Notes

I think note writing has become a lost art.  With all the technology, like emails, blogging, texting, and typing, finding a good handwritten note is something to cherish.  Well, if it's something worthy.  I have come across several of those lately.

Sydney is really into writing and drawing.  She loves to write in her little journal.  Her sweet little handwriting and her adorable spelling is enough to melt your heart... and then you read her messages that are sweet as pie and your heart stands no chance.  Sydney leaves me notes quite frequently now.  My favorite is when she puts notes in my lunch box.  Some of them say, "Don't get angry today!" (I guess I've told her one too many stories about my students!) or "I won't pull a stick at school".  Some of them tell me that she loves me.  And lately, she has been copying what I do to her lunchbox notes, and she puts a math problem on the back of the note.  The adorable thing is, she puts a pen in my lunchbox so I can answer it.  It'll usually say "Wunt is 100 + 2?"  PRECIOUS.

"frin" = friend

I got her a composition book where she can draw a picture and then write about it. 

So, this past Friday, I was multi-tasking at work- going through a CRCT review power point with my students while I was sorting through old files in the filing cabinet.  The girl who taught this math class before me was in that room for about 5 years.  She and I co-taught together for a couple years in a row before I left to go to Rockdale.  Anyways, she had TONS of worksheets, old work, etc. in the filing cabinet and I have slowly been getting around to weeding through it all.  I came across a folder of little letters she had the kids write at the end of the year, back in May of 2010.  This was the year that I co-taught with her for the first half of the year, and then I was moved to be a regular education teacher at the beginning of January.  I was still in 8th grade, but I was on the other team from these kids.  This group of kids was a great, awesome group- I think something good was in the water that year they were born.  Anyways, back to the letters.  The teacher had them write things they liked about the year, and things they didn't like.  These almost brought me to (happy) tears.

Notes are totally under-appreciated.  They really can bring back some amazing memories.

19 months!

Parker is 19 months old!!  (I can't believe he's 5 months away from being TWO!)

Accomplishments this month include:

• More talking!  New words this month include "eat" (ha! fitting!), "more", "Sydney", "Taylor", "Parker", "hello", "water", "bye bye", "egg", "goldfish" and "cookie".
• Parker ventured to Nashville, TN this month.
• He celebrated his second Easter, and got to participate in his first Easter Egg Hunt.  Then he participated in about 5 more.  I think he gets it now.
• He got to visit the Easter Bunny, but was not a fan!
• When we ask him what a dog says, he says, "woo woo!"  He also says "ooooooo" for a cow.  It really just sounds like a howling wolf, but we'll go with it.  
• He was diagnosed with croup again!  (The doctor seems to think it may be allergy-related).
• This boy loves brooms.  I mean, he will pitch an all-out fit if you take it away from him.  I'm thinking that since both his sisters dream jobs are to be cleaning ladies, he can join in and they can make it a family business!
• He loves to turn on Siri on my iphone and yell into the phone at her, "Daaahhh!!!"   It's quite humorous!
• He loves to chase his sisters around as being the monster- he will roar at them as he chases them.  They love it!
• He climbed up the ladder on the playground at our house by himself.  We were there behind him, of course, but he did it on his own.  Crazy.
• Parker has gotten really good with turning around to go down stairs, get off chairs, etc.  It's such a relief he doesn't try to go head first anymore!
• He knows more body parts now!  Hair, ear, mouth, hand.

Poster boy for Swiffer?

Playing with the cousins!

He loves the water table.  And anything outside, for that matter.

Meeting his friend, Leah, who lives in NC.

My friend sent this to me of Parker on the playground at daycare.  Doesn't he look like he's in prison??

Happy Easter!

We celebrated a wonderful Easter today!  Easter season has been upon us for a couple of weeks, with a few egg-hunts starting 2 weeks ago; the kids have been talking about it at school and church; they all had an egg hunt and party on Friday at school.  Now, the big day is finally here.

Yesterday was our church's big egg hunt (I'm talking 25,000 eggs).  However, the weather was gross.  Cold and rainy.  Bleh.  Thankfully, a huge crowd still came (a couple thousand people).  Sadly for us, I had to take Parker to the doctor yesterday and he was diagnosed with croup.  So, he, Taylor, and I had to miss out on the fun of the big egg hunt.  Sydney had a good time, though- she and Stephen helped set up and then stayed the whole time.  She got to play on inflatables, get her face painted, and more!

We woke up early this morning and the kiddos got their Easter baskets.  Oh, to be a kid again and be SO excited about that!  It was sweet.  We then headed to Gainesville to attend my sister's church.  My niece, who also turned 9 today, was baptized!!  It was a very special day.  We went to their house afterwards, had (another) Easter egg hunt, stuffed ourselves, hung out, then made the journey home.  It was a great, relaxing day.

I have to say that I am pleased that I can now pack up the hundreds of eggs the kids have accumulated... and also take a bag of candy to school for my students.  :)  Goodbye, sugar!

Parker loved his ring pop.

Waiting for his meds.

Dyeing eggs Saturday night.  We're such procrastinators.

Are you sensing a theme?

Parker's basket (a.k.a. what all was in his goody basket from school on Friday!)

Oh, the excitement!

Kerrigan's baptism.

He is Risen.  He is Risen, indeed!  Happy Easter!

Spring Break

How is it already Friday?

This week has flown by and has been a mixture of fun and not-so-fun, and not much productivity.  As you know, I love to save tasks for my weeks off... but not much has been done this go-round.

Anyways, let's start with the fun stuff.  We ventured up to Nashville, TN Monday morning to meet my new niece!  We had a yucky drive through the rain, but we made it to the hotel safely.  We met my sister, bro-in-law, and two nieces at the hotel, and then headed out to see my brother and his family!

Oh. my. goodness.  Ava is so sweet.  And she is so tiny!  Of course, my kids were gargantuan, so most babies look small compared to them.  But, Ava wins the prize as being the smallest of the 7 grandkids.  She's so long and skinny.  She seems to be a really good, chill baby, too.  I really think there's something about 2nd babies that make them calm.  Well, until toddler-hood, that is.

Monday and Tuesday, we hung around the house, the cousins played games, had concerts for us, played dress-up.  My sister and I took our sister-in-law, Jen, out to get a pedicure.  The weather was yucky and rather chilly, so there wasn't too much outside time, unfortunately.

The bad news is that Stephen's back was KILLING him.  I've never seen him in so much pain.  He thought it was muscle spasms and was taking muscle relaxers, which didn't help much.  He was pretty much out-of-commission for the couple of days we were there.  And poor guy, he was miserable the 5 hours there and back in the car.

Almost sitting in age order.

We left Wednesday morning, in time for Stephen to make it to the doctor that afternoon.  Turns out he has inflammation in his discs, causing him to have pinched nerves.  He got three prescriptions, along with two shots, and I'm happy to say that he is doing much better.  

While Stephen was at the doc, we pulled out the water table and played outside!

Our garden so far.  We've planted sweet peas and spinach.

Thursday morning, I went by an auto body shop to talk about my wrecked car, then I went to the dentist, and then to the eye doctor.  That night, I met my friend Erica in Sandy Springs for a quick dinner, and then we went to a visitation for a friend I went to school with from Kindergarten through college.  There was so much love there, and I'm bad with estimating numbers, but there had to be over 1000 people there.  The line to greet the family was wrapped around the funeral home several times.  It was an amazing show of love and support for an awesome guy.  It was also like a mini-reunion- childhood neighbors of mine, former teachers, high school peers, and more.  

When I went to bed last night, and all day today, I've had a little stomach bug.  It's knocked me down!  We took the kiddos to daycare today and I was on the couch until about 1.  I went to get Parker for his doctor's appointment, but I first ate a banana and took a little stroll at the park for about 15 minutes.  I felt a lot better.  Parker had his 18-month check up, which went well!  My only concern was his bow-leggedness, which she said should straighten out between 2 and 3.  I'm so thankful to have a healthy baby.

Sydney is spending the night out tonight, and me, Stephen, Taylor, and Parker went for a stroll around the neighborhood this evening.  This weekend doesn't bring much, except hopefully some productivity.  And some quality time outside in this gorgeous weather.

Craziness

Spring Break is finally here!!  Hallelujah.  It has been a hectic, crazy few weeks.  It was some of those gotta-get through-the-day-and-then-again-tomorrow kind of days.  I don't really like living life like that, but sometimes you have to.  Between sick kids (stomach bug, croup, bronchiolitis, pink eye), Stephen traveling so much, CRCT preparation, busy weekends, high pollen counts, and a whopping car accident on top of everything...  yes, folks, a break is needed.

We started our break off with a fun, busy Saturday!  Our babysitter came over early to watch the kids while Stephen and I went for a run.  We went to Stephen's work for their Easter Egg Hunt.  The kids got to see the Easter Bunny, get some eggs, eat lunch, do some crafts.  We had a great time until two little ones started to get sleepy... and cranky.

So, home we went.  Taylor and Parker (and Stephen!) went to bed and Sydney and I went to the Grand Opening of our friend's photography studio.  It was fun- she even took some pictures of me and Sydney together.

Then, we played outside and had our neighbors over for dinner.  We ordered sushi, played, and hung out.  Then, I talked on the phone with a good friend for about an hour.  I. was. tired.  But, it was a GREAT day, and I hope to have 7 more just like it.  Today involves church, an outreach event, a BBQ, and then packing.

Here are some pics from yesterday, and also some random pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Taylor talked a big game ahead of time, but wouldn't even get near the big fluffy bunny.  Parker was not into it, either... if you can't tell.

1 out of 3 ain't bad, is it?

Parker's first Easter Egg hunt!

Decorating cookies.

Now, for more random pics:

Guess who cut their hair?  there was way more than this, too.  Luckily, she picked the underneath sections of hair to cut, so it's not so obvious.  Arrgh.  I swear, it's a good thing she's really sweet!

Sydney got her latest report card last week!  I'm very proud of her!

this is how I found Taylor, asleep in my bed.  Dress shoes and a maraca, of course.

Home with a sick Taylor.  Luckily she felt better, so we had a day at home together to play!