...and it is pouring here! Our hall way bathroom has a broken toilet, the washing machine broke yesterday afternoon, and then Phil called to say that his transmission was blown and that he only had 2nd gear in his car. Can it get any worse? Uggggg!!
It started a few weeks ago when Jimmy got sent up to clean the bathroom. Apparently he scooped up some things from the floor and thought that they would all flush. Well, all of them did except for the HAIR SPRAY CAP!!! Now all of you that remember Jimmy's toddler years will get a good laugh out of that because he flooded our toilet more than once between the ages of 2-4 and he did it with many funny items! So, what better person for this to happen to, right! Well, for a couple of days the toilet was completly out of commision but then it seemed to fix itself because we were able to use it again. Then earlier this week it over flowed. Phil got out his plumbers snake, took the toilet off and did all that he could do to try to fix it. The cap is stuck in the toilet right where we can't get at it!! It is a done deal, we need a new toilet. So we are now living with a hole in the floor of our bathroom until payday when we can run and get a new toilet. Too bad that our Joe isn't Joe the plumber!
That would have been no big deal except yesterday I was doing laundry when all of the sudden it sounded as if the washing machine had a bowling ball in it. I ran down to the basement to see what was going on and lifted the lid. The center stand in the basin was completly broken off and flying around with all of the clothes. Phil is going to work more on that tomorrow when he is off and we sure hope that he can fix it.
The worst news was the news of his car! We can live with one bathroom and I can go to the Laundry Bin to do laundry, but we NEED him to have a car. Worst case scenario he will take the van and I will have to miss some of my classes on the days that he is working. I am hopeful that we will get it fixed before we need to take that drastic measure!
On a happy note the old saying goes that things come in threes so I feel like we have paid our dues for a while. I can only hope that the universe agrees!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
OK, its been a while...
It has been so long in fact that I entered my password wrong two times.
According to the blog I have not been on here since the last weekend of June! Yikes. I will try to catch you up without putting you to sleep in the process.
JULY
It will actually be quite easy to catch you up for July because not much happened in that month for us. We had a Fourth of July Bar-B-Q with Mary, Ben, and Danny. Mary and Ben purchased a whole bunch of fireworks and Phil and Ben set off the most amazing back yard firework show that we have ever seen. It was like watching a professional show. We only got scared twice. Once because Ben gave himself a pretty nice burn on his hand and the other because one of the fireworks decided to go off about 15 feet above our heads instead of way up in the sky! Besides that it was a perfect night. For the rest of July we finished up baseball where Joe's team took 4th out of 12 and Jim's team took 1st out of 13! It was a good baseball season for us but I was excited to be done with the four nights a week. That excitement only lasted for one week however because Jim started football and that is five nights a week for two hours!
I was able to get away on a girl's weekend, which is always so much fun. Mary, Annie, and I took my mom to Shipshewanna, Indiana as her Mother's Day gift. It is a cute little Amish village with shops and resturants up and down its few main streets. We had lots of fun walking in and out of the little stores and getting a chance to visit with out the "boy/men" interuptions that usually happen when all of us get together! What we didn't know when we planned the trip was that the town completely shuts down at 5 PM. We were sitting in the hotel room wondering what we should do when Mary saw that there was a county fair going on a few towns over. So, we all packed in her van and drove to the county fair. We had a surprise when we found out that Pat Benattar was perfoming that night. We sat and listened to a few of her songs and walked around the fair eating food that was OHHH so tasty but OHHH so bad for us. It was great to get away with just us girls and I can't wait until we can plan another trip. Where will we go next time, girls?
So, that was July!
August
August started out with a bang! On August 2nd my baby brother finally got married to the love of his life, Annie! Most of us did not know what to expect of the ceremony because it was going to be different than anything we had ever been to. They got married under a canopy of flowers, out on the lawn at the Grand Geneva. It was such an elegant and beautiful yet personal ceremony that almost everyone was left in tears. It started out with their very good friend and roommate for the last four years, Bergen, singing while Annie came in with her dad. From there it went right into their personally written vows. Each of them vowed things that were meaningful to all relationships and things that were meaningful to just the two of them. For instance Annie vowed to bring him green apples when he is sick and to scratch his back until he falls asleep. Anyone that really knows Ray knows how much those two things mean! He had very personal vows that even included some of his students from Gage Park that had attended the wedding. He started out by saying, "I know that marriage will be ...." and his students all yelled, "HARD WORK, COACH!" It was really cool and unexpected which made people wipe their tears for a minute and giggle! After the vows they took love letters that they had written to each other along with a bottle of wine and two glasses and put them into a box that was made of cooper roofing materials. (It was made by Ray's boss, and roofing owner, because that was how Ray supported himself through his college years.) Together they nailed it shut and will not open it again until their 10th anniversary. They also used a Celtic tradition and "tied the knot" with a ribbon around their hands. To end the ceremony they released two doves that promptly flew away side by side! Immediately after the ceremony we all went in to the reception hall and that's where the real party began! All of us in the bridal party were introduced to the White Sox theme song which was quite hard for Phil and the boys!! At least Ray had given them Cubs hats to wear during this difficult time!! Besides that it was a very typical Ryan wedding with a full dance floor all night long. It was fun to see that the Clark family pretty much kept up with us in the dancing department. I would say the floor was pretty equal with Hagerty/Ryan's and Clarks! Jimmy ended up to be the family member with the most stamina however because he NEVER left the floor. He danced all night long with anyone that would dance with him. At one point Phil and I looked over and he was in the middle of three teenage girls just dancing away. We both looked at each other and knew that was a sign for what lies ahead!! All in all it was an awesome wedding and we wish Ray and Annie all of the luck and love in the world! Welcome to the family, Annie, we love you!
August brought us more than a new sister-in-law and aunt! It brought the boys and me back to school. (insert sob!) It is a mixed bag for me because I want so badly to finish school and have my degree but I love summer and being off too! I always mourn my time with the kids when school comes. We spend so much time together in the summer staying up late, laughing, going to baseball games, just making memories. As every summer ends I get so sad because I actually really like my kids and enjoy being with them! Sadly though the time has come when we must once again live our lives by homework, assignment notebooks, and bedtimes. We will live for weekends and holiday breaks!
Even though I am upset about having to go back to school I am actually excited about the classes that I am taking. I am finally in some classes that are for teaching. After all of this time with Gen Ed classes it is so nice to have a subject be something that you actually feel you can and will apply in your future career. It has been so fun to hear the professors say things like... "When you are a teacher" and "Your students will..." The first time I heard that I got so excited that a spontaneous smile came onto my face. MY STUDENTS!! Yes, I will soon have my own students. It really gives me the drive to keep plugging along at this!!
We also attended another Ryan family gathering in August. This one was much more casual than the wedding, which was a fun change after this year of weddings. We went to a Kane County Cougars game that Bridget and Dan Fors arranged for all of us. We first met at their house for some swimming, hot dogs and brats and then went on to the game. It was so fun visiting with everyone and their kids. The Cougars were losing through almost the whole game but came through in the end with a win. (HA, I bet most of you thought that I didn't know that b/c I chatted for the whole game!!) After the game was an awesome fireworks show then all of the kids got to go and run the bases. Everyone that attended had so much fun and would love to see it become an annual event. Thanks to Bridget and Dan for doing all of the leg work!
Well, now you are pretty much caught up on our lives. Sorry that this was such a long one!!
Later Gators!!
According to the blog I have not been on here since the last weekend of June! Yikes. I will try to catch you up without putting you to sleep in the process.
JULY
It will actually be quite easy to catch you up for July because not much happened in that month for us. We had a Fourth of July Bar-B-Q with Mary, Ben, and Danny. Mary and Ben purchased a whole bunch of fireworks and Phil and Ben set off the most amazing back yard firework show that we have ever seen. It was like watching a professional show. We only got scared twice. Once because Ben gave himself a pretty nice burn on his hand and the other because one of the fireworks decided to go off about 15 feet above our heads instead of way up in the sky! Besides that it was a perfect night. For the rest of July we finished up baseball where Joe's team took 4th out of 12 and Jim's team took 1st out of 13! It was a good baseball season for us but I was excited to be done with the four nights a week. That excitement only lasted for one week however because Jim started football and that is five nights a week for two hours!
I was able to get away on a girl's weekend, which is always so much fun. Mary, Annie, and I took my mom to Shipshewanna, Indiana as her Mother's Day gift. It is a cute little Amish village with shops and resturants up and down its few main streets. We had lots of fun walking in and out of the little stores and getting a chance to visit with out the "boy/men" interuptions that usually happen when all of us get together! What we didn't know when we planned the trip was that the town completely shuts down at 5 PM. We were sitting in the hotel room wondering what we should do when Mary saw that there was a county fair going on a few towns over. So, we all packed in her van and drove to the county fair. We had a surprise when we found out that Pat Benattar was perfoming that night. We sat and listened to a few of her songs and walked around the fair eating food that was OHHH so tasty but OHHH so bad for us. It was great to get away with just us girls and I can't wait until we can plan another trip. Where will we go next time, girls?
So, that was July!
August
August started out with a bang! On August 2nd my baby brother finally got married to the love of his life, Annie! Most of us did not know what to expect of the ceremony because it was going to be different than anything we had ever been to. They got married under a canopy of flowers, out on the lawn at the Grand Geneva. It was such an elegant and beautiful yet personal ceremony that almost everyone was left in tears. It started out with their very good friend and roommate for the last four years, Bergen, singing while Annie came in with her dad. From there it went right into their personally written vows. Each of them vowed things that were meaningful to all relationships and things that were meaningful to just the two of them. For instance Annie vowed to bring him green apples when he is sick and to scratch his back until he falls asleep. Anyone that really knows Ray knows how much those two things mean! He had very personal vows that even included some of his students from Gage Park that had attended the wedding. He started out by saying, "I know that marriage will be ...." and his students all yelled, "HARD WORK, COACH!" It was really cool and unexpected which made people wipe their tears for a minute and giggle! After the vows they took love letters that they had written to each other along with a bottle of wine and two glasses and put them into a box that was made of cooper roofing materials. (It was made by Ray's boss, and roofing owner, because that was how Ray supported himself through his college years.) Together they nailed it shut and will not open it again until their 10th anniversary. They also used a Celtic tradition and "tied the knot" with a ribbon around their hands. To end the ceremony they released two doves that promptly flew away side by side! Immediately after the ceremony we all went in to the reception hall and that's where the real party began! All of us in the bridal party were introduced to the White Sox theme song which was quite hard for Phil and the boys!! At least Ray had given them Cubs hats to wear during this difficult time!! Besides that it was a very typical Ryan wedding with a full dance floor all night long. It was fun to see that the Clark family pretty much kept up with us in the dancing department. I would say the floor was pretty equal with Hagerty/Ryan's and Clarks! Jimmy ended up to be the family member with the most stamina however because he NEVER left the floor. He danced all night long with anyone that would dance with him. At one point Phil and I looked over and he was in the middle of three teenage girls just dancing away. We both looked at each other and knew that was a sign for what lies ahead!! All in all it was an awesome wedding and we wish Ray and Annie all of the luck and love in the world! Welcome to the family, Annie, we love you!
August brought us more than a new sister-in-law and aunt! It brought the boys and me back to school. (insert sob!) It is a mixed bag for me because I want so badly to finish school and have my degree but I love summer and being off too! I always mourn my time with the kids when school comes. We spend so much time together in the summer staying up late, laughing, going to baseball games, just making memories. As every summer ends I get so sad because I actually really like my kids and enjoy being with them! Sadly though the time has come when we must once again live our lives by homework, assignment notebooks, and bedtimes. We will live for weekends and holiday breaks!
Even though I am upset about having to go back to school I am actually excited about the classes that I am taking. I am finally in some classes that are for teaching. After all of this time with Gen Ed classes it is so nice to have a subject be something that you actually feel you can and will apply in your future career. It has been so fun to hear the professors say things like... "When you are a teacher" and "Your students will..." The first time I heard that I got so excited that a spontaneous smile came onto my face. MY STUDENTS!! Yes, I will soon have my own students. It really gives me the drive to keep plugging along at this!!
We also attended another Ryan family gathering in August. This one was much more casual than the wedding, which was a fun change after this year of weddings. We went to a Kane County Cougars game that Bridget and Dan Fors arranged for all of us. We first met at their house for some swimming, hot dogs and brats and then went on to the game. It was so fun visiting with everyone and their kids. The Cougars were losing through almost the whole game but came through in the end with a win. (HA, I bet most of you thought that I didn't know that b/c I chatted for the whole game!!) After the game was an awesome fireworks show then all of the kids got to go and run the bases. Everyone that attended had so much fun and would love to see it become an annual event. Thanks to Bridget and Dan for doing all of the leg work!
Well, now you are pretty much caught up on our lives. Sorry that this was such a long one!!
Later Gators!!
Monday, June 30, 2008
You just can't beat a Ryan wedding
Over the weekend Phil and I went down to Chicago to attend my cousin Tom's wedding to his new wife Julie. The mass was beautiful from little three year old Jack, the adorable ring bearer, and his shamrock pillow to the awesome bag pipes and drums that lead the bride and groom away from the alter.
The reception though was once again the best part of the whole day. Phil and I have been to many weddings with his photography business and we have decided that there is no better wedding, for us, than a Ryan wedding. The food was delicious then the dance floor was at full capacity with awesome tunes being played and the company couldn't be beat. The liquor was flowing fast from the open bar but you would never know it because when you looked around the room all that you saw were fun, happy people giggling over old stories or sharing new ones. Once again my aunts and uncles rocked the dance floor with all of us and some of them even lasted longer than the people my age. Even Nana got up to dance for a few of the songs. In the middle of the dancing they announced that out in the hall they had opened a "Chicago Style Hot Dog Stand"! They were so good and such a unique touch to the wedding. When you have 35 first cousins like we do it gets tough to think of things that no one has seen or done before. Well, Tom and Julie did that with their hot dogs. Everyone that I was with had at least one dog and some of them had even more. It was very much appreciated by the all of us.
When the reception ended at 1:00 we shuttled back to the hotel on the late bus and continued the party as we always do. My Aunt Nonie and Uncle Gary hosted all of us in their hotel room where we stayed and chatted and laughed until close to 4 a.m.
So, to Tom and Julie Ryan, thanks for another great family wedding and may you both have a happy and wonderful life together!
The reception though was once again the best part of the whole day. Phil and I have been to many weddings with his photography business and we have decided that there is no better wedding, for us, than a Ryan wedding. The food was delicious then the dance floor was at full capacity with awesome tunes being played and the company couldn't be beat. The liquor was flowing fast from the open bar but you would never know it because when you looked around the room all that you saw were fun, happy people giggling over old stories or sharing new ones. Once again my aunts and uncles rocked the dance floor with all of us and some of them even lasted longer than the people my age. Even Nana got up to dance for a few of the songs. In the middle of the dancing they announced that out in the hall they had opened a "Chicago Style Hot Dog Stand"! They were so good and such a unique touch to the wedding. When you have 35 first cousins like we do it gets tough to think of things that no one has seen or done before. Well, Tom and Julie did that with their hot dogs. Everyone that I was with had at least one dog and some of them had even more. It was very much appreciated by the all of us.
When the reception ended at 1:00 we shuttled back to the hotel on the late bus and continued the party as we always do. My Aunt Nonie and Uncle Gary hosted all of us in their hotel room where we stayed and chatted and laughed until close to 4 a.m.
So, to Tom and Julie Ryan, thanks for another great family wedding and may you both have a happy and wonderful life together!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Birthday, Anniversary, and Father's Day...OH MY!!
The beginning of June is always busy for us. First we have my birthday, then our anniversary and then Father's Day.
Birthday...On June 5th I turned 31! I know that it's not old, in fact it's not even close to old. However, it is an age that I can remember thinking was old when I was younger. Anything over 30 sounded old to me and now I am not just 30 I am officially over 30! I spent my birthday where else but the baseball field for one of Joey's games. After the game we went to get some ice cream at a little place I love in Rockton. All in all it was a nice day.
Anniversary...On June 14th Phil and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We actually didn't have a lot of time in the schedule to celebrate because Jimmy had a tournament game all day and that night we had to go to a Quinceanera for someone at Phil's work. Earlier in the day though I went down in the basement and read all of the cards that had been given to us on that day, we looked at our wedding photos, and I watched a little bit of the video. It is amazing what 11 years has done to both of us. At the wedding I had just turned twenty 9 days earlier, I was a size 8, I had red hair, and I truly believed that it was impossible to be more in love with Phil than I was that day at the alter. At the wedding Phil was only 21, weighed in at 185 lbs, and had every hair on his head! Well today we are older, neither of us is close to the weight we were, I have gone back to my roots with mousy brown hair while he has lost quite a few of his hairs, and life has thrown us some twists and turns that at 20 and 21 we just didn't see coming. I have also beat the impossible because I do love him more than I did that day. Yes on that day he was young and looking good but something is to be said about taking the twists and turns of life and staying by each other's sides. Truth be told we have had many more happy times than hard times, but the hard times have been there. Either of us could have jumped ship and said it was just too hard, but we haven't. I love him for that! So, as we have changed on the outside our hearts have changed too because we are more in love today than we were 11 years ago. Here's to the next 11 and beyond!
Father's Day... June 15th was Father's Day. The boys and I took Phil to a Rockford Riverhawks game. Father's were allowed to take their children out on the field for a half hour and play catch before the game started. Then we watched the Riverhawks barely win in the 9th inning 9/8. After the game Father's got to run the bases with their children. Phil and the boys really loved playing catch and running the bases out on the field. We love going to those games because the players are so cool too. They were really good with all of the kids there signing ball and mitts and just talking to the kids. When we got home we watched National Treasure 2 and ate some Ice Cream. It was a nice relaxing day for all of us especially Phil for whom nice relaxing days are far and few between. I hope that all of the wonderful father's out there had just as nice of days with their families!!
My scanner isn't working great but here are a few pictures of us 11 years ago...
Until next time.... Later Gators!
Birthday...On June 5th I turned 31! I know that it's not old, in fact it's not even close to old. However, it is an age that I can remember thinking was old when I was younger. Anything over 30 sounded old to me and now I am not just 30 I am officially over 30! I spent my birthday where else but the baseball field for one of Joey's games. After the game we went to get some ice cream at a little place I love in Rockton. All in all it was a nice day.
Anniversary...On June 14th Phil and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. We actually didn't have a lot of time in the schedule to celebrate because Jimmy had a tournament game all day and that night we had to go to a Quinceanera for someone at Phil's work. Earlier in the day though I went down in the basement and read all of the cards that had been given to us on that day, we looked at our wedding photos, and I watched a little bit of the video. It is amazing what 11 years has done to both of us. At the wedding I had just turned twenty 9 days earlier, I was a size 8, I had red hair, and I truly believed that it was impossible to be more in love with Phil than I was that day at the alter. At the wedding Phil was only 21, weighed in at 185 lbs, and had every hair on his head! Well today we are older, neither of us is close to the weight we were, I have gone back to my roots with mousy brown hair while he has lost quite a few of his hairs, and life has thrown us some twists and turns that at 20 and 21 we just didn't see coming. I have also beat the impossible because I do love him more than I did that day. Yes on that day he was young and looking good but something is to be said about taking the twists and turns of life and staying by each other's sides. Truth be told we have had many more happy times than hard times, but the hard times have been there. Either of us could have jumped ship and said it was just too hard, but we haven't. I love him for that! So, as we have changed on the outside our hearts have changed too because we are more in love today than we were 11 years ago. Here's to the next 11 and beyond!
Father's Day... June 15th was Father's Day. The boys and I took Phil to a Rockford Riverhawks game. Father's were allowed to take their children out on the field for a half hour and play catch before the game started. Then we watched the Riverhawks barely win in the 9th inning 9/8. After the game Father's got to run the bases with their children. Phil and the boys really loved playing catch and running the bases out on the field. We love going to those games because the players are so cool too. They were really good with all of the kids there signing ball and mitts and just talking to the kids. When we got home we watched National Treasure 2 and ate some Ice Cream. It was a nice relaxing day for all of us especially Phil for whom nice relaxing days are far and few between. I hope that all of the wonderful father's out there had just as nice of days with their families!!
My scanner isn't working great but here are a few pictures of us 11 years ago...
Until next time.... Later Gators!Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Zoo Madness and the end of another school year!!
Ok, get the tune ready...
SCHOOOOOOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER! SCHOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
The boys are now officially in 5th and 7th grade! WoW! Now we can do what we love, stay up late and sleep in the next day!! No more, "Do you have homework?" "Let me check your take home folder", "How many AR points do you have?" ect. ect.! Woo Hoo!!
Now on to Zoo madness...
Yesterday I went on the Fourth Grade field trip to Madison Zoo with Jimmy's class. Since I had worked in the school just last year and because I know Jimmy's teacher so well, she felt comfortable putting the, shall we say, "naughty" boy in my group. I know this boy from last year and I know his background story so I know what discipline to use and when it is necessary! To give a little background he has not had a good childhood. Both parents have been in and out of prison for very bad crimes and he is currently living with his grandmother because they are there again!! The many tragedies of his childhood have turned him into a perpetual liar and a boy that likes to run away, just to name a few traits. Well, I knew all of that so I was more than ready, so I thought!
We arrived at the zoo and started off to see whatever animals the 5 boys wanted to see. Every single place we went he would do his very best to try and get away from me. I ended up having my hand on his shoulder most of the morning until he started to wiggle away from even that. At that point I told him that if he got more than 6 feet away from our group in a crowd I was going to hold his hand the rest of the day. Guess what, within 2 minutes he became my hand buddy!! Also , during this whole time he was telling me what a mean helper I was because I wouldn't buy him ice cream, pop, or toys at the store.
Towards the end of the day we had seen all of the animals and the boys wanted to play at the new playground. There is a 3 foot entrance / exit to the playground so I felt safe letting all 5 boys go in and play without me holding any more hands. I then sat myself right in front of the entrance with my eyes watching everyone that went in or out. I was doing that until a huge group of students came rushing in at the same time and for about 10 seconds I couldn't see the whole gate. I got a bad feeling about this so I called Jimmy over and told him to find our group of 5 so that I could do a head count. Well, you guessed it, four of them were in front of me almost immediately and the one boy was GONE!! I screamed his name a couple of times and when he couldn't be found I called the teacher and the other moms that were with us. Lucky for me the teacher was standing right near the other teachers, a few bus drivers, and some of the other parents! Everyone scattered and went looking for him. After what felt like forever, but according to my outgoing and incoming calls on the cell phone was only four minutes, he was found begging a vendor for some free ice cream.
I had held myself together for the entire time that we were looking for him but once we found him I just started to cry! Not a bawl, but a cry of fear and relief!! That was so scary to think that I had lost a child that I was responsible for. When he was asked why he did that he at first told the teacher that I had said it was ok to leave. He then said that another parent told him to go with her. He finally admitted that he saw the group of kids running in and snuck past them. I was feeling so horrible but the teachers assured me that it was not my fault and that it had happened on the last field trip to the actual teacher. Who would have thought that he would sneak away even with me sitting there watching like that.
After I got over the feeling of relief I was feeling ANGRY. I was so pissed off at this kid who had the nerve to act this way when people were just trying to be kind to him and help him to have a good day. Then I had to have a little chat with myself and remind myself that I have no idea what it would be like to have lived his life. I had to remind myself to just be grateful that my boys are not like this and to think of his poor grandmother who has had this put upon her to deal with. I also reminded myself that Jimmy's poor teacher, and my friend, had been putting up with this B.S. all year long and I only had to deal with it for the day! That made me feel better.
When I got to school today to help run the fourth grade picnic lunch and ice cream social a friend of mine and a fellow chaperone at the zoo gave me the funniest card and a Dove candy bar. (my fav!) On the front is a hand and it says wave this card back and forth. Then you open it up and it says "This is me waving hello!" She had scratched out the word hello and written, "This is me waving... I found John Doe*" We passed the card around to all of the other teachers and moms that had been on the "hunt" and everyone had a pretty good laugh about it. Then as we were serving ice cream he came up to me, put his bowl in front of my face and said, "Whip me!" He was of course demanding whip cream but all of the moms started laughing and one told him, "You better watch it, she might actually WHIP YOU!" He totally didn't get it and just walked away!!
Alas, that day is behind us and the school year is now done. Yet another year gone by so quickly. Fifth grade is going to be Jimmy's last year of elementary school, the first year that he goes trick or treating alone, his first overnight field trip with the school, and more than likely the last year he will want me "hanging around" as his room mom! For Joey seventh grade will mean that he is half way through middle school, he will finally get the cell phone he has been begging for, he will join even more clubs & be home even less, and this is the year that he turns 13. To quote Scarlett O'Hara "I won't think about that right now, I will think about that tomorrow." For now I will just enjoy the benefits of summer; our time together with family, the warm weather, picnics, bike rides, baseball, and so much more. I hope that all of you do too. Happy Summer.
*Name was changed to protect the "innocent" :)
SCHOOOOOOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER! SCHOOOOOOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
The boys are now officially in 5th and 7th grade! WoW! Now we can do what we love, stay up late and sleep in the next day!! No more, "Do you have homework?" "Let me check your take home folder", "How many AR points do you have?" ect. ect.! Woo Hoo!!
Now on to Zoo madness...
Yesterday I went on the Fourth Grade field trip to Madison Zoo with Jimmy's class. Since I had worked in the school just last year and because I know Jimmy's teacher so well, she felt comfortable putting the, shall we say, "naughty" boy in my group. I know this boy from last year and I know his background story so I know what discipline to use and when it is necessary! To give a little background he has not had a good childhood. Both parents have been in and out of prison for very bad crimes and he is currently living with his grandmother because they are there again!! The many tragedies of his childhood have turned him into a perpetual liar and a boy that likes to run away, just to name a few traits. Well, I knew all of that so I was more than ready, so I thought!
We arrived at the zoo and started off to see whatever animals the 5 boys wanted to see. Every single place we went he would do his very best to try and get away from me. I ended up having my hand on his shoulder most of the morning until he started to wiggle away from even that. At that point I told him that if he got more than 6 feet away from our group in a crowd I was going to hold his hand the rest of the day. Guess what, within 2 minutes he became my hand buddy!! Also , during this whole time he was telling me what a mean helper I was because I wouldn't buy him ice cream, pop, or toys at the store.
Towards the end of the day we had seen all of the animals and the boys wanted to play at the new playground. There is a 3 foot entrance / exit to the playground so I felt safe letting all 5 boys go in and play without me holding any more hands. I then sat myself right in front of the entrance with my eyes watching everyone that went in or out. I was doing that until a huge group of students came rushing in at the same time and for about 10 seconds I couldn't see the whole gate. I got a bad feeling about this so I called Jimmy over and told him to find our group of 5 so that I could do a head count. Well, you guessed it, four of them were in front of me almost immediately and the one boy was GONE!! I screamed his name a couple of times and when he couldn't be found I called the teacher and the other moms that were with us. Lucky for me the teacher was standing right near the other teachers, a few bus drivers, and some of the other parents! Everyone scattered and went looking for him. After what felt like forever, but according to my outgoing and incoming calls on the cell phone was only four minutes, he was found begging a vendor for some free ice cream.
I had held myself together for the entire time that we were looking for him but once we found him I just started to cry! Not a bawl, but a cry of fear and relief!! That was so scary to think that I had lost a child that I was responsible for. When he was asked why he did that he at first told the teacher that I had said it was ok to leave. He then said that another parent told him to go with her. He finally admitted that he saw the group of kids running in and snuck past them. I was feeling so horrible but the teachers assured me that it was not my fault and that it had happened on the last field trip to the actual teacher. Who would have thought that he would sneak away even with me sitting there watching like that.
After I got over the feeling of relief I was feeling ANGRY. I was so pissed off at this kid who had the nerve to act this way when people were just trying to be kind to him and help him to have a good day. Then I had to have a little chat with myself and remind myself that I have no idea what it would be like to have lived his life. I had to remind myself to just be grateful that my boys are not like this and to think of his poor grandmother who has had this put upon her to deal with. I also reminded myself that Jimmy's poor teacher, and my friend, had been putting up with this B.S. all year long and I only had to deal with it for the day! That made me feel better.
When I got to school today to help run the fourth grade picnic lunch and ice cream social a friend of mine and a fellow chaperone at the zoo gave me the funniest card and a Dove candy bar. (my fav!) On the front is a hand and it says wave this card back and forth. Then you open it up and it says "This is me waving hello!" She had scratched out the word hello and written, "This is me waving... I found John Doe*" We passed the card around to all of the other teachers and moms that had been on the "hunt" and everyone had a pretty good laugh about it. Then as we were serving ice cream he came up to me, put his bowl in front of my face and said, "Whip me!" He was of course demanding whip cream but all of the moms started laughing and one told him, "You better watch it, she might actually WHIP YOU!" He totally didn't get it and just walked away!!
Alas, that day is behind us and the school year is now done. Yet another year gone by so quickly. Fifth grade is going to be Jimmy's last year of elementary school, the first year that he goes trick or treating alone, his first overnight field trip with the school, and more than likely the last year he will want me "hanging around" as his room mom! For Joey seventh grade will mean that he is half way through middle school, he will finally get the cell phone he has been begging for, he will join even more clubs & be home even less, and this is the year that he turns 13. To quote Scarlett O'Hara "I won't think about that right now, I will think about that tomorrow." For now I will just enjoy the benefits of summer; our time together with family, the warm weather, picnics, bike rides, baseball, and so much more. I hope that all of you do too. Happy Summer.
*Name was changed to protect the "innocent" :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Summer is almost here!
Hello everyone! I know that I haven't been on here in a while. Here's what's been happening...
Phil...
Most of you know that Phil has an online radio show that he does. He does a really good job and loves it. Well, on Monday night he got a chance to interview a real TV celebrity. He talked to one of the captains from the Discovery show The Deadliest Catch!! It was the captain that brought his wife along with him on his ship and ended up losing a bet to her. He talked to them for 2 hours on his show and was able to get answers to many questions that we had. It was so fun and I was so proud of him. Thank you to those of you that tuned in! This Friday he and Ben are going to NY to stay in a Haunted Hotel. He is going to do a show on Saturday night while they are on an investigation. It will be like having a TAPS show on the radio. If you are interested I will send you a link so that you can tune it.
Me...
I have had the last couple of weeks off which has been awesome! I really got to relax my brain and now I feel ready for my summer math class.! Hip, Hip, Hurray!! Besides resting and getting the house in some order I have been up at the schools doing end of the year things. Phil and I were just up there in fact for Jimmy's field day. I will post some pictures of that some time soon. Also I have been out at the ball field four nights a week. (2 nights each)
Joe...
Last Friday Joe went on a field trip with the band. They started at Johnsburg High School for a competition and then went on to Great America. His school scored a superior at the competition which is the highest score available. When I picked him up at 9 that night he was exhausted but couldn't stop talking about what a great time he had. The first thing he said when he got in the car was that it was awesome because they spent the whole day without any adults!! He said that he went on every ride except for the Raging Bull. The place was so empty that when a couple of rides ended they got to stay in their seats and go again because no one was in line for their seats. He is enjoying baseball. Right now his team is 3/4. Not too bad since last year this same team took last place!!
Jim...
Praise the Lord, he finally got his hair cut! It is nice and short with spiked up bangs. The best thing about it is that I didn't force him to do it. On the way home from one of his games he asked me if I would take him to get his hair cut because the catchers mask kept pulling his hair. I didn't hesitate in saying YES!! The next day as soon as he got off of the bus I was sitting in the van ready to go. He said that he is loving the short hair again! Jim is VERY ready for summer, we all know that he is just not a school kid. He is having an awesome season of baseball. So far his team is undefeated!
Misc...
Phil and Joe planted some new trees in our backyard the other day. If you remember our backyard it is very empty because we used to have the pool and we didn't want leaves and things in there. Now that we took the pool down we felt like we needed something out there. We chose two baby maple trees and truth be told when they finally fill out and look just right, we'll be downsizing! That's ok though because Phil and Joe had a fun time planting them and you can't take back memories like that. Also so far Joe has been quite the gardener out there everyday with the hose, so maybe he found another hobby!!
The boys are done with school on June 3rd and I can't wait! I just love it when we are all off and we can stay up late together or go places during the day!
Phil...
Most of you know that Phil has an online radio show that he does. He does a really good job and loves it. Well, on Monday night he got a chance to interview a real TV celebrity. He talked to one of the captains from the Discovery show The Deadliest Catch!! It was the captain that brought his wife along with him on his ship and ended up losing a bet to her. He talked to them for 2 hours on his show and was able to get answers to many questions that we had. It was so fun and I was so proud of him. Thank you to those of you that tuned in! This Friday he and Ben are going to NY to stay in a Haunted Hotel. He is going to do a show on Saturday night while they are on an investigation. It will be like having a TAPS show on the radio. If you are interested I will send you a link so that you can tune it.
Me...
I have had the last couple of weeks off which has been awesome! I really got to relax my brain and now I feel ready for my summer math class.! Hip, Hip, Hurray!! Besides resting and getting the house in some order I have been up at the schools doing end of the year things. Phil and I were just up there in fact for Jimmy's field day. I will post some pictures of that some time soon. Also I have been out at the ball field four nights a week. (2 nights each)
Joe...
Last Friday Joe went on a field trip with the band. They started at Johnsburg High School for a competition and then went on to Great America. His school scored a superior at the competition which is the highest score available. When I picked him up at 9 that night he was exhausted but couldn't stop talking about what a great time he had. The first thing he said when he got in the car was that it was awesome because they spent the whole day without any adults!! He said that he went on every ride except for the Raging Bull. The place was so empty that when a couple of rides ended they got to stay in their seats and go again because no one was in line for their seats. He is enjoying baseball. Right now his team is 3/4. Not too bad since last year this same team took last place!!
Jim...
Praise the Lord, he finally got his hair cut! It is nice and short with spiked up bangs. The best thing about it is that I didn't force him to do it. On the way home from one of his games he asked me if I would take him to get his hair cut because the catchers mask kept pulling his hair. I didn't hesitate in saying YES!! The next day as soon as he got off of the bus I was sitting in the van ready to go. He said that he is loving the short hair again! Jim is VERY ready for summer, we all know that he is just not a school kid. He is having an awesome season of baseball. So far his team is undefeated!
Misc...
Phil and Joe planted some new trees in our backyard the other day. If you remember our backyard it is very empty because we used to have the pool and we didn't want leaves and things in there. Now that we took the pool down we felt like we needed something out there. We chose two baby maple trees and truth be told when they finally fill out and look just right, we'll be downsizing! That's ok though because Phil and Joe had a fun time planting them and you can't take back memories like that. Also so far Joe has been quite the gardener out there everyday with the hose, so maybe he found another hobby!!
The boys are done with school on June 3rd and I can't wait! I just love it when we are all off and we can stay up late together or go places during the day!
Friday, May 9, 2008
T.G.I.F.
Man, what a long week it has been.
I had 3 of my 4 finals which all of you know is very draining. On top of that I had so much to do with the boys and it was Phil's long week at work. It was Teacher Appreciation week at the school and I am a room mom and the secretary of the Booster Club so I had a lot to do. Pretty much everyday this week I have been in the school doing something for the teachers. It started at the beginning of the week presenting gifts and serving food and it ended today when I was at Joey's school from 11-1:30 helping the 6th graders make their Tye-Dyed shirts for their field trip and field day!
On top of everything at the school baseball season started. That means that I am out at the ball field 4 nights a week from now through the end of July. The early games run from 5-7:30 which puts us home close to 8. We had one late game this week that didn't even start until 7:45. Try waking up 2 boys the next day who, like their mother, require a certain amount of sleep. All three of us were very crabby....NOT FUN!!
A couple of stats for you...Joey's team started out rough on Tuesday losing the first game but they came back strong on Thursday winning by a huge lead. Jimmy's team won their Monday and Wednesday games so he is a very happy boy.
I love doing all of these things and given the choice I would just do the "mom" things at the school. However, that is not the case and this week I had to squeeze all of that in with some major studying!! Well, I did it and I just have my Psychology test left on Tuesday which is not cumulative so I am not as worried. I wish that I could say I would be on summer break after that but that's not the case. I have three weeks off and then I am taking a summer math class. God help me and my poor family because math is hard enough for me in 14 weeks to do it in 7 is going to be really hard. I will muddle through though!
So, my long week is over, I have given Jimmy and his friends strict instructions and bed times and I am headed off to bed where I hopefully will not wake up until around 9 am.
P.S. Huge props to Uncle Jim on his amazing ride! I have told everyone that would listen to me talk about it, truly amazing!!
I had 3 of my 4 finals which all of you know is very draining. On top of that I had so much to do with the boys and it was Phil's long week at work. It was Teacher Appreciation week at the school and I am a room mom and the secretary of the Booster Club so I had a lot to do. Pretty much everyday this week I have been in the school doing something for the teachers. It started at the beginning of the week presenting gifts and serving food and it ended today when I was at Joey's school from 11-1:30 helping the 6th graders make their Tye-Dyed shirts for their field trip and field day!
On top of everything at the school baseball season started. That means that I am out at the ball field 4 nights a week from now through the end of July. The early games run from 5-7:30 which puts us home close to 8. We had one late game this week that didn't even start until 7:45. Try waking up 2 boys the next day who, like their mother, require a certain amount of sleep. All three of us were very crabby....NOT FUN!!
A couple of stats for you...Joey's team started out rough on Tuesday losing the first game but they came back strong on Thursday winning by a huge lead. Jimmy's team won their Monday and Wednesday games so he is a very happy boy.
I love doing all of these things and given the choice I would just do the "mom" things at the school. However, that is not the case and this week I had to squeeze all of that in with some major studying!! Well, I did it and I just have my Psychology test left on Tuesday which is not cumulative so I am not as worried. I wish that I could say I would be on summer break after that but that's not the case. I have three weeks off and then I am taking a summer math class. God help me and my poor family because math is hard enough for me in 14 weeks to do it in 7 is going to be really hard. I will muddle through though!
So, my long week is over, I have given Jimmy and his friends strict instructions and bed times and I am headed off to bed where I hopefully will not wake up until around 9 am.
P.S. Huge props to Uncle Jim on his amazing ride! I have told everyone that would listen to me talk about it, truly amazing!!
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