Just Because

I don't think I've ever posted about my first baby girl. Here she is, sound asleep with a Valentine heart sticker on her nose. I have no idea how it got there, but she was so stinkin cute I had to run and get the camera. I have to share this just because I adore her.

What do you do when....?

the man from McMinnville Water and Light comes to check the fire hydrant on the corner? You watch in total amazement and awe while the whole street floods in front of your eyes. Then? Grab your boots, of course. And bikes. And scooters. And balls. And you get totally soaking wet. And you have absolutely the best time! Even though it's February and the water's freezing.

What have we been up to?

Today went something like this:
7:00 rushing, yelling, hurrying to get the house ready for the cleaning lady, and be on time out the door (oh, yeah, it's snowing hard outside,too)
7:20 drop the girls off at Allison's
8:00 rush and hurry to get set up for the Greek "Olympics" with 220 sixth graders
8:30-9 have Olympics: lots of fun!
9-12 teach, then prep, then get James and Abby
noon come home to a not clean house; the cleaning lady couldn't get off her hill due to the snow
lunch with James and Abby, then laundry and dishes that didn't get done in the morning, and collecting six shin guards, six cleats, sweats, socks, 3 swim suits, towels, and packing "dinner" for Diana who won't be home until after 7 tonight
2:00 watch Nick Jr. with James, while Abby sleeps, maybe nod off during Wow Wow Wubbzy
2:25 rush to Columbus to pick up the big kids
2:26 rush home to get Diana's bag of soccer/swimming/dinner gear that I packed then forgot
3:00 make snacks for 5 (Diana's at talent show practice at Maddy's house)
4:30 Mary and Laura head off to soccer practice with Steve; I go to Walmart to buy my class treats for our Greek party tomorrow
5:25 Diana calls that practice is over because the coach is too cold
6:00 inhale soup, rush, hurry, and yell to get everyone into swimsuits
6:30 swimming lessons for all three girls
8:00 finally sit down

So, I haven't blogged for awhile. Now you know why.

Three Totally Unrelated Things

Thing One:
Here are my sweet girls at ballet class yesterday. I love it all: leotards with panties hanging out, "ballet buns", not knowing right from left and having your best friends in class with you. Plus, the room where they have class is beautiful!



Thing Two:
Mary's quote of the day. Steve went to Winco after the girls had gone to bed last night. Mary walked in to the kitchen this morning and found a bunch of big, beautiful bananas on the counter next to the fruit bowl. Her reaction: "Wow, this is a freakishly large banana. Can I eat it?" Freakishly large?? Who says that? Oh yeah, I think it's Allison. Pretty funny coming out of a five year old's mouth, though!

Thing Three:
I love the first day of school. I love school period. Sunday night I was trying to figure out how many first days of school I've had. It's a lot. 13 as a student. A few really memorable (Scotland, Linfield) and all really exciting. 18 first days have been from the other side of the classroom. They all blend together but were really exciting. And yesterday, another first day of school for me. My first day as Linfield College instructor. Just me and my six students. "A proper lecturer" as my Scottish friend Debbie says. Before hand I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or pass out. Turns out I was just holding my breath. Once I started breathing regularly I felt much better. The verdict?? I loved it! I get to talk about school for an hour and twenty minutes with a captive audience. And, they're just kids! My favorite question of the day was, "Do we have to turn this in?" What was I worried about? I had just the right amount of stuff planned, and it all went really smoothly. What a rush!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Wednesday nights are a challenge around here. The girls' school sends home "Wednesday Folders". Inside the folders are newsletters, completed assignments, parenting tips, fundraising forms, and homework. Usually it's just a couple of pages, but when you multiply that by three, it adds up. Tonight we had handwriting, math and more math. Mary told me on a previous Wednesday night that she likes "word" homework way more than "number" homework. Sorry, kid, I think you got that from me. I couldn't agree more. The frustration tonight began upon opening the Wednesday Folder. One of Mary's math pages was different from Laura's. I put on my best teacher voice and gave the speech about how it's not about easier or harder. It's about different: what each brain needs to learn. Blah, blah, blah. I don't think they bought it. Anyway, Mary's page involved subtraction using a number line. It wasn't clicking. Diana tried hard by making these nifty "fact family" charts. I thought they were cool, but it still wasn't clicking for Mary. I opened the art drawer to find something to use as manipulatives. I was looking for beads or something like that which she could use to do the subtraction problems. What I found easily was a little baggie of googly eyes. You know the little white ones with the black wiggly pupils that you glue on crafty things that need eyes? Perfect, I thought. So I dumped them out and modeled for Mary how to use them to subtract. That worked and she went off on her own to finish while I helped Laura with her "not harder, just different" paper. I could hear Mary talking away to herself while she worked on her subtraction. Eventually I realized it wasn't math she was talking about. I think it was, "and the Mom flew off to Tennessee leaving the children and the dad at home" that caught my attention. In the, oh, 12 or so seconds since I had turned my back, Mary had turned the pile of googly eyes into a family and was creating a whole story around them. Tennessee?? I had to laugh out loud. Mary's response to me asking her what she was doing? "I made them into a story, Mama." What can I say. The child has wanted to be an author since she was two. And, she likes word homework way better than numbers.