner had calmed down a bit. When we got there we had 5 minutes to spare. We ran in and they had already closed. Brad kept calling during all this and telling me what he found out on the Internet. We decided to go to Walgreen's and pick up some hydrogen peroxide. While there I ran into another of my old students and her mom. She tried to help me find an irrigation syringe. Tanner started crying and screaming again while I was talking to her. I am making some great impressions on my old students lately. We paid for what we needed and started home. It was the worst drive of my live. Tanner started screaming and crying hysterically. He kept saying that this was the worst day of his life. He was screaming at the bug to get out of his ear. By the time we got home I was crying too. We ran in the house and put the peroxide in his ear and within a couple of minutes a little black bug came out. What an ordeal. That poor baby was being tortured. The bug would be still for a while and he would be fine and then it would start moving again and he would go hysterical. I am so glad what we tried worked or we would have been spending the night in the ER. What a crazy night!

Back to School

We all survived our first day of school. The boys came home with no big complaints. Tanner said, "It was good." He is a man of many words. As a mom I am just happy they came home and had no complaints. I do wish they would tell me more, but I guess they are normal boys. They both did their homework with no complaints. I am sure that won't last long. I'll enjoy their enthusiasm while I can.

Right before bed Mason told me he didn't like 5th grade. I asked him why and he said he was worried he would get a mark. I asked him why he would get a mark and he said he might forget his homework. He is such a worrier and I don't know why. He is such a good boy and doesn't get into trouble at school. Last year the only mark he got was the last week of school and he really got himself in trouble. One of his friends got into trouble for putting tape on Mason while in line. Mason went to the teacher and told her he had been doing the same thing, so she marked his card. He was devastated. I couldn't punish him because he had already punished himself. I can't imagine what was going through his mind when he went and told on himself.

Hopefully both boys will do well and have another great year. I can't believe Mason is in 5th grade. He seems so old to me. Tanner is in 3rd grade and still seems so much like a baby. I guess because he is my baby.

Funny Things

1. Tonight while driving home from baseball practice the boys started talking about puppies. Mason asked a question about how puppies can get around when they can't open their eyes. Then Tanner said, "Well, if Penny (our dog) got married she could have puppies,"


2. After practice tonight we went to get some ice cream. While there we ran into one of my students I had taught when he was in first grade. He is now going into 7th grade. His mom was my room mom. We had fun catching up and it was really nice to see he is doing well. After they left I looked down and noticed my zipper was unzipped. Now he is going to remember me as his dorky first grade teacher that doesn't know how to dress herself.

3. At Tanner's practice Mason ran off and played with a couple of boys. One of the boys he knew and the other one was a kid from South America. The boys played "home run derby". One kid fielded the ball, one pitched, and one hit. They rotated through. I noticed at one point Mason hitting and he hit the ball pretty far. Then when it was the South American boy's turn I noticed Mason showing him how to bat. I was proud of him for being helpful. When practice was over all three boys ran over to me and the South American asked Mason to sign his baseball and asked me if I had a pen. I asked him why he wanted his autograph and he said he was a great baseball player, he had just hit 6 home runs and showed him how to play. He was going to save it because one day Mason is going to be famous. He ran off, found a pen, and Mason signed his ball. Mason will be signing autographs on Saturday at noon if you are interested. LOL

A Right of Passage

I remember being a little girl and being so excited about school beginning. It meant new clothes and school supplies. I always looked forward to the class list being posted and the excitement that came with finding out who your teacher was and which of your friends were in your class.

So, today was the big day for my kids. Class Postings! Right before I left from work I called home and told the boys to be ready when I got home so we could go and see who their teacher was. First, I talked to Brad and he couldn't understand what I was talking about. He kept saying, "I thought that was tomorrow night." I tried to explain that meet the teacher was tomorrow night this was just to see who their teacher was. He said, "They don't want to do that, just go and see who it is for them." I thought surely he doesn't understand, of course the boys want to go up there with me. I asked to talk to the boys. They said the same thing as Brad. Are you kidding me? I hung up the phone, but then thought, surely they don't understand. I called them back and said, "Are you sure you don't want to go? Don't you want to see who is in your class?" Mason said for me to look and see if any of his friends are in his class. Tanner said he would just see who was in his class on the first day of school. I was so bummed. How could my kids not feel the same excitement I did as a child? It must be that they are boys. Guess what? Mason called me back and said for me to come and pick him up, he had changed his mind. I asked him if Tanner was going and he said no. By the time I got home both boys were outside waiting for me, with their new shoes on. I guess they aren't as strange as I thought.

Happy Birthday Daddy

My dad would be 70 today. That is hard to believe. I guess in my mind he will always be 51. I was 19 years old when he died and he has now been gone for 19 years. I still miss him terribly. Crazy fact about my dad's birthday and death. My dad's birthday is 8-16, this is the date Elvis died. Elvis' birthday is 1-8, the date my dad died. Crazy huh! Click on the picture below and it will make it larger. This is a picture of my mom and dad in 1959. He looks a little like Elvis, doesn't he?

OMG

Who do you think addressed the envelope above? Tanner, wrong, Mason, wrong, Kyle, correct!

You know he lost his license. We have been hounding him about getting another one. Brad went online with the Nevada DMV and told Kyle how to get the paperwork online to get another license sent to him. Yesterday we asked him if he mailed the paperwork in. He said yes and then threw his hat on the ground and said, "Snap!" I asked him if he forgot to put a stamp on it. He said yes, but he forgot to address the envelope too. Hmmmmmmm......... So, he had to redo the paperwork again. Last night he addressed the envelope. As you see above he needs a little tutoring in his letter writing skills.

I have always thought the news reports saying public education isn't preparing our children to go out into the work place was crazy. Being in public education I was always offended by these comments. But after seeing this, I am starting to think they may be right. For those of you that have teenage children, please test them on this and see how they do. Maybe it is just that Kyle went to 6 different high schools and I can't even count the number of elementary and Jr. high schools he went to. Perhaps he missed this skill when moving from school to school. Rest assured we had a little mini lesson on addressing an envelope. Man, what am I going to blog about when Kyle leaves. He keeps things interesting around here.

back to work

Well, it is that time again. For some reason we have to go back to work a week and half before the kids. We had our convocation today. It really is neat to see all the employees in the district in one place. The top dog does his best to motivate everyone and remind us of our district's directions and goals. I have always thought it would be better to do that not at the beginning of the year, but sometime during the high stress time. The beginning of the year everyone is refreshed and somewhat excited about starting a new year. It doesn't take a lot to motivate people who just came off of vacation. It is just a thought. On the other hand, putting all those stressed people together could be problamatic.

I can't believe I have taught for 16 years. My first set of students are 24 years old. Man that makes me feel really old. I haven't seen any of them on the news having done something criminal. I guess I didn't screw them up too bad.

It Happened......

Last night after I had just gone to sleep the phone rang. Brad answered the phone and Kyle asked to talk to me. I had answered at the same time as Brad, so we were both on the line. When someone starts out saying, "You aren't going to like this....." You know it can't be good. Bottom line is Kyle wrecked the car. He rear ended a girl. He was calling because he couldn't find the insurance. The girl's mom called me and I tried to give her all the information, but Kyle didn't have his drivers license either. They ended up calling the police. Of course Brad was freaking out about this time. So, I drove to where he was. He had told a little white lie about his location, because he knows he isn't suppose to leave Katy. He was about 5 or so miles outside of Katy. When I got there the deputy told me he was taking him to jail for suspicion of DWI. This made me laugh. I asked him if he did a field sobriety test and he said he did and it indicated he was impaired. I tried to assure him that he had not been drinking and the deputy said, "That's what they all say." He finally conceded and gave him the test again. He told him all the directions and then showed him how to walk heel to toe. Kyle did it wrong. He couldn't follow his directions. I explained the directions to Kyle again and he did it correctly. No wonder I always feel like I am hitting my head against the wall while talking to him. The deputy let him go and didn't even give him a ticket. Kyle told me on the way home he would have rather gone to jail then go home and face Brad. At this point Brad hasn't seen Kyle. He was in the bedroom when we got home and Kyle went to church this morning. I am not sure how he got there. I was so wound up when we got home at 2:30 a.m. that I couldn't go to sleep until around 4. Needless to say I missed church this morning. I think Kyle went to avoid Brad. I wonder if he will come home today?

Welcome Garrett Hunter

My friend Kelly had her baby yesterday. I went to see him today and he is just so precious. There is nothing better in the world than a newborn baby. It just makes you think, God is good. You can go see his pictures at my link The Garvey Gang.

Canoe

This weekend we had to go to my mom's house and pick up Brad's canoe. Mom and Cole came back from Colorado early. It was Brad's dad's birthday. We decided to drive to Llano and see him. Brad was very excited because his dad lives right on the Llano River, a perfect opportunity to use the canoe again. He talked his dad into going for quick trip down the river. They did one quick trip with Brad in front, Mason in the middle, and Charlie in the back. When they got back to shore Brad was complaining of the boat rocking a lot. I told him it was that way when I rode up front the last time. Tanner wanted to go for a ride, so they went out again. This time Brad was in the back and Charlie was in the front, with Tanner in the middle. Brad kept telling his dad that there was no way they would tip over. They got pretty far down the river and you can guess it, over they go! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. Then watching them try to get back into the canoe was another sight. They finally gave up and Brad swam back, while Tanner and Charlie paddled back. If you look really close to the picture you can see Brad in the background.

Two Cute Pictures From the Week

Mason going out to secure the neighborhood.

Tanner helping make some brownies. (SSSHHH, he told me not to show anyone this picture.)

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!

I think most people would say I am a pretty calm and patient person. It really takes a lot to get to me. Well, I have finally reached my breaking point. Why, you may wonder.......Kyle. I have always given Kyle the benefit of the doubt and on many occasions calmed Brad down and been Kyle's advocate. For 14 years I have tried really hard. Mostly because I am a stepchild and I have had my issues with my step dad from time to time. I am done! He has finally pushed me over the edge. It is all just little things, but all the little things have added up. I am tired of having to hound him to get anything done. He lives like a pig. Since he has been here he has lost his drivers license, washed a paycheck, lost his wallet more than once, lost a paycheck, left the keys on the trunk of the car, etc........ He never washes his clothes and leaves them laying all over his room. Then he has some stupid excuse or lie as to why such and such happened, and it is never his fault. The bottom line is I told him he had to wash all his clothes and put them up today. Oh, the horror! He of course half ass did the job and then acts stupid when I call him on it. He has posted to all his friends that I am an evil stepmother, he hates his family, and not everyone can be saved. I guess he is implying I am going to hell. Well, my dear friends and family, I guess I will see all of you in hell. If the entry to heaven means being a liar, a slob, and a Mormon, then none of us will gain entry. I have prayed over and over for God to give me the patience I need to handle this, but it only seems to get worse. I guess in the grand scheme of things this is minor it is just really annoying.