Don't be fooled

Moorhead Public Schools has implemented a new report card system. They got rid of the ones similar to what we had as kids. Now, they are more specific to the standards and requirements with the MCAs. There are three things that could be put: developing, proficient, and outstanding. Teachers have to be much more "harsh" with their scoring, as they should be. But that is not really the point of this whole post.
The three kids brought home their report cards. First of all, I was pleased to see that Olivia was proficient in all things Kindergarten. I'm sorry, but I just haven't been able to gauge her abilities as well as I did with my other kids. So that was a positive.
Ryan tossed his to me last night. I knew his would be good. He is a very good student. The only problem for him I forsee is that he is nearing the age when it's cool to not care about school, and he's been one to be able to rely on his smarts without having to work hard. That won't last forever. He had all proficients and an outstanding. I thought that was great.
Then came Kate's. If you've read my blog more than a few times, you know that Kate is flighty and sometimes spacey. I figured she'd get proficients, but I also thought maybe she'd get a developing or two.
Well guess what? Miss Kate got SEVEN outstandings! Huh??? This girl?? Boy, have I been reminded a day that it's wrong to assume something.

**Now, let me be clear. If my kids had developings or if other kids get that, it's not a bad thing. I do not in any way want to come off as bragging.
So expect the next post to be another horror story.

DARE Graduation

Pardon the poor quality of these photos. Bad mom Bonnie forgot her camera!
Fifth graders in all the schools in Moorhead take part in a fourteen week education of DARE. The education centers around drug resistence, bullying, etc. I've heard a lot of reports that DARE doesn't work, but hey, it certainly won't make life worse for anyone.
Here are some pictures of his classmates, one with his mother, Grandpa Wayne, and his dad. Thad goes to these every year and sits with law enforcement, the mayor, and principals to shake the kids' hands. Ryan got an extra loud cheer because his dad gave him his diploma. It was cute.

This last picture is with a classmate of Ryan's. The boy can't speak or hear well. He is unable to eat food the way we do, and also has a trach. He ran across the gym, and the whole place applauded. After the ceremony was over, he ran to Ryan and gave him a high five. His para told me that he likes to play football with Ryan when it's nice out. Needless to say, hearing that touched my heart more than anything.

Kateism of the day

"Mom, Lily's dad caught a puck at the Spud hockey game last night. She told me that it even says if an official puck of the NHL or NFL or something like that."

What we did this weekend

It was another busy weekend. On Saturday, I skipped skating, because Brady wasn't up to going out. Both girls had dance performances (at different times) in the afternoon.
I love how Olivia's tongue is sticking out here.

Here is a little video of Olivia.

Kate danced later in the day. The video I took of her was too long to post on here, but she did a very nice job. I love her outfit!

Thad even made it back in time to watch!

Liv and I enjoyed watching too!

Today, Ryan had a game in Grand Forks. My mother offered to watch the three kids. I told some of my friends that if felt like a Christmas gift to not have to hear them complain about being bored. Thanks mom!

The visibility was horrible, so I kept my nose stuck in my book...wait I mean Kindle.

Ryan's friend Carter & his dad rode with us. Yes Ryan is actually smiling. I can't stop looking at him.

I even brought my camera, even though I am not a photographer.

The Squirts won both games this weekend making their season 12-3. Nice job!

Tomorrow is the beginning of second semester. This will bring in some changes for me: two new classes, every grade other than what I had last semester, and a new load of work. The good news is that they school year is half over, which means we are closer to warm weather. Good lord it's cold outside.

Kate update

If you remember, two weeks ago Kate had a repeat case of strep throat. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, because her pediatrician noticed her thyroid was enlarged. On Tuesday of this week, I brought her (with Olivia) to see him again now that she wasn't sick. Her Dr. said that her thyroid is double the size of a normal thyroid. Holy cow!
They she had some blood drawn. You would have thought she had her arm amputated the way she was nursing that little poke...but that's my Kate. Here are the results: she has an underactive thyroid. At first I panicked b/c the letter sent here said she was showing signs of thyriod failure! But I called him, and he assured me that she was okay. Her readings were alarming to me, because I also have an underactive thyroid. When I got pregnant with Brady, my TSH level was 20. Anything over 5 means it's underactive. I felt horrid. Kate's is 29! But her pituitary something reading was good, so he figured that's why she is feeling okay.
So she will be on medication for the rest of her life like I am.
So....the moral of the story is....
1. Look at your child's neck. If it seems to look larger than normal, as your doctor.
2. If you child has severe dry skin, achy legs, thin hair, is lethargic, or tired, talk to your doctor.

**Really the only 'symptoms' Kate has had is frequent achy legs (which I sort of blew off) and very dry skin. But she's always had dry skin, so who knows.

I also had Olivia's blood tested today, because the Dr. said that she had a borderline enlarged thyroid AND she is always, always, always tired. Lucky for her, her readings are normal so far.

So there you have it...nothing is ever boring around here!

My hams

They are all unique, silly, and oh so bizarre. Clearly they are cut from the same cloth as their mother.

2011 Update

The verdict is still out on 2011. My mood has wavered between stressed to crabby to frustrated. And, for those of you who really know me, that's not my style. My closest friends hear me complain more than I should, but my overall outlook on life is not that way.

Anyway here's an update. I'll let you decide. Date night was a success! Thad and I had three hours to ourselves. We got him some new jeans (that he never did show me) and a new suit for court. The weekend then consisted of three hockey games, Ryan reffing three games, figure skating, an intense public tantrum by Brady, being greeters at church, a birthday party for the girls, a bad cold for Olivia, and Thad getting paged out a 3am on Monday morning.

I did get out for an hour by myself on Monday to a private party at the store MODE for those of us who train at Healthpros. I got these cute pajamas and a scarf.

Tuesday morning we were good parents and sent Olivia to school with her horrible cold (really colds are common so that's not a huge issue) and about five spots on her face. I did call the nurse and asked her too look at her. She thought it might be acne (on a five year old?), but since she said no worries, I forgot about it. Left work, picked up the kids, got Olivia dolled up and to north Fargo by 4:15 for dance/dance photos, trekked back home, made supper, realized that both Olivia and Brady had a fever, ran to Cash Wise for some gatorade, and cleaned up. Thad came home from out of town, played with Brady, and then he and Ryan left for hockey. I put the little kids to bed at 7:15, listed to Spud hockey on the radio, and read.

By the time Thad and Ryan got home at 9pm, I had noticed that our house wasn't heating. Nice. We just had our furnace serviced a month ago. Our house is six years old. Lovely. Thad called someone to come out at 10:30....it got fixed after I was asleep, but when Olivia came in during the night, I realized it wasn't working again.

Today starteFd out well. My 7am work meeting was held at the Fryin Pan. I got to school and met with another teacher to finalize the details on a huge project we created for our Arts Integration grant. I set it up, went to check on computer availability, and saw some girls hugging...or wait maybe not. They were fighting! Mrs. Stafford went into another mode, and truthfully, I can't remember much, but apparently I yelled a lot to stop, and got in between them (on the ground) as a huge chunk of hair came off one girl's head. I was holding the hair grabber's arm and kept repeating for her to let go. No words were exchanged between these girls. The only voice was mine and some boy trying to pull one girl off. At one point I remembered saying I was teacher...maybe to prevent my hair from coming out???

Finally I opened hair puller's hands and got it off other girl's hair. At that point one other teacher was holding a girl back down the hall, and another was holding the girl who lost hair chunks. I was then (I think) restraining my girl....and then 'security' came. I was told that the look in my girl's eyes was pretty scary, but I can't remember. Honestly if you put those three girls in front of me, I wouldn't recognize them. I have no idea who they were.

Okay...Mrs. Stafford needs to regroup and teach right? I get into my class, hands completely shaking, and I'm feeling woozy. Violence doesn't turn my crank one bit. As a matter of fact I loathe it. The kids in the back of the class heard me yelling, and maybe saw it....I'm not sure. I think they thought it was funny.

The day wore on, I continued to teach, found out my Brady has some eye issue which is now being treated, found out my Olivia has a possible staph infection that requires medicine in her nose (???) and antibiotics, I ran to the ortho to pick up my new splint since Brady must have flushed mine down the toilet, worked some more, picked up the kids, brought them to church, came home, made supper, just educated one of my children on what suppositories are, watched the other three see a show of said child debating whether to try one, and here I sit.

Thad is working late to avoid taking a sick day, everyone needs baths, and I just ate seven biscuits after supper. It's cold outside, going to get colder, and I told Thad that I may just take my three kids on a trip since he and Ryan are never home.

If you hear in my next post that I am in Orlando with my kids in the next post, don't be surprised. 2011 is not my year as of yet!

A Kate-ism

Last night I was looking online at tourist information on the Black Hills. We (okay I) are thinking of taking the kids there this summer. I saw a hotel and said, "We could stay at Dick's Hotel."
Kate: "Uh mom...that sounds kind of penis-y."

????????

Or maybe not...

I scoured the house last night so our sitter wouldn't think we are total losers. It takes having someone come over to put me in a cleaning tizzy.

But....at 3:30 the phone rang. Thad was paged out. Who knows if he will be able to go out tonight. He says he will, but guess what? He's also on call. That's like being with a funeral home director. You never know when you'll get a call.

Either way, it will be a very early night....

I'm excited!

I got an email from Thad today saying that we are going on a date tomorrow night *and* he already got us a babysitter. I'm shocked and excited!

You must know that we rarely go out. Thad knows I've been getting frustrated at four nights a week practices (that requires his presence), three to four games a weekend (that requires his presence), and his Wednesday night bar league (that apparently requires his presence). If you add that up, you will notice that he is gone seven days a week.

Anyway, now we have to find the time to clean our house so we can eat dinner together tomorrow. Alone. With no kids interrupting us. Or fighting.

Now to decide where to eat....

Uh....thanks?

I had a student ( a boy no less) who was really playing up his Christmas gift to me. I was a little nervous, because although I tease my students about giving me gifts, they know I'm teasing. On the day before break, he proudly gave me this....

Uh really? Needless to say, I won't be cashing in on this gift EVER.

So far 2011....

....hasn't been the best year.

1. Blizzards, snow, and cold--ewwww.
2. Kate's strep throat has returned.
3. The doctor discovered she has an enlarged thyroid that requires another visit. This mother is nervous.
4. Kate will also be fitted soon for night time head gear due to her underbite. That's going to cost a lot.
5. My laptop just took a poop and is infected with viruses.
6. Our desktop is extremely slow these days.

Really? It's January 4th people!

An odd coincidence....

Kate's been working all day on a project for her reading class. She has been assigned Anne Frank. She is making a box filled with clues about Anne's life. Of course this means Kate is filled with questions: Am I Jewish? Is Kailee Jewish? If you are half Polish mom does that mean you're Jewish? Who is Adolf Hitler?
Pretty heavy questions from an eight year old. I tried to give her some simple answers, but really that's impossibe. At one point she said to me, "How do you know all this stuff?" (remember I am saying very limited things to her, so it really wasn't 'all this stuff') I said, "Well I am a history teacher Kate." Duh.
Thad and I were putting away about 15 loads of laundry (it takes a village to keep up with our laundry) when I saw Brady. Do you see the resemblence that I see? Seriously...

Brady must be channeling Adolf! Yuck.

I hope you had the chance to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition tonight. I was choked up the entire hour. The Moorhead family goes to our church. Actually Ryan and Garrett met in preschool. They became fast friends. Never once did Ryan mention Garrett being in a wheelchair. Ryan's been looking forward to the show airing, because at religion, Garrett has said that he can't talk about it until the episode airs. I guess Wednesday will be his big day!